Pool A
Canada
One of the stronger minnows who have improved since coming dead last in Pool B last time round, Canada will be aiming for 2 wins from Japan and Tonga. With many of their players playing their trade in the 2nd division of English Rugby it’s a credit they reached the final of the Churchill Cup, which will serve as an important boost. Coach Kieran Cowley probably has them in their best form coming into a tournament and their squad is as good as it can get, but it’s likely that won’t be enough to see them do better than bottom.
France
Trying to evaluate France is folly for some - You never know what France team will show up for any given rugby international – but their undeniable class can take them anywhere (they have reached the last four in all but one World Cup) and once again they will be dangerous to ignore.
Many will point to their consistency problems –Such as losses to Italy in the Nations – But they bring the best to these tournaments and have been showing good signs in their two warm up wins against Ireland, with the French coming back from eight points down to 13-8 ahead in five minutes.
Their forwards are a real handful to deal with, while Thierry Dusautoir and Imanol Harinordoquy (if kept fit) should prove a sturdy enough defence, all of this headed by the magnificent duo of Morgan Parra and Vincent Clerc. Their pool passage too is a good one, with New Zeland being the only team they are underdogs against and with 2 games to find form before that, it could be closer than others think. If this French side can keep their cool then anything is possible.
Japan
Despite being the smallest and probably most unsuccessful minnows in tournament history (barring Namibia), Japan come here in good form, with wins over Tonga and Fiji handing them their inaugural title at the Pacific Nations cup with a 24-13 win over Fiji.
All Black Legend John Kirwan will be hopeful that they can Tonga and Canada, who both lie just below Japan in the IRB world rankings – Although just one win would greatly improve their record, with just the previous success on the board. Heavyweight pool mates France and New Zealand will be too good but 1 win might be on the way.
New Zealand
Every single time it’s the same situation. New Zeland have the best squad, a quality coach and are so far clear of the opposition the world cup should be theirs in a canter. But since the first inaugural tournament in 1987, it hasn’t happened.
Many reasons have been given – Among the popular “chokers” tag are the theories of peaking between tournaments or simply bad luck –But this time around home advantage along with the usually impeccable form sees them heavy favourites.
They are not unbeatable though – As defeats to South Africa and Austrlai in their last two Tri Nations games have showed – and the same teams, along with Northern Hemisphere stars England and France, will be aiming to wreck their hopes again.
Tonga
Tonga had their most successful World Cup yet in 2007 with two wins over the USA and Samoa earning a third in their pool behind eventual finalists South Africa and England – And fans of the Nations must be pretty gutted that they have been put into the same situation with France and New Zealand in the pool.
Known for being hard hitters, to the point it disrupts their discipline badly - they jointly hold the record for the most number of yellow cards (7) with France and red cards (3) with Canada according to Sky Sports - They will be a stern challenge for many and should be good for at least one, if not two wins this time around.
Pool B
Argentina
Launched themselves onto the International Stage with a brilliant run in France started when they shocked the hosts in the opening game before a quarter final win against Scotland led a semi – final against eventual Champions South Africa, followed up with yet another win against France in the third place playoff.
You get the feeling that the same form hasn’t quite been reached since and their warm ups have left something to be desired results wise – They just didn’t gel against Wales despite two missed penalties and a slow start form the home team, while the loss of their utility back Juan Martín Hernández is a blow. Despite that, they will take some beating and qualifying at the expense of Scotland is an entirely realistic aim.
England
Whatever happens in New Zealand, the England Rugby team can claim to be one of the few English sporting teams to have a good pedigree in a World Cup. Since the inaugural tournament in 1987 England have reached three finals out of six including the victorious campaign in 2003, and have never been eliminated before the quarter-final stage (courtesy of ITV) and even better, come into this tournament off the back of a Six Nations win, with the one defeat against Ireland revered emphatically last time out.
To contrast, before 2007, England had been smashed twice by South Africa, beaten twice by France, and came third in the Six Nations behind Ireland and France – But Martin Johnston’s side has improved since then and a second win is not out of the question.
New talent has come in so the likes of Johnny Wilkinson don’t have to cope with carrying the team, while in Martin Johnson, they have the coach to take them all the way (while keeping their heads down) and importantly, to avoid a slip up against Argentina in their Pool.
