Ahead of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, Paul Radley takes the supporters' pulse for Ireland and Canada.
Ireland
Name: Pete Dennehy, UAE rugby referee
Nationality: Irish
Ireland will be semi-finalists at best. Many will say the loss to England at the weekend was an isolated performance. As a realist I was worried about several key areas of weakness which may leave us exposed during the tournament. Apart from our captain Paul O’Connell and fly-half Jonathan Sexton, I’m not sure we have the same depth of on-field leadership as in previous competitions.
England can pull off a surprise, but it is hard to see anyone beating the All Blacks. World Cups throw up surprises, of course, but few teams look at strong as the Kiwis at this stage. Hard to see the reigning champs losing their title.
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Nigel Owens is the world’s No 1 referee for good reason. Forget his technical competence and physical fitness, he has a way of making the process of refereeing human. He works hard on communication and man-management at the highest level and even though he is often a central role in games, it is not negative, nor a side show from the rugby. He adds a real flair to the game and the World Cup is served better for his presence.
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Players and spectators will always complain about the game being stopped for TMO (television match official) reviews, yet they would never forgive the match officials for not using them when the TV broadcasters play them endlessly, particularly if a glaring error is obvious. On a law perspective, the perennial feeding of the ball in the scrum will keep the over 50s moaning.
Canada
Name: Conrad Manly, Abu Dhabi Harlequins player
Nationality: Canadian
Success would be keeping the big teams to a respectable score. In the early 2000s, the Canadian team hit hard and made the world-class teams work for their wins. They were super competitive when it was an amateur game. When it became professional, it was really slow to catch on in Canada in terms of finance.
Money is always an issue. If you make it in hockey in Canada, you get big coin. The same with American football and basketball. They are big money sports. Rugby is not big because there is not a lot of money to be made, even though it is in the rest of the world.
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I do not think New Zealand are nailed-on winners: look at the way the last World Cup panned out. France nearly had them in the final. I hope Wales win it this year. They had the red card for Sam Warburton in the early stage of the semi-final last time and that really hurt them. They should have won that game and gone on to the final.
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The player I’m most looking forward to watching play is Matt Evans. The main reason for that is because he is originally from my club in Canada. He plays on the wing, he will be a reserve to start with but he is a good player. I will be rooting for him if he gets on.
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