Rugby World Cup - Pool A

On the 18th September the Rugby World Cup will officially kick-off.
The tournament with 4 groups, 20 teams, represents International Rugby's pinnacle.

Over the next 4 posts I will review the 4 groups.

Group A

Australia
England
Wales
Fiji
Uruguay

Group A is by far the hardest group. With only 2 teams going through, 1 of the top 6 ranked rugby nations will be going out in the group stage.

Australia

Israel Folau, Australia's lethal weapon
(Photo: David Molloy - Flickr)

This is a team going through what feels like a constant stage of transition, they were rebuilding under Ewen McKenzie until the text saga, with Kurtley Beale and a female general manager broke, splitting the squad. Michael Cheika has come in and Australia have improved, winning their first Rugby Championship, after beating the All-Blacks.

Key Players
Michael Hooper
David Pocock
Tevita Kuridrani
Israel Folau

Prediction - Semi Finals

England

The current England team, will be trying to emulate the success of 2003
(Photo: Ken Douglas - Flickr)

A good build up to this world cup in contrast to the previous one, which ended badly, but in truth never really went well. This time around the lead in has been positive, with two Six nations campaigns that resulted in being runners-up on points difference alone.

Stuart Lancaster has been building his squad towards the World Cup since the 2011, and before through his involvement in the Saxons. England lack experience in a few key positions, such as Hooker, Centre and Wing. However, on a positive side, there is good depth to their squad and home advantage which could be key.

Key Players

Joe Launchbury - his agility in the second row is key, as both Launchbury and Lawes play a dual role of second row and back row, such is their physicality and mobility.

Jonathan Joseph - relatively inexperienced at international level, however he excelled in the six nations, showing great pace and agility to score 4 tries.
Mike Brown - his kicking, tackling and line breaks are a key part of England's game, they struggled without him in Ireland in the Six nations.

Prediction - Finals

Wales

The Welsh team will need to be united to overcome England, Australia and Fiji
(Photo: Marc - Flickr)

The reason there are 3 top nations in this pool is entirely down to Wales, as this article explains.

Wales had a poor run of form, at the wrong time, just when the rankings decided who would be seeded where, Wales played a superfluous fixture against Australia, which they lost, and ended up ranked 9th.

Under Warren Gatland, Wales have been hit and miss, when they are good, they play an effective game, utilising the pace and power of George North and Jamie Roberts to cut open defences and Leigh Halfpenny's boot punishing the opposition's indiscretion.

However, injury to Halfpenny and Rhys Webb, starting scrum half, will cause disruption to the team, and could lead to an early exit.

Key Players
George North
Lee Williams - with Halfpenny absent, Williams will be a key attacking threat from full-back, but is himself only just recovering from injury.
Alun Wyn-Jones

Prediction - Group stage

Fiji

Fiji will be looking to reach the Quarter Finals for a third time
(Photo: M+MD - Flickr)

The 9th ranked nation in the world, Fiji are by no means pushovers. They have been grouped with Wales in the last two World Cups, beating Wales in 2007 but losing comprehensively in 2011.

Many of the Fijians play in Europe, particularly in France. 

Key Players
Niki Goneva - the Leicester centre combines pace and power and is a key threat in Fiji's midfield.
Nemani Nodolo - he is an accurate goal-kicker and a powerful and pacey winger, if Fiji are going to win games, he is the man to provide the points.
Nikola Matawalu - the Glasgow scrum-half is headed to Bath after the World Cup, such is his ability. He is the spark in the Fijian side, and could be a thorn for his opponents.

Prediction - Group stage

Uruguay

Uruguay qualified with a tight win over two legs against Russia(Photo - Flickr)

Unfortunately, for Uruguay they are try fodder for the rest of the teams in this group.  They did well to qualify for the World Cup beating Russia 57 - 49 on aggregate, but the World Cup will be a significant step up in class.


Key Players

Agustin Ormaechea 
Felipe Berchesi
These two provide the half back combination which was key to Uruguay reaching the World Cup.

Super starts and slow getaways

Man City fans have plenty to sing about after their start to the season
(Photo: Duncan Hull - Flickr )

The football season has begun, and the tables are starting to take shape, so I thought I'd look at some of the teams who have had the best and worst starts across the leagues.

Manchester City - Yet to concede and yet to taste anything other than victory.

Chelsea - Last year's champions have made a terrible start, with 1 win in 5 and 3 defeats already, which is the same amount of defeats they had across the whole of 2014/15 season.

Brighton - 16 points from 6 games, the surprise of the Championship, Brighton have had a great start, beating Hull, Ipswich and Nottingham Forest. 

Newport - 1 point from 7 games, a tough start for Newport, especially after a last minute penalty at the weekend denied them a point, it was their fourth defeat of the season by a one goal margin.

Carlisle - Not a team but a player, Jabo Ibhere has scored 10 goals in 8 games for Carlisle.

In the wee wilds above the wall
(Photo: Glen Bowman - Flickr)

North of the border

Aberdeen - After beating Celtic at the weekend, they have won their first 6 games, and look like they could pose a threat to Celtic, along with Hearts.

Rothes, 9 games, no wins and 55 goals conceded, a disastrous start for Rothes, except their season almost never started at all, as they faced a £30k tax bill, and were saved by a £16k donation.