Dragon

Group C 16th appearance - world ranked #1 Best result - 1 x champion Usually in the shadow of Rugby Union the New Zealand finally became world champions in 2008 Their team is entirely made up of players from the Australian NRL. Haven't played since 2019. Should be in the semi-finals and maybe more 3rd appearance - world ranked #13 Best result - 1 x quarter final Apparently there's a large Lebanese community in New South Wales which accounts for why Lebanon has a reasonably good team. Most of the players play in the two top levels in Australia. Lebanon beat Wales quite convincingly in a warm up match last week 1st appearance - world ranked #21 A team taken from players of Jamaican heritage in the 2nd and 3rd levels in England. Last week they lost to the small English county of Cumbria (all-Ireland) 5th appearance - world ranked #12 A mixture of players from the top level in England and Australia with lower league players from the same countries. Will contest with Lebanon for a place in the quarters

Group B 16th appearance - world ranked #4 Best result - 11 x winners Haven't played since 2019 when they were beaten by Tonga in the Oceania Cup. Previously only England, Great Britain and New Zealand had ever beaten them. Maybe not quite at the level they were 10 years ago but still strong favourites to win the Cup 6th appearance - world ranked #6 Best results - 3 x semi-finals Rugby League was not played in Fiji until the 90s but lots of Rugby Union players turned professional in Australia before that. In the last three World Cups they have improved a lot and upset New Zealand to reach the semi-finals last time. However they were disappointing versus England last week. Should qualify from the group though 5th appearance - world ranked #15 Best result 1 x quarter-final (or 3 x winners as part of ) Reliant on players of Scottish heritage in England and Australia. Should not be good enough to trouble Australia or Fiji. Last week they lost 28-4 to England's "B" team 3rd appearance - world ranked #17 Based on players of Italian heritage in Australia and, to a lesser extant, England and France Will lose badly against Australia or Fiji, may give Scotland a hard game

The Teams Group A 6th appearance - world ranked #3 Best result 3 x finalist (or 3 x winners as part of ) Finalists in 2017 but, due to covid, have only played 2 games in 4 years. Were impressive in beating Fiji in a warmup games last week. Should reach quarter-finals but may struggle to get further. 6th appearance - world ranked #7 Best result 3 x quarter finalist The dark horses for the competition. For the first time they have got virtually all the best players of Samoan heritage together in their team, including six players from Australian champion Penrith. If they beat England today they should the semi-final and could even give Australia or New Zealand a very hard game. The one problem is not having a lot of time to train together before the World Cuo 16th appearance - world ranked #9 Best result 2 x finalist Team based around the Dragons Catalans and Toulouse teams who play in the England dominated European Super League. Like England, Covid has ruined their schedule in recent years. This year they have lost by 20 points to England and by 30 to Tonga last week. Will be a major shock if they beat England or Samoa 1st appearance - world ranked #11 A mix of lower league players from the Greek community in Australia and players from the Greek League. Will lose every match by a lot of points.

One of the polling organizations is predicting that Boris Johnson, the former Prime Minister, has a 94% chance of losing his seat in parliament at the next general election. https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/seatdetails.py?seat=Uxbridge and South Ruislip

Faster than the winning time in the TEAM pursuit at the Sydney Olympics...

3.59

Her words (translated) "The race was very difficult: the cyclists pushed a lot, there was a lot of movement in the group, so you had to constantly fight for your position. Maybe I went a bit overboard with my aggressiveness "

very good from Fantastic from Congratulations to Italy

I think Emma Finucane might be a superstar in 1 or 2 years time.

The GBR team for 2024 could be Archibald. Kenny, the Barker sisters and the Backstedt sisters. My problem is that Zoe Backstedt might destroy the rest of the British team

I think GBR choose the wrong sprinter in this event

Hitting hospitals and schools is against international law. Are you saying that the rest of the world should be forced to assassinate Putin if he continues this?

@phelps Is the Italian women's pursuit team capable of improving between now and 2024? I would guess the GBR team could change 3 of the 4 riders before Paris

Considering what a terrible year Katie Archibald has had, that was an epic performance to bring the GBR team through to the pursuit final

How many indoor velodromes does Lithuania have?

GB without Kenny and Elinor Barker too. And the potential for Zoe Backstedt to be there in 2024 too.

I suppose it's really about the teams that have gained most between the two championships and who still has the potential to improve even more before Paris

Very interesting to compare these times to the Euros in Munich

Everybody knows that people on totallympics.com know more than people who are professional commentators on TV...

Right, I've printed out my scorecard. Now to rank all 40 countries I can vote for...

Actually in this case, I agree with @Bestmen. I don't like the glorifying of innocent people getting killed. (As long as these stamps are real of course)

Well, if anybody asks me, I'm voting for the Vatican City again...

They were once refugees from Communism, shouldn't he be expelling them up north before Venezuelans from another state?

The fact that his campaign in Florida is funded by ultra-rich Cuban immigrants doesn't really make him look good, does it?