Pitchside with Ferris: England’s chances, Ireland v Scotland and more…
Published:
Opening Weekend
I remember the buildup of excitement and just being eager to kick things off in 2011. You think about the weather, the atmosphere, the fans, the stadium and just have to take it all in.
You’ve got to think about the processes in placeand the lead-up to the match. I concentrated on my training. The last thing youwant is to go into matches and not be in good shape, dropping balls and gettingnervous and anxious.
Waiting to go, you have the nerves, the energyand the buzz. But as soon as that first whistle blows, you go into match modeand everything else takes care of itself.
Japan being the host nation they will want to getoff to a quick start. They finished their World Cup prep with a heavy 7-41,defeat to South Africa.
Russia haven’t been great and have conceded a lotof points. I think Japan are going to cruise to a pretty easy victory. Thiswill give them the momentum that not only the team needs, but the whole countryto really get behind their team.
For teams like Japan and Russia, it is gettingtougher. Tier two nations seem to be finding it difficult to get big victories.If there is going to be an upset, it might be Japan again. It could be Irelandor Scotland that they get one over on.
Being the home nation might give them that extrafew percent to get a big victory. But honestly, I cannot see a tier two nationspringing a massive surprise and beating one of the big guns.
South Africa are back to play New Zealand on Saturday. It is going to be a ridiculous game! The two teams I fancy to get to the World Cup Final are playing each other in the first game of their pool.
Whoever wins this game will most likely play the loser of the Ireland v Scotland game and vice versa.
If Ireland beat Scotland, they can gauge who they are going to be up against in the quarter-final. It is a huge game and I fancy South Africa for the win.
They are a strong team, no injuries and Kolisi isback!
Ireland v Scotland
The Ireland v Scotland game is going to be very tough for both sides. Ladbrokes have about a 9 point spread on the game which I think is crazy.
Considering whoever wins the game is more or less guaranteed to get through to the World Cup quarter-finals because of the opposition in the rest of the pool matches, both are going to field their strongest men and biggest performers of the season so far.
The Irish team might struggle a little without Robbie Henshaw. He is a valuable player. But my main worry is Rob Kearney, as he is currently struggling with an injury.
I hope Ireland can slow it down, kick the ball in the air plenty and try to win those 50/50s. If they try to play this expansive wide game, it will fall into Scotland’s hands. Scotland are very unpredictable.
If somebody like Stuart Hogg, Finn Russell or Hamish Watson turn up on the day, they are very capable of beating anybody.
I think a lot of Irish fans will be disappointed to not see Devin out there but obviously Joe Schmidt sees these guys train every day and has made a coaching decision. If Ireland win a Rugby World Cup, this will quickly be forgotten about!
With the weather forecast not being great, it will affect the game and obviously slow it down. There will be a couple more mistakes, more scrums due to knock on and handling errors.
With the likes of Cian Healy and Tadhg Furlong along with the big second rows Iain Henderson, Jean Kleyn and James Ryan, they have a little more fire power than Scotland.
With the versatility of Johnny Sexton’s kicking game, we should be able to pull Scotland around the pitch and use the weather conditions to our advantage.
Ireland being ranked number one in the worlddoesn’t really add up. Realistically getting beaten 57 points to 15 againstEngland then two weeks later being ranked number one in the world after acouple of average performances.
Are Ireland better going into bigger tournamentsas underdogs? I don’t think so, but with the pressure and expectations theIrish fans now have, it might work in our favor.
I’d go with Iain Henderson to call the lineout.He called the lineouts a lot for the Lions in 2017, giving him experience onthe big stage.
As top try scorer I’d choose Jacob Stockdale. He’s got a bit of luck, a little bit of class and is always in the right place at the right time.
England prospects
England are a well-oiled machine who are lookingstrong and playing very well. With key players like Owen Farrell and theirsecond rows Itoje and Kruis.
They also have got that superb balance in theback row with Curry, Billy and Sam Underhill. They are at a stage now wherethey are peaking at the right times.
Eddie Jones coached Japan and spent a lot of timeout there, so he knows the culture, people and the stadiums. This will play amassive part in England’s success. I think they will go far and will be a veryhard team to beat.
Tournament predictions
My dark horse is Scotland. If they get into a quarter final and have the performance of this lives, who’s to say they couldn’t do it?
My finalists are New Zealand and South Africa.Ireland are going to meet one of these teams in a World Cup quarter final. Ithink they are the two best teams in the world at the minute.
If everything went well for both teams, they willmeet each other in the final. Over the last 3-4 years from the last World Cup,South Africa, New Zealand and Ireland have been the most consistent and bestteams in Word Rugby.
If I could give advice to the guys it would be, stay in the right frame of mind and the right shape physically and mentally to take the challenge!
I will be back next week with more Rugby World Cup talk in my exclusive Ladbrokes blog!
My Five-Fold Acca is:
Ireland v Scotland: Ireland win
New Zealand v South Africa: South Africa win
Japan v Russia: Japan win
France v Argentina: France win
England v Tonga: England win
Stephen’s predictions
- Japan to win against Russia
- South Africa to win against New Zealand
- Ireland to win against Scotland
- England to win against Tonga
- Scotland to make it to the quarter finals
- South Africa and New Zealand to make it to the final
- Johnny May for England top tryscorer
- Jacob Stockdale to be leading try scorer
Stephen
Check out the latest Ladbrokes Rugby World Cup odds here!
