Will New Zealand make the Rugby World Cup Final??

New Zealand play Argentina in the 1/4 final if New Zealand win they will then face either South Africa or Australia in the semi final.

Both SA and AUS have neaten New Zealand not to recently in the trinations etc.

I guess it will depend on if they come through the Argentina game with out injuire to any more players.

What with injuries to Carter being rules out, and Mcaw probably not being 100% fit, Israel Dagg limpming off in todays game will New Zealand beable to make it through to the final or will they fall short at the last hurdle.

What do you think?

I think if nz can win the next two matches, they'll be in the final.

Any news on Woodcock?

new zealands problem is their relativly easy run to the semi. they will come up short agaisnt southafrica i feel.

southafrica will win.

Frans Steyn is a big blow as well though. Without long range penalty kicks hovering over them NZ can afford to be really aggressive at breakdowns closer to the SA line. Argentina I think will be a great step up, and I feel that the semi will be the kitchen sink game. The final will provide motivation enough. They definitely can-though I think the TAB should have them at $1.85 each.

By the way it'd be just as painful for Carter to be referred to as the Wayne Rooney of his sport with knobs on. Pretty insulting no offence to Rooney! Try Leo Messi (with Ronaldo's looks lol).

dogtooth wrote:new zealands problem is their relativly easy run to the semi. they will come up short agaisnt southafrica i feel.

southafrica will win.

Well, it was the hardest run in yet, requiring NZ to dispatch bogey team France and a very physical Tonga.

Don't read anything into France's loss to Tonga. The reality is that French rugby has been defined for over a decade by their triumphs over NZ in world cups. The idea of "erratic" France who can be brilliant or hopeless is a myth spun around their fantastic 1999 triumph against a poor NZ selection and the 2007 debacle which was not largely anything to do with the French themselves. Once NZ popped the balloon with a reality bullet, France are lost. They've done nothing in the professional era, and they'll do nothing again this time. Frankly the loss to fired up Tonga was inevitable once NZ scored those three tries.

More of a concern to me (aside from Carter) is the debacle at 9. Cowan is out of form, Weepu is unfit and being mooted at 10 and Ellis is not an international 9.

I'm also bothered at the lack of cover we have in the back row. Keiran Read looked off the pace against Canada, and going straight into a knock out game lacking game time is a hard call. This mornings game finally underlined that Dagg is the form full back, but he is also carrying an injury. If Woodcock doesn't come back from his apparent concussion then we could be in trouble in the front row.

Guildford's speed added an extra dimension to NZ's attack, and I thought Slade did very well to throw off an early error and set up such a scintillating early try. Then nail a very tricky conversion from the touch line into a blustering wind and driving rain. His game was patchy, but he's only made 9 starts. The shaddow of Carter has now been pulled. The game can be built around the presence of Slade and not the absence of Carter.

Henry and co have some very tough choices to make now. NZ have the players to win this world cup. His entire career will be judged on whether his selections are correct this time.

yes

TheGreyGhost wrote:Any news on Woodcock?

I dont have any news on Woodcock, but was just wandering what is the recovery time from concusion?
Is it 24/48 hours or is it more like a week?

disneychilly wrote:Frans Steyn is a big blow as well though. Without long range penalty kicks hovering over them NZ can afford to be really aggressive at breakdowns closer to the SA line. Argentina I think will be a great step up, and I feel that the semi will be the kitchen sink game. The final will provide motivation enough. They definitely can-though I think the TAB should have them at $1.85 each.

Morne might not have Frans steyns shotgun boot but he can bang them over from 50m at a push,the question is can Slade kick NZ to victory if the Bok defence holds firm?

majesticimperialman wrote:

TheGreyGhost wrote:Any news on Woodcock?

I dont have any news on Woodcock, but was just wandering what is the recovery time from concusion?
Is it 24/48 hours or is it more like a week?

I was under the impression that there was a IRB law around playing after concussion. I'm also struggling to remember a concussed player coming back in less than a week. For instance Cory Jane.

i would not be surprised to see an england SA final again

Possible. Ireland to me have looked better than England, and have a better record of late between the two. The Irish camp is more settled, and certainly has the support of Kiwis on that side of the draw.

Ireland have already beaten Australia...

South Africa have looked strong though haven't they?

yea if you were going on form you would say an ireland vs boks/nz (nz have looked better imo but hard to tell given the opposition) final

just got an inkling, have no real arguments or evidence to support this feeling other than it would be typical of England to grind themselves to the final and similarly with the boks (and this is not a slur on the way you guys play rugby coz i for one know that the boks are capable and do score some sublime tries) jus seem to have a knack of winning knockout rugby

Weepu is not fit?Ellis is not an International 9,Really ? I bow to your superior knowledge GG.
Ellis this year has come on in leaps and bounds,has the fastest delivery of the 3 there.
A good kicking game and can drop goals,A Genia or Du Preez he isn`t but a better option than Cowan.
What has bugged me most in this RWC is the time SH`s have taken clearing the Ruck area.Ellis does it with speed.
If you don`t give him game time he won`t improve,the ABs had nearly 8 years to come up with a viable back up.
But have`nt given anyone a decent run and that is a coaching fault.
England had the problem with JW injured almost constantly for 4 years.

Emack, what I mean is you'd rate Carter to get through 80 minutes.

Would you really see Weepu lasting from the 1st to the 80th? From my observation he tends to go well for 50 minutes and then run out of gas, he gets ponderous and his decision making starts to go awry...we get the poor kicking options. This would be more important if he moved from 9 to 10. We also need him to stay at 9, because he's probably the best impact 9 on the planet.

Cowan seems to have lost the plot completely. He had a shocker on the weekend.

Maybe I was harsh on Ellis. What I mean is that he is merely workman like. Maybe that's all we need.

What we need now is someone who can get quick ball to our game breaking midfield and outside backs. Slade can do that if the forwards do their job and he gets good ball himself. Hell he shouldn't be afraid to have a dab himself. Imagine that-Slade busting through to score the winning try in a semi where Nonu and SBW were running flat out off him as decoys.