RWC: Three quarter final places to be decided in three games

By /
Despite the constant and very irritating complaint that the month of pool games has been a total waste of time the final weekend of games does include some fine opportunities for Northern Hemisphere teams to be bowled out. Unfortunately that does include Wales.

So far the Quarter Finals are adorned with the usual suspects of the All Blacks (NZ), Australia and South Africa, all comfortably through ... too comfortably for the All Blacks according to lot of people.

However the following games are not to be missed - the rest you can watch if you're interested but I shan't bother and that might even include the All Black/Romania game (10pm, Saturday) if I am in any way tired.

Pool A: England v Tonga (6:30am, Saturday)
This could be a fairly rough and tumble game with the chance that the current World Cup holders leave before the Quarters. Tonga, however, will have to be on their top game and play for 80 minutes as England have looked just that little bit better each game and despite reports I believe are able to handle the pressure. This will probably be England's game of the competition but won't rank in any future "World Cup 2007 Greatest Moments" DVD.

Mike prediction: England by a comfortable but small margin much to the annoyance of a lot of people.

Pool B: Wales v Fiji (4am, Sunday)
Crickey ... um, hmm ... I think the Welsh boys will have too much skill, crowd noise and guts to let this go past them IF they don't have a shocker of a start (see Australia game). If they can contain the Fijians in the first 20-30 minutes, play their own game and score a few handy tries then this could even be a romp. If.

Mike prediction: Wales by a small something, sighs of relief all round.

Pool D: Ireland v Argentina (4am, Monday)
This has all the potential of being a walk over or the closest game going (barring Canada/Japan) with it being a roller-coaster of a ride. I am glad I'm not a supporter of either side as the stress would do me in ... which doesn't set me up well for the Quarter Finals and beyond.
Argentina will play a solid, consistent and dominating game with the Irish desperately trying to break through the sky-blue defence - if the Irish get some lucky breaks, some touches of actual team work and manage to hold onto the ball then they have a chance.

Mike prediction: Argentina by quite some which will kick off an Irish implosion of tabloid proportions.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular articles

The Difference Between One Million And One Billion

Image
It's feels like a billion is just a bit bigger than a million. Obviously it's bigger but it fits on the same scale as a million, surely. It doesn't. A billion is so so so much bigger than a million. I've trawled the internet finding graphics and videos that show the VAST difference between one million and one billion. Oh, and just to finish with a different misconception about space starting with the classic opening line from the great Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy : “Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.”

Break The Chains And Be Your Own Person With RSS

Image
We like to think that information ("content") on the Web comes at us from every angle and at speeds that our poor brains just can't take, stooooppp, it's all too much. Nope, most people get small amounts of Web information in very limited ways, Facebook, YouTube, maybe Twitter (ick) or something more wholesome but similar like Bluesky or Mastodon. You'll likely also get messages (through something) with a link to something wonderful and glorious, but I'd say that's mostly it for the vast unwashed. You, are much better than those ignoramus though, and also visit the BBC, RNZ, Stuff, or some other old skool media website (or app, different but same). I applaud you, but what about all those other websites that you like the look of but forgot. You should be using an RSS reader ... yup! This conduit is anti-lock-in, it works for nearly the whole internet. It is surveillance-resistant, far more accessible than the web or any mobile app interface. It is my secre

W. C. Fields quotes

Image
The office has all been moved around - new desks (with starter handles to raise and lower them), new high(er) speed network and ... the same old work. At least I have a differing view of the world, my team (well, the team I'm a part of not "my" team) is a lot closer - finally - and it's like an office from the 80's ... or even a classroom. But I still have time to move the crap off the PC : ------ Any man who hates dogs and loves whiskey can't be all bad. Anyone who hates Dogs and Kids Can't be All Bad. Hey! Who took the cork off my lunch??! Who stole the cork from my breakfast? Now don't say you can't swear off drinking, it's easy. I've done it a thousand times. Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people. If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again. Then quit, no use being a damn fool about things. Madam, there's no such thing as a tough child - if you parboil them first for seven hours, they alwa

Men, Stop It!

Image
A friend of mine recently related how she was so over men sending her weird, annoying, and sometimes creepy messages via LinkedIn. I know, bloody LinkedIn, so I assume these are men are just using a "business reason" to get off, or something 🤮 So, the first message of this article, MEN, STOP IT! If you think you have the right to give a woman mental work by sending any unwanted message, you are wrong. It is so tiring and boring and sad, don't do it. The second message of this article is, men, atone by reading the next three articles and tell a woman, maybe your daughter, what it meant to you. Ask them what they think of you reading it, you will be happily surprised. 1: Stop praising women’s strength. We need a world where we don’t have to fight to be valued To change these harmful systems, we must continue radically shifting norms, despite continuing resistance. Second, creating accountable and equitable governance structures is not just women’s work; it is everyone’s ta

The Oxygen Of Attention

Image
Stephen Fry mentioned it many years ago as a means of not only deflating Donald Trump but everyone like him, the self important that survive on the energy that attention gives them. .. Trump is the most talked about man in history, every single restaurant table, every single bar room, every single coffeeshop conversation you can just hear the word Trump Trump Trump.  He's the Trumpallo, he's like a Dr Seus character, the more you say his name the bigger he gets. All you have to do to defeat him is never mention his name. I have failed with this and other posts, but I think I'm gonna do just that. For my own sanity, I'm just never going to talk about him, no matter what happens from tomorrow on - I just don't need him in my life. If we all did that he would deflate like a balloon after the party lights have long been turned off. I also recalled a quote from Adolf Hitler: “It makes no difference whatever whether they laugh at us or revile us … whether they represent