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Why the All Blacks ‘are in a great position’ to win the Rugby World Cup
Ahead of this year’s World Cup, some rugby fans have cast the All Blacks aside as nothing more than underdogs as the once champion team prepares for their shot at rugby immortality in France.
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Instead, with the sports biggest event set to get underway in four months’ time, northern hemisphere heavyweights Ireland and France are considered more deserving of the favourites tag.
But with that comes pressure and expectation – the likes of which those two proud rugby nations have never experienced at a World Cup.
France hold the record of losing the most World Cup finals without tasting success, having been defeated by the All Blacks in 1987 and 2011, and Australia in 1999.
As for Ireland, they’ve failed to make it past the quarter-final stage and every Rugby World Cup.
While the world No. 1 ranked side is expected to buck that trend in France, again, with that comes pressure and expectation.
Then there’s the threat that the likes of England, Australia and Argentina pose on the other side of the draw – all three teams are more than capable of an upset or two.
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This year’s Rugby World Cup promises to be the most competitive instalment of the prestigious event in history, with a number of teams believing they can hoist the Webb Ellis Trophy in October.
But former Test flyhalf Stephen Donald, who was the All Blacks’ hero at the 2011 World Cup, believes New Zealand “are in a great position” to win the tournament.
“I think the All Blacks are in a great position,” Donald said on AM. “I know everyone was doom and gloom after last year.
“But when you look at everyone else that there’s there, the Irish are flavour of the month but they’ve never made it past the quarter-finals. They’re going to go there with all the hype and hoopla, (but) how are they going to respond to that?
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“The French, again, a lot of hype and hoopla. They’re playing at home, they’re a young team, (but) how that expectation going to go on them?
“The All Blacks are in as good a place as any. They’re pretty settled.
“On the radio, we’re always picked out ‘form XV’. When you put them all together, it’s a hell of a team.”
Throughout this article so far, there’s been no mention of the reigning Rugby World Cup champions South Africa – and that’s been intentional.
Going into this year’s tournament, a lot of fans rugby expect Ireland, France and New Zealand to challenge for the World Cup crown.
But there’s been a staggering lack of hype surrounding the champion Springboks.
While Donald believes the All Blacks will win the World Cup, the 39-year-old expects South Africa to challenge for the Webb Ellis Trophy once again.
“The one team I would (bet on) if I wasn’t putting money on the All Blacks – which I have – would be the Springboks,” he added.
“South Africa for me is the big one because it’s gonna be pretty much the same team that won it in Tokyo.
“They have a monstrous forward pack, they will not do anything other than use that forward pack, use their nine and ten to kick.
“We all know in World Cups and in tournament play, that’s a fairly handy formula.”
The Rugby World Cup is set to get underway in less than four months. The All Blacks will look to upset hosts France in the opening match of the tournament in Paris.
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.
1 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