RWC 2027

[neill_m]

[neill_m]

So based on the last qualification cycle etc - you would be looking at Georgia, Portugal, Romania and Spain (assuming they don't mess up the paperwork again) as the 4 for Europe with the Dutch going into the final qualifying tournament.

Hong Kong were the best in Asia outside of Japan so they could qualify with South Korea playing off v Kenya for a spot in the final tournament. Namibia were Africa 1 last time.

In the Pacific / Americas, 3 of Tonga, Samoa, USA and Canada will qualify via the PNC. The 2024 edition starts next weekend. Uruguay were the best in South America with Chile 2nd best and Brazil 3rd best.

The final tournament could be Brazil, Netherlands, Kenya / South Korea, Chile / last in PNC. If either USA / Canada fail to qualify for RWC 2027, not a good look especially for USA.

[neill_m]

6 Pools of 4 in the actual tournament with a Round of 16 introduced, so only 8 sides get eliminated at the pool stage.

[arsebiscuits1]

I love seeing these type threads try and predict who might make it and how wrong they tend to go.

It really is amazing how quickly the game and outlook can change.

In that spirit I tried to have a go at our 33 man squad:

Hookers: Sheehan, Kelleher, Stewart
Looseheads: Porter, Boyle, O'Toole
Tightheads: Furlong, Jager, Wilson
Second Row: McCarthy, Baird, Ryan, Beirne, Edogbo
Backrow: Doris, McCann, Izuchukwu, Gleeson, VDF
Scrumhalves: JGP, Casey, Devine
Outhalves: Crowley, Prendergast, Morgan
Centres: Frawley, Ringrose, Gavin, Osborne
Wings: Hansen, Kilgallen, JOB
Fullback: Keenan

There might be room for a few more bolters. I think there will be a lot of change in the forecast for props. Remains to be seen what kind of impact the likes of McCarthy, Smyth, McGuire etc can have. 3 years can be a long time.

Reading back over it it looks like a "safe" team. Only really named the obvious U20s players in Gleeson and Gavin. I'm not sure how many other bolters might come from this or last years under20s. Realistically they'll need to be capped before the RWC and we just don't see a huge amount of 22 year olds make an instant impact internationally. But never say never.

There are the obvious question marks around players like Beirne (35), VDF (34), JGP (35) who might find it a season or 2 too far.

Poor Edogbo and his achilles might be at last chance Saloon. 2 serious injuries for a young fella, who knows what type of player he'll be after them.

[IanD]

I love seeing these type threads try and predict who might make it and how wrong they tend to go.

It really is amazing how quickly the game and outlook can change.

In that spirit I tried to have a go at our 33 man squad:

Hookers: Sheehan, Kelleher, Stewart
Looseheads: Porter, Boyle, O'Toole
Tightheads: Furlong, Jager, Wilson
Second Row: McCarthy, Baird, Ryan, Beirne, Edogbo
Backrow: Doris, McCann, Izuchukwu, Gleeson, VDF
Scrumhalves: JGP, Casey, Devine
Outhalves: Crowley, Prendergast, Morgan
Centres: Frawley, Ringrose, Gavin, Osborne
Wings: Hansen, Kilgallen, JOB
Fullback: Keenan

There might be room for a few more bolters. I think there will be a lot of change in the forecast for props. Remains to be seen what kind of impact the likes of McCarthy, Smyth, McGuire etc can have. 3 years can be a long time.

Reading back over it it looks like a "safe" team. Only really named the obvious U20s players in Gleeson and Gavin. I'm not sure how many other bolters might come from this or last years under20s. Realistically they'll need to be capped before the RWC and we just don't see a huge amount of 22 year olds make an instant impact internationally. But never say never.

There are the obvious question marks around players like Beirne (35), VDF (34), JGP (35) who might find it a season or 2 too far.

Poor Edogbo and his achilles might be at last chance Saloon. 2 serious injuries for a young fella, who knows what type of player he'll be after them.

You forgot Cian Healy.

I predict he will be playing 9 in four years time - off the bench obviously as he will be 40 in October 2027.

[riocard911]

Well, Agustin Creevy, Argentina's most called player, is 39 and he came on last Saturday as replacement hooker for the Pumas to score the winning try vs NZ!

[naraic]

Hong Kong were the best in Asia outside of Japan so they could qualify with South Korea playing off v Kenya for a spot in the final tournament. Namibia were Africa 1 last time.

The 2024 African Cup (the 2025 African Cup will be the tournament for qualification) was won by Zimbabwe with Algeria as the runner up. Namibia beat Kenya in the 3rd/4th place play off.

