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Originally Posted by Jazzy Foot
I agree with the Ireland v Scotland remark about it being a tight game, except I predict Scotland might spring an upset.
Wales should beat Italy quite easily and I'd hope England will beat France.
Seems to be a lot of talk about whether or not the RWC 2015 would be a commercial disaster if England didn't progress from the group stages. I find it quite extraordinary that there appears to be all this negative talk. Would like to hope England will go all the way but it's tough to look past New Zealand or South Africa. I'd probs put England there in the top 5 picks along with Australia and Ireland.
I think France and Wales will have a poor World Cup.
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What's worrying for England is that they have the strength in depth but Lancaster's chopping and changing this close to the World Cup is unsettling the team. Understandably some of those changes have been necessary due to injuries, but it still feels as though they can't comfortably name their starting 15. Time will tell whether that's good or bad, but this weekend will be a decent test for them ahead of the World Cup with how to handle the home pressure in must win situations.
As for Wales having a poor World Cup, Warren Gatland gears the team up for World Cup rugby. He has openly said that the 6 Nations is just a warm up for the RWC to him, so it's quite satisfying getting the results we have had with just blitz defence and basic attack. I think England, Wales and Australia will all take a win off of each other and one team is going to miss out on bonus points/points difference/tries scored.