If Wales do the unthinkable

by mckay1402 Tue 06 Sep 2011, 11:02 am

And beat South Africa will Australia and Ireland be trying to lose to each other so they can play them rather than South Africa?

by mckay1402 Tue 06 Sep 2011, 11:02 am

Yes I am aware that I have made a fair few assumptions...

by **rodders** Tue 06 Sep 2011, 11:05 am

by Comfort Tue 06 Sep 2011, 11:13 am

well put it this way,would you rather play....

a South African team who have just lost to Wales.

or

a Welsh team that has just beaten South Africa?

chin

by **rodders** Tue 06 Sep 2011, 11:28 am

Comfort wrote:well put it this way,would you rather play....

a South African team who have just lost to Wales.

or

a Welsh team that has just beaten South Africa?

Neither but you are assuming that the winner of the Wales v SA game will win the group. I think Wales might well beat the boks but Samoa and even Fiji will still have a big say in this group.

Ireland and Australia need to concentrate on winning their own games and not worry about what happens in this pool.

Also from an Ireland perspective it's not unforseeable to lose to Italy so we can't be thinking about throwing the Australia game to get a potentially easier draw.

by **Biltong** Tue 06 Sep 2011, 11:29 am

I can just picture this.

Match statistics.

Australia scrum feeds 137, scrums won on own ball 0
Ireland scrum feeds 95, scrums won on own feed 0
Australia passes 90, knock ons 83, kicked dead 7
Ireland passes87, knock ons 87 (not bothered to kick)
Australia rucks 123, turnovers 123
Ireland rucks 134, turnovers 133 (there was one deliberate knock on)
Australia goalable kicks not taken 76
Ireland goalable kicks not taken 56.
Yellow cards Australia 29 ( double yellow for 14 players, one left on the field)
Yellow cards Ireland 30(double yellow for 15 players, none left on the field.

Game stopped at half time, becuase thre was no irish player left to take the restart.

Score Oz 0- Ireland 0

by clivemcl Tue 06 Sep 2011, 11:34 am

australia / wales / SA - doesn't really matter which route we take on our way to winning the RWC.

Whistle

by **Biltong** Tue 06 Sep 2011, 11:35 am

clivemcl wrote:australia / wales / SA - doesn't really matter which route we take on our way to winning the RWC.

yeah, there's always the plane home, if you don't succeed. kiss

by G2 Tue 06 Sep 2011, 11:35 am

300 yellow cards wow Very Happy

by Comfort Tue 06 Sep 2011, 11:36 am

biltongbek wrote:I can just picture this.

Match statistics.

Australia scrum feeds 137, scrums won on own ball 0
Ireland scrum feeds 95, scrums won on own feed 0
Australia passes 90, knock ons 83, kicked dead 7
Ireland passes87, knock ons 87 (not bothered to kick)
Australia rucks 123, turnovers 123
Ireland rucks 134, turnovers 133 (there was one deliberate knock on)
Australia goalable kicks not taken 76
Ireland goalable kicks not taken 56.
Yellow cards Australia 29 ( double yellow for 14 players, one left on the field)
Yellow cards Ireland 300(double yellow for 15 players, none left on the field.

Game stopped at half time, becuase thre was no irish player left to take the restart.

Score Oz 0- Ireland 0

can you imagine how many times they'll mention Wilkinsons drop goal from 2003 in the commentary for this game on ITV?!

by **Biltong** Tue 06 Sep 2011, 11:38 am

Well that's not the end of it, Ireland not wanting to win the pool goes on to forfeit their remaining matches and lo and behold

Italy goes through in second place with 1 win and a draw.

by **rodders** Tue 06 Sep 2011, 11:54 am

What chances that Wales and Samoa qualify from that group at SA's expense?? I think its worth a flutter..... Run

by Comfort Tue 06 Sep 2011, 11:59 am

what if Fiji & Samoa qualify at the expense of S.Africa and Wales?!

that'd have to put the Poopie up Australia in the quarters!

by Shifty Tue 06 Sep 2011, 12:10 pm

Well If Wales win then their better than South Africa and are harder to beat. Personally I would think the Australians would want the South Africans because they know them so well.
Ireland would probably prefer Wales because they'd be much more comfortable playing them.

