So what games matter next week?

[Ari Gold]

(Realistically)

It seems only NZ v Tonga?

PNG's win today and Italy's loss last week means that PNG and Fiji are now through to the next group (even if Fiji lose vs Italy)

Pretty poor draw if so...

 

[Burns]

Tonga v NZ.

Everything else is largely meaningless.

A Tongan victory will flip NZ onto the Australian side of the draw, which is probably the best case scenario for the World Cup at this stage for a potential Aus v NZ Tonga; v Eng semis.

 

[Irish-bulldog]

Tonga v NZ.

Everything else is largely meaningless.

A Tongan victory will flip NZ onto the Australian side of the draw, which is probably the best case scenario for the World Cup at this stage for a potential Aus v NZ Tonga; v Eng semis.

Nz will lap tonga, 13+

 

[Vee]

A Tongan victory will flip NZ onto the Australian side of the draw

How do you know this? I can't find a link that shows how the QFs work. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Irish-bulldog]

All games should matter, it's a bloody World Cup, they are playing for there country, respect and pride.

 

[Force]

NZ vs Tonga will be the big one to determine who plays on Australia's side of the draw in the finals. The other is Samoa vs Scotland to determine who goes home early which looks like it'll be Scotland. Only major upsets will stop Lebanon, Fiji and PNG from advancing to the finals.. Italy will have to beat Fiji by a rather large margin (80 odd points) if they are to progress, which is highly doubtful. PNG should go through with their last game vs USA, only an upset loss to the USA will rain on their parade. I cant see France beating England by 50 so Lebanon lookd safe.

 

[Jim from Oz]

NZ vs Tonga will be the big one to determine who plays on Australia's side of the draw in the finals. The other is Samoa vs Scotland to determine who goes home early which looks like it'll be Scotland. Only major upsets will stop Lebanon, Fiji and PNG from advancing to the finals.. Italy will have to beat Fiji by a rather large margin (80 odd points) if they are to progress, which is highly doubtful. PNG should go through with their last game vs USA, only an upset loss to the USA will rain on their parade. I cant see France beating England by 50 so Lebanon lookd safe.

if france sneak home v Poms and Lebanon gets thrashed by Oz, france could sneak thru to Q/Fs

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Technically almost all the games could have a bearing. It's just that we know they won't. Samoa v Scotland for example is for a place in the quarters, but Scotland has been written off. France and Italy can still make it but need too much to go their way to make it plausible. The draw definitely would have been better had Lebanon played France last, but then the opener wouldn't have been Australia and England. PNG and Ireland should have been last but we didn't know Ireland was going to stand up. As it turns out NZ v Tonga is the best result for the last game of that group so that's a positive. Before Taumololo and Fifita switched most would have said NZ v Samoa was the big game in that group.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

They all mean something for different reasons:

Fiji v Italy - Fiji have been fantastic and this will be their 1/4 final celebration match. They will really entertain in prime time on Friday night

NZL v Tonga - nothing needs to be said - Wow! Probably a sell-out too

Samoa v Scotland - live game with a 1/4 final spot on the line

Australia v Lebanon - Reports (although hard to guage) of a healthy crowd for this one. A Kangaroos test alone generates a certain amount of meaning for fans but this is Lebanon's celebration game, they will (should) qualify out of the group stage and get a huge response back home.

PNG v USA - PNG to romp the USA in front of another full-house and PNG will go nuts for it. This means everything to them. Plus PNG haven't been out of the group stage since 2000.

Wales v Ireland - Ok a tough sell but is part of a double header and in front of hopefully a healthy crowd in Perth.

England v France - Again, England being one of the main contenders will generate a certain amount of interest and meaning on their own but the double header aspect should ensure that this is a celebration of the game in Perth.

 

[Bobby DIGital]

Tonga v NZ.

Everything else is largely meaningless.

A Tongan victory will flip NZ onto the Australian side of the draw, which is probably the best case scenario for the World Cup at this stage for a potential Aus v NZ Tonga; v Eng semis.

Forget about a Tongan victory. We're going to thrash them.

It's just a shame our fans in the region will probably be too intimidated to attend the game and jam it up the opposition fans arses when we beat them.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11940825