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'Maybe for some reason there is a consensus among the rugby public that they don't rate us'
Gareth Anscombe says Six Nations champions Wales have reason to believe they can “ruffle a few feathers” at the World Cup later this year.
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The Grand Slam winners have twice been World Cup semi-finalists – at the inaugural tournament 31 years ago, and in 2011, when they lost by a point to France after skipper Sam Warburton was sent off.
Many pundits are tipping Wales to at least match that feat in Japan following their Six Nations success and moving second behind New Zealand on rugby’s official world rankings list.
If Anscombe and company win their pool – one that includes Australia and Fiji – France or Argentina are potential quarter-final opponents, then a possible last-four clash against Ireland or South Africa, should they progress.
Leave the group as runners-up, though, and Wales’ degree of difficulty increases, with England and the All Blacks likely to be looming.
“The thing with World Cups is that you need an ounce of luck,” said Wales fly-half Anscombe, whose 20-point haul underpinned a Grand Slam-clinching victory over Ireland last weekend.
“You can be a good team and still get a bad call here or there, a bounce of the ball and a few injuries, and you don’t quite make it.
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“We are fairly confident in what we can do, I think we have reason to believe we can go there and ruffle a few feathers.
“With the World Cup, it is about getting out of the pool, and then in knockout rugby anything can happen.
“Like ‘Gats’ (Wales head coach Warren Gatland) has said, we have a habit of winning at the moment. Hopefully, that holds us in good stead, come Japan.”
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Wales have won their last 14 Tests – an ongoing national record – leaving them just four more victories short of equalling the Tier One world-best run that is jointly held by England and New Zealand.
Their next game is a World Cup warm-up clash against England at Twickenham on August 11, by which time, tournament preparations will be well advanced.
“I guess it (winning Six Nations) might come with a bit of added pressure,” Anscombe added.
“For some reason, I think we have always been able to slip under the radar and I guess maybe for some reason there is a consensus among the rugby public that they don’t rate us.
“That probably suits us down to the ground. We just try to keep our heads down, we work extremely hard for each other and we are a tight group. We know what we are capable of.
“There will be some added pressure no doubt, but we have every right to go to Japan with a hell of a lot of confidence and see what happens.
“We’ve got so much competition for places. Our squad depth has grown tremendously, and we’ve got three or four guys who can really do a job in every position.
“We are building well, we’ve had a good period, and it has been nice to have this run of 14 wins. More so, when we finish our careers we can look back and say we were part of something pretty special.
“Come Japan, it all counts for nothing, and we are a pretty level-headed group. We will enjoy this, and then come back together in June or July and start focusing for a big six months.”
Press Association
Watch: Alun Wyn Jones and Warren Gatland reflect on Wales Grand Slam glory
Comments on RugbyPass
Both nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to comments