What sports teams do you support?

[Мастер]

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. Who win, are second, and who lose, are third. If a draw, who score a bonus point while their opponent do not, come in second. If a draw and both score the bonus point, or both fail to score the bonus point, Argentina are second and Japan are third.

[Мастер]

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 fourth, and who is fifth.

We now have some clarity on quarter-final matches. France will face South Africa, and New Zealand will face Ireland.

[Мастер]

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.

[Мастер]

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.

[Мастер]

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/Romania

Pool C - less sorted.
1. Wales
2. Australia/Fiji
3. Australia/Fiji
4. Georgia/Portugal
5. Georgia/Portugal

Pool D - fully sorted.
1. England
2. Argentina
3. Japan
4. Samoa
5. Chile

Pool B will be fully sorted in less than five hours. Pool C in about eight hours.

[Heid the Ba]

St Mirren 0 - 3 Rangers, that steadies the ship slightly.

Played 51, won 25, drawn 7, lost 19.

[Arneb]

And FC Schalke 04 1-2 Hertha BSC

Played 52, won 26, drawn 7, lost 19.

Two wins from this side of the Channel? Wgat a rare sight. Both our clubs now have 5 points between themselves and the relegation zone. A modicum of safety...

[Мастер]

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, against Portugal) to advance instead of Australia.

[Мастер]

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. Australia/Fiji
4. Georgia/Portugal
5. Georgia/Portugal

Pool D - fully sorted.
1. England
2. Argentina
3. Japan
4. Samoa
5. Chile

Quarter finals are France v South Africa, Ireland v New Zealand, Wales v Argentina, and England v Australia or Fiji. We'll know which of Fiji or Australia advance in about three hours (but my money is on Fiji).

[Heid the Ba]

Portugal are making a decent fist of it.

[Мастер]

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 Fiji in, and Australia out.

Pool A
1. France
2. New Zealand
3. Italy
4. Uruguay
5. Namibia

Pool B
1. Ireland
2. South Africa
3. Scotland
4. Tonga
5. Romania

Pool C
1. Wales
2. Fiji
3. Australia
4. Portugal
5. Georgia

Pool D
1. England
2. Argentina
3. Japan
4. Samoa
5. Chile

Quarterfinals are France v South Africa, Ireland v New Zealand, Wales v Argentina, and England v Fiji.

[Arneb]

In Rugbyland, the winner of all four pools is a Six Nations team.

That was.my thought, too. It looks a bit like Six Nations worh a bit of ecotic decoration. Then again, you are in the Six Nations for a reason.

[Heid the Ba]

Previously Southern Hemisphere teams have dominated, it's swings and roundabouts. Oz are awful, the Argies are up and down, the Saffers can beat the Irish but that one could go either way. England should be too good for Fiji despite the recent result.

[Heid the Ba]

Sportsball team does thing.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/67071645

[Heid the Ba]

I had completely forgotten that Scotland were playing Spain at football tonight, and ended up in a Spanish bar where it was on the tellybox. Most of the other patrons were German (do most Germans smoke these days or does it just seem like it?) so there wasn't much interest. I saw the second goal and what the fuck were our collection of barely sentient buttplugs and ambulatory neck tattoos doing? They would have been more professional if they had worn clown shoes.

[Мастер]

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.

[Мастер]

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.

[Мастер]

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.

[Мастер]

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 winner of France v South Africa (two hours from now). Go Saffers!

[Мастер]

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.

[Arneb]

That looks a LOT less Six-Nationsy than last week. Just to see who's boss, what are your predictions for the semis?

[Мастер]

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 over England.

[Richard A]

Southern Hemisphere normally dominate when rugby is on the world stage, so this would seem the normal order of things righting itself.

Although, as we all know, any tournament can have its surprises. I see that in the qualifiers for Euro 24, Wales recent beat Croatia. The Croats won't have liked that!

[Heid the Ba]

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 over England.

Kiwistan should beat Malvinas Penguinas handily and England should pray for a lot of lube. The final will be guile (and brutality) versus Brutality and a fuck load more brutality.

[Мастер]

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 has won 40% of its matches against Australia in the last ten years, but 60% of the matches in the last five years. Wales going down was not that surprising, but Ireland and France were ranked #1 and #2 in the world until this past weekend - as you say, anything can happen, but anything happened twice. Perhaps the brief era of northern domination is now over

Only four teams have ever won the World Cup - New Zealand (thrice), South Africa (thrice), Australia (twice), and England (once). The only other one even to make it to the finals was France, who lost all three times (twice to New Zealand, once to Australia). The other runners up have been England (lost to South Africa twice and Australia once), Australia (lost to New Zealand and England), and New Zealand (lost to South Africa). England have actually been to the final more times than South Africa (four times versus three), but have lost 75% of the time, whereas Saffers have lost 0% of the time.

So among the remaining teams, the track record in the finals has been - South Africa never lost, defeating New Zealand once and England twice, and New Zealand and England have never met in a final. Argies never made it to one, so there is no track record.