Illuminati-R-Us

Arneb wrote:You mean, All Black?

I was for the Argies, but we have to be realistic . . .

Hung be the heavens with black!

Arneb wrote:Just read there have been Molotov cocktails on a synagogue in Berlin.

For what it's worth, I used to work near Synagogue Street here.

I never saw any evidence of a synagogue.

Haven't heard anyone discuss it here.

It has also been noted that four continents will be represented in the semifinals.

I'm also noticing that for 2027 (hosted by Australia) and 2031 (hosted by the US), the number of teams will be 24 instead of 20. Only 26 teams have ever played in a World Cup :) The format seems not to have been determined yet. But we saw a lot of complete blow outs in the group stage this year (e.g...

Southern Hemisphere normally dominate when rugby is on the world stage, so this would seem the normal order of things righting itself. That's often how it has been, but the natural order seemed like it had been on its head recently. Ireland and New Zealand are even up in the last ten years. France ...

That looks a LOT less Six-Nationsy than last week. Just to see who's boss, what are your predictions for the semis? Three of the four pool winners (Wales, Ireland, France) lost the quarterfinals. Only England survived. But, for the semis - I’m predicting New Zealand over Argentina, and South Africa...

And, France 28 - 29 South Africa

So it’s Argentina v New Zealand and England v South Africa in the semifinals.

My quarterfinal predictions were 25% accurate.

Another hard fought quarterfinal, but . . . England 30 - 24 Fiji My prediction record in the group stage was excellent, with Fiji v Portugal being my only misstep. But, in the knockout stage, there are three matches so far, and this is the first one I predicted correctly :( So England will play the ...

Equally hard fought, but ultimately,

Ireland 24 - 28 New Zealand

Argentina and New Zealand will face off next week.

But, I’m already thinking, the final is France v New Zealand.

For the first twenty minutes, it looked like New Zealand’s game, but Ireland had a different plan for the next twenty minutes.

Ireland 17 - 18 New Zealand at the half.

What a hard fought match! Neither Wales nor Argentina have ever won a World Cup before. But only one can keep the dream alive. And that one is - Argentina!

Wales 17 - 29 Argentina

So Argentina will face either Ireland or New Zealand in a semifinal.

Second Monday - Economics: To Claudia Goldin, of Harvard University, for her "discovery of important causes of gender inequlaity in the labour market". So now I am thinking about Dilbert explaining to Dogbert that his boss makes him identify as a woman, so that he can claim to pay men and...

Portugal are making a decent fist of it. Indeed, but Australia needed Portugal to do just a little bit better. Fiji 23 - 24 Portugal, bonus point to Fiji. So the team that recently defeated both England and Australia, cannot defeat Portugal. But, that bonus point was the clincher - it has now put F...

Tonga 45 - 24 Romania, bonus point for Tonga. Pool B is now fully sorted. Pool A - fully sorted. 1. France 2. New Zealand 3. Italy 4. Uruguay 5. Namibia Pool B - fully sorted. 1. Ireland 2. South Africa 3. Scotland 4. Tonga 5. Romania Pool C - partially sorted. 1. Wales 2. Australia/Fiji 3. Australi...

In Rugbyland, the winner of all four pools is a Six Nations team. Three of the runners-up are Rugby Championship teams. It is possible that the fourth (Australia) will be also, but I'm betting against it - I predict Fiji (who only need to win, draw, lose by seven or less, or score four tries, agains...

Japan 27 - 39 Argentina, bonus point to Argentina. Argentina advance, and will play Wales in the quarterfinals. Japan are out. Pool A - fully sorted. 1. France 2. New Zealand 3. Italy 4. Uruguay 5. Namibia Pool B - mostly sorted. 1. Ireland 2. South Africa 3. Scotland 4. Tonga/Romania 5. Tonga/Roman...

59 minutes in, and Japan 20 - 29 Argentina.

Argentina have scored their fourth try, meaning they have the bonus point. The consequences of that are, Argentina advance in the event of any draw. Japan now need to win to stay alive. A draw with the bonus point is not good enough.

Japan 14 - 15 Argentina at the half.

Who win, advance. Who lose, are out.

At the local Irish bar, there is a great deal of enthusiastic cheering and clapping when something goes Japan’s way, and total silence when something goes the Argies’ way.

ireland 36 - 14 Scotland, bonus point to Ireland. With only Tonga v Romania remaining in this pool, the table is; ireland 19 South Africa 15 Scotland 10 Tonga 0 Romania 0 We know that Ireland are first, South Africa are second, and Scotland are third. Tonga v Romania tomorrow will determine who is f...

Well, not tonight. England 18 - 17 Samoa, bonus point to Samoa. With only Japan v Argentina remaining, the table is: England 18 Argentina 9 Japan 9 Samoa 7 Chile 0 We know England will be first, Samoa will be fourth, and Chile will be fifth. Second and third come down to Japan v Argentina tomorrow. ...

England 8 - 14 Samoa at the half.

England have already clinched first in the pool, and Samoa are hanging on by an incredibly thin thread.

But we may witness the first victory in history of Samoa over England. Only a few weeks after the first victory of history of Fiji over England.

Wales 43 - 19 Georgia, bonus point to Wales. With only Fiji v Portugal remaining in this pool, the table is: Wales 15 Australia 11 Fiji 10 Georgia 3 Portugal 2 What we know: - Wales win the pool. - Fiji and Australia will be in second and third; which one is which depends on the outcome of Fiji v Po...

Still eleven minutes to go, but Wales scored their fourth try, which earns them the bonus point, and therefore makes them the winners of the pool.

Wales 31 - 19 Georgia, ten minutes to go.

Even if Georgia win by fifty million points, Wales will now win the pool.