SBW and Nonu is an absolutely brutal partnership but could be playing into England’s hands, think Tindall would prefer to have Sonny-Bill boshing it up every time rather than Conrad Smith running rings round him, plus those two are both pretty vulnerable in terms of their defensive positioning, just a shame the English have no pace in their centre combination to exploit it. Either way a good game to blood him in against the slowest centre partnership in history who won’t expose his lack of positional sense, they would never play him against say the likes of D’Arcy and O’Driscoll.

I do love the typical New Zealand arrogance though making out he’s a complete novice, ignoring the fact he spent 2 years at Toulon. Top 14 is much closer to international intensity than super rugby

Still can’t see England winning though, I think it will be pretty close for 60 then they will pull away. Much closer with that backline though than if Smith and Jane were playing, playing a huge backline brings it back into the English comfort zone. Kiwis by 12

As for Ireland’s tight five, shaky, 1-3 are decentish although Cronin should be getting preference. O Connell is a loss, but thre is more to the game than the line out, even if 4 & 5 will struggle, and I maybe fancy Ireland backs to have too much pace coupled with Sexton’s distribution. Ireland back row are better. Unusually, there are plenty of players who are either smallish men or weak tacklers in the Boks’ backline. Jean De Villiers, Zane Kirchner, Bjorn Basson and Gio Aplon are all men who can be beaten if the likes of Sexton, Brian O’Driscoll, Gordon D’Arcy and Tommy Bowe are put into the right situations against them. The Springboks have a decent side out, all in all, it’s probably a stronger selection than the one which lost the corresponding fixture four years ago when Jake White went into experimental mode just under a year out from winning the World Cup. The Irish line out will struggle for obvious reasons but also because of the reality that Bismarck Du Plessis is a better thrower in of the ball than John Smit. I just have a feeling that the Boks aren’t going to beat Ireland in Dublin for the first time in a decade.Tommy Bowe in the form of his life and the returning Luke Fitzgerald might be the difference.Kirchner is gonna get murdered by BOD. O’Callaghan V Bakkies, Heaslip V Spies & Bowe V Habana, and especially Buckley v the Beast, (who tends to do well against tall props, and they don’t come much taller than Buckley!) will be interesting duels. Ireland by 7

Wales being Wales will flatter to decieve, easy win for the Wallabies by about 10

No point in the author clarifying anything. He gave an opinion that’s all it is. Fans have to realise that once teams in possession cotton on to the fact that it will be next to impossible to lose the ball if they are over protected it will turn into a different game altogether. My guess is that the weather in Europe will lead to more competition on the ground and a bit more deviousness…I agree in principle with favouring the guy in possession but not at the expense of a contest on the floor…

It’s sad that as usual, an insighful opinion, which is merely that an opinion, is met once again with a vitriolic and benighted backlass from the more reactionary of the SH fans who repeatedly let this site down by dragging rugby down to the lowest common denominator.

The contest on the floor is what ruby is all about. it makes things interesting.

Hmmm, Ireland beat Italy in their opening game in Giants Stadium NY in USA 94. Italy still reached the final. Argentina lost to Cameroon in Italia 90 but also go to the final. I don’t think that the Spanish need to despair just yet.

Another antipodian Anglo-bashing article echoed with Sheeks ramblings. Having lived there for over 4 years, and having spent a lot of the rest of my life in Ireland, I must disagree that the English seriously think they will win each world cup. Generally they have a dark optimism that yes they could do it, but that things will conspire as they usually do for them to implode. This is a good English side, the best since Robson’s 1990 team that went out to West Germany on penalities in the semifinals. I wish them well, but hopefully they will come unstuck against the Serbs in the final 16.

I find it slighly bemusing that Australian fans consider themselves so far above their trans Tasman brothers when it comes to football. I guess one man’s pauper isanother man’s snob.

@ Art Sapphire: Yes, Russia had a bad day at the office v Slovenia agreed. They are still a good team with excellent players (and a familiar coach!). It just proves my point that good teams oftentimes do not qualify from European groups. Bosnia have a decent team if you analyse their squad. Traditionally they produced excellent midfield players when supplying players for what was known as Yugoslavia. It is difficult for them to unify a team considering that they are made up of Bosniaks (muslim Bosnians), Croats and Serbs. Not easy to gel them together so their run was impressive. Zlatan Muslimović and Edin Džeko are classy strikers too.

Ireland were hard done by, an excellent (and unbeaten) qualifying campaign in a group that had numerous dangerous teams and that also had Bulgaria and world champions Italy. They then had to play world Cup finalists France in a play off that was ended in henious circumstances. They surely deserve to be at the world cup. I’m merely stating that it’s a joke that so many places are handed out to second rate confederations. One wonders if they would have made it had Stephen Ireland been less of a child and played for his country.

