It's week two of the Rugby World Cup, and the Boys Team consisting of Steamers coach Clayton McMillan and myself have taken an early lead in the ‘Who will rule the RWC?' competition.
My work colleague Zoe Hunter and I have a little side bet going on, predicting how the All Blacks will go throughout the tournament in England and Wales, and ultimately who will win it. The prize? Good-old bragging rights and morning tea shouted by the loser.
Girls' Team captain Zoe is joined by kayaking sensation Luuka Jones, and both chose correctly that the All Blacks would win their first up match against Argentina.
But it was my vast knowledge of rugby (well, I guessed, but I'm not telling Zoe that!) the lead me to predict the correct points difference, giving the Boys' Team the three point bonus this week.
Here is a quick reminder of how the competition works: Over the next few weeks, 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 three bonus-points.
The competitor with the correct top four come 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.
Currently, the Boys' Team lead 5-2 over the girls. It's meant Zoe has spent a lot of time studying a Rugby Almanac and talking to armchair rugby critics to try and get the inside scoop. I've advised her to simply start saving money to buy my morning tea!
Friday morning sees New Zealand kick-off their second pool match against Namibia, who are yet to win a match at a Rugby World Cup. The side first qualified for the tournament in 1999 RWC, and this is their fourth appearance.
It's unlikely the side currently ranked 20th in the world will beat the world's number one side, and despite how much I tell Zoe it's Namibia's year, she is sticking with the All Blacks and dodging another Japan versus South Africa scenario.
Here are the teams' picks:
Girls' Team:
Zoe's Picks:
Top Four: No change from last week – New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and England
Final: New Zealand v England
Winners: New Zealand
NZ pool play v Namibia:
The All Blacks to win by 85 points. My reasons are simply because Namibia are no match for the boys in black. Plus, Namibia's world ranking is 20th, which is way behind the Abs, who are ranked number one.
Luuka Jones' picks:
Top Four: No change from last week – New Zealand, Ireland, England and France
Final: New Zealand v Ireland
Winners: New Zealand
NZ pool play v Namibia:
I am picking NZ to beat Namibia 99 to 3. Even though the All Blacks are mixing up the team for the match, I think they will be too strong for Namibia, who are the lowest ranked team in the competition. They were thrashed 142-0 at the 2003 World Cup.
Boys' Team:
Greg's picks:
Top Four: Three changes from last week – New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and South Africa
Reasons: Gone are England, France and Argentina and in are Australia, Ireland and South Africa. Taking into account South Africa's loss to Japan, I'm going on the assumption that South Africa will now finish second in their pool. They are likely to meet England in the quarter-finals, and despite home-ground advantage, South Africa will be too strong for the hosts.
Australia are set to meet the winners of Pool B, and I've seen enough in this side to suggest they'll have too much for either Japan, Samoa or Scotland. Ireland have been the best performing European side in the last three years and should outclass Argentina.
Final: New Zealand v South Africa
Winners: New Zealand – but only narrowly. It will come down to the All Blacks sustaining enough pressure to wear down South Africa's passion.
NZ pool play v Namibia:
New Zealand by 100. It may seem a huge target, but Namibia suffered their worst loss to Australia (142-0). Although NZ aren't fielding their strongest possible team, those chosen have a point to prove and there are still positions up for grabs in the top 15. I expect the All Blacks to have control of the match by the 25-minute mark and have racked up 60-odd points by half-time.
Clayton McMillan's picks:
Top Four: No change from last week – New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and England
Final: New Zealand v Australia
Winners: New Zealand
NZ pool play v Namibia:
It's going to be pretty one way traffic, and I'm going 65 points to the All Blacks. Any team that plays the All Blacks is going to probably play about themselves. So Namibia will throw everything at it and won't ever give up. It will blow out at the end.



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