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The best of the #AskGeorge hashtag as Hook looks ahead to the Rugby World Cup

Dave McIntyre joined George Hook to have a look through the #AskGeorge hashtag and give their opi...



The best of the #AskGeorge has...
Rugby

The best of the #AskGeorge hashtag as Hook looks ahead to the Rugby World Cup

Dave McIntyre joined George Hook to have a look through the #AskGeorge hashtag and give their opinions on some of the burning questions that were sent in ahead of the kick off of the Rugby World Cup this weekend. 

The opening match takes place on Friday evening as hosts England will face Fiji, but with so much success under Joe Schmidt, confidence in Ireland has been pretty high so far. 

That was reflected by the questions sent in on the #AskGeorge hashtag, putting the expertise of Hook to the test ahead of what could be the biggest and most exciting World Cup to date. 

However, not buying into the mood of optimism that has seemingly taken over the nation in recent weeks, George was quick to dismiss any notion that the Boys in Green might be lifting the trophy over their heads any time soon. 

A listener known only as Mick texted in to ask if we will all be celebrating a historic win in Twickenham, but Hook's response was simple and clear: "No. No. Next question please". 

For both Hook and McIntyre, there's one crucial game looming in Ireland's pool that will have a huge effect on their fortunes in the tournament: "The French game will determine the World Cup for us. There's no question or doubt about that. I don't share people's optimism that we're going to hockey Argentina if we meet them in the quarters, but one thing that's reasonably certain is we're not going to hockey New Zealand if we finish runner up in our pool". 

George also gave his opinion on the selection choices that Schmidt made both in the squad as a whole as well as ahead of the opening fixture, stating that Schmidt's "system is creaking" before the tournament has even started, and that some of his picks have been puzzling. 

"To bring in Luke Fitzgerald, who is many things, but not an inside centre, I just don't get it. The test for Schmidt, as it has been for other Irish coaches in the past, will be the Rugby World Cup...This could go horribly wrong."

You can listen to the full piece below, as George delves deeper to reveal who he reckons will score Ireland's first try, whether Wales will make it out of their group of death, and who he he's picking as the overall winner. 

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