Knockout Stage - General Discussion
 

Quarter-finals

8 October 18:00 – Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Winner Pool C v Runner-up Pool D (QF1)

8 October 20:30 – Eden Park, Auckland
Winner Pool B v Runner-up Pool A (QF2)

9 October 18:00 – Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Winner Pool D v Runner-up Pool C (QF3)

9 October 20:30 – Eden Park, Auckland
Winner Pool A v Runner-up Pool B (QF4)

Semi Finals

15 October 21:00 – Eden Park, Auckland
QF1 Winner v QF2 Winner

16 October 21:00 – Eden Park, Auckland
QF3 Winner v QF4 Winner

Third Place

21 October 20:30 – Eden Park, Auckland
Loser SF1 v Loser SF2

Final

23 October 21:00 – Eden Park, Auckland
Winner SF1 v Winner SF2

Start times are of great interest to me - as I posted earlier kicking may be more important if handling becomes difficult.

After that Ireland victory it looks probable one half of the draw is going to be all northern hemisphere.

Ireland (C winner) v Wales (D runner-up)

v

England (B winner) v France (A runner-up)

Now I'm kind of hoping that we somehow lose to France so that our quarter-final and the semi-final are not on sunday nights at 9 pm like the final!!


so basically if we win against france not only will we probably be playing stronger teams in the knockouts, the games will also be on sunday nights!!!

nah **** sunday night knockout games. worst scheduling ever.

Whats wrong with playing on Sunday evenings?

The All Blacks record at Eden Park shows a great deal of promise for our title hopes.

As does the Wallabies'. When did they last win there? Must be more than 20 years ago.

They've won 4/24 at Eden Park and not won since 1986: http://stats.espnscrum.com/statsguru...eam;view=match

For the statistically inclined, they've won the last 23 matches they've played at Eden Park and not lost there since 1994: Rugby Union - ESPN Scrum - Statsguru - Test matches - Team records

on monday's i start early.
plus can't go out on sunday night, which kills the atmosphere!


definitely will be hoping that we win but if we lose won't be too upset.

Yeah, it is a pretty good record, although I'm not sure how much that means when it comes to WC knock-out games. That said, even our loss in 1994 was due to sensational play by France who won with that "try from the end of the earth". It was beautiful, beautiful rugby and everyone in the ground stood up to applaud it.

1994 France vs New Zealand : Try from the End of the World - YouTube

If we lose to something like that, again, I don't think I'd have any complaints.

That was spectacular!

I wouldn't put too much stock in the venue. I remember about 10 years ago before a game at Carisbrook, the media couldn't stop talking about how Australia hadn't beaten New Zealand there since the 1970's. Australia won easily.

I think the Eden park record is more down to a bit of good luck with the scheduling (New Zealand often playing the weaker of their tri-nations rivals at Eden) than the ground itself offering a significant advantage. Still, if it gives the players confidence, that can't be a bad thing.

So:

Ireland v Wales
England v France

South Africa v Australia
New Zealand v Argentina

Ireland v Wales 50/50
England v France - 70/30

South Africa v Australia 60/40
New Zealand v Argentina 95/5