Semi Finals

[Molehill]

New Zealand v Argentina on Friday.
England v S Africa on Saturday.

Can anyone see any chance of an upset in either game? Probably more chance in the first for me as Argentina have found a way to beat NZ a couple of times recently, but still looks pretty hopeless.

If England keep SA to 20 they'll have probably done well.

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

New Zealand by 5
England by 5

 

[flibbertyjibber]

New Zealand will beat Argentina and England's only hope is that the bruising match last night leaves a mark on South Africa and they don't fire.

NZ v SA final for me.

 

[James]

New Zealand v Argentina on Friday.

In a game that means so much, I'd expect the ABs to smoke Argentina by 30+.

I'm picking 44-12.

 

[Furball]

New Zealand's attack in the big games has actually been incredibly efficient. They've got 5 tries across the two games against France and Ireland, and in both games they pretty much converted the only opportunities they had to score.

I don't expect Argentina to pose the same challenge, and if New Zealand's attack fires to the same degree as it did in the first two games, they'll absolutely smash Argentina.

 

[Molehill]

Is there any hope for England? They just look inferior in all departments. I suspect they'll bring back Steward to cope with the high ball, but I fear they'll get beaten up in the scrum again and struggle at the breakdowns. Perhaps only hope is disrupting line out ball, but that's not enough.

 

[James]

Is there any hope for England? They just look inferior in all departments. I suspect they'll bring back Steward to cope with the high ball, but I fear they'll get beaten up in the scrum again and struggle at the breakdowns. Perhaps only hope is disrupting line out ball, but that's not enough.

Very few people gave them a chance last time round in the semis against NZ (2019), so who knows.

 

[Tom Flint]

If kitshof starts we need to target him, was a walking penalty last night. Go back to the Argentina game and kick everything. I wonder if arundel might be better on the wing, he may not have to best defence (I have no idea tbh) but at least he might have the left to almost keep up with kolbe and arendse

 

[Molehill]

Very few people gave them a chance last time round in the semis against NZ (2019), so who knows.

They were a decent side in 2019. They'd been doing well in the 6 Nations and had just soundly beaten Australia in the QF's. I gave them a big chance in the semi and it wasn't a surprise.

This time they've been awful in the 6 Nations and have scraped past Fiji in the QF's. There's a massive difference in quality.

 

[Tom Flint]

We may have scraped through but I thought we played quite well tbh.

 

[StephenZA]

If kitshof starts we need to target him, was a walking penalty last night. Go back to the Argentina game and kick everything. I wonder if arundel might be better on the wing, he may not have to best defence (I have no idea tbh) but at least he might have the left to almost keep up with kolbe and arendse

Kitshoff played one of his worst games I`ve seen in a long time... if the hope is that he plays another bad game then I don't see much hope.

 

[Furball]

Not sure how he wasn't carded last night.

 

[StephenZA]

Not sure how he wasn't carded last night.

He did not give that many penalties away... and it was not in a row. He was a nuisance at the breakdown, and pushed the boundaries and got pinged a couple of times cause he kept pushing too hard. But there was never a need for a warning or anything because he was not doing it at every ruck or anything. I also think he only got pinged once in the red zone. He was not even close to a Richie McCaw level...

 

[Ali TT]

We may have scraped through but I thought we played quite well tbh.

60/80 minutes were the best I've seen England play for a long time but got overran a bit in those 20 after HT. Need to be full on for all 80 and even better to stand a chance vs SA. But then you have to be in the match to even have a chance...

 

[Aidan11]

I can remember when New Zealand were unbeatable.

And it wasn't all that long ago.

 

[Ali TT]

I can remember when New Zealand were unbeatable.

And it wasn't all that long ago.

It was the 2010 FIFA World Cup

 

[Fuller Pilch]

New Zealand v Argentina on Friday.
England v S Africa on Saturday.

Can anyone see any chance of an upset in either game? Probably more chance in the first for me as Argentina have found a way to beat NZ a couple of times recently

Agree. Argentina will be much tougher than Wales would've been (although it would've summed up the current AB team perfectly to have somehow lost to Wales for the 1st time in 70 years!)

 

[Quaggas]

Nienaber's Freudian (?) slip "...it's gonna be a nice challenge..." in post-France interview. I hope they really do take England seriously; hubris was surely a big factor for England in 2019. Could have been a language thing, though, and I have quoted out of context.

 

[ashley bach]

He was not even close to a Richie McCaw level...

TBF not many in the history of the game has been.

 

[social]

Is there any hope for England? They just look inferior in all departments. I suspect they'll bring back Steward to cope with the high ball, but I fear they'll get beaten up in the scrum again and struggle at the breakdowns. Perhaps only hope is disrupting line out ball, but that's not enough.

I get the feeling that it could be closer than some might expect

SA are really good but there’s been times in the past where their brawn overrules their brain and England have a chance if they turn it into an arm wrestle