How do Wallaby supporters see the Irish challenge?

From an Irish point of view, i think this will be our big game of the tournament. I think the Aussies have a huge advantage however in key areas, most obviously the half back slot. Whoever we put in the 9 jersey, be it O'Leary, Reddan or Stringer (unlikely) has a mammoth job keeping Genia at bay, while Sexton, who is more likely to start than O'Gara, will have to have the match of his career to out perform a very in-form Cooper. Out wide, with the likes of Ioane, Mitchell and O'Conner, to name but a few, the Irish will be worked hard. Having said that though, if Kearney and Fitzgerald can get back into the form they had before their injuries and link up with an ever impressive Bowe, i see a clash of titans out on the touch lines. For me however the center game will go to the Irish. Between D'Arcy and McFadden for the 12 jersey and of course O'Driscoll at 13, there's just too much unpredictability to handle almost. Up front, the Irish front row having improved vastly over the last 2 seasons is now ready to meet any opposition head on, literally. Both Healy and Ross are now at that world class level, and both continue to improve. The ageing second row of O'Connell and O'Callaghan still has some fight in their legs, granted maybe not as much as they used to! However the most interesting, and potentially entertaining competition will come in the back rows. Ireland seems blessed with back rows. They are the only position that we can truly saw we seem to churn out high quality players. However, there are probably 4 stand out players there, in Heaslip, Wallace, O'Brien and Ferris. I would like to see Ferris in 6, O'Brien in 7, and Heaslip at 8... it may be a little harsh on Wallace who continues to play at a top level for both club and country, but i think he might be the best choice to come on from the bench to make an impact, while letting the younger lads hit the ground running. The Aussie back row for me would be Elsom at 6, Pocock at 7, and McCalman. O'Brien essentially was Elsom's understudy in Leinster when the Aussie skipper had his year sabbatical in Ireland. A year where he broke man-of-the-match records in devastating style. But O'Brien has managed to grow out of Elsom's shadow, and after an enormous season winning the Heineken Cup, O'Brien topped it all off to win the European Player of the Year award... that will be the key battle in my opinion. Its almost too hard to call on this one. But if Ireland can finally perform in a World Cup to the ability we all believe they can, anything can happen. If not, i will look forward to an Aussie title!

15 - Paul Williams 14 - Alesana Tuilagai 13 - Seilala Mapusua 12 - Eliota Sapolu 11 - Sailosi Tagicakibau 10 - Tasesa Lavea 9 - Kahn Fotuali'i 8 - Henry Tuilagi 7 - Jack Lam 6 - Maurie Fa'asavalu 5 - Joe Tekori 4 - Chris Lowrey 3 - Census Johnston 2 - Ti'i Paulo 1 - Anthony Perenise Reserves: Sakaria Taulafo, Mahonri Schwalgar, Steve Fualau, James Afoa, Filipo Levi, Peter Saili, Filo Paulo, Jack Lam, Serge Lilo, Faifili Levave, Kane Thompson, George Stowers, Daniel Leo, Jonathan Faamatuainu, Junior Polu, Uale Mai, Fa'atonu Fili, George Pisi, Gavin Williams, David Lemi, Lolo Lui, Elvis Seveali'i, Alapati Leiua, Mikaele Pesamino

'I don’t think there’s a cat in hell’s chance of Wales beating South Africa.' Really, DD? Even though the past three results have been 25-29, 31-34 and 15-20 to SA? And even though we saw players like Jenkins, Rees, Jones, Phillips, Stephen Jones and Roberts play so well on the Lions tour? Don't confuse poor coaching with a lack of quality, Dave. The Welsh have some exceptional players, and if they click they are capable of a big result. The one common theme from previous matches between Wales and SA has been a lack of Welsh mental fortitude and confidence.