Surely you agree. In anycase, having lived and worked in Brisbane however (including during the last world cup) I will be cheering on the Socceroos for sure. It’s great to see the support they have.

Art Sapphire, I agree with your sentiments to a point.

Check out Slovakia’s prov squad: http://soccerlens.com/slovakia-2010-world-cup-squad/44779/

Not so shabby when you see the entire dept of the squad and the teams that they play for. This squad is better than the socceroos.

Check out Slovenia’s provo squad: http://soccerlens.com/slovenia-2010-world-cup-squad/44735/

Once again. About par with the Socceroo squad. Maybe more depth outisde the first 11 though than the Socceroos.

However, as a football fan, it irks me to see average sides qualify on a regular basis due to the pletora of places avaailable for second/third rate football federations such as Asia, North American and Oceana. The European championships are always a far more fiercly fought tournament due to the amount of tough games and the absence of poor sides. The fact that NZ made it makes a mockery of the whole qualifying process. Espcially when you see sides like Czech Republic, Turkey, Ireland, Russia battling through tough groups only to be eliminated in groups or in play offs and then you see Australia and Japan qualifying by virtue of finishing higher than Bahrain (who still had a second bite of the cherry), Qatar or Uzbekistan. Likewise average average sides like the United States, Mexico and Honduras can qualify by virtue of finishing above of global power houses Costa Rica (who still advanced to a play off), El Salvador and Trinidad and Tobago. I just think that the fat needs to be trimmed in these regions. There is way too much charity here.

I don’t blame these sides for just taking advantage of the easy groups the have, I just think that it’s a bit unfair on countries with better footballers that have it 10 times harder to qualify by virtue of their geographical location.

It doesn’t happen in any other sport’s world cup. Imagine the Wallabies not qualifying for the rugby WC but Portugal and Georgia popping in ahead of them. There would be consternation!

It’ll be winter down there and temperatures can drop quite significantly. Don’t expect a dream summer tournament like 2006 but rather some rain and temperatures around 25 C in Durban. I expect Germany to make the last 4.Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski, the starting forwards of the past, are having difficult seasons. Klose is usually only a substitute at Bayern Munich, while Podolski has failed to jump-start his career again in Cologne after the frustrating years in Bayern, but I still expect them to perform as a unit.

I also expect Serbia to follow them through to the second round albeit as runners up. This will invariably hand them a game against the likely group winners England. Germany as probably group winners will most likely face Slovenia. Australia’s game against Ghana is essentially the crunch game here. Win this and an Austrlian team with 3 points in the bag will be buoyed with confidence. Lose it and they will be lucky to escape with a point. On paper, only maybe Cahill would make it into either Serbia or Germany’s first 11. I don’t know enough about Ghana. But I do know that the first African team to qualify for the 2010 championship and also the only one to make it to the knockout phase four years ago, has a talented young team, many of whom won the Under-20 World Cup last year. Although Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien has missed most of the season because of a knee injury, he should be fit again for the World Cup.

The Serbs have talented players who rarely travel well and often lacked in the past unity as a team, but as this is their first tournament as ‘Serbia’ pride will be buoyed and coach Radomir Antic has the task of blending players such as Inter Milan midfielder Dejan Stankovic, Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic and Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic together. If the former coach of Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona succeeds, the Serbs can make a big impact not only on the group but on the tournament. The partnership of Nemanja Vidic and Branislav Ivanovic in the back will be a formidable obstacle for any team in South Africa. They dont conceed many goals at all and had the best defensive record of all 51 European nations in qualifying. Watch out for Krasic in midfield too.

You’re wrong Johno. Such benighted comments rarely lend themselves to positive threads.The Boks following their reintroduction struggled to return to their pre-isolation standards, and in their first game were defeated 27–24 by New Zealand on 15 August 1992. This was followed by a series defeat to the All Blacks in New Zealand in mid-1994.

Excellent!!!! ha ha!!!

Germany has won the World Cup three times, behind only Brazil (five titles) and Italy (four titles). It has finished as runners-up four times, two more than any other side. In terms of semi-final appearances, Germany leads with 11, one more than Brazil’s 10.

In the last 14 World Cup tournaments, Germany has always reached at least the quarter-finals; Germany has also qualified for every one of the 16 World Cups it has entered – it did not enter the inaugural competition in 1930 for economic reasons, and could not qualify for or compete in the post-war 1950 World Cup as the DFB was reinstated as a Fifa member only two months after this tournament.

