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FunneMonke1 t1_iw4kojy wrote

Wow I’m just a casual but that’s crazy they’ve never bested them!

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paloaltissimo OP t1_iw4mkff wrote

Rugby is a sort of elitist sport.

To get the idea, Wales have not beaten the All Blacks (NZ) for like 70 years.

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derneueMottmatt t1_iw4zo7f wrote

It seems to me (as casual a Rugby fan there can be) that the dominance of the southern hemisphere is slowly diminishing. Would you agree?

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stogie_t t1_iw50nz3 wrote

Only NH teams in great form right now are France and Ireland. We only look weaker now cause Aussies keep dragging us down (lmao) and NZ still have the best players but are stuck with poor coaching and management. Don’t forget Argentina too, they’re on bloody great form.

I would agree though that we aren’t really dominant over NH right now, it’s pretty balanced all over the field.

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[deleted] t1_iw51old wrote

How can you talk about all the Southern Hemisphere teams and forget about the World Champs?

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stogie_t t1_iw54b9o wrote

My bad lmao, that’s actually my country. Kinda forgot I wasn’t on the rugby union sub with my South African flair on.

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[deleted] t1_iw54s8x wrote

Lol that actually makes sense why you'd forget them. It's all good bro.

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YurtYurtBaby t1_iw575an wrote

Japan is highly competitive now too, which is good to see. Australian rugby has been poorly managed due to the two major codes clashing for the same demographic

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EatThatPotato t1_iw6w7t7 wrote

I missed the England-Japan game yesterday cause ironically I had to sleep early to catch some live rugby today. I checked the score and Japan seems to have received a drubbing. Such a shame, a strong Japan is in the best interest of Asian Rugby. I wonder what happened between almost beating France and yesterday

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Barforama1 t1_iw51ulw wrote

I mean if Scotland could actually play rugby for 80 minutes they would be alright. (Obviously this is the case for most teams but as a Scot it hurts so much)

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LostKeez t1_iw5e9fo wrote

I dunno, NZ’s talent stocks have never been weaker looking at Super Rugby form. I really don’t think NZ is in the position it was previously and if the Wallabies didn’t have yet another inept coaching setup they should have been an actual threat. For once, NZ isn’t running deep in world class talent across the park.

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IngVegas t1_iw6gv0n wrote

Yes. France will win the World Cup in France next year.

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DroppedD94 t1_iw5dffc wrote

I don't think it's elitist anymore. I also don't see why elitism has anything to do with that.

Regardless, Ireland only beat the All Blacks for the first time in 2017. And we've beaten them a few times since. I'm hoping we go up against them in the quarters. If it's between All Blacks and a home-playing, undefeated French team, I'm picking the Kiwis

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ShibuRigged t1_iw74ttc wrote

It’s not really the elitism. It’s because it’s such a high scoring sport that small differences can still result in predictable score lines.

It’s part of why upsets are rare.

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Zakkar t1_iw4z0iw wrote

I think the only major nation they are now yet to beat is NZ.

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lewger t1_iw52kcr wrote

I mean they'll play rarely in the world cup or occasionally on the spring tour. It's not a set fixture. Plus I'm sure Australia would rather be playing England / France / Ireland.

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