Rugby World Cup Groups
March 27, 2007
For the rugby fans, the groups have been finalized for the World Cup in France in September:
| Pool A England South Africa Samoa United States Tonga |
Pool B Australia Wales Fiji Canada Japan |
Pool C New Zealand Scotland Italy Romania Portugal |
Pool D France Ireland Argentina Georgia Namibia |
The top two countries listed in each pool will probably go through to the quarters, although Italy and Argentina might threaten to pull off an upset and sneak through. Italy beat Scotland in their Six Nations clash this year, and every Puma fan fondly remembers Argentina spoiling Ireland's party in the last world cup. Samoa are always an outside chance to upset the more favoured nations, but I think England and South Africa will be too strong for them. The Samoans are always a physical challenge though, making getting through Pool A (along with the hard-tackling Tongans) a bruising proposition.