Any team that wins away in Russia – playing the last 22 minutes with 10 men – needs to be respected while Ballack remains a forceful personality and player. A big threat with a rising star in Mesut Ozil.

My pick for the 2010 World Cup dark-horse is Serbia (semi final run?). Serbia qualified for the 2006 World Cup by conceding only one goal in ten qualifying matches, the best among the 51 teams participating in qualification.

I cannot see Australia beating either Germany or Serbia. Despite René Adler’s absense, the Austalian team will not have the quality to achieve anything more than a moral win, or a perhaps a plucky gutsy performance. It is essentially a Championship side on paper and would never have made it to the WC had it been in a Euro qualifying group.

Runner up from this group will probably face England. So regardless, this is a cruel group.

Germany
Serbia
Ghana
Australia

Yeah, but watch out, apparently the AFL are trying to poach him for next season, and apparently, the Rebels reckon he would make a great outside centre.

Heineken Cup is the best viewing for me. The 4 quarterfinals were cracking demonstrations of running and high scoring rugby.

This is as benighted an article as I have come across in a while.

‘Look at Real Madrid and Brazil, for example’

Are you honestly using Real Madrid and Brazil as reference point for what Aussie Football should be doing?

Verbeek has dragged a third tier team to the World Cup. This is an amazing achievement considering the poor quality of players he has had to work with (in comparison to the top teams). Collectively, Australia would be a mid table Championship team. Give him some credit. Wait until the lean times and you will look back and see the folly of your ghastly attitude. Enjoy the World Cup and count yourself lucky that you do not have to qualify from a European group where Australia would struggle badly to finish midtable in a group. Just imagine qualifying with Holland and Portugal in your group?

Real fans follow their team regardless. I am sure that there are plenty of decent honest Aussie football fans that are willing to cheer on their boys regardless.

Be thankful for what you have got!!!

Cips as a half decent game in an Amlin cup gave against super mediocre opposition and suddently he is a world beater. God if he had the sprt of perofrmance ROG had against Northampton imagine what the Pro Cip’s media would be writing…….Ireland games v’s Trimble and Horgan at centre still being thrown about two……..ridiculous…

Just saw that Pothale………nearly choked on my tea ha ha! Ufasach!!

Grandpabhaile just saw that! ha ha chucke, I suspect that VC adminstered a few rogerings back in the day, but perhaps imight be a little old for such mischief these days.

Interesting post rugby fan. Worthy of an article.

I like to fit in all God’s people MyGeneration. Why when telling the locals of all the great delights and wonders outside the antipodes, just seeing their feral little eyes light up with curiosity makes it worthwhile enough. ‘Objectivity’ they cried, ‘what ever does this mean?’ ‘Oh do tell us Pajo! Do!’

London is wedged full of Aussies pulling pints and doing odd jobs and getting plastered listening to ‘Men at Work’ in the ‘Walkabout Bar’.

Great bar for alcohol fuelled fillies though. Fair share of Saffers there too.

I bet Chris is one of these guys that ‘was better than Giteau in schools only my knee gave in’ ‘I could have been a Wallaby maaaaan!’

VC: Ahh, the Gaelic language, the poetry,the rugged coast and mountains of Connemara etc. It’s a great place. I suspect you have bever been lad?

The Race week coupled with the Arts Festival is the highlight of the summer calendar in Ireland. Worth a look. I assume your not too old to make such an excursion. Direct flights from most UK cities to Galway too.

Rugby Future, GB won 19 Gold compared to Aus’s 13 in the last Olympics.

I’m worried about your factual sources old chap.

I’m still chuckling at Chris Mckays little rant. No doubt written inbetween a vegemite sambo and whilst waiting for the kettle to boil for his warm glass of milo before nestling down into his lazy boy to watch the biggest loser.

In any case enough of this mish mosh turgid school yard rubbish, let’s speak and breath rugby again and let’s be sensible men like we were all raised to be (apart from Chris).

A strong England makes things interesting for everyone. I do however think that this will be the most competitive WC in years and that there will be a few surprises. For what it is worth, I expect the irish to beat the Aussies in the group stages (this, will not be a surprise) and to then make an exit in the Semi’s. France to hopefully win of course, but it’s hard to see past the AB’s. They wont have the pressure on them in the group stage v the French and regardless, if they lose that or not, they won’t lose again. I tip the AB’s to do it.
The Saffers punishing number of tour games (ridiculous) will take its toll, in addition, not much fresh blood emerging to replace the Boks that are getting a little long in the tooth.

You don’t matter…….