Rollo Manning has been a rugby tragic all his life since being named after a Wallaby winger and educated at a private boarding school in Sydney, Australia. Manning has been working in publicity and public relations for 40 years, and during that time has commented on the "game they play in heaven" through radio, magazines and newspaper coverage.
As a correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Commission, he has broadcast in magazine style programs and live coverage of games. He is currently a regular contributor to www.scrum.com and radio shows in his hometown of Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Manning has been contributing to eSports for six years and relishes the opportunity to express his views on the first of the two rugbies. He is currently completing work on a study of the inter play between rugby league and rugby union over the past 100 years, when league was formed as the professional arm of an otherwise purely amateur game.
Since 1995, both have become professional and the drift of players is going back from league to union. Where will it end? That is the question Manning is now asking himself.
The world's sporting eyes will be on France from this weekend and until October 20th with the 2007 Rugby World Cup being played in that country, along with some matches in Scotland and Wales.
The hot favourites are the New Zealand All Blacks who will be desperate to show their loyal and dedicated supporters that take rugby as a religion that they can do it. Grief counselors had to be called in 1999 when they went down to France in the semi final and by 2003 the falter again in the semis to the Australian Wallabies was almost "as expected."
This time will the All Blacks do it? That is the big question and obviously the punters think they will with the side installed as hot favourites for the last two years. In fact one agency has had the Abs at $1.57 and the “rest” at $2.40.
However, this scribe believes they will get done and simply because they are in a pool with weaker sides and will not have the hard match practice that the other favored teams will have in the lead up to the knock out rounds.
The All Blacks, led by Ritchie McCaw, are in Pool C with Italy, Scotland, Portugal and Romania. All sides will be no trouble for the All Blacks who will then meet France, Ireland or Argentina in the quarter final. If it is the Irish, as expected, that will test the team from the “land of the long white cloud” and they may go down in the quarters. A win to the semi final will see the Abs pitted against England, South Africa or the Australian Wallabies. Whichever team this is will pull off the coup of the tournament and see the Abs out of the picture for another four years.
The statement "another four years" is what George Gregan snarled at the All Blacks as they were going down in the 2003 semi final. He may get another chance to play out the same words.
The winner in my view will be France. The home side will have the emotional support of the entire country and we all know just how the French can rise to the occasions. Their attacking flair and unpredictable play will surprise all at Stade de France on 20th October. They did it when they hosted the Soccer World Cup and will do it again in rugby. Although not favourites they are not far away in the top four with the Wallabies and the Springboks.
The only team capable of a surprise from this scenario is the Wallabies. They are the team with the talented experience with 14 of the squad having been there in 2003, four from 1999 and George Gregan backing up for his 5th RWC.
All matches are being telecast on Fox Sport.