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Rugby WC preview..
Three months to go till IMO, the greatest test of team skill on the planet. The 2011 Rugby Union World Cup.
Being played in NZ and no surprise that NZ are good sized favs to win the whole thing, considering the fact that they are the #1 team in the world. Price has been hovering around -120 to -130. And if you want to play that I would say the later you wait it will go up. The All blacks have not won a cup in a LONG time and the pressure is going to be on them to win it in front of home fans very much. They have a history of imploding though in WC's. That said, I think they will win it.And having them at that price would give you a good green out hedge in the final match(they would be overwhelming favs) even vs South Africa or the Aussies.
As far as the United States team goes..where do I start...Almost all the players on the Eagles are semi-pros or amateurs. Many are doctors, bankers and lawyers who play just to represent their country. We are considered a Tier II country as far a s Rugby goes. Along with say Russia,Canada, and Japan. What I mean is we usually get smoked by Tier I teams such as England,NZ, France and so on. We just played some games in the Churchill cup(WC warm up tourney) and lost to the England B team by 60 and to Tonga by 30.Just goes to show you the vast talent difference in this sport.
The coach for the US is an Irish guy who used to coach the Irish National Team for 8 years. And here is my first possible gambling angle for the WC. the states play, you guessed it..Ireland in the first game. The US cant win this game, but having the their former coach is going to give us an edge to be sure. He knows EVERYTHING about their players, so a bet on the US + points(guessing 30-40) might be in order here.Maybe even a first half bet,because we tend to run out of gas in 2nd halfs due to the immense talent void.
As far as diamond in the rough teams, know that I love Argentina in Int competitions. They are in a group with IMO only 1 team better than them and that is England. So they should make it to the next round easily. Only thing is that they would face NZ in the semis or QF,but you never know...Odds to win it are 115-1..Insane value,should be around 30 to 40..
As far as other teams..SA and Aus will be good no doubt, so will England,France and possibly FIJI could be a real sleeper, Ireland and Wales are enigmas..could beat anyone and lose to a Tier 2 team..
Would not be surprised to see NZ favored by 100 points vs Japan or SA fav by 90 over Namibia..Once again just goes to show you the talent gap in Rugby union.
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Originally Posted by kingsr
