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
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| Israel Folau, Australia's lethal weapon (Photo: David Molloy - Flickr) |
Key Players
Michael Hooper
David Pocock
Tevita Kuridrani
Israel Folau
Prediction - Semi Finals
England
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| The current England team, will be trying to emulate the success of 2003 (Photo: Ken Douglas - Flickr) |
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
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
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
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
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
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| 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
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| Fiji will be looking to reach the Quarter Finals for a third time (Photo: M+MD - Flickr) |
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
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| Uruguay qualified with a tight win over two legs against Russia(Photo - Flickr) |
Key Players
Agustin Ormaechea
Felipe Berchesi
These two provide the half back combination which was key to Uruguay reaching the World Cup.
Felipe Berchesi
These two provide the half back combination which was key to Uruguay reaching the World Cup.
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