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    The Rugby League World Cup...

    ... begins on Saturday, with England taking on Papua New Guinea in Townsville.

    The Groups are arranged as follows:

    Pool 1 (4 teams): Australia, NZ, England, PNG.
    Pool 2 (3 teams): France, Fiji, Scotland.
    Pool 3 (3 teams): Tonga, Ireland, Samoa.

    Three teams to progess to the semifinals from Pool 1, with the 4th semifinalist coming from the playoff between the winners of Pools 2 and 3.

    Eight years is long time to wait between World Cups and I'm really looking forward to it.

    #2
    The Rugby League World Cup...

    That format is the stupidest thing ever.

    Are the kits any good this time?

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      #3
      The Rugby League World Cup...

      Hmmmm, nothing that exciting ;

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        #4
        The Rugby League World Cup...

        Gawd.

        Why are the Papuans forced to wear bibs?

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          #5
          The Rugby League World Cup...

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            #6
            The Rugby League World Cup...

            The Fijian (the captain, I presume) looks so out of proportion widthways with the rest of them he looks like he's been photo-shopped in there. In fact, I am surprised about the variation in body types in that group overall, the Papuan looks like the spindliest RL player I have ever seen.

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              #7
              The Rugby League World Cup...

              I don't really agree with the format either, but the aim seems to be to avoid the blowouts that characterized the RLWC in 2000. Of course the Aussies are favourites, but I don't think their squad is as strong as it was in 2000 or 1995, and I reckon the teams in the super pool will give them a run for their money. I'm looking for a big improvement from the French now that Les Catalans have a fulltime professional side in the Super League.

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                #8
                The Rugby League World Cup...

                England best Wales 70-0 in a warm-up for this the other day. No Russia or Lebanon this time? Also, do they play league in Georgia at all?

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                  #9
                  The Rugby League World Cup...

                  The Lebanese failed to qualify (they lost to Samoa in the repechage final), which is a shame since RL is starting to take off in the country. Russia lost to Ireland and Lebanon in their qualifying group so didn't progress.

                  Georgia did play RL briefly (I think the majority of their players switched from the RU competition), but they were kicked out of their qualifying group because they were unable to raise a team to travel to Russia. I'm not sure of the exact details, but I was under the impression their players were made unavailable by their RU clubs so could not fulfil their fixtures.

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                    #10
                    The Rugby League World Cup...

                    In fact, I am surprised about the variation in body types in that group overall


                    They should've included England's 5ft 5in scrumhalf Rob Burrow in the photoshoot.

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                      #11
                      The Rugby League World Cup...

                      Man, those Quins players have some short shorts.

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                        #12
                        The Rugby League World Cup...

                        I thought the guy in the middle of the photo was the top half of this for a minute;

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                          #13
                          The Rugby League World Cup...

                          This whole tournament set-up is just such a convoluted attempt to pretend that anyone other than a few parts of Australia, New Zealand and England give a toss about (or are any good at) Rugby League, it's ... actually quite wonderful, and brilliantly done.

                          BTW, The Times today actually tried to re-invent history by claiming that "England" had last won the trophy in 1972 - they didn't. Great Britain did - in front of about 5,000 fans in Lyon.

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                            #14
                            The Rugby League World Cup...

                            Isn't it two tournaments in one? A six-team plate to provide one whipping-boy, with manoeuvring among the big boys to determine their running order in the semis?

                            Unless the Papuans spring a surprise, I suppose.

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                              #15
                              The Rugby League World Cup...

                              Duncan Gardner wrote:
                              Isn't it two tournaments in one? A six-team plate to provide one whipping-boy, with manoeuvring among the big boys to determine their running order in the semis?

                              Unless the Papuans spring a surprise, I suppose.
                              Yeah, you could say that, though I think the team that does progress from Pool B or C will have at least proved themselves against some fairly handy sides, so won't be a complete pushover in the semis.

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                                #16
                                The Rugby League World Cup...

                                The winner of the B v C minnows group playoff meets the winners of group A in the semis - I'd expect them to lose by at least 40 points, unless the A1 side take it real easy.