I don't think there's a cat in hell's chance of Wales beating South Africa. As ChrisT said, they will be doing well to get out of their group but I think they will probably make it all the same. I think that group is the most unpredictable of them all but all three teams chasing second place could take points off each other. I think Wales will still squeak through. The Ireland Australia match, I think, will set the tone for the rest of the tournament. IF Ireland win, it will be a North v South final. The competition will be split into two northern and southern halves producing one all-NH and one all-SH semifinal. The chance for any mixing up will have gone. Taking the groups one by one: In Pool A I just can't see NZ and France being troubled by any of the others.Japan, Tonga and Canada are not in the same league and France won't beat NZ at the pool stage. Not when they don't have to. NZ to win; France as runners up. In Pool B England will win with Scotland and Argentina scrapping for the runners up spot. Argentina have a proud World Cup history but they have lost many of their of heroes from four years ago. Scotland are improving. I tip them to make the second round. Pool C is the one with Ireland and Australia. Despite some good performances in Rome, I can't see Italy or the other minnows USA and Russia troubling the big two, even though Ireland kicks off its tournament against USA on September 11th, (the 10th anniversary remember!) Still, it will only be September 10th in US time. Pool D is the one with Wales, Fiji and Samoa and as I've said before, I fancy Wales to emerge in second place behind South Africa although it might be a debilitating struggle with the Pacific Island teams. So the quarter final match ups will probably be: New Zealand v Scotland (or Argentina) South Africa v Runner up Pool C England v France Winner Pool C v Wales (or Fiji or Samoa) Given that Ireland and Australia are evenly matched on paper at this side, an Irish win would result almost certainly in an all European pool of four teams out of which would come one finalist. On the other side, New Zealand would have a worry-free quarter final against either Scotland or possibly Argentina before they would meet the winner of the quarter final between South Africa and the Group C runner up. If that were Australia, then the second half of the quarter final draw would have the three major SH teams in it. Of course at this distance, this is all conjecture. We don't know the makeup of the teams and all we do know is that injuries are very likely between now and kick off. . Ireland and Australia have met on four previous occasions at the world cup; twice in Dublin, twice in Australia. The Wallabies have won all four but two of them (Dublin 1991 and Melbourne 2003) were by a single point. For the first time, they will meet up at a neutral venue. It should be a tight one. Looking forward to a sumptuous breakfast that morning (KO will be about 7:30 am in Ireland) which I probably won't eat!! Can't wait. England v France

Yes Baz if the gods have any say in it then that might seem fair . I would thoroughly support the ' fairness' of this idea but for one thing - as much as I love the All Blacks, I love the Wallabies more. But you certainly only have daylight to compete with on current form. Regarding cizzy's article though the Irish are a team that also have a lot of respect over here. For three reasons I expect - 1 They always push us and occasionally beat us 2 They peopled Australia almost as much as Britain did and so there is a bit of an each way bet for some fans 3 Despite fighting like ..., well, paddy's, sometimes on the field, Irish rugby culture is probably the most polite of all . Irish crowds do not boo opposition kickers and many of us respect them for that. It may be the familiarity of ancestral underdogs and our shared desire to beat England most of all . Don't know why that is but it is. But from a pure rugby point Of view this Irish game worries me. We won't have he ground advantage like 2003 though Aussies will travel. Damn!! I just remembered that Auckland T-shirt 'I support the All Blacks ...and anyone playing Australia' Ireland may have the crowd. Interesting cizzy because there is all this talk here about how we are going to tackle sonny but it ignores the fact that before we get there we have to tackle a lot of others first including B O'D and his mates. There is nothing in this tournament guaranteed to go to script.

I think Wales easily have the potential to win that group. They have a very good scrum, some excellent back line players... they just haven't clicked. The weak link IMO is the coaching structure, but the Welsh undoubtedly have the talent.

From your lips to God's ears... ..please Gods of Rugby, let the ABs win the WC this year.....

