All Blacks still the top pick

It's the last week of pool play, and finally the Girl's Team have made the 'Who Will Rule The Rugby World Cup?” challenge a competition.

Zoe picked up the last set of bonus points, with her predictions taking her team to nine points, while the Boys' Team still lead with 12.


There's always a winner and a loser.Question is, will it be Greg or Zoe? Photo: SunLive.

Here is a quick reminder of how the competition works. The Girls' Team of Zoe Hunter and Luuka Jones are up against the Boys' Team of Clayton McMillan and myself.

Both teams have to predict how the All Blacks will go throughout the Rugby World Cup and ultimately who will win it. The prize is bragging rights and a well-earned morning tea shouted by the loser.

Each competitor gets a point for choosing which team wins in the All Blacks' pool match and the competitor with the closest points in the match gets the bonus-points.

The competitor with the correct top four in the semi-finals gets four points and the competitors who choose the finalists and the winner of the final get four points as well. At the end of the tournament, the team with the most points is declared the winner.

Zoe took the reins and wrote last week's article, but unfortunately she got all confused and thought it meant she could change the rules and tried to add extra points.

While her idea was a gallant one, it started to get a little ridiculous when she also wanted to give a bonus point to her team because she thinks Nehe Milner-Skudder has a cute haircut.

Well, things are back to normal again. I'm back on deck and Zoe is busy looking up the rule book to see if she can get England back into the tournament on a technicality. Fortunately, I don't need to predict how that is going to turn out.

So as we draw near to the quarter-finals, there are still a couple of places to be decided in pool play. New Zealand's Pool C is pretty much decided – New Zealand should win with Argentina the runners-up.

Pool B's winner will be South Africa and they are likely to meet New Zealand in the semi-finals. But Pool B's runner up is still up for grabs with Japan needing a bonus point win and a Scotland defeat to Samoa to qualify.

Pool A is interesting, and with Australia and Wales equal on 13 points, it will come down to who wins their pool match on Saturday. The loser will have the unenviable task of playing South Africa in the quarter-final, with the winner taking on either Scotland or Japan.

Pool D is another that's too close to call, with Ireland and France both on 14 points each. The two sides meet on Sunday, with the loser facing New Zealand in the quarter-final and the winner going up against Argentina.

So that's is the scenario, and it's the last chance for the Girls' and Boys' Teams to make any changes to who the final four will be.

I've already given Luuka the tip of putting England in her final four and for them to win the final. But she seems like a shrewd character and not easily influenced.

As for Zoe, I've just looked over at her desk and she has her star chart out and has been mumbling into her tea cup asking the tea leaves what they think. Good luck Zoe.

The All Blacks play their last pool match against Tonga at St. James' Park in Newcastle, and here are the teams' picks:

Girls' Team:

Zoe: My final four are New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and France. I have inside information (again, Zoe, tea leaves aren't considered inside information).

New Zealand v Tonga: 56-13 to our boys.

Reason: Tonga are very physical, so will put up a good fight. But I don't think it'll be high scoring because the ABs haven't peaked yet and they don't need to until the quarter finals. Plus, at the World Cup these days it seems we're not going to get a cricket score!

Luuka:We are on the comeback train. Wohoo! Okay, changes to my top four are All Blacks, France, Australia and Ireland. I would love to have Wales in there too, mostly because half the team are Jones' and I feel the connection.

New Zealand v Tonga: I feel it will be a 27 point margin. I am going to go with a 44-17 All Blacks win.

Reason: The All Blacks are building into this competition and Tonga will be no match, but will get a few points. It should be a good game.

Boys' Team:

Greg: For the third time in this tournament, I'm changing my top four (nothing wrong with being consistent). It's been pretty hard to pick a final four and looking at what Zoe, Luuka and Clayton have chosen, they're all good choices. My final four are New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland and Australia.

Reasons: I was hoping New Zealand would avoid South Africa in the semis. I really wanted a NZ v SA final, but that's the way life goes. It's too close to call who New Zealand will meet in the final out of Australia and Ireland. It's true Ireland have been the Aussies' boggy team at World Cups, but Australia are in stellar form and, providing they don't have key players injured, could go all the way to the finals.

All Blacks v Tonga: It's going to be tough but I think the All Blacks will be too strong and will win by 35 points.

Clayton: My top four has changed this week, and I'm going for New Zealand Australia, Ireland and South Africa. Of course I'm going for the All Blacks to win.

All Blacks v Tonga: It's going to be a very physical game, but definitely New Zealand to win by 60 points.

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1 comment

AB's

Posted on 09-10-2015 10:36 | By Plonker

The Props and loose forwards look a little weak to me, at least the named front runners do anyway. AB's yet to have a hard game so fat a very soft road to take. France/Ireland will be the first serious hurdle to jump. Will they step up???


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