So the mighty Puma’s turned over the French. Although I have to say, the French lost the game under sustained pressure - too many unforced errors, fumbles and flubs. The Argentines were resolute in defense, and their try was awesome.
So Pool D is looking interesting - the Irish will be hunting hard at the demonstration of weakness at the top.
Anyone else with thoughts?
Si
We are headed to Edinburgh next week to watch New Zeland vs. Scotland. Go All Blacks!
I believe that this will help the All Blacks. As the French were expected to do well, and they still may, this should take a bit of pressure off the AB’s. I’ve predicted a repeat of the '95 final except this time the AB’s will win. 
And in other world cups, the women’s soccer world cup starts on Monday.
U S A! U S A!!!
My money is still on France for this one: the AB’s will choke once they’ve finished poncing about, although McCaw’s a better captain than Thorne was the last time round, and Henry’s a better coach than Mitchell. Taking it as read that the AB’s will make the semis, probably against either Australia or South Africa, whoever makes it through is in the final against France. I’m looking forward to seeing Manu Samoa: they’re always fun, and hopefully they can make it past the quarters this time around.
If Argentina finish top of Pool D having beaten France, then France will meet the ABs in the quarters. Too early for the ABs to choke 
Five teams in a pool could make a difference, though - more space for bonus points, and more weak teams to gain them against. But Pool D has Argentina, Ireland, and France. The Irish will be in the hunt - three teams chasing those two spots.
I’m still up for a SA/AB final. And no food poisoning this time round.
Si
…holy crap! Twenty minutes gone, and the Blacks are up 38 nil. This game will be a bit of a white wash…
Well done the Pumas on this morning-it was a bit of a surprise but they deserved the win.
Predictions on when England will crash out?
New Zealand 76, Italy 14. Well, that was a rout. Howlett couldn’t buy a place in the squad a year ago, and now look at him. Trouble is, we have the easy pool: they need a challenge early on.
It almost looked as if it were going to be today. 28-10 over the Eagles?! They should be ashamed…
They had better be better than that against Manu Samoa, or they won’t survive the pool.
Si
Wouldn’t it be awesome if Manu Samoa did get through!
The US must have given England a fright, a BIG fright and that is not something anyone was expecting. Though France got a worse fright and Canada is scaring Wales.
All this has to be good for the ABs! It would be totaly unexpected if they won, it has been 20 yrs after all!
It would awesome if the Samoans made it through, especially since England is in the pool! And I agree it does make things better for the ABs.
I’m hoping to move to NZ sometime in the near future (I already have my resident visa) and the ABs winning it all would make the move that much sweeter!
Well, the Samoans put the pressure on the Boks for the first half, and were unlucky not to get more points. They just didn’t have legs for the second half.
England should be worried on both counts - the Boks will cut through the English pack like a hot knife through butter, and Manu Samoa will make a contest of it too.
Good luck for the move.
Si
And don’t forget that if Argentina do get past Ireland and top Pool D, their QF will almost certainly be against Scotland or Italy. On current form they should beat either of those two as well.
Los Pumas for the semis!
Springboks 33 England 0
The Boks were dominant but not overwhelming. Their wingers are fast. They have some nice set plays - the chip up and over worked well.
England lumbered, lost Jason Robertson, and only put things together in the last 10 minutes. They will have to really work hard to be up to Samoa.
Si
Boks 36 not 33.
That was just embarrassing for the Poms. On the strength of that, Samoa are going to hammer them into the paddock.
NZ face off against Portugal, and are talking diplomatically about going easy on them at scrum time: in other words, they’re going to dial down their game so as not to humiliate/injure anyone. These mismatches don’t do either team any favours: Portugal’s first World Cup outing, and the poor buggers are going to get 100 points hung on them, while the AB’s just get a training run.
Really, there just isn’t the depth of talent to sustain a World Cup with the likes of Georgia and Romania in it: there really needs to be a parallel competition where the minnows can play off against each other in a couple of pools of their own, with the winners getting a quarter-finals matchup against a quality team. Or England.
And… Portugal show how it’s done against a low-key All Blacks. Never give up, never surrender. Well done, lads.
I totally agree.
Ditto. 