With the Rugby World Cup Tournament roughly half-way through the pool games, the All Black are stating their uncertainty about which team will be their opponents in the quarterfinals on the 19th October. This isn’t only a pickle for the New Zealand national team, but also for sports betters who have a keen interest in the results and odds.
Thus far in their pool games, New Zealand has managed to defeat South Africa 23-13 and Canada 63-0. They still have to compete against Namibia and Italy. Neither of these two teams being of any concern for the All Blacks. Being fast on their way to the top of their pool, they are now keen to determine which side they will compete against during the quarterfinals, but after an upset in pool A, it is becoming harder to make any forecasts on what the final results will be. The winner of Pool B will be facing the runner-up from Pool A.
The Pools
In Pool A Japan, Russia, Samoa, Scotland and Ireland are competing against each other, and it took a dramatic turn when the hosting country, Japan defeated Ireland. This is leaving a somewhat murky image regarding which team will meet up with the All Blacks. Also, Samoa shot to the position has been drastically diminished when the Scottish team hammered them during their match in Kobe, which ended in a 34-0 score defeating the South Sea team. Currently, the standings in Pool A according to points are as following: Japan with nine points, Ireland is at six, Scotland has five and so does Samoa while Russia is still at zero.
The predictability in the Rugby World Cup pools is rooted in the fact that there is a gap between the tier one nations and tier two nations in every pool. Pool A didn’t have that gap and is currently delivering on the most considerable excitement within the history of the tournament. Now New Zealand is in a position here their opponents in the quarterfinals will most probably remain a mystery until the final pool games have been played. This will be when Scotland and Japan take each other on in Yokohama on 13th October.
After the brilliant performance which Japan gave defeating the Irish in a 19-12 score, reminded the rugby world once again about the same kind of victory which the Brave Blossoms had over the Springboks in 2015. Yet this time their win over Ireland placed them in the position where they only need one more win to enter the quarterfinals for the first time. For this to happen, they will have to overcome the force from Samoa. Pool A is genuinely delivering on quite some challenging prediction and is not only creating tons of uncertainty for the mighty All Blacks but also sports punters globally.
