LittleGuy
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He seemed around that hieght but fatter, perhaps he's put on weight since the wiki entry was made I would have guessed 270 or so.
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RWC 2015 Qualifiying
- Thread starter psychic duck
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He seemed around that hieght but fatter, perhaps he's put on weight since the wiki entry was made I would have guessed 270 or so.
Oceania regional qualifying got underway earlier today with opening matches of Oceania Cup. Winner goes on to get smacked by Fiji next year over 2 legs.
Cook Islands 38-5 Tahiti (5T, 5C, 1P - 1T)
Papua New Guinea 29-22 Solomon Islands (5T, 4C - 3T, 2C, 1P)
Match statistics to be uploaded soon by FORU.
Cook Islands 38-5 Tahiti (5T, 5C, 1P - 1T)
Papua New Guinea 29-22 Solomon Islands (5T, 4C - 3T, 2C, 1P)
Match statistics to be uploaded soon by FORU.
LittleGuy
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HAHAHA....so true...last time it was Papua, I think they managed to get a couple of scores at home against Fiji but thats about it...some of these countries are actually primarily league players.
The next round of African qualifying is next week as well though only the last placed team gets knocked out, my money is on Uganda getting eliminated...Kenya and Zimbabwe aren't that bad and Madagascar will be at home...so I think Uganda is most likely to be eliminated.
psychic duck
International
The system is actually unfair that one side gets big home advantage (for Madagascar they clearly benefit more than any other at home) as opposed to the others. In an ideal world it would be home/away, but if there is no money then there is little option really. These African rugby matches are nearly always fraught with most of the teams scrambling to barely get enough funds to play. Getting time off work to travel is another thing a side like Uganda might have to battle with and also is another reason why home has a big advantage.
If Namibia get the tournament at home next year, then I think we can pretty much ink them in for RWC 2015.
They normally try and get through with a reserve team and up it for the final decisive year, but in 2012 struggled with a weakened team to a tight win over Senegal and draw to Madagascar, this year brought in the reinforcements and beat the same sides they only narrowly beat last year or in the past by 30/40 points. Which just shows that they really have an extra gear to spare on the other teams.
I know many don't want Namibia in again, but realistically they will, if Madagascar can only draw with home advantage to the weakened side, then they will have no chance against the side that played this year which added about 30 points to the 2012 side. They still have captain and star player Jacques Burger to bring back as well.
LittleGuy
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I am also leaning toward Nambia advancing, usausa and I watched their match against Tunisia and it was clear they have a leg up on all the other African sides(aside from SA) there was more structure, better set pieces and perhaps most importantly a very quality fly-half in Kotze. It would take a pretty big upset for them to get beaten and the battle will be more on for the repechage spot that goes to Africa.
I want Namibia to get in, if they don't we might very well see a record score put up by the All Blacks against an African side like Zimbabwe or Kenya. Namibia has about 7-8 guys who can fit into other Tier Two/ Good Tier Three sides it's just the depth is pretty shocking and the RWC scheduling has made their task nearly impossible in previous years.
Most of the African games seem to be played on nearly cow patch level fields with the old paper or carboard scoreboards. I'm guessing the organizers went back to Madagascar thanks to the good attendance last year, two matches in 4 days isn't ideal either, but I guess it will reveal which teams have more depth(crucial in an RWC) and as you said PD, the guys leaving work for more than a week could be an issue.
I want Namibia to get in, if they don't we might very well see a record score put up by the All Blacks against an African side like Zimbabwe or Kenya. Namibia has about 7-8 guys who can fit into other Tier Two/ Good Tier Three sides it's just the depth is pretty shocking and the RWC scheduling has made their task nearly impossible in previous years.
Most of the African games seem to be played on nearly cow patch level fields with the old paper or carboard scoreboards. I'm guessing the organizers went back to Madagascar thanks to the good attendance last year, two matches in 4 days isn't ideal either, but I guess it will reveal which teams have more depth(crucial in an RWC) and as you said PD, the guys leaving work for more than a week could be an issue.
psychic duck
International
Agreed. They are certainly the worst RWC team, certainly will lose all games at 2015, but at RWC they get the worst schedule of any teams never mind the weakest one with no depth. Of course they are going to get thrashed playing SA and Wales with 3 days rest, or Fiji and Samoa with 3 days rest. Those are massive physical teams and not opposition you want to be playing with no rest when you are an amateur. Even a side like Italy wouldn't fancy getting beat up by Islanders in back to back matches before facing two top 4 sides. They withheld the first couple in 2011 under 50 pts before fading after that. But so did Canada and others who played their top side throughout late in that tournament.