Georgia
One of a few steady improvers among the minnows, Georgia have climbed into the top ranking spot for any Northern Hemisphere side that does not contest the Six Nations (1Six) and are improving still having Ireland a massive scare before registering victory over Namibia. The crunch game against Romania is surely their target although an underperforming Scotland would be no harder than Ireland 4 years ago and wins over Russia, USA, Canada and Romania during the past two years show their form, although a lack of top level experience will probably stop them from pulling off an upset.
Romania
Seemingly in decline, it was a massive boost to this Romania team just to get into the Rugby World Cup proper. Romania do have quite an impressive e qualification record for the tournament, having reached every single World Cup and have only one finished bottom of their pool. That could be set to change though, with pre-tournament loss to the Southern Kings franchise exposing serious flaws.
Bizarrely they have been forced into a late change ahead of the competition after their wing Catalin Fercu – One of their most experienced and best players, who has 51 Test caps and made three appearances for during the 2007 World Cup - withdrew due to a fear of flying, which only adds to the mountain of problems facing them.
Scotland
A closer look through the history of Scotland’s appearances at the Rugby World Cup tells that Scotland have been second best only to the world’s ellite. On home turf in 1991 England qon 9-Six thanks to a late Rob Andrew drop-goal; Scotland then lost the third/fourth play-off to the All Blacks.
In 1995 and 1999 Scotland fell foul of New Zealand at the quarter-final stage, before finalists Australia in 2003 having been locked at the break. Argentina was probably a missed chance based on the international status of the two sides, but Scotland’s has fallen a little of late.
That’s not meant to be a snipe at Scotland, who can take heart from a settled squad with “no surprises” according to the Press Association – and two wins in two warm up games is as good as they could have hoped for, even though their 10-Six win over Ireland was as lucky as it gets in International Rugby. Alistair Kellock and Chris Patterson make marquee appeal but Scotland may have a battle on to get to the Quarter finals or further.
Australia
Ranked comfortably the second best side in the world, Australia go into this Rugby World Cup confident of a big performance on what will essentially be home turf. With plenty of pace in the team, they’ll be just as likely to rack up some big points over the course of the tournament and in many ways could be the equal of the All Blacks.
Their form is progressive – A 59-12 thrashing of France reads well even if the French predictably didn’t turn up – and their Tri Nations win shows why they can win the World Cu, with a superb fight-back against South Africa from Six-0 down eclipsed by a 25–20 win over New Zealand which gave them their first Tri – Nations title in 10 years.
With fly-half Quade Cooper dubiously cleared of kneeing All Blacks captain Richie McCaw in the aftermath of the Brisbane epic, along with Will Genia enjoying a star role this season, the Aussies boast a powerful squad, despite their much maligned scrum in the Northern Hemisphere.
Ireland
Ireland have the capacity to produce huge displays, as shown when taking a Grand slam in 2009, and then denying England that honour only this year, but their chronic lack of composure and endless mistakes has left them lagging behind Europe in the past 2 years, let alone the southern hemisphere.
On the back of their 20-9 loss to England on Saturday - Ireland's fourth in their RWC 2011 warm-up matches, having lost to Scotland, France (twice) and England in August – They’re now 8th in the IRB Rankings.
Pool C is one they “should” qualify from but make no mistakes, Italy won’t be pushovers and any slip ups (they did nearly lose to Georgia 4 years ago) are likely to be punished severely. Wth no wins in 4, tough times lie ahead for Ireland.
Italy
Italy have never yet progressed past the group stages but will fancy their chance hugely this time round. So often the whipping boys of the Six Nations, their progress under Nick Mallett – Who has absurdly been denied a contract extension, with Perpignan's coach Jacques Brunel likely to take over – looking to have finally peaked with a historic Six Nations victory over France, the first time they had conquered anyone other than Scotland or Wales in the Six Nations.
There has been a new improved feel t their play, with more passing, and less penalties conceded – for the first time in many a year – than anyone else in the Six Nations. Their pool is also manageable with Ireland looking vulnerable, Russia and the USA being inferior while only Australia looking far clear. A place in the Quarter – finals is not beyond them.
