It’s interesting this year because England are fielding a squad so inexperienced that, combined, it’s been over 50 years since there was less caps between the players. A combination of bad behaviour on and off the pitch has seen the old crew decimated in favour of a bunch of lads so thrilled to finally get the nod that the hope is they fear losing their shirt more than they fancy flinging some dwarfs about. Stuart Lancaster has the terrifying job of trying to round up the youngsters into what vaguely looks like a challenging England side, whilst simultaneously crossing his fingers and praying to God that they ‘Seize the day’ rather than go down in flames – either outcome is a distinct possibility!

Surprisingly, non of Ireland’s squad got the customary P45 that was expected after the 2011 World Cup and as a result the squad is more than familiar so Declan Kidney is clearly going with proven experience over fresh young blood. And given that they have three home games, all of which are winnable, even if they did get their asses handed to them by Wales in the World Cup, they would then only have to go to Paris and London and look for a win to potentially win the Championship. No doubt, in familiar fashion, they’ll start off pretty badly, eeking out some wins so that as they progress and get better they’ll end up in a points difference battle that will have grown men shaking in anticipation and gnawing at their finger nails for hours on the last day of the tournament until some other team has won it and we all drink up and go home!

Wales on the other hand have momentum on their side – that is of course if momentum can last four months without actually playing a game! Still aggrieved by the loss to France in the World Cup semi final, it might actually spur them on to give them a taste of their own medicine when they meet in Cardiff on March 17th. I can only hope that they’ve been training hard though I’m sure I saw a few of them pop up in ‘Stella’ on Sky 1 recently, so not much rugby action happening there – actually there wasn’t even any acting involved if the odd one-liner was to be believed – stick to the day job lads. And as second favourites after France to win the title this year they may just do that.

The fixtures are below as are the odds for the tournament!

Sat 4th Feb 12 14:30 France v Italy Stade de France Preview
Sat 4th Feb 12 17:00 Scotland v England Murrayfield Preview
Sun 5th Feb 12 15:00 Ireland v Wales Aviva Stadium

Sat 11th Feb 12 16:00 Italy v England Stadio Olimpico
Sat 11th Feb 12 20:00 France v Ireland Stade de France
Sun 12th Feb 12 15:00 Wales v Scotland Millennium Stadium

Sat 25th Feb 12 13:30 Ireland v Italy Aviva Stadium
Sat 25th Feb 12 16:00 England v Wales Twickenham
Sun 26th Feb 12 15:00 Scotland v France Murrayfield

Sat 10th Mar 12 14:30 Wales v Italy Millennium Stadium
Sat 10th Mar 12 17:00 Ireland v Scotland Aviva Stadium
Sun 11th Mar 12 15:00 France v England Stade de France More

Sat 17th Mar 12 12:30 Italy v Scotland Stadio Olimpico
Sat 17th Mar 12 14:45 Wales v France Millennium Stadium
Sat 17th Mar 12 17:00 England v Ireland Twickenham

The 2010/11 competition was incredibly disappointing for Munster and their fans as it was the first campaign in 13 seasons when they didn’t qualify for the quarter finals. Older players, retirements and a general need for an injection of youth has meant an overhaul at Thomond Park. And with so many young fresh players on the pitch you would have been forgiven for thinking that it would take some time for them to gel.

Not so, with incredible discipline, patience, stamina and skill the machine that it Munster has hit the ground running and managed two wins from two in their opening games. Scarlets currently top the group due to an additional Try bonus point so the next match, Munster V Scarlets, is going to be a cracker, with the winners almost certainly going through to the knock-out stages!!

It takes place on the weekend of December 9th/10th/11th along with all of the other Round 3 games so if you’re a fan get your money on your team as all of the latest and best odds are below.

Pool 1 sees Castres Olympique do battle with Munster, Northampton Saints and the Scarlets which, by anybody’s standards is the group from hell. After failing to reach the knockout stage of the Heineken Cup for the first time since Keith Earls was in nappies, Munster will be extra anxious to prove that the empire isn’t crumbling. They’re up against Northampton in their first game and although their performance in the 2nd half of the final last year will be remembered as one of the more famous chokes in the history of the competition, the truth is that is was a steep learning curve and the Saints will no doubt want to shake it off and prove themselves as worthy on Sunday.

Pool 2 is home to Cardiff Blues, Edinburgh, London Irish and Racing Metro. Not a lot to say about this group really – London Irish look like they could be top at the end as Racing Metro have had a horrendous season so far in the french league and will be lucky to come away from the group with any points, this will be Edinburgh’s big chance to win a game but that’s about it for them. So you’re left with the Blues who have some solid, decent players in their squad and London Irish to battle it out for the group win…

Pool 3 is host to Leinster, Bath, Glasgow Warriors and Montpellier. Up until a few days ago, all looked rosy in the garden of the defending champions Leinster. Their returning World Cup stars were easing their way back into top form and in their absence, the team had been going along nicely. Since then however the most open secret in rugby was confirmed – Brian O’Driscoll has been playing with an injury for months, if not years, and needs surgery. He’s expected to be out for about 6 months, but most of the reports relating to the story included a line along the lines of ‘he is expected to be fit for the quarter-finals in April’ – an addition with the whiff of arrogance which pretty much tells us all we need to know about the draw the Blues have been handed. It’s pretty easy and they’re expected to progress as pool winners.

