I said it a few weeks ago, but after some really interesting matches in the first weeks of the Rugby World Cup, things got really boring, and they still are - but, soon the fun and the excitement around the tournament will arise once again.
Of course, if you are a hard-core rugby fan, you are for sure enjoying every single day of the world cup, no matter what. But, if you aren't a hard-core fan, watching South Africa win 66-7 against Canada, seeing New Zealand win 71-9 against Namibia, and Ireland win 35-0 against Russia, is actually kind of boring. I am a big fan of nordic skiing, but it is getting so boring, simply because the Norwegian girls and men often win all the medals in the same competition. That makes it boring. And so, the Rugby World Cup has at times been very boring, simply because of the quality gap between the best and the rest of the nations taking part.
There have been some highlights...
We had some awesome moments in the start of the Rugby World Cup. I would clearly say some of the highlights of the tournament so far have been the following matches:
- Wales - Australia (ended with 29-25 victory for Wales)
- Japan - Ireland (the shock of the tournament which ended with a Japanese 19-12 victory)
- New Zealand - South Africa on the second day of the World Cup which ended with a victory for New Zealand.
- France - Tonga was a "b" match, but still, a close one in which France won with 2 points in the end.
So, these are the most interesting and close matches that have been played so far in the tournament. But, things are heating up!
On October 19th, the knockout stage of the Rugby World Cup will start. Before we get there, there will be one more week with quite "boring" matches in which it should be easy to bet on the outcome of the matches (that is, which nation will win the matches).
But, when we get to the knockout stage, it will get interesting at once! Yes, we might actually see a match between Ireland and New Zealand in the quarter-final already!!!
In the knockout stage of the Rugby World Cup
On October 19th, we will most likely see England (winner group C) play against Australia (runner-up group D) in the first game. And even more crazy, we will see the winner of group B play against the runner-up in group A... do you know what that match might look like? It might end up being between New Zealand and Ireland, the two best rugby nations in the world. It all got messed up when Ireland lost against Japan, and now the quarter-final might turn into one crazy, awesome game! I said it, things will heat up for sure as we get to the knockout stage.
If everything happens according to the book, the other two quarter-finals will be played on October 20th between Japan and South Africa, and between Wales and France.
Are you ready for some fun? You can read more about the Rugby World Cup and see a full schedule at http://www.watchworldcup.net/