Now theres some questions as to whether thats because Namibia had a few retirements after the RWC and they had a weaker squad than usual but they will be back and they blooded some good younger players.

Algeria have started tapping into their French diaspora and are benefiting from the increasing professionalism further down the French pyramid as a source of players.

I believe the South Americans are very upset. They could be the only region to have less teams qualify for RWC 2027 than for 2023.

[neill_m]

Hong Kong were the best in Asia outside of Japan so they could qualify with South Korea playing off v Kenya for a spot in the final tournament. Namibia were Africa 1 last time.

The 2024 African Cup (the 2025 African Cup will be the tournament for qualification) was won by Zimbabwe with Algeria as the runner up. Namibia beat Kenya in the 3rd/4th place play off.

Now theres some questions as to whether thats because Namibia had a few retirements after the RWC and they had a weaker squad than usual but they will be back and they blooded some good younger players.

Algeria have started tapping into their French diaspora and are benefiting from the increasing professionalism further down the French pyramid as a source of players.

I believe the South Americans are very upset. They could be the only region to have less teams qualify for RWC 2027 than for 2023.

I do read on Twitter (@2027Rwc13708) they have several issues with the new system, Canada / USA could finish last in the PNC and still have two shots at qualifying via the playoff v South America 2 and then via the final qualifying tournament. They argue South America 2 should be automatic as well as South America 1. Also Europe have been given too many spots, from 2 + 1 to 4 + 1.

[Flash Gordon]

So based on the last qualification cycle etc - you would be looking at Georgia, Portugal, Romania and Spain (assuming they don't mess up the paperwork again) as the 4 for Europe with the Dutch going into the final qualifying tournament.

Hong Kong were the best in Asia outside of Japan so they could qualify with South Korea playing off v Kenya for a spot in the final tournament. Namibia were Africa 1 last time.

In the Pacific / Americas, 3 of Tonga, Samoa, USA and Canada will qualify via the PNC. The 2024 edition starts next weekend. Uruguay were the best in South America with Chile 2nd best and Brazil 3rd best.

The final tournament could be Brazil, Netherlands, Kenya / South Korea, Chile / last in PNC. If either USA / Canada fail to qualify for RWC 2027, not a good look especially for USA.

The issue is that when the draw is finalised you are going to be pretty much 100% certain which teams will be eliminated. There is an issue with the credibility of the tournament in the early stages when a big team plays a qualifier, it's going to be 50+ points on the board from a top tier second team. Not sure how you solve that as it's been that way since the tournament started. I think it was Chile who came to Donnybrook before the last world cup and got absolutely hammered by a team full of kids and Rhys Ruddock. The periods between world cups is the time to invest in making lower teams better but nobody seems that interested in doing that. Ideally in Europe that might be Spanish, German, Belgian, Dutch or Portuguese clubs in the URC but I don't think that's even a conversation.

[TMC]

I love seeing these type threads try and predict who might make it and how wrong they tend to go.

It really is amazing how quickly the game and outlook can change.

In that spirit I tried to have a go at our 33 man squad:

Hookers: Sheehan, Kelleher, Stewart
Looseheads: Porter, Boyle, O'Toole
Tightheads: Furlong, Jager, Wilson
Second Row: McCarthy, Baird, Ryan, Beirne, Edogbo
Backrow: Doris, McCann, Izuchukwu, Gleeson, VDF
Scrumhalves: JGP, Casey, Devine
Outhalves: Crowley, Prendergast, Morgan
Centres: Frawley, Ringrose, Gavin, Osborne
Wings: Hansen, Kilgallen, JOB
Fullback: Keenan

There might be room for a few more bolters. I think there will be a lot of change in the forecast for props. Remains to be seen what kind of impact the likes of McCarthy, Smyth, McGuire etc can have. 3 years can be a long time.

Reading back over it it looks like a "safe" team. Only really named the obvious U20s players in Gleeson and Gavin. I'm not sure how many other bolters might come from this or last years under20s. Realistically they'll need to be capped before the RWC and we just don't see a huge amount of 22 year olds make an instant impact internationally. But never say never.

There are the obvious question marks around players like Beirne (35), VDF (34), JGP (35) who might find it a season or 2 too far.

Poor Edogbo and his achilles might be at last chance Saloon. 2 serious injuries for a young fella, who knows what type of player he'll be after them.

You forgot Cian Healy.

I predict he will be playing 9 in four years time - off the bench obviously as he will be 40 in October 2027.

