Rugby World Cup 2007 and where to watch it

The Rugby World Cup 2007 starts this Friday 7 September when the hosts France play Argentina at the Stade de France in Paris. This is the sixth Rugby World Cup, it takes place every four years and England are the reigning world champions after beating Australia in the 2003 final in Sydney.

This year’s tournament involves 20 countries playing 48 games over six weeks with the final being played in Paris on 20 October. The interest in the UK will be huge not only because England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales are playing but because New Zealand, Australia and South Africa are among the favourites and have large expat communities here. Canada and the US also have teams in the finals but it’ll be a big shock if they manage to get beyond the group stages. The 20 teams are split into four groups, they each play four matches with the top two going through to the quarterfinals. Here are the groups.
Pool A
England, South Africa, Samoa, USA, Tonga
Pool B
Australia, Wales, Fiji, Canada, Japan
Pool C
New Zealand, Scotland, Italy, Romania, Portugal
Pool D
France, Ireland, Argentina, Georgia, Namibia

New Zealand are the odds on 4-7 favourites at the moment and on paper they should win, but the All Blacks have a habit coming up short in the World Cup including a massive choke in the 1999 semifinal against France. At the moment you can get odds of 11-2 South Africa, 6-1 France, 9-1 Australia, 20-1 Ireland, 25-1 England, 1000-1 Canada and 2000-1 USA among others. For what its worth I’d predict an Australia v South Africa final with the Springboks winning.

All the games in the World Cup will be shown live on ITV1 and ITV4 in the UK. If you’re looking for some atmosphere while watching a game most pubs will probably be showing them, places like the Sports Cafe in the Haymarket will get pretty raucous, Aussie pub chain Walkabout with ten London venues including ones in Covent Garden, Shaftsbury Avenue and Shepherd’s Bush, should attract a lot of Wallaby and All Black fans as will the 14 rugby focused Tup pubs across London, which each sponsor a rugby team and some offer free wi-fi.

Other venues for an Aussie/Kiwi/South African crowd are the Redback Tavern in Acton, Waxy O’Connor’s on Rupert Street near Piccadilly Circus, The Stage Door in Waterloo, Brogan’s on Fulham Broadway, The Larrik on New Kings Road in Putney, The Hemisphere Bar in Holborn, The Adelaide in Belsize Park and the Australian in Knightsbridge, but when any of the big teams are playing most pubs should have a decent crowd watching.