2011 Rugby World Cup

[Saskibaloia]

To all those Rugby Fans out there, we're almost a year away from the ultimate prize in the Rugby World: The Webb Ellis Trophy.

The 7th edition of the tournament will take place in New Zealand: the ultimate place to have the tournament as there's no place on earth where rugby is a religion than in New Zealand.

Will the South Africans repeat? Will the All Blacks take the prize after failing so many times? Will we see a Trans Tasman Finals? Could "Los Pumas" of Argentina go further than their 3rd place finish in 2007 and reach the finals? Will the Poms ever dominate the game that they invented?

All these types of questions will only be answered from the 9th of September - 23rd of October next year.

Who do you think will WIN Rugby's ultimate prize?

Which team could possibly break into the dominant circles of the Rugby World?

Which team will you be supporting next year?

[Saskibaloia]

Qualified Teams

Twenty teams will compete in the 2011 World Cup. Nineteen places have so far been allocated. The following twelve teams qualified for the 2011 World Cup by finishing in the top 3 of their group in the 2007 Rugby World Cup:[7][13]

Argentina
Australia
England
Fiji
France
Ireland
Italy
New Zealand
Scotland
South Africa
Tonga
Wales
The following seven teams qualified for the 2011 World Cup through regional qualifying competitions:

Canada
Georgia
Japan
Namibia
Russia
Samoa
United States

[Saskibaloia]

2011 Rugby World Cup Final Place Play-off

The 2011 Rugby World Cup qualifying process will end with a playoff to decide the 20th and final qualifier. Four teams, the best non-qualifier from each region, except Oceania, will compete for the last place at the 2011 Rugby World Cup finals in New Zealand. The winner of this playoff will compete in Pool B, along with Argentina, England, Scotland and Georgia.

The playoff will be contested on a knockout basis, with a semi-final and a two-legged home and away final. One semifinal will feature Romania, the winner of the European Nations Cup Champions Playoff Series, and Tunisia, the loser of the African final. The other will be between Kazakhstan and Uruguay, the second place finisher at the 2010 Asian Five Nations and the loser of Round Four of the Americas qualification, respectively.

[usausa]

My ehart says USA....my brain says France or New Zealand. In the first Tri Nations match, the AB dominated the Springboks. France have good depth. But New Zealnd always has trouble in the knock-out stages. They usually play great in the group stage and get used to most teams just being happy to play with them. But when a squad has played more competitive games and want to beat the AB, then NZ have problems trying to turn it on.

Argentina seems next in line to challenge for the final. Even though they lost in the semis in '07, I think their forward pack and dominating scrum plus an always improving back line will help them. Otherwise, I do not see a team making a leap.

[Saskibaloia]

Group Stage

G'day Lads,

Romania had booked the final place to the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. They won a very convincing win in Romania against my beloved "Los Teros" of Uruguay. This is the 2nd time in a row that "Los Teros" have been in the same situation having to fight for the final place for the World Cup.

So here are the final countries that have qualified for this edition of the World Cup:

Group A

New Zealand
France
Tonga
Canada
Japan

Group B

Argentina
England
Scotland
Georgia
Romania

Group C

Australia
Ireland
Italy
Russia
USA

Group D

South Africa
Wales
Fiji
Samoa
Namibia


Which group is the Group of Death?

Which two nations do you think will qualify for the final?

Will New Zealand break their reputation as "chokers" and finally lift the Ellis Trophy?

Which player do you think willl have a break out tournament?