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‘Anything can happen’: Aussie journo on Wallabies’ World Cup chances
Australian rugby scribe and broadcaster Brett McKay has weighed in on the Wallabies’ chances at the upcoming Rugby World Cup, saying “the quarter-finals needs to be the goal.”
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The Wallabies have had a simply disastrous run of form under coach Eddie Jones this year. They have had five different captains across as many Tests, and they’re yet to win a match.
Playing against World Cup hosts France at Stade de France last Sunday, the Aussies showed plenty of promise, fight and character throughout the 41-17 defeat.
They’re getting better, but wins continued to elude the men in gold – and rugby is, after all, a result-driven business. You can’t win a World Cup without winning some Tests.
“I’ve always maintained, mate, that the quarter-finals needs to be the goal first and foremost, and then anything after that you can worry about once you actually get there,” scribe Brett McKay said on Weekend Sport with Jason Pine.
“I’m not buying into this whole, ‘Australia’s guaranteed a semi-final spot.’ I get it’s an easier side of the draw but anything can happen in a knockout stage as we all know.
“As long as they can get through the quarter-final stage, then they can actually have a bit of a reset and have a good, hard crack after that.
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“To get to the quarter-finals they’re still gonna have to be playing a hell of a lot better rugby than they’ve shown so far. That’s got to be the first priority.”
The young Wallabies will open their World Cup account against Georgia in Paris in about one week’s time. Australia are expected to win, but The Lelos are a team on the rise – they could cause an upset.
Australia will also come up against Wales, Fiji and Portugal in a tough pool.
While they’ve been picked on the perceived “easier side of the draw,” the Wallabies will need to bring their A-game to progress through to the knockout rounds.
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“There has been a gradual progression, though. If they can take another step against Georgia… and they can get things sorted for Wales and Fiji to follow, then hopefully things take care of themselves,” McKay added.
“If they can get to a quarter-final that would mean they’ve won a few games so hopefully there’s a bit of confidence and momentum behind them.
“A semi-final would mark a good tournament. A dream scenario would absolutely be getting through to that.”
Australia are ranked ninth on World Rugby’s rankings, which is the second-best placing in Pool C. Wales are one spot back in 10th, and Georgia are just behind them at 11th.
The form team of the group, though, is Pacific Island powerhouse Fiji. The Flying Fijians have been good – very good – recently, and are tipped to “absolutely” move on to “the knockout stage.”
“A couple of weeks when Wales knocked off England I went, ‘Okay, they might be coming into some form here,’ but it feels they might have stagnated a bit over the last couple of weeks.
“Fiji have won, what is it, four of their last five which is hard to argue with. They were absolutely sensational against England at Twickenham.
“There’s probably an argument that they’re favourites to get through first, to get through top of the pool on current form.
“They’re a lot more than a banana skin, Fiji, I’m not going to say they’re a genuine contender but they are absolutely going to go into the knockout stage, I’m quite sure about that.”
Comments on RugbyPass
What a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
2 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
40 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
40 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
2 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to comments