Rugby World Cup 2003 - Crunch Time!

[flipside]

Again, I agree, especially with the tendencies.

I would have:

1) NZ and Eng. The best teams.

2) France and maybe Aus. Strong teams that can pose the best problems.

3) Ireland , probably SA and on their day, Arg. Good teams that can cause an upset.

The only thing that I would say is missing is the consistancy of the teams. A team like France can hit heights that very few teams, even Eng/ NZ can match, but you would still back them to lose, at least half of the time, to a strong (2,8,9,10,15) team like Ireland or Arg.

[flipside]

I would like to know which half-back pairing that Argentina are going to use. The Pichot/Contemponi or Miranda /Quesada question is a very difficult one

I would have :

S/H Pichot
F/H Cont
I/C Ques
O/C Cont
As the natural continuity of Pichot and Contemponi, with their running and defensive skills could then be balanced with the place kicking and field kicking skills of Quesanda, who could rotate as first receiver as necessary.

[finbar]

These ranking systems are always potentially dodgy because of their purely statistical basis. Look at the cricket ranking system that recently had South Africa the top Test nation in the world - in front of Australia - despite Australia having whitewashed South Africa a few months before.

Anyway, IMHO, the top two teams stand out. No argument. I don't know where Australia stands relative to France at the moment. No one does, not even Tamerlin, because they haven't played for so long

I can only assume that the Boks are where they are on the basis that they beat Australia in one of the Tri-Nations matches, and pushed the ABs in another one. OTOH, in the other two matches against Australia and the ABs, the Boks were thumped. Personally, I'd slot Ireland ahead of the Boks.

The Pumas, I think, are the wild card. They could, on their day, beat at least one of the teams above them.

Ultimately, I find these ranking systems an utter waste of time. The only way teams can be compared is by playing each other.

[flipside]

Originally posted by finbar
Look at the cricket ranking system that recently had South Africa the top Test nation in the world - in front of Australia - despite Australia having whitewashed South Africa a few months before.

That was the funniest thing of all time and showed so much about how the ICC is run.

The point about ad-hoc sampling is totally valid, however, and goes to show how only certain tendencies are indicated and that these are no indicator of how any one match may go.

[academia]

I would like to know which half-back pairing that Argentina are going to use. The Pichot/Contemponi or Miranda /Quesada question is a very difficult one

I read in the newspapers that, after the loss of Arbizu, Felipe Contemponi would take his place as a centre.

So, we are going to use:

S/H Pichot
F/H Quesada
C Contemponi

[flipside]

Ummm...............

Why break up such a natural parternership?

Is it to do with Quesanda's defensive problems being exposed or just to do with Contemponi's greater flexability?

[academia]

Is it to do with Quesanda's defensive problems being exposed or just to do with Contemponi's greater flexability?

In my opinon, it has to do with (as you said) Contemponi´s greater flexibility plus Quesada´s better field kicking skills

[finbar]

Originally posted by flipside

The point about ad-hoc sampling is totally valid, however, and goes to show how only certain tendencies are indicated and that these are no indicator of how any one match may go.

You'll notice - or you might already have noticed - that Havak is the only one amongst us who takes notice of the rankings.

[Tamerlin]

The day Australia will be ranked at the first place, which is obviously not for tomorrow ( ), I am pretty sure you will suddenly realize the meaning of the Zurich ranking system.

[Caligastia]

[finbar]

Originally posted by Tamerlin
The day Australia will be ranked at the first place, which is obviously not for tomorrow ( ), I am pretty sure you will suddenly realize the meaning of the Zurich ranking system.

Nuh. Any statistically-based ranking system is only a reflection of its statistical means. I'm not remotely interested in them. Never have been, never will be. England deserve to be called the beat team in the world because they've beaten everyone else. The ABs deserve to be called second best because they've beaten just about everyone else. Beyond that, who knows?

[Tamerlin]

Originally posted by finbar
Beyond that, who knows?

Zurich's computers...

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by Tamerlin

[flipside]

I was reading the paper yesterday and in it David Campese was discussing his current world first XV.


Playing fast and loose is key to forward thinking

I was interested at how he choose a young, ball handling, set of forwards.

IMHO an exciting blend but not necessarily able to cope in a tight forward battle. The bonus abilities are great but I think that some core forward skills are performed better by other players.

[Tamerlin]

Finbar risks a heart attack if he reads this article, the names of David Campese and Martin Johnson on the same web page and the first praising the second could be too much for him.