Cizzy. I was very impressed with the Irish performance against England. Until this recent 6 nations, I'd thought of Ireland as the Northern Hemisphere equivalent to Australia, i.e. talented backline, solid backrow, but suspect scrum. Amazed at the turn around (thanks for the insight to this), so I see this as very much the danger game for Australia. I also imagine the Irish would be looking for some payback after previous World Cups vs Aust. It's looking like a great, competitive, and unpredictable WC isn't it? New Zealand streets ahead of everyone, and the rest extremely inconsistent at this stage. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't have a lot of faith in this Australian side - poor leadership, and a distinct lack of maturity (+ a defensive liability at five eighth) - weaknesses that I don't see in ABs especially, and most of the top 6. Amazed that Deans has been signed up for another 2 years after the WC.

Wales will do well to get out of their group let alone win it. Fiji and Samoa are more than capable of beating them away from the Millenium womb & the Saffers are a couple of classes above. Throw in the physicality of all three teams and the Welsh lack of depth on the bench & I can see another early trip home for them.

Excuse me: Had to turn off the oven... The media tend to see that result in Australia as some kind of turning point, whereas that's just lazy journalism. If you recall the 6N from that season England tried to play attacking rugby, they just did it badly and the composition of the side was wrong: Flutey and Delon Armitage were either out of form or barely out of rehab for an injury; Matthew Tait wasn't working at 13; Wilkinson was too conversavtive. As soon as the personnel was changed for the France Test in Paris then things picked up a notch. Granted England were terrible in the 1st Test against Australia, but the players came out and said they got too excited by their forward dominance and failed to see the bigger picture. Since then we've seen the side go too far in the direction of attacking play, instead of matching verve with prgamatism.

Sorry if I inferred incorrectly. Didn't mean to lump an incorrect assertion in your direction, but what was the difference in style if there wasn't a forward emphasis, which I assumed you were referring to? England basically played the same style of game in Sydney - they made more offloads, for example, but had less possession, as I recall (?), and the team looked exhausted at points so there was slightly less risk taking. Btw, whilst you mention the fact that there was only 1 point in it Wilkinson also missed a sitter and one of Australia's 7 pointers came from a blatant knock-on from Genia, so the result wasn't as close as the scoreline would suggest.

Did I say anything about "grinding play"? C'mon Ben, you don't seriously need an explanation as to why England's "style" was so much more threatening in Twickenham vs Sydney?? The Sydney test was anyone's game - we lost by a point but could have just as easily won by two if Giteau hadn't missed an absolute sitter in front of the posts. In Twickenham we were thoroughly outplayed by England. They played fast, enterprising rugby at Twickers, far more so than in Sydney and the stats pretty much tell the story: 120 runs for 667 meters in Twickenham vs 87 runs for 417 meters in Sydney. Personally I think that's the best England have played since 2003!

I was referring more to the discipline aspects of the Irish defence, Cizzy. Personally I'm not sure the England game will prove to be the big catalyst some media pundits might want us to believe it as, as IMO Lawrence was a little bit lax with certain areas of the ruck. At the end of the day it's a high risk strategy, as was the Irish defence two seasons ago, and Ireland basically had one sound game out of five in the 6N with regard to giving away penalties. There's not a huge deal of Test rugby, and therefore fine-tuning, to take place prior to the WC.

'beating us again playing the style of rugby they did in Sydney' They ran the ball in Sydney though. There was no grinding play there.

Didn't know you were Irish, CZ. I think Ireland probably are a better rounded side than England, but I don't think they'll ever reach their potential until they sort out defensive issues. When Ireland drew with Australia two seasons ago they kept leaving the wide channels open, and this year there has been the problems with Ireland's technique at the breakdown.

I knew I'd get called on that... yes, we did lose the Sydney game and all credit to England who monstered our pack, but the Twickenham game was different. My view is that England have little chance of beating us again playing the style of rugby they did in Sydney assuming the majority of our forwards are back in the frame (Howrill, TPN, Palu etc) whereas what they did in Twickenham would be tough to beat, even at full-strength!