Tier 2 - November internationals

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

World rugby streaming US vs Samoa it would seem. US have beaten Scotland and won back to back ARCs. Samoa seem much improved since their coaching change last year.



Russia also play Namibia tomorrow.

The repechage between Canada, Hong Kong, Germany and Kenya also starts. Thread below:

https://www.therugbyforum.com/threa...-qualifying-repechage-tournament.39132/page-9

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Apparently 9 of Portugals starters for their crucial promotion/relegation playoff will have 4 caps or less! That's one less game for me to watch tomorrow. They'll be slaughtered and completely unable to contest the set piece.

In brighter news, there are reports Brazil might have over 30,000 attend their match with the Maori ABs. Brazilian crowds in the ARC are usually pretty small, so this would be a bit of a revelation if true.

http://www.americasrugbynews.com/2018/11/09/match-preview-brazil-vs-maori-all-blacks/

 

[die_mole]

https://www.pscp.tv/w/1MnxnNqBNXkxO

brazil playing maori in absolute pouring rain but MAB are only winning 14-3 and brazil just manhandled them in a scrum

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I saw that Russia got a pretty handy win against Namibia, 49 - 20 or something along those lines

That seems like a decent scalp, without knowing relative strengths etc. Namibia are a mainstay in the World Cup whereas Russia have made it there once and were pretty dreadful.

 

[Leinster Fan]

I saw that Russia got a pretty handy win against Namibia, 49 - 20 or something along those lines

That seems like a decent scalp, without knowing relative strengths etc. Namibia are a mainstay in the World Cup whereas Russia have made it there once and were pretty dreadful.

No expert but I as I understand it Namibia are advantaged by having an easier job qualifying from Africa while qualifying from Europe like Russia have to is much harder. Could be wrong.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

https://www.pscp.tv/w/1MnxnNqBNXkxO

brazil playing maori in absolute pouring rain but MAB are only winning 14-3 and brazil just manhandled them in a scrum

35-3 at full time and a crowd of 34,000 in pouring rain. I guess the Maori aren't renowned for the strength of their pack (where Brazil are weak) but whatever way you look at it that is a credible result.

Brazil may turn out to be a success story in terms of what can happen when a team is repeatedly exposed to stronger opposition.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

US improvement continues with a winning kick with the last act of the game. The ranking gap between them and tenth is getting quite small. Their physicality appears to being matched with improved ability to do the basics and it is still only early days for them in terms of professionalism, so there is still a lot of potential upside.

Samoa were strange. As the commentator picked up on, they caused all sorts of problems in open play but were obsessed with kicking early phase ball away, particularly in an infuriating second half.

Crowd of about 10k in a neutral venue in Spain is also a good news story.

 

[amz]

Highlights Romania 36 - 6 Portugal (REC Qualifier)

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

This weekend in addition to the repechage we have:

Uruguay vs Fiji
Georgia vs Samoa
Romania vs USA
Chile vs Maori
Spain vs Namibia

All but the Uruguay and Chile games have a bit of uncertainty. For the sake of the RWC I hope Namibia can show something.

Unless I'm missing something there is no test for Russia, which isn't great. But overall it's a reasonable spread.

 

[Brigantine]

Iirc Russia played Namibia last week. And the Dragons this week, which is probably a good match. (Albeit not a test)

Rugby Europe are having a bunch of Trophy & Conference games. I'll be interested in Switzerland vs Czechia and Lithuania vs Portugal.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Iirc Russia played Namibia last week. And the Dragons this week, which is probably a good match. (Albeit not a test)

Rugby Europe are having a bunch of Trophy & Conference games. I'll be interested in Switzerland vs Czechia and Lithuania vs Portugal.

I'm a little confused by the Welsh club's willingness to play Tier2 nations. I suppose they can experiment with fringe players and maintain their conditioning while there is no Anglo-Welsh cup etc? I agree it is certainly better than nothing.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I didn't notice that Romania will be without their foreign based forwards. So their pack will be less powerful. With the (I think) larger pitch I think the US might win by around 14-17, but with so many relatively untested Oaks this is wild speculation on my part. Romania have never lost a test with Plai starting at flyhalf

http://www.americasrugbynews.com/2018/11/13/romania-without-experience-for-usa-test/

 

[Thingimubob]

I'm a little confused by the Welsh club's willingness to play Tier2 nations. I suppose they can experiment with fringe players and maintain their conditioning while there is no Anglo-Welsh cup etc? I agree it is certainly better than nothing.