Pool 4 consists of Leicester, ASM Clermont Auvergne, Aironi and Ulster – I wish had some interesting and exciting insight to this group but frankly if the Leicester players can’t stroll through to the top of the group then they should start re-considering their career choice – maybe, just maybe Clermont might give them a run for their money but that’s only wishful thinking…

Pool 5 is Benetton Treviso, Biarritz, Ospreys and Saracens and initially you think ‘oh please, Biarritz are going to piss that group’ but on closer inspection Saracens’ capture of their first Premiership title in the club’s history and a start to the domestic season like team on fire AND John Smit (Springbok) can only help their European challenge. In contrast, Biarritz have had a terrible start to their season, Treviso are only there to make up numbers so that leaves the Ospreys to challenge but sadly over the summer, they’ve lost enough talent to make a top class sevens team and that will be hard to replace.

Pool 6 – last but not least Toulouse, Connaught, Gloucester and Harlequins – only second to Pool 1 in the toughness stakes. No least becuase Toulouse are expected to sail through but Gloucester have had a great start to the season and Harlequins top the Aviva Premiership – sadly Connaught don’t have a shot in hell so the others will no doubt be hoping to rack up the points against them to bolster their own chances and perhaps get enough points for a best-runner-up spot.

Scotland have competed in all Rugby World Cups since it’s inauguration in 1987 and their best finish came in 1991, where they lost to the All Blacks in the third place play-off.

They are placed in Pool B for the 2011 tournament, along with arch rival’s and nearest neighbours England, who have dominated in recent years. They will also face tough challenges from a formidable Argentina who are a real threat as well as an ever-improving Romanian side which will only increase the pressure to finish in first or second place in the group stages.

Odds on them winning the tournament are a distant 175/1, in fact I’m not even sure they’ll get out of the group!

Winners of the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987, New Zealand are the leading points scorers of all time and the only international rugby team with a winning record against every test nation they have ever played.

The All Blacks have held the top ranking in the world for longer than all other countries combined and in over 100 years only five of the top twenty ranked test rugby nations have ever beaten them. And if their star performer, and it’s trick y to pick one, Dan Carter is on form then the rest of the world better watch out.

He hold the record for most All Black Test pointswith 1,188 from 79 Tests and on 27 November 2010 Dan Carter scored a penalty against Wales to pass Johnny Wilkinson’s previous world record of 1,178 points. He also holds the record for points against Australia with 236 and with deadly accuracy is a huge cog in the All Blacks wheel.

The Rugby World Cup 2011 will kick-off on September 9th 2011, in Auckland, with the first game between hosts, New Zealand and their neighbours Tonga. This is the first of 40 group games, across Pools A, B, C and D, which will last until October 2nd 2011.

The event is scheduled to be played over seven weekends from the weekend starting 10 September and culminating the weekend starting 22 October 2011. The weekend of the final was chosen so it falls on a long weekend caused by the New Zealand public holiday of Labour Day (Monday, 24 October 2011).The final is scheduled to be played in Auckland at Eden Park.

So here’s how it’s going to play out. There are four Pools, each with five teams and they are:

Pool A

• New Zealand
• France
• Canada
• Tonga
• Japan

Pool B

• England
• Scotland
• Romania
• Argentina
• Georgia

Pool C

• Australia
• Ireland
• Italy
• USA
• Russia

Pool D

• South Africa
• Wales
• Samoa
• Fiji
• Namibia

Simply click on the name of any of the teams above to get a more in-dept analysis of the team and it’s chances of progressing through the competition as well as all of the latest match odds for that team.

Each team plays the other twice, accumulating bonus points as well as points for winning, drawing, even losing as they go. The top two teams from each of the four pools reach the knock out stages which are:

Quarter Finals:
08/10 – 18:00
Winner C V Runner-up D – Wellington

08/10 – 20:30
Winner B V Runner-up A – Auckland

09/10 – 18:00
Winner D V Runner-up C – Wellington

09/10 – 20:30
Winner A V Runner-up B – Auckland

Semi Finals
15/10 – 21:00
Winner QF 1 V Winner QF 2 – Auckland

16/10 – 21:00
Winner QF 3 V Winner QF 4 – Auckland

3rd Place Play-Off
21/10 – 20:30
Loser SF 1 V – Loser SF 2 – Auckland

Final
23/10 – 21:00
Winner SF 1 V Winner SF 2 – Auckland

For those of you who just want to back your favourite team to win World Cup outright then all of the latest and best odds are below and remember, as your team progresses, the odds will almost certainly get shorter!

Following their win against England on Saturday by 20-16, Ireland are second favourites to become outright winners with Paddy Power bookmakers at 10/1 and with England now at 20/1. Of course France are still odds-on favourites at 1/25 which in lay man’s terms means that for every £25 you put on France you’ll win £1 so basically you’re not going to make a fortune out of that bet. Don’t despair though, England still have to play France and despite their recent results, they are playing well and do tend to raise their game when faced with serious opposition so they could level out this competition on the last day – March 20th.

Each team has two fixtures left which are as follows:

Saturday, 13 March 2010
Ireland v Wales, 14:30
Scotland v England, 17:00

Sunday, 14 March 2010
France v Italy, 14:30

Saturday, 20 March 2010
France v England, 19:45
Ireland v Scotland, 17:00
Wales v Italy, 14:30

Is it going to be France’s year again in 2010, only England or Italy can stop them now so watch this space…