2019 RWC Predictions

Semi Finalists

Springboks

Ireland

England

Wales

Finalists

England

South Africa

Winner

Bokke

England vs Ireland final ... with England winning their second.

Trust that the Boks will prevail............but they have a very difficult start to the tournament. If they do prevail and beat the AB's in the first round they will have to play them a second time in the later stages if and only if both teams go through.

The AB's always rise to the big challenge and seldom fail.

But at heart I will always support the Springboks.

Wales are my second choice for the cup.

Ireland, All Blacks or South Africa are probably 3 of the top 4 teams, but one of them is going out in the quarters...

• Pool A: Ireland. Scotland. Japan. Russia. Samoa.
• Pool B: New Zealand. South Africa. Italy. Namibia. Canada.
• Pool C: England. France. Argentina. USA. Tonga.
• Pool D: Australia. Wales. Georgia. Fiji. Uruguay.

The likely winners of the Pools are-

A - Ireland

B - New Zealand

C - England

D - Wales

I think the Boks will beat Ireland in quarters, to get into the semis. My semi-finalists would be: 

All Blacks, Boks, England, and Wales. (Semi)

** Not sure what the exact permutations are from here. (e.g. A plays 2nd in Pool B)

I think England forwards could beat the All Blacks, but AllBlacks would beat Wales.

So if the All Blacks draw Wales in the semi, they should get into the final. 

Likely final -  All Blacks vs Wales/England

Hopefully, this is wrong. 

The Boks defense will be key. The coaches of the other teams must have plans to try to get around the Bok umbrella- so need to see if it is effective as it was in the 4 nations this year.

The Boks have lost their attack coach - so it will be interesting to see what options the Boks come up with. I was very impressed with the skip pass to the wing that the Boks have been trying, instead of overdoing the routine crash ball.

Wales seem to have the Boks number, so Boks may be more likely to beat England in a semi. The tactical kicking of Wales is troublesome, and they also seem to damage the Boks out wide

The weather could throw a spanner in the works with log positions.Seems England play their first two games in possible retractable roof venues,the Sapporo Dome is impressive......has two sliding pitches artificial for baseball and grass for soccer.

Other possible closed roofs are the Oita,Kobe and City of Toyota stadiums.

Semi Finalists

All Blacks

Finalists

All Blacks

Winner

All Blacks

While it would be nice for AB and Bokke fans if their teams did win the first game, I firmly believe in the end it will be irrelevant and they will be the last 2 teams standing come 2/11/19.

Possible upsets:  Japan vs Scotland or Ireland. They'll be fired up in front of the home crowd.

                            Fiji vs Aus or Wales. Fiji finally has a forward pack of note and if either of these games turns into a free running affair, look out!

                            Argies vs France or England. People forget that the Argies made the semis in 2007 (finishing 3rd) and 2015 and were beaten by the ABs in a QFinal in 2011. So they always turn up for the RWC and I would not be surprised to see them make it out of their group once again.

France also have a habit of lifting their game at WC's. I wouldn't write them off.

I think the Boks are a little too cocky for their own good. They seem complacent. 

The All Blacks have been working on their attitude all week long and will bring an intensity that might just surprise the over confident Boks.

Besides ... it would be very embarrassing to lose to a quota riddled Bok side.

All Blacks by 5.

Probably a good time to reflect on the comments and calls made.

Good one Moolaa....who would have thought so......you did!

Possible upsets:  Japan vs Scotland or Ireland. They'll be fired up in front of the home crowd.

Moolaa was right about the Scotland - Ireland issue and he needs to be complimented on his insight in that case. 

However comparatively only a minority of people managed to forecast an England - South Africa final.  In a recent opinion poll - 67% of participants felt a NZ-SA final was likely - with only 22% feeling that the final would be between England and SA,   

My own feeling is that the match is a toss-up.  In the last 16 months England played SA 4 times and wo n 2 and lost 2.   The 1 test they lost was effectively a dead rubber game, and the Springboks selected a rather experimental team in that match,  The Twickenham test in November could have gone either way and I think that on the day the Springboks was the better team,

On the other side Wales beat England twice this year and lost against them once,   Taken into account that issue as well as the fact that the AB's played a very poor game against England, I believe the smart money is on a Springboks win in the final.   

England is the favourites, but I think the 2007 game history is against them.