*** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

The every-four-years Rugby World Cup starts Sept 7

I'm guessing not many people on 2+2 care, but it's a huge big deal for the south half of the world (well the Caucasian part of the south anyway). The theme this year is "will New Zealand destroy the way they're expected to". In the warmup matches they've completely outclassed all the competition; their seconds squad has beat the first teams of their major rivals, which is pretty unheard of in any sport.

The format is really similar to the soccer/futbol World Cup, four pools play round robin, then the top two of each pool advance and those eight teams play a single elimination tournament.


Pool A
England (ENG)
South Africa (RSA)
Samoa (SAM)
United States (USA)
Tonga (TGA)

Pool B
Australia (AUS)
Wales (WAL)
Fiji (FIJ)
Canada (CAN)
Japan (JPN)

Pool C
New Zealand (NZL)
Scotland (SCO)
Italy (ITA)
Romania (ROM)
Portugal (POR)

Pool D
France (FRA)
Ireland (IRE)
Argentina (ARG)
Georgia (GEO)
Namibia (NAM)




The first match is Sept 7 ; France vs. Argentina.

It'll be hard to find on American TV but it seems there may be some games on Fox Sports World.

A Rugby game can really be a great thing to watch if it's being played clean and the referees allow so flow. On the other hand, if both sides are playing sloppy and/or the referees are being sticklers, it can turn into one of the worst spectator sports with constant stoppage and no really nice plays, so be warned; if you catch a bad game don't think they're all like that.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

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Pool A
England (ENG)
South Africa (RSA)
Samoa (SAM)
United States (USA)
Tonga (TGA)

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We're going to get owned. That is all.

Also annoying to see Argentina get shafted by the seedings AGAIN. Italy > Scotland could be a very sexy upset pick, otherwise I can't look past the big eight getting through to the quarters.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

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Also annoying to see Argentina get shafted by the seedings AGAIN.

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http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/7...l20logoys1.jpg

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

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I am a welshman and we are not looking too great. should get to the quarters fine but no further.

just need to beat australia so i can have bragging rights over all of my aussie mates

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

Serious question. Does Fox Sports World still exist? I thought it got replaced by the Fox Soccer Channel, but maybe they just added that and moved all the soccer programming and now they only show rugby and curling or something on FSW.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

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Serious question. Does Fox Sports World still exist? I thought it got replaced by the Fox Soccer Channel, but maybe they just added that and moved all the soccer programming and now they only show rugby and curling or something on FSW.

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Yeah I think you're right, it looks like all the regional FSW channels are gone, only FSW-Canada is left, so if you get a bajillion channels you might get that.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

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We're going to get owned. That is all.


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We as in the USA right? Yeah if we can beat Tonga that would be huge; I read some quotes from US players saying their goal is to just be competitive.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

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We as in the USA right?

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I meant England, but everything's relative. SA should kill us and pacific island teams are never easy.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

If you have DirecTV you can order Setanta Sports for $14.99 per month and have access to the Rugby World Cup. I'm not sure if they are televising all the games but I'm pretty sure most will be available.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

The way Wales have been playing recently its not certain that they can even make the QFs. Its sad to see how far they have fallen after the Grand Slam of 2005. The 'performance' against England the other week was embarrassing.

Argentina are a good side and have a really good chance of qualifying for the next stage. New Zealand all the way though IMO