That's likely part of it I imagine - the Blues side that faced Uruguay was pretty much the Blues A squad that played in the new Celtic Cup tournament, plus some development players who are in the Welsh prem with Cardiff RFC.

I'm interested to see what squad the Dragons will put out against Russia, as it was a very young "Dragons A" team that played Hong Kong due to league games being played a few days before and after. There's no Pro14 this week, so could see a relatively strong team out, with youngsters chucked in for experience?

I'm a fan of it anyway, love the club vs touring side fixtures and think it works out as great exposure for both sides.

 

[Welshdragon2000]

I saw that Russia got a pretty handy win against Namibia, 49 - 20 or something along those lines

That seems like a decent scalp, without knowing relative strengths etc. Namibia are a mainstay in the World Cup whereas Russia have made it there once and were pretty dreadful.

I watched this game. Russia looked very good and they were bringing a couple of new, younger players through who performed well. Their 32 year old Ostroshenko played very well also. Russia look a lot better than I've seen them in the past. As for Namibia, they had a very different team out to usual and the young players looked out of their depth. They do have good players coming through though (as seen in the U20 trophy) so hopefully we'll see them breaking through soon.

 

[Welshdragon2000]

Another interesting game to add is Poland - Netherlands. Poland are on the up and looked good against the Czech Republic while the Netherlands are in a similar position with a bright future ahead. I think i read that the Netherlands have the most U20 players playing for pro clubs (after Georgia and Six Nations teams) in Europe.

USA should beat Romania and I'd be surprised if they didn't. They could (and maybe should) be 13th in the world at the end of the month. That being said, Ive been pleasantly surprised at Romania's young players and they looked really really good last week especially in the backs (albeit against a weakened Portugal side).

Spain vs Namibia is an interesting one. Spain have a point to prove after being disqualified from RWC qualification so I think they'll be well up for this one. They have a couple of debutants in their side who seem to be good players so it will be good to see how they get on.

The Dragons team vs Russia looks weakened but Bevington and Jarvis are in the front row so it'll be a test for the Russian pack which is good.

Fiji by 20
Georgia by 10
USA by 17
MAB by 50
Spain by 9
Netherlands by 14

p.s Portugal vs Lithuania has been moved to next April so that game is not happening this weekend so I'm told.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Another interesting game to add is Poland - Netherlands. Poland are on the up and looked good against the Czech Republic while the Netherlands are in a similar position with a bright future ahead. I think i read that the Netherlands have the most U20 players playing for pro clubs (after Georgia and Six Nations teams) in Europe.

USA should beat Romania and I'd be surprised if they didn't. They could (and maybe should) be 13th in the world at the end of the month. That being said, Ive been pleasantly surprised at Romania's young players and they looked really really good last week especially in the backs (albeit against a weakened Portugal side).

Spain vs Namibia is an interesting one. Spain have a point to prove after being disqualified from RWC qualification so I think they'll be well up for this one. They have a couple of debutants in their side who seem to be good players so it will be good to see how they get on.

The Dragons team vs Russia looks weakened but Bevington and Jarvis are in the front row so it'll be a test for the Russian pack which is good.

Fiji by 20
Georgia by 10
USA by 17
MAB by 50
Spain by 9
Netherlands by 14

p.s Portugal vs Lithuania has been moved to next April so that game is not happening this weekend so I'm told.

I pretty much agree with your score predictions. The exception is I think Samoa will sneak a win in Georgia. Samoa won the last time they played there I think and will not be physically overpowered up front.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Fiji vs Uruguay being streamed by World Rugby - 1300hrs kick off GMT/UTC

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Georgia roar back from 19-3 down to Samoa with 24 unanswered points to win 27-19. Their pack looked back on some form and their defence was stout.

 

[Osezno]

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

In addition to the Georgia vs Tonga and Romania vs Uruguay game threads (and the repechage) this weekend we have:

Japan vs Russia (streamed by World Rugby)
Spain vs Samoa
Portugal vs Namibia
Netherlands vs Switzerland

Samoa seem to be regressing again. It seems they replaced their replacement coach from last year who improved them a lot? They should still beat Spain.

Namibia, Japan & Netherlands are my other picks.