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LATEST WORLD CUP NEWS...(posted 4th November 2003)
The IRB has admitted that the match schedule was unfair for some of the lower ranked teams. Here's hoping that they get it right, or at least a bit better, for 2007.

The Kiwis have admitted that they need to work on their play at the breakdown following the minor heart attack that Wales gave them on Sunday. Joe van Niekerk - the star South African player is out though with injury and the Boks side will certainly struggle without him.

France is looking very quietly dangerous... STILL.. but they're saying that Ireland will be the favourites for their quarter final. hmmmmm... I don't know about that!

England's Danny Grewcock has had a tough RWC campaign! First of all he broke his toe while warming up for his team's opening game, and now it's been confirmed that he broke his hand during the game against Uruguay - poor chap!

I've got an awful feeling of impending doom for our Wallabies. It would seem that Eddie Jones has dug his heels in with regards to player selections. You've got to ask though why there's good players on the field, but some even better ones on the bench or not even selected. Beats me! For what it's worth I reckon that George Gregan should be replaced by Chris Whitaker, maybe Wendell should play off the bench and Lote Tiquiri be a starter, Stirling Mortlock should be on for Matthew Burke, and what about Matt Gideau and Chris Latham? ARGH!! oh well, the game's not over till the fat lady sings :)

LATEST WORLD CUP NEWS...(posted 3rd November 2003)
There were no surprises in the England/Uruguay game last night at Suncorp Stadium with the Poms romping in with 111-13 points victory over Uruguay. The only blot on the paper for England was the way Joe Worsley behaved when he was yellow carded late in the match. More here

If you missed the New Zealand Wales game you dipped out on a great game! The Welsh put it to the Kiwis and the game was awesome. Five minutes into the second half Wales were in front, and while the Kiwis eventually won 53-37 the Welsh really looked like could have won the game. Of course, if would have helped the Welsh if forward passes were called...More here

Well the pool matches are now over and we're into the knockout quarter finals next weekend. NZ face South Africa in Melbourne on Saturday, Australia take on Scotland in Brisbane on Saturday. On Sunday France take on Ireland in Melbourne, while in Brisbane on Sunday, England take on Wales. How's your nerves? :))

LATEST WORLD CUP NEWS...(posted 2nd November 2003)
Yesterday, the team from Scotland managed to snatch a win from Fiji by just 2 points in a match that saw Fiji lead most of the game, but they didn't capitalise on the opportunities presented to them, and a very lucky Scotland won - 22-20!

South Africa had a walloping 60-10 win over Samoa at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. The Samoans failed to produce the form that we saw in last Saturday's game against England, and a series of simple errors saw the Boks totally dominant running in eight tries to the Samoans one. Read about it here

Down in Melbourne the Irish had the Wallabies running frantically and ragged all over the paddock, and the Wallabies were fortunate to come away with a one point win over Ireland in a match that was hard fought and memorable. Full report here.

Today we see England take on Uruguay in Brisbane, and New Zealand take on Wales in Sydney. I doubt that we will see any big surprises in either of these games - but you never know :)

Happy Birthday to Ireland's John Hayes :)

Righto - I'm off for a pre-rugby game BBQ! Enjoy the games tonight :)

LATEST WORLD CUP NEWS... (posted 1st November 2003)
The French made mince meat of the USA Eagles in Wollongong last night winning 41-14. Match report is here. France fielded basically their second string team but they outplayed the USA all over the field. Oh boy I hope the Wallabies win against Ireland today so that they don't have to play France in the quarter final next week! Anyway I'm outta here and off to do some pre-game spiritual preparation for the Springbok Samoa game in Brissie - aka heading to the pub to shoot the shit with friends before the game ;)) Enjoy the 3 huge games today!

LATEST WORLD CUP NEWS... (posted 31th October 2003)
Happy Halloween! Last night the two Pool A minnows had a showdown in Tasmania but Romania were at no stage in danger of Namibia giving them a run for their money, with Romania outscoring the Namibians 5 tries to one, the final score 37-7 in favour of Romania. Match report is here.

The sixteenth man English kerfuffle has finally been resolved. The English camp has been fined 10,000 quid and their fitness trainer, Redden, admitted he'd been guilty of misconduct and he has been suspended from the touchline for two matches. The other charge he faced that had to do with an altercation in the tunnel with Steve Walsh (official from NZ) was dismissed. So, it would seem that England has copped barely even a slap on the wrist - as predicted!! Pretty weak!

We have a huge line up for the last weekend of pool matches. Tonight, France, who are sitting a mile on top of Pool B take on the USA in Wollongong - I shouldn't imagine that the Eagles will cause the French to raise too much of a sweat tongiht, but tomorrow South Africa take on Samoa in Brisbane to determine which team will go through to the quarter finals along with England in Pool C. South Africa will be hard, and given the performance of Samoa against the Poms last Saturday night we should be in for a cracker of a game. I'll be there - I hope that screamer kid isn't there this week :) note - to the best of my knowledge the screamer is still in one piece. The Scots will be trying to redeem themselves to their fans tomorrow night in Sydney when they take on Fiji. It's a do or die match for both of the teams so no doubt it will also be hard fought.

The match that all our Aussie eyes will be on is between Ireland and Australian in Melbourne tomorrow night. The Wallabies are sending out their best team (well a good team - they don't have Chris Latham playing so it can't be the Wallaby's BEST team - and no, I'm not ever going to stop mentioning Chris Latham :)) and the Irish have been playing little games all week long saying that they were going to rest key players, yada yada, blah blah, crap, crap. They're sending out their big guns to play as well - both of the teams want to win because the loser will have to play France in the quarter finals. Trust me - no one wants to do that.. :) So - I hope my Wallaby boys have a BIG win over the Irish on Saturday night!

Sunday's games probably aren't going to be as interesting to watch. England take on Uruguay in Brisbane - I doubt the Uruguay team will bother the English much - let's hope that the poms will be able to make it through the match without having to put 16 players on the field :) And the other game on Sunday is between the All Bads and Wales in Sydney. The NZers are fielding their strongest team - I almost feel a bit sorry for the Welsh boys! Still, you never know - if the Welsh team take it up to the Kiwis and get them going backwards then they're in with a chance for sure!

Happy Halloween Birthday wishes to Scotland's Tom Smith and Matt Dawson from England.

Alrighty - enjoy this last weekend of pool games. It's going to be a bit sad when it's all over :(

Cheers! Go the Wallabies :)