Don't know about that but seems he fully intends to play on to try and get to cap to cap 134 for Ireland, possibly all the way up to 142

[suisse]

So based on the last qualification cycle etc - you would be looking at Georgia, Portugal, Romania and Spain (assuming they don't mess up the paperwork again) as the 4 for Europe with the Dutch going into the final qualifying tournament.

Hong Kong were the best in Asia outside of Japan so they could qualify with South Korea playing off v Kenya for a spot in the final tournament. Namibia were Africa 1 last time.

In the Pacific / Americas, 3 of Tonga, Samoa, USA and Canada will qualify via the PNC. The 2024 edition starts next weekend. Uruguay were the best in South America with Chile 2nd best and Brazil 3rd best.

The final tournament could be Brazil, Netherlands, Kenya / South Korea, Chile / last in PNC. If either USA / Canada fail to qualify for RWC 2027, not a good look especially for USA.

A total shambles. HK are not the best outside of Japan. They're just the least sh!t. They're absolutely horrendous and have no place in a RWC. If SK make it then it won't be worth watching. No matter than a school's cup team

[Dexter]

So based on the last qualification cycle etc - you would be looking at Georgia, Portugal, Romania and Spain (assuming they don't mess up the paperwork again) as the 4 for Europe with the Dutch going into the final qualifying tournament.

Hong Kong were the best in Asia outside of Japan so they could qualify with South Korea playing off v Kenya for a spot in the final tournament. Namibia were Africa 1 last time.

In the Pacific / Americas, 3 of Tonga, Samoa, USA and Canada will qualify via the PNC. The 2024 edition starts next weekend. Uruguay were the best in South America with Chile 2nd best and Brazil 3rd best.

The final tournament could be Brazil, Netherlands, Kenya / South Korea, Chile / last in PNC. If either USA / Canada fail to qualify for RWC 2027, not a good look especially for USA.

A total shambles. HK are not the best outside of Japan. They're just the least sh!t. They're absolutely horrendous and have no place in a RWC. If SK make it then it won't be worth watching. No matter than a school's cup team

A very high % of WC matches weren't worth watching already

[Observingprop123]

So based on the last qualification cycle etc - you would be looking at Georgia, Portugal, Romania and Spain (assuming they don't mess up the paperwork again) as the 4 for Europe with the Dutch going into the final qualifying tournament.

Hong Kong were the best in Asia outside of Japan so they could qualify with South Korea playing off v Kenya for a spot in the final tournament. Namibia were Africa 1 last time.

In the Pacific / Americas, 3 of Tonga, Samoa, USA and Canada will qualify via the PNC. The 2024 edition starts next weekend. Uruguay were the best in South America with Chile 2nd best and Brazil 3rd best.

The final tournament could be Brazil, Netherlands, Kenya / South Korea, Chile / last in PNC. If either USA / Canada fail to qualify for RWC 2027, not a good look especially for USA.

A total shambles. HK are not the best outside of Japan. They're just the least sh!t. They're absolutely horrendous and have no place in a RWC. If SK make it then it won't be worth watching. No matter than a school's cup team

A very high % of WC matches weren't worth watching already

I don't understand why they expanded it, about a quarter of the teams weren't at the races

[Ray Donovan]

A total shambles. HK are not the best outside of Japan. They're just the least sh!t. They're absolutely horrendous and have no place in a RWC. If SK make it then it won't be worth watching. No matter than a school's cup team

A very high % of WC matches weren't worth watching already

I don't understand why they expanded it, about a quarter of the teams weren't at the races

For the same reason every decision is taken in modern sport. For the wonga.

[the-goon2]

I think it's good thing. It expands the knockout rounds, which is when the RWC really starts.

The reality is that there are 6 (IRL, NZ, RSA, FRA, ENG, ARG) very good teams and 6 (the rest of 6N +AU + Fiji and Japan) more that could, on their day compete for a QF. Those were the interesting group stage match ups in tier 1. With the expanded knockouts, we will still have them in the round of 16.

The other interesting games, are the matches you would never otherwise see like a Georgia vs Samoa etc. They are teams of similar ability but don't compete with the tier 1. The issue was that those games had nothing but pride on the line as they were never going to qualify for the QFs, now there is space in the knockouts for them. The 4 extra teams add to the competition for those 4 final knockout places in the R16. It's a win win.

The 4 additional teams won't trouble the tier 1, but it means we have more tier 2 match ups with the carrot of knock out RWC matches on the line.

[ronk]

A few competitions recently have extended the knockouts.

All the ones I can think of are much poorer for it.