Russia
Russia’s first appearance in the World Cup is testament to their improving domestic game – Something that many other developing nations cannot boast of, with France and England being used as an outlet for most other minnows.
There are only 5 players in the squad who do not play in Russia; Melbourne Rebels lock Adam Byrnes, Northampton Saints wing Vasily Artemyev, Sale Sharks lock Andrey Ostrikov, Viatcheslav Grachev (France), and Konstantin Rachkov of Stade Phocéen in Marseille (France).
The latter named is the urrent Russia-only record points scorer while there’s a mix of youth and experience - Denis Antonov and Mikhail Sidorov are two of three forwards to have won less than five caps, the third being Novokuznetsk hooker Valeriy Tsnobiladze – while 2 further players will be making debuts. Exciting times indeed, whether Russia will struggle or not.
USA
After trips to 6 out of 7 World Cups, it’s time for the “Eagles” to build on their promise and stamp themselves as an up and coming nation. With Italy now fully fledged amounts the 6 Nations, Fiji and Samoa strong challenges in their own right, and the likes of Georgia making some quick progress, the USA are now falling behind in the rankings.
That doesn’t quite do them justice based on their good shows last time out – They pushed England, Tonga and Samoa very close in France – Although recent form includes losses to Japan, Canada, (twice), Tonga and Georgia – and they will be hard pushed to get out of this pool.
Pool D
Fiji
The Fijians are specialists at Rugby Sevens but are building an impressive World Cup resume having made it to the last eight twice, including in 2007 when they edged an all-time classic 38-34 against Wales, while being practically the only team to scare South Africa before they were beaten 35-20
They will aim for the same again, plus a victory over Samoa but they do need to find some form – Two fairly convincing losses to Tonga along with defeats against Japan, and pool opponents Samoa suggest that are likely to struggle, while a 60-14 defeat to New Zealand flatters them as a second string side was picked for the All Blacks. While they’ll present a tough challenge, they could be in for a tough time.
Namibia
The smallest nation here, it’s credit to Namibia that they are appearing at their fourth consecutive Rugby World Cup. Yet to win, and also on the end of one of the tournament’s biggest defeats (142 – 0 v Australia).
Their form this time round is decent against nations of their own quality - beating Senegal, Ivory Coast and Tunisia with a lot to spare – is better but in a deep pool which contains South Africa, Wales, Fiji and Samoa a win isn’t coming.
Samoa
Samoa have a real world cup pedigree for such a small Island despite failing to escape their pool at the last couple of tournaments, with a solitary win over the USA in France 4 years ago. Their form this year however hasn’t been great is you exclude the remarkable win over Australia, where Robbie Deans's decision to rest several big names backfired spectacularly as they scored two tries in each half to pull off their greatest Test match triumph. This time round, they should be able to get two wins and hopefully shock Wales again, although that could be easier said than done depding on what form they bring.
South Africa
The Springboks are chasing their third Rugby World Cup crown from just 5 attempts, which is astonishing when you consider the fact that they did not compete in the first two World Cups in 1987 and 1991 because of anti-apartheid boycotts and reached the last 4 in 1999 and then went down to the All Blacks in 2003, which was comfortably their worst campaign, and it’s clear they cannot be ruled out on any score.
They avoided any of their Tri – Nations counterparts on their way to winning the last World Cup but you would be foolish to think they could not beat New Zealand with any luck as a superb kicking display from Morne Steyn showed when they picked up their first win of the Tri Nations over the favourites, albeit a rather under strength New Zeland side.
The fact that the enigmatic Peter De Villers has decided to include 18 from winning squad for New Zealand shows he’s on the ball – and the fact he decided to rest most of his squad players for the Tri Nations means he has only one injury problem and fresh squad ready to go all the way. Make no mistake, the Springboks are ready to pounce n the latter stages.
Wales
Wales are one of a few northern hemisphere side who merely bring their best to qualify on reputation and their best form, but as with so many occasions before, they have the potential to blowout in a massive fashion.
Wins over Argentina and England bode well, along with only a 4 point defeat at Twickenham bode well, while they’ve kept within hailing distance of New Zealand in the past year or so. The mood in the camp seems to be that they can beat South Africa and while that’s too high flying, a similar attitude will seem them progress at the expense of Samoa.
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