My power rankings after the pool stage.
1. New Zealand - Things have been easy for them, perhaps too easy, with too much rest between games. A match against Ireland, the only team who has won 2 out of their 3 encounters will prove telling. However I never bet against New Zealand. It is like betting against the house.
2. England - Few weaknesses, great strength in depth, and one of the best coaches. Maybe just maybe this could be their year...
3. Wales - I don't think they will win this World Cup. However this is the first World Cup I've seen them in that I think they genuinely have a team capable of going the whole way.
4. Japan - They have the best attack in the game, better even than New Zealand's I think. Their speed and rapid off loading is a sight to behold. The home crowd is another definite advantage they have, and their scrum is surprisingly good. However their kicking, defense, and line outs are all big concerns.
5. South Africa - Even though they lost to New Zealand, they still have a good chance of winning the whole competition. They would then break the whole "teams who lose games in the pool stage have never won the World Cup" thing.
6. Ireland - They have never got past the quarterfinals and now they face New Zealand. Their prospects don't look good. Still their team has actually played for the most part really well in the competition. Beating New Zealand in the Quarter Finals could be the boost they need to go on and win the whole thing!
7. Australia - This team has been pretty inconsistent so far. This reflects their 2019 as a whole, a year when they both thumped New Zealand and got thumped. Can they string 3 great performances together and win the whole thing? Probably not, but worryingly for England they are certainly capable of 1 great performance... England will be hoping Australia still haven't learned to not tackle at head height!
8. France - How can a team go undefeated in the pool stage and yet look this unconvincing. They struggled to win all their pool matches including surviving a late Tongan onslaught. Too bad we never got that England match to see what they are really made of. At least they have Vakatawa and Raka, who are both quality.
9. Scotland - The best team to have been eliminated. They really screwed themselves with a tepid performance against Ireland. In their rest of their matches they played some pretty good rugby. Though their tactics of an open running game against Japan did seem to play into their hosts hands.
10. Argentina - A narrow loss to France, and a red card against England, and their ship was sailed. Still even allowing for the red card, they still probably would have lost. If ever a team needed a big win, its Argentina.
11. Fiji - When they were good they were really good. Too bad they switched off in the second half against Australia, while their lack of strength in depth showed against Uruguay. On the plus side they have Radradra, who might just have been the best player at the World Cup.
12. Italy - Hard to know where to place this team. Way too good for the World Cup minnows of Namibia and Canada. Shot themselves in the foot against South Africa with the dumbest red card of the tournament yet. I think this team might be making improvements, but we will now have to wait for the Autumn internationals to be sure.
13. Tonga - Proved tough too beat, and in their last 2 games also showed some bite to their attack.
14. Georgia - If every match was played in torrential rain, this team might actually cause an upset or two!
15. Samoa - They had a few bright patches in their games against Japan and Russia. However overall this team is far removed from the Brian Lima led team that threatened big upsets at every World cup. Their performance against Irish team down to 14 men was woeful.
16. Namibia - For the first time ever they didn't come bottom of their group. They also were within 1 point of New Zealand at the half hour marks. Therefore this campaign can be considered a success. Shame the tsunami denied them the chance of a first ever win.
17. USA - They had the toughest group, they had the least rest days, while their fans at home had to watch matches which kicked offs at 3 am! It was a tough campaign, but they still under performed badly.
18. Uruguay - They may have finished bottom, but a win against Fiji, and not conceding any half century scores are both fine achievements.
19. Russia - For a team that only qualified due to 2 better teams being thrown out, they did surprisingly well. I admire their attacking enterprise.
20. Canada - In 1991 they were giving New Zealand a tough match in the quarter finals. Giving New Zealand a tough match and quarter finals are not things that will ever be said about their current team!
