Rugby World Cup 2015!

Webb Ellis Cup

Good day fellow fans, can you feel the excitement in the air? The 4 year cycles are coming to a close as the launch of Rugby World Cup 2015 (I am sure that is supposed to be copyrighted) has begun and the first kick-off on Friday draws near. The interwebs are filled with articles on the teams, players and venues and they are part of my ritual daily consumption each morning (go ahead and spend too much time with this awesome squad selector). This is test rugby as its pinnacle, and I cannot wait to lose entire weekends to the couch watching the teams battle it out. There will be fascinating story lines emerging from each pool, and for each team. The "Pool of Death", the struggle between Scotland and Samoa for a quarter-finals spot, Namibia's pursuit of a first victory, and the battle between 6 Nations rivals Ireland, Italy and France for the top two spots from Pool D (sorry Canada! Beat Romania, please). It is delicious, and if you say you don't know who will win, you are right. But if you say you do not have a favourite, well then now is the time to nail down that decision.

Injury Tracking in the Australian Conference

Hello hello, it has been a while. Not for a lack of work, mind you, as there are always lots of ideas and posts in the works, and the rugby calendar never ends. But had some other stuff going on, life, ya know.

I have been enjoying this Super Rugby season, with the World Cup approaching and an influx of players coming back to stake a claim in the national sides along with those already here pushing for selection, we have seen some tantalizing rugby so far. The New Zealand conference, as always, is competitive and the battle at the top of the South African and Australian groups has been enjoyable to watch.

One of the issues every team faces throughout the season is injuries, and while some teams get lucky and have good health for the key players, some never even get the chance to run their preferred XV onto the field, and bank their season on players who would otherwise be on the reserves bench.