‘Not real hard’: Former Wallabies assess Australia’s World Cup prospects
Former Australia fullback Greg Martin has weighed in on the Wallabies’ chances of progressing through to the knockout stages at the upcoming Rugby World Cup.
There’s a fair bit of uncertainty following the Wallabies going into the tournament. They’ve lost all four Tests under coach Eddie Jones, true, but remain a genuine dark horse.
The Wallabies are on the ‘easier’ side of the draw, and were seemingly given a golden ticket to progress to the knockout rounds when the pools were decided.
Australia had come up against Wales and Fiji at the last two World Cups – the two teams long considered their toughest opponents at the 2023 event – and qualified for the next stage both times.
But, with about two weeks to go until the opening Test between France and New Zealand, that challenge appears incredibly tough and even daunting.
The Wallabies are still the top-ranked nation in Pool C, but only just.
Australia are currently eighth on the World Rugby men’s rankings, while Wales, Fiji and Georgia make up the next three spots. All four nations are in Pool C at this World Cup.
There’s still a sense of belief that a new-look Wallabies squad can make something happen on the biggest stage – but any and all optimism isn’t universal amongst Aussies.
Former Wallabies Greg Martin and Phil Kearns have shared opposing views on Australia’s chances at the tournament. Martin spoke with Kearns on his breakfast radio show in Queensland.
“I had on our show this morning, Phil Kearns… we of course talked rugby. In his option we’ll make the semi-finals,” Martin said on The Platform.
“We’ve got the weakest pool… we play Georgia, then we play Fiji, then we play Wales, then we play Portugal.
“Not real hard when you look at it but I suggested to Kearnsy that we’d have trouble beating Georgia because they’ve picked 15 props I believe. We could have trouble with Georgia.
“Kearnsy suggested we’ll go through to the semi-finals because if we make the quarter-finals, most likely, we’ll play England who are eminently beatable.
“Both of us have good points, I believe. We either get beaten by Georgia, Fiji and Wales, and maybe we’ll sneak one home against Portugal – that’s my opinion – whereas Kearnsy thinks we’ll go through to the semi-finals.
“Somewhere in between there is the truth.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Let’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 commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
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