As D-Day approaches: A Rugby World Cup Overview

So it looks like Cian Healy isn't going to make it for the USA game and that Gordan D'Arcy may also miss out. So no good news then. Since the defeat to England it's been very hard to find any positives from any of the warm-up games and frankly I'm sick of it, as I'm sure most of us are. At this stage there seems to an argument for ignoring the August internationals entirely and now focusing on how we go in the Pool fixtures. I'm all for that! And that, believe it or not, is the only positive for Ireland at the moment. That it's still all to play for...

So while it would be all gloom and doom to talk entirely about Ireland I decided to do a Pool by Pool guide thingy and just take it from there. Well, it was suggested to me that I should do one. So here it is...

Pool A - New Zealand, France, Japan, Tonga, Canada

New Zealand will not be delighted at having to face France in a World Cup again and, to be honest, they have every right to be nervous. Unfortunately for the All Blacks they appear to have peaked too early again, if only very slightly, and France seem to actually be in a very good place, despite the best efforts of their coach. In fact, I really fear what France could be like with the right coach! Don't get me wrong, New Zealand are still the best team in the world, but cracks have begun to appear in their game and this will more than ever make them a target for the pretenders to the throne, with whom the gap has definitely closed. Despite all of this, I still expect the All Blacks to top the group, but it is still contingent on the presence of Dan Carter and a couple of others like Richie McCaw and Kieran Read in the back-row. For France it's a little different. With the incredible depth in French rugby they have more or less a capable reserve in every position, though back-up fly-half is also a problem for them. If the ramblings of coach Marc Lievremont have done anything for them, it's that they have a huge number of players who have played in the team in the last few years, and this allows these so-called 'fringe' players to slot in all the easier. It makes them somewhat inconsistent, but it also means they are always capable of being world-beaters. If, by chance, the right fifteen players take to the field on the right day, they are lethal! Mind you, it's incredible how Lievremont could leave behind players of the calibre of Yannick Jauzion and Clement Poitrenaud. The mind boggles...

McCaw & Dusautoir, who famously made 38 tackles in the game which saw France knock New Zealand out of the World Cup four years ago, two more than the entire All Black team.

For the rest, I believe it's between Japan and Tonga for third place, making Canada the whipping boys. Japan won the Pacific Nations Cup earlier this year and must be considered one of the emerging nations, while Tonga probably don't have the same quality of player that Fiji and Samoa possess. They do, however, have Northampton's Soane Tonga-Uiha, probably one of the best loose-head props around. You should also look out for Connacht-bound Tongan winger Fetu'u Vainikolo. I might also point out that Japan have been known to be quite an entertaining team and, in fact, this could be a worthwhile group to keep an eye on.

Pool B - England, Argentina, Scotland, Georgia, Romania

Contepomi and Ledesma

This is not only a tricky group to call, it also has the potential to be the most physical! All five of these teams employ big packs and this is reflected in how they play the game. Aside from that, however, it could also be seen as the group with the least quality. If Pool A has the potential for a decent splattering of entertainment, then the opposite could just as easily be said about this group. Romania are likely to be worst off and while the Georgians will again menace their opposition up front, they may just about come up short. England would appear to be the team with the most quality here, if that doesn't say much, but the second place will be the most hotly contested. Argentina are not the team they were four years ago, apart from a few all-to-familiar names up front. But that in itself is the problem, great players like Mario Ledesma, now at 38, are too old and they are without battle-hardened replacements. In fact, I was astounded to hear Keith Wood say the other week that Ledesma was his elder by a couple of months! Equally so I'm not convinced about Scotland. They may very well progress ahead of the Pumas, but for me this will have more to do with whether the mercurial Argentine playmaker Felipe Contepomi has one of his off-days or whether he plays like a man inspired. Either way, it could be very, very boring!

Pool C - Australia, Ireland, Italy, USA, Russia

And so the group of interest. In fact, every one of these teams has a special interest in this tournament and that may make it great. The Russians are playing in their first ever World Cup and should not be taken for granted. As you would expect they are tough nuts, the annual match between themselves and Georgia being one of the great arm wrestles of the game, albeit at a lower level. No one expects them to do well, but the Americans will have their work cut out for them if they mean to avoid the wooden spoon. For the States, the opening game against Ireland has added significance, falling as it does on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. For these reasons, Declan Kidney may think twice about fielding completely second-string teams in these two ties The lessons of four years ago will not be forgotten...