Also in 2003 that 142-0 match was the reserves. They made like 14 changes for that before the last one. So it was the worst sides' B team, of course they were going to get mullered. That's just evidence of your depth point, not evidence of their top team level. Ireland and Argentina games were their real level that tournament, 60 point margins.
I too agree that if an even weaker side than Namibia somehow flukes through then record books may need dusting off. New Zealand can beat Argentina or Ireland by 50+ points never mind the minnows, there is no better side at thrashing others they are experts at it. However this would be fun to see face the Haka ...
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PNG got smacked 188-19 over 2 legs in 2009 (115-7 road, 73-12 home). Don't have the squads in front of me, but I'm curious on the strength on Samoan squad. As for PNG, they are primarily a league country. They were supposed to travel to the Philippines a few months ago for a test match, primarily to give the Philippines a real scrimmage before their A5N campaign but PNG pulled out near last minute due to finances. PNG come in as the favorites, but with this result, maybe Cook Islands will give them a good run this time around. Last qualifying, PNG won 29-21 over Cook Islands. Bright side of this tournament though is that it is round robin, not knockout like years past.
While I hope a fanatical country like Madagascar stay up and maybe qualify for 2015, I think they are the one's most-likely to go down to 1B in my eyes. They are not sneaking up on anyone this year, and that could be the difference. They have shown to have the playmakers, but forward pack must be an issue. Hopefully we can see full matches, I'm still on the lookout for full matches from 1B last year!
And to update things on the IRB end, their site is once again a disappointment. Last 7 matches now have no match sheets yet (most recent 2, the Oceania games, understandable, it's been only a day). But for the other 5, it's been weeks. The last Euro game (19-11 hosts Sweden over Poland, and FIRA-AER had its sheet up within hours so no excuse!) and African 1B matches not up (African rugby confederation had sheets uploaded, now they are offline, why, nobody knows and CAR tells me they're up)...and now that I recall, I don't think any A5N sheets are up either.
And while we all want the best African side through to the final stages in 2015, I think most people will agree it would be nice to see another African team get romped rather than see Namibia get wrecked again. Just seeing a new set of faces and fanatical fans of countries like Zimbabwe, Kenya (big support of 7s series!), or maybe longshot Madagascar would be welcoming.
LittleGuy
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Zimbabwe were at the 1987 and 1991 RWC's and there game vs. Romania in 87 is still the best game an African side has ever had at an RWC(aside from SA). Though obviously the country has undergone huge demographic changes and is in a lot worse shape development wise, I still think Africa 1 is by far the spot most likely to see a new qualifier enter the competeition.
On an aside, do you or PD know what on earth happened to Kazakhstan in Asian competitions? They were a repechage team last time out and now are in lower divisions...did they have squad turnover? Coaching change? Budget issues?
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Their new coach this year was previous captain Timur Mashurov, so "younger" coach. They haven't had their best player (professional in Russia), flanker Anton Rudoy. They have one of Asia's best kickers in Maxim Lifontov. Seems like their older player are starting to retire/fall off and their golden generation is coming to an end. They had backs playing in the forward pack at one point this year. I watched some of their games and they seemed old and were definitely not fit, hell I think my club team was in better shape. Too many silly errors in handling and decision making a lot of times was poor. Sri Lanka wrecked them in the pack, and overall the heat probably had a huge effect on them too. First game against Thailand they warmed up in the 90*+ weather for over 30 minutes, and coach took blame on that for sapping all their energy. He should've known better as he played against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka in his career. Hopefully their younger players develop well, looks like they had a couple this year playing well. And with Lifontov they have a reliable boot.
