didds wrote:Quite low odds id imagine. A glance at the draw, versus world rankings leading into the RWC showed England had an almost guaranteed SF space.
Anybody they would have played at QF were eminently beatable (basically one of Aus, wales and Fifi), no matter what happened in the pool game against Arg.
Sco never had a chance with that draw made almost three years ago... wales would have had a QF against Arg or Eng;land, and likely to lose to both given rankings heading into RWC.
That leaves Fra and ire of colurse, 1 & 4 respectively in the rankings at the start... but there's a fag paper between the top 4 teams 9and clear blue water to fifth) so those QFs were always a decsion here, a slip there, a missed kick ... (That conversion charge down potebntially saved the game for SA....)
As a bitter Ireland fan I'm not going to rehash any of the myriad conversations about the draw...
However, I have just received an email from World Rugby, with tickets for sale for both SFs. There'll be plenty Eng fans there I'm sure, but I think the organisers will have been hoping/planning for Fra and/or Ire to still be there. Plenty SA fans will be there too, but unsure about NZ/Arg representation!