Smug and sullen: BOD and Parisse

Italy are a rising force and have proven that over the past couple of years. In Sergio Parisse they have one of the games great talents and their victory against France earlier this year will have given them huge confidence. For obvious reason then they will be targeting us in the final pool game, believing their time is now to make a stamp on the international game. Ironically, the same could be said of Ireland. Having never progressed past the quarter-final stage, and having never really performed well at World Cups, Ireland also feel that they have come of age and will feel they need to make a mark on the world stage, buoyed on by the ambitions of the old guard, now at the end of their respective careers, Heineken Cups, Triple Crowns and a Grand Slam under their belts. OK. I'm just going to say it: Italy could beat us. On their day they can beat us, and that's a fact. On the other hand, they probably won't. Ireland should win this game with a bit of guile, they know how to beat Italy, and there will be no excuses if they don't. Well, except perhaps if they were to lose Mike Ross, but that's old ground...

As for the Wallabies, they are magnificent. They were well and truly brilliant in Brisbane a couple of weeks ago when they saw off the All Blacks to seal the Tri-Nations for the first time in ten years. If the All Blacks peaked slightly early then Australia seem to be peaking at just the right time. They can now claim to have the best scrum-half in the game in the form of Will Genia, and can also boast possibly the most creative player in the world right now in the shape of his half-back partner, Quade Cooper. Take a look at the famous side-step... http://youtu.be/ROhPvSE3Tkc

Pool D - South Africa, Samoa, Wales, Fiji, Namibia

O'Driscoll is snared by Jacques Burger of Namibia

This could well be the pool where anything happens. Well, barring a Namibian victory that is... They may have knocked seven kinds of shite out of us last time round, but the Namibians shouldn't be feared. Apart from their manic flanker Jacques Burger that is! He's been wreaking havoc in the Premiership since Saracens picked him up after he showed his proficiency for hunting down Irishmen at the last World Cup.

Seilala Mapusua

However, it's the other four teams who will be fighting it out for the knockout round places. Fiji and Samoa are real contenders to take points off the the two 'big' nations here, especially in the case of Wales, and while I'm not sure Fiji will have enough consistency to make it count, Samoa should progress to the quarters. You see, this isn't any ordinary Samoan side, they may be a team truly come of age, the 'Argentina' of 2011. Last Autumn they came to Dublin and knocked the crap out of us, and we were lucky to survive. A couple of months ago they soundly defeated the Wallabies in Sydney in one of the great days for Pacific Island rugby. Albeit it was an understrength team they put away, but take nothing away from the Samoans. They have the usual raw energy and abrasiveness up front with the likes of Toulouse monster-prop, Census Johnstone, amongst others, and tackling will be ferocious throughout the side. But it is in the backs where the real cutting edge has been discovered. In Seilala Mapusua they have a world-class centre of real ability, capable of unlocking any defense, and wingers like the scary Alesana Tuilagi, the speedy Sailosi Tagicakibau and the nimble David Lemi to feed off him. I predict Samoa have every chance of seeing off Wales, Fiji and Namibia and securing the second place spot.

James Hook

As I said, Fiji are not quite in the same place as their fellow islanders, but have every chance of defeating Wales once again. In fact, Wales must be cursing the luck of the draw here. Whilst the last loss to Fiji was four years ago, the Islanders secured a draw on their travels to Cardiff last Autumn and there is no reason to suggest that anything has changed for Wales in the past year. There has been more nonsense going on outside of the rugby and the team itself looks stagnant and without any real depth. For me, Wales have failed to make real progress in the last four years, specifically in the shape and management of their play. However, I've recently come to the conclusion that this is the very essence of Welsh rugby, a laissez faire outlook where the fate of the team doesn't really seem to be in the players hands, but is dictated by the direction of the match itself. Whilst, like France this makes them unpredictable, it also makes them eminently beatable and for this reason I don't see why Wales should progress in such a tough group. Mind you, that wouldn't stop them... Watch out for James Hook, a player who epitomises everything good, and bad, about Welsh rugby.

South Africa are very hard to gauge. Up until recently I felt that they were in real danger in this World Cup, but once again they seem to have turned it round at the last second. Whilst this team could be said to be a watered down version of the victorious 2007 side, that is still no reason for them not to do well. Like England they build their game around dependable factors, what is referred to as 'percentage rugby', and very much have the pace, power, accuracy and the set-piece to pull it off. However, they do have a seemingly witless coach and, should they get into a tactical battle, they may be lacking a certain amount of guile from the touchline. Believe me, this is not a biased preconception of the Springboks first black coach, this observation has been backed up on more than one occasion. Nowhere is this more clear than the selection at hooker. De Villiers has given the captaincy of the team, and therefore presumably the start, to John Smit, everybodies favourite team leader, when everyone knows that not only is Bismarck du Plessis the best hooker they've got; he's also probably the best in the world! More importantly perhaps, South Africa should be knocked out of this competition before the final because rugby has moved on. At least, we hope it has...

Springbok Captain John Smit and Coach Peter de Villiers