Group A & B - 4 good teams per group, top2 go through to the Quarters.
Groups C & D - emerging nations 4 teams per group - winners go into a 2nd round against 3rd and 4th placed teams in A & B.
Adding a 2nd round also means a further week to sell tickets for the Quarters. I.e you'd know where England, Australia, NZ and Tonga are playing 2 weeks before.
Downside is tickets for a 2nd round itself wont be a must see event, plus keeping 4th placed teams who might not have won a game 'alive' in the tournament isnt great.
Joined: Jan 09 2011 Posts: 4334 Location: Shipley, Bradford
Some games from the Union World Cup in 2019:
Groups -
Scotland 34-0 Samoa Ireland 35-0 Russia Scotland 61-0 Russia Ireland 47-5 Samoa Italy 48-7 Canada South Africa 57-3 Namibia New Zealand 63-0 Canada South Africa 49-3 Italy New Zealand 71-9 Namibia South Africa 66-7 Canada England 45-7 USA
Even the one in 2015 had New Zealand 62-13 France in the Quarter Final.
Blowout scores are everywhere. It happens. It just looks worse for us at times as not many nations are competitive.
However hopefully that changes and Tonga and Samoa become two great rugby league nations. To compete against Aus, NZ and England. PNG need some investment because they could become a real strong nation if given the help they need to develop players/coaches and facilities.
BULLSBOY2011: 'Pain is temporary, Pride is forever!'
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