by Full Credit Tue 06 Sep 2011, 12:14 pm

biltongbek wrote:
Australia scrum feeds 137, scrums won on own ball 0
Australia passes 90, knock ons 83, kicked dead 7
Australia rucks 123, turnovers 123
Australia goalable kicks not taken 76
Yellow cards Australia 29 ( double yellow for 14 players, one left on the field)

I'm sure I've sat through games where we've actually had those stats.

by **Biltong** Tue 06 Sep 2011, 12:19 pm

AlynDavies wrote:Well If Wales win then their better than South Africa and are harder to beat. Personally I would think the Australians would want the South Africans because they know them so well.
Ireland would probably prefer Wales because they'd be much more comfortable playing them.

sorry AlynDavies, winning one match in every dozen, doesn't make you a better team, it makes you better on THAT day only.

Besides, we aren't going to lose, so this is all academic.

by OzT Tue 06 Sep 2011, 12:21 pm

I would like, and I am sure the squad is already focused on, for the wallabies to just plan to beat who is in front of them for each game, one at a time...

by Cymroglan Tue 06 Sep 2011, 12:23 pm

But it's on that day THAT matters and that day is 11/09 /2011

by **Biltong** Tue 06 Sep 2011, 12:40 pm

yes of course it does, and that's why it matters to us to beat Wales. Hug

by emack2 Tue 06 Sep 2011, 1:54 pm

I think in a knockout comp.play one game at a time,only way to go.

by Taylorman Tue 06 Sep 2011, 2:18 pm

Gatland has said all along he has targeted this match.
I wonder just what that means on the field.
With SA's rather sparse appearances in the 3N they may still be undercooked but they should still win.

by Bullsbok Tue 06 Sep 2011, 3:04 pm

AlynDavies wrote:Well If Wales win then their better than South Africa and are harder to beat.

I agree with Biltong one win wouldnt make Wales better than South Africa, thats like suggesting the Wobblies are better than the blacks because they've had one 2 wins over them in their last 12 encounters

by Cymroglan Tue 06 Sep 2011, 3:09 pm

Yes it would make them better than them there are no excuses during the world cup.

by **Biltong** Tue 06 Sep 2011, 3:19 pm

We aren't going to lose.

The reality is we are in the zone, the world cup zone, with all due respect to Wales they will push us yes, but John Smit and his men are far to experienced to go into this match other than ready, pumped and focused

by Cymroglan Tue 06 Sep 2011, 3:20 pm

They will need to be the pressure is on them.

by **Biltong** Tue 06 Sep 2011, 3:28 pm

The defending champions always has pressure on them, their fans expect them to defend the trophy, but no more than the pressure is on many other teams who's fans expect of them to win the RWC

by Taylorman Tue 06 Sep 2011, 3:42 pm

We're down to 'hoping' Biltong.

The 'Expecting' energy went out the window long ago because more than anyone, we know anything can happen, and does... its just which matches will be 'the ones' this round.

I'm picking at least 6 matches will go against the bookie odds, which is the most sensible measure...

by Cymroglan Tue 06 Sep 2011, 3:47 pm

There are so many things that can go wrong or right whatever the case may be.
Even the weather can be a major factor

by **Biltong** Tue 06 Sep 2011, 3:50 pm

Taylorman we are all hoping, but there are the games you know your team should win and there are the games your team might lose.

The teams that you might lose to are France, Australia and South Africa.

The teams we might lose to are NZ, Oz, France and England.

That doesn't say the day won't come when we lose to someone else. I just don't think it will happen this weekend

by nganboy Tue 06 Sep 2011, 9:21 pm

No Biltong
Many are expecting NZ to win. Its just that most of those are not sensible kiwis

by **Biltong** Wed 07 Sep 2011, 1:48 am

Nganboy, there is a difference between expecting to win, and having expectations.

I agree any fan who expects their team to win the RWC is in danger of huge dissappointment.

But having the expectation to perform based on what you know your team is capable of is nothing wrong with.

For example my expectation is to win all our pool matches, win our quarter to get to the semi final. I know based on history in the professional era, that we win 3 out of ten tests against the New ZEaland, in the past 4 years we have won 5 out of 11, I am hoping we beat NZ, I do not expect it.

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