                                The format also raises the probability that England will play New Zealand in a final pool match in order to decide which of them will finish in positions A2 and A3.

                                The ensuing semi-final will be, er, A2 v A3.

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                                  #17
                                  The Rugby League World Cup...

                                  The winner of the B v C minnows group playoff meets the winners of group A in the semis - I'd expect them to lose by at least 40 points, unless the A1 side take it real easy.
                                  That's always possible, but you should remember that the teams most likely to reach the semis from these groups (say Samoa, Tonga and France) draw most of their players from the Super League and Australia - they will be fielding experienced sides.

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                                    #18
                                    The Rugby League World Cup...

                                    At least they haven't padded the tournament with bogus teams from Lebanon, Russia or Georgia this time...!

                                    The rugby league world cup will be greeted with massive indifference in four out six Australian states....

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                                      #19
                                      The Rugby League World Cup...

                                      I like the format for this Rugby League World Cup. I think it will prevent the one-sided affairs that plagued previous World Cups, although I think Papua New Guinea got the raw end of the deal being put into Group A. I expect Australia to win this championship handily.

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                                        #20
                                        The Rugby League World Cup...

                                        trimster wrote:
                                        The rugby league world cup will be greeted with massive indifference in four out six Australian states....
                                        Make that six out of six. Only 34,000 at Australia-New Zealand, a smaller crowd than the Australia-Ireland international rules game in Perth. The rest of the games have attracted attendances that would embarrass the A League.
                                        It'll be interesting to see how many show up for the one game that's not being played in rugby league territory - Australia v England in Melbourne this weekend.

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                                          #21
                                          The Rugby League World Cup...

                                          At least they haven't padded the tournament with bogus teams from Lebanon, Russia or Georgia this time...!
                                          Both Lebanon and Russia have their own domestic competitions, and have had for some time now. 17 of the 24 in the Russian squad of 2000 were born in Russia and plied their trade there, and whilst Lebanon were made up of Australo-Lebanese players, the domestic comp there is providing players for international duty now.

                                          International RL does lack some credibility at the moment, due to Australia's overwhelming dominance since the late 1970s. However, England are beginning to catch up and a second NZ team in the NRL could see an improvement in their international fortunes, although the Kiwis' 2005 Tri-nations victory over Australia (24-nil) does suggest that they are competitive.

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                                            #22
                                            The Rugby League World Cup...

                                            Is this "world cup" thingy still going?

                                            I've seen nothing in the media about it for several days... or do they have a long break between matches...?

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                                              #23
                                              The Rugby League World Cup...

                                              trimster wrote:
                                              Is this "world cup" thingy still going?

                                              I've seen nothing in the media about it for several days... or do they have a long break between matches...?
                                              The post-match recovery period RL players require is quite long, so most games are being played over the weekends - I think this is similiar to the RUWC format. Group fixtures for this weekend are:

                                              Friday: Samoa v Tonga, 7:55am.
                                              Saturday: Fiji v France, 6:25am; New Zealand v Papua New Guinea, 8:55am.
                                              Sunday: Australia v England, 8:55am
                                              (all kickoff times GMT)

                                              Today's game between Samoa and Tonga is set to be a cracker from the off - no love lost between the two sides. PNG could upset NZ, if last week's games are anything to go by, and Australia versus England should be a good contest too.

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                                                #24
                                                The Rugby League World Cup...

                                                I think it's a shame that they've had to build up the Tonga v Samoa match as some sort of fight where you might see a rugby match break out.

                                                I mean, they manage to play each other every year in the Pacific Islands Cup without all this foofarrah and they're playing alongside one another in the Pacific Islanders' team against England in a couple of weeks, they can't hate one another that much.

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                                                  #25
                                                  The Rugby League World Cup...

                                                  The buildup to the game really was over the top. The rivalry is there, but to suggest they hate each other was a bit too much.

                                                  Classic game of RL though. Samoa winning 20-12 after a close first half. It was great to see players willing to throw themselves into the game and play some brilliant off-the-cuff rugby. It tired me out just watching it!

                                                  The crowd in Penrith were fantastic too.

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