Nearly two weeks into the World Cup and the big four are looking ominous. The opening fixtures were full of potential upsets but France, New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland have all set their stalls out. The All Blacks might have lost on the opening night but they have shown enough to demonstrate they will be competitive. France have got their wobble out of their system against Uruguay, and Ireland and South Africa have been mightily impressive. It’s hard to see a winner coming from anywhere else at this stage.
I think it’s the nature of World Cups. We’ve seen tier‑two nations, who have to find a way to score points against superior teams, play with more ball movement and attacking flair but the teams at the top end of the game, those well equipped for finals footie, squeeze, strangle and suffocate. They squeeze through their set-piece play, strangle through their kicking game and suffocate with their defence. Those three attributes tend to go a long way towards winning a World Cup.
