Reasons You Country Can Win the W.C.

[SavageLez]

South Africa - Great chance of winning!

1. coz nobody is backing them to win.
2. Group games are going to be more physical & tougher than the NZ games which could prove critical when NZ do face a tough game at the knockout stages.
3. SA are resting their "injured" players for the away leg of the Tri - Nations (dejavu 2007).
4. Coz they could gain a lot of confidence if they beat or come close to beating NZ and/or Oz with their B team in the Tri Nations.

Not saying they will will win but I do think that they have been written off too soon.

 

[Groundhog]

yeah nobodys backing them to win except most south africans

 

[Groundhog]

and i definately dont underate them

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

Toby Faletau.

 

[staph.glorious]

Scotland can win the RWC

It would just take a set of circumstances like plagues/ passport issues/ famine/ volcanoes/ wrong directions/ political instability/ nuclear war/ all of NZ except for the final venue and Scotlands hotel to sink/ lost/stolen luggage (the backs make up)/ drought and maybe even a zombie apocalypse, and then we'll be good as gold to win the tourney.

Otherwise, all we have to do is miss NZ in the quaterfinals, and make sure that our star kicker doesn't miss a sitter that would win his team the semi-final and then have a shot at the final.

Passport issues? That's rather in poor taste, don't you think?

 

[SavageLez]

yeah nobodys backing them to win except most south africans

The same thing happened in the build up to the 2007 Rugby World Cup. SA had a terrible 2006 coming last in the Tri Nations, Schalk Burger had broken his neck and confidence in the team was at an all time low. Nobody rated SA then either.

SA do have a few things in their favour.

. Majority of the victorious 2007 team are still present and at a similar age to the England team that won the 2003 Rugby World Cup so age is not really a factor with the average age of 27 in the current squad.
. The SA strategy is terrible but good for World Cup knockout style rugby.
. South Africa have dominated 3 of the last 4 Super Rugby compos and will feel confident that they can beat NZ in NZ.
. South Africa have beaten in NZ a couple of times in NZ over the last 3 years and this will also assist their cause.

 

[matt.price]

wales can only win if all the other teams go off form and we find a spark from somewhere!
but realisticly new zealand are going to win.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

SA could win this thing. NZ are favourites for a couple of extremely good reasons. Here's why I think SA stands a chance:

- we are a good team with talented players
- people have forgotten FdP and Heinrich Brussow and the impact they can make
- we can beat anyone in a one-off game like at a RWC
- we are the only team to have beaten NZ a few times in NZ over the last couple of years
- we relish the underdog tag
- we have a good record at RWC's, winning except in 1999 when we were robbed I tell you! and 2003 when we were ****
- our players should have had enough rest
- we have a tough pool so we should be getting our scares in early in the pool stages and will probably have a tough QF as well
- our style of play becomes more relevant at a RWC
- pressure situations is nothing new to just about everyone in the squad; experience
- depending on selections we should actually have a 15 for the first time in a while
- Matfield and Habana have shown glimpses of form towards the end of the S15 so we might only be carrying Spies and Smit
- this group of players have achieved just about anything they could have (RWC/3N/B&I Lions etc etc) and now they have the opportunity to defend a WC ***le

okay, I'm starting to clutch at straws now but seriously we are contenders make no mistake

 

[donmcdazzle]

You South African's definitely are NOT clutching at straws, I think SA are a huge chance for the WC based on many of the points raised above.

Big strong pack with a good set piece, if the defence steps up and you get the kick and chase game going in the wet/dewy conditions then you'll be very tough to beat.

 

[Easdon]

If Scotland were to win, the reasons behind it wouldn't be anything tangible. You can't pick out a bunch of absolutely world class players and to be honest, you can't even pick out a consistent, first choice back line. However, on their day they seem to be able to give any team a run for their money - last year's tests again NZ and SA being prime examples - the game against the ABs was much closer than the scoreline suggested and we managed to hold on and actually beat South Africa. If you're gonna pinpoint one team that we have the potential to upset it has to be England - purely because Scotland seem to go into the match so much more aggressively and with much more heart (England were much more intense against Wales than Scotland in the 6N). We beat them, beat Argentina (a team we have a lot of confidence over) and we top the pool, dodging NZ til the semis. If that actually happened I think you'd struggle to write them off completely.

 

[cyRil]

Can I have something of whatever you're on please?!!
Seriously though, how can you defend a team's performance after losing 49-3 at home...?

 

[Seaton]

Passport issues? That's rather in poor taste, don't you think?