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norcalbuff
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There may be records set if Namibia don't qualify, but longer term it will be better if someone else qualifies as Namibia are artificially propped up by the IRB on account of being the African qualifier. They're poorly managed and don't seem to have developed the game outside of a very limited section of Namibian society. Kenya, Madagascar, Zimbabwe and Uganda all have greater potential.
I agree with your potential part. Madagascar has a full fledged league, nationally televised games, huge crowds, etc. It would be great to see a nation like that get some IRB funding to help develop that potential! As Little Guy said, Africa 1 has the best shot of a new qualifier due to format and teams involved. Asia has no shot unless a team pulls off 3 miraculous performances in a row to qualify. Europe is relatively status quo, Belgium won't challenge for a spot. Oceania, already discussed, Fiji will run over who ever wins the Oceania Cup to get in. For the Americas, Uruguay's shot is at repechage and have a legitimate shot vs. who ever comes out of Europe. Saying that, most regions have great competition between them. Americas 1 will be a tightly contested spot in my mind because Canada-USA games, especially qualifiers, are always really tooth and nail. Europe will have a lot of close teams based off this years ENC. And Africa no doubt is a wild card still even though Namibia ran through 1B this year. Africa is also the most exciting because it is knockout rugby, so 1 loss and your done. In Asia, Japan could lose once and still have a great shot at qualifying anyway.
Oceania Cup update:
Official match statistics and tournament leaderboard.
http://oceaniarugby.com/verve/_resources/2013_Oceania_Cup_Statistics_-_Round_1.pdf
Round 2 team sheets posted:
http://oceaniarugby.com/tournaments/oceania_cup/2013/2013_oceania_cup_match_team_sheets.html
Official match statistics and tournament leaderboard.
http://oceaniarugby.com/verve/_resources/2013_Oceania_Cup_Statistics_-_Round_1.pdf
Round 2 team sheets posted:
http://oceaniarugby.com/tournaments/oceania_cup/2013/2013_oceania_cup_match_team_sheets.html
Big Ewis
Hall of Fame
Is there technically a way, a rule that can make a side "unqualify" ? Like, say, as an innocent example, France - if we continue losing every single game til 2015, could we get kicked out ?
I think the only way the IRB can "disqualify" a qualified side is if the national federation is not in good standing with the IRB, like outstanding fees or extreme issues. Otherwise, you could lose every game after you qualify and I think it would not matter since you followed the pathway.
Oceania Cup Round 2:
Cook Islands 39-12 Solomon Islands
Papua New Guinea 39-32 Tahiti
CKI 2-0-0 77-17 +60 10 pts
PNG 2-0-0 68-54 +14 10 pts
TAH 0-2-0 37-77 -40 2 pts
SOL 0-2-0 34-68 -34 1 pt
Tahiti were up until 20 minutes to go when PNG put in 2 tries and a conversion in a 5 minute span. Papua New Guinea perhaps not as strong as in years past, based on the scorebook Cook Islands surely the favorite now. I'll be taking a look at the lineups when I'm at work today to see if PNG played their reserves, but maybe now a new face in Cook Islands will be playing Fiji.
Cook Islands 39-12 Solomon Islands
Papua New Guinea 39-32 Tahiti
CKI 2-0-0 77-17 +60 10 pts
PNG 2-0-0 68-54 +14 10 pts
TAH 0-2-0 37-77 -40 2 pts
SOL 0-2-0 34-68 -34 1 pt
Tahiti were up until 20 minutes to go when PNG put in 2 tries and a conversion in a 5 minute span. Papua New Guinea perhaps not as strong as in years past, based on the scorebook Cook Islands surely the favorite now. I'll be taking a look at the lineups when I'm at work today to see if PNG played their reserves, but maybe now a new face in Cook Islands will be playing Fiji.
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Meanwhile in PNG while this tournament is going on, there is some fighting breaking out in their league matches among supporters...
http://emtv.com.pg/sports/rugby/item/tigers-vehicle-burnt?category_id=8
Pre-tournament banquet of sorts with all four squads.
http://emtv.com.pg/sports/rugby/item/tigers-vehicle-burnt?category_id=8
Pre-tournament banquet of sorts with all four squads.
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Big Ewis
Hall of Fame
Ah, I see. Thank you for your reply.
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