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Our Personal Rugby Adventures
What are you doing for the world cup? Got a grandstand going on? Touring to NZ? Biggest barbie ever?
Kiwis in Good Shape 2 views 0 Images
28 November 2013 by Englandfan
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Saturday’s tension filled and bruising semi-final defeat of England may have left the New Zealand squad nursing a few minor injuries but, after a lukewarm start to their world cup, they are in prime position to overturn Australia in the final.
Despite the quality of Saturday’s first semi-final there is no getting away from the fact that there were only ever three teams in with any chance of winning this year’s world cup and there has been a real lack of high intensity, if not dramatic, matches so far.
There is very little that the organisers can do about this but, by virtue of the fact that Australia met England in the opening game of the World Cup, the Kangaroos have now gone a month without a competitive fixture and they run the risk of turning up for Saturday’s final cold.
Just to underline how little Tim Sheens’ men have been tested since the match against England, as of 26th October the Australians have played four games scoring 210 points and conceding just two. Fans who bet on rugby would be wise to keep a close eye on the Australian team in the build up to the clash with the Kiwis.
New Zealand meanwhile may have had an easy run through the group stages but they are now battle hardened and, as Shaun Johnson’s late winner against England proved, they are ready and willing to play right up until the last second.
Whilst Australia would certainly never admit to even a momentary lapse in concentration, it is difficult to imagine that in the 62-0 quarter final defeat of the USA, or the 64-0 semi-final defeat of Fiji, every single one of their players maintained focus for the whole 80 minutes.
If Saturday’s World Cup final is anything like the first of last week’s semi-finals then the Kangaroos will have to maintain focus for every single second. If the walkovers of the last few weeks have softened the Australians then the Kiwis will surely punish them and fans of rugby betting may just fancy New Zealand’s chances of upsetting the odds once again.
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