In what way? The only thing I can think that you might think I'm alluding to is Fiji, but yeah, I dinnae know what your talking aboot

@ Easdon

I'm telling ya, it will be just Scotland's luck if they manage to win the pool, but NZ lose to France in their group.

 

[JW.]

I can't see anybody beating NZ if they're onform and are with DC. But if they either bottle it (which wouldnt be the first time ) or lose DC, its up for grabs. And I could see England winning the WC then, if they can keep there form up like they played vs Aus/Wales/Ita etc. We have a good/strong pack, with plenty of experience and our backline is pretty good 2. My only concern would be our midfield, Hape's defence is solid but Tindal gets turned easily. Altough without him our defence is weaker, because he organises our defence.

SA aren't very special at the moment, it even showed in the Super15 and we will beat Australia again.

So if NZ bottle it or lose DC, its on! Or we ask the french to have one of those games vs the AB's .

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I can't see anybody beating NZ if they're onform and are with DC. But if they either bottle it (which wouldnt be the first time ) or lose DC, its up for grabs. And I could see England winning the WC then, if they can keep there form up like they played vs Aus/Wales/Ita etc. We have a good/strong pack, with plenty of experience and our backline is pretty good 2. My only concern would be our midfield, Hape's defence is solid but Tindal gets turned easily. Altough without him our defence is weaker, because he organises our defence.

SA aren't very special at the moment, it even showed in the Super15 and we will beat Australia again.

So if NZ bottle it or lose DC, its on! Or we ask the french to have one of those games vs the AB's .

Ah but they were clever this time round; being in the same pool means that France can't knock NZ out (realistically); if they win in the pool stages NZ will go through in any case as runners up (anyone would bet their house on it surely) meaning they could only meet again in the final so France couldn't knock NZ out in either QF or SF. Like SA and Eng in 2007. That'd be SA's job this time round. We certainly are as inconsistent as the French so it kinda fits LOL.

 

[brudelay]

I am South African so naturally I will back South Africa.
As a nation we are resillient and persistent, we love our Rugby team and they love their fans. We know how to take a beating and we know how to bounce back.
Africa is not for weaklings!

GO BOKKE!!!!

 

[TVH11]

Well for this tournament I'm taking the 2003 Steve Hansen approach -
"Its the performance not the result that counts"

Our biggest problem is combinations, and a certain number 9 that just can't pass. hopefully the autumn tests will Sort out the centres, get a 9 that can pass and have Geth and Adam fit, i think we achieve the above, then we can get out of the pool (thats if the above comes true). If not, then we could be repeating 2007 all over again (that was always doomed when you employ Gyppo as your head coach )

 

[JW.]

Never did understand why phillips was dropped for Peel. Phillips just shuts down any chance of a fast game for Wales. Nevermind his poor decision making. The guy should've been a center.

 

[Easdon]

Can I have something of whatever you're on please?!!
Seriously though, how can you defend a team's performance after losing 49-3 at home...?

I know the scoreline looks bad but it came down to a lot of single errors, missed tackles, that sorta thing. There were some encouraging signs in that game even though it was the worst defeat Scotland have ever had to NZ - having said that, I do have to agree that realistically Scotland have no chance against NZ - there are a few teams in the world who do, unfortunately we aren't one of them!

@LordHope - if there was any chance of that happening, you've just jinxed it

 

[Seaton]

I know the scoreline looks bad but it came down to a lot of single errors, missed tackles, that sorta thing. There were some encouraging signs in that game even though it was the worst defeat Scotland have ever had to NZ - having said that, I do have to agree that realistically Scotland have no chance against NZ - there are a few teams in the world who do, unfortunately we aren't one of them!

@LordHope - if there was any chance of that happening, you've just jinxed it

You are pretty optimistic if I do say

I thought it was only a matter of time until NZ broke the 50 point barrier in that game. Somehow they botched it up, we just didn't come out with any degree of intensity that is required for an international, just going through the motions.

Bah! It was the following weeks result that counted, right? B)

 

[Aout]

Btw I was thinking about something. Everyone here is very optimistic about NZ (and it's 100% normal, they are the best squad at the moment). But what would happen if France beat NZ in pool game ? I mean if there's one NH side that could beat NZ, it's France, isn't it ? With all the preparation etc... they will probably be able to do something against NZ (although they are more likely to lose, we all agree on this point).

But defeating ABs in pool would be a massive blow to them, I can't imagine the AB recovering from a such a loss.