So after one close semi-final and one that was a skoosh, a doddle, as we say in Scots, we now have a Rugby World Cup Final that can only be described as a mouth-watering event that will hopefully serve as an outstanding advertisement for our sport.
I had predicted a France v Ireland final, and got that wrong. It was then fairly obvious that the final would be between South Africa and New Zealand, and while the latter romped away with it against Argentina, oh boy, did England give the Springboks a serious fright before just falling short at the death. As they did against France, South Africa found the way to win, again by a single point, and this against a much-improved England who played their best rugby of the tournament.
The question has to be can the Springboks do the same thing against the All Blacks and find a way to win? It is surely going to be a close match, at least if you believe the bookies who make New Zealand slight favourites over South Africa at the time of writing.
They don’t often get it wrong and I agree with them so that’s why I am going for a New Zealand win on Saturday night in Paris. They had a poor start against France in the first match of the tournament, looking disjointed as the hosts roared out of the starting blocks, but the All Blacks have built up momentum from then on, with that astonishing 96-17 victory over fellow tier one team Italy an indication that they were gelling together in awesome style.
The quarter final against Ireland was my vote for best match of the finals, and featured an astonishing passage of play which I think is the best indicator for an All Black victory in the final. That 37-phase final play by Ireland saw New Zealand’s defence at its most resolute, and most importantly they kept their discipline throughout and won the stoppage time penalty correctly awarded by Wayne Barnes. The Englishman has been chosen to referee the final and that is a very good choice as he is currently the best referee in the world.
New Zealand crushed Argentina in the semi-final last weekend and though the Pumas were out of sorts, the All Blacks totally dominated the game, winning lots of ball up front and allowing their backs to cut loose, especially Will Jordan, for my money the best winger in the world right now.
It’s that combination of disciplined team play, stonewall defence and attacking flair which I think will win New Zealand the trophy.
You may say how can I possibly argue that the All Blacks will win when South Africa are a team of proven world-class talents. They can even afford to leave Faf de Klerk and Handre Pollard on the bench, I hear you say, so just how good are this team? I am a huge admirer but think that history – whoever lifts the Webb Ellis Trophy will be the first nation to win four World Cups – can be forgotten at this point because it is current form which counts.
South Africa wobbled against England and though they inflicted a record defeat on the All Blacks at Twickenham during the summer, I think they may have peaked too early in this tournament while New Zealand have been building the Big Mo, the momentum that sees them on top of their form. That’s why I am predicting an All Black victory in a tight contest.
Before that final we have the so-called bronze medal match between England and Argentina, a repeat of their encounter in the first game of Pool D as far back as September 9 - has this tournament not dragged on a bit? In that match in Marseille, England deservedly won 27-10 thanks to a brilliant kicking performance by George Ford and considerable indiscipline by the Pumas.
Who is going to win this time around? I simply don’t care. I have long considered the match to decide third and fourth places to be a piece of fatuous nonsense, an excuse for World Rugby to squeeze more money out of the fans while pandering to the television companies’ need for an advert-earning event to fill the space between the semis and the final.
Bronze medals are for the Olympics, and should stay there. No doubt it will be an entertaining enough tussle, and any Test between these two rivals will be hard fought, but I have to ask what’s the point? After almost seven weeks of competition, the players’ minds will already be on home and their clubs’ preparations for the season ahead, so for what it’s worth I take Argentina to win as they have a point to prove after that comprehensive drubbing by New Zealand.
I’ll review the whole World Cup experience next week, and I’ll be sparing nobody.
