The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

Who can win the Rugby World Cup?

Will Tearle new author
Roar Rookie
27th August, 2015
Advertisement
Ireland's Johnny Sexton. (AFP PHOTO / IAN MACNICOL)
Will Tearle new author
Roar Rookie
27th August, 2015
60
1986 Reads

The rugby World Cup is just over three weeks away now and excitement is building. Over the past few weeks we have seen a dominant Wallabies team go from beating the all-conquering All Blacks to receiving a master class by the very same team.

The Springboks were shown up by the passionate Argentines in a high scoring clash. While in the northern hemisphere the English dominated an undisciplined French team before swapping roles the very next week.

In addition the Irish dominated the Welsh in a classy performance. Thus, after many hours of detailed research and thinking I have reached the conclusion that only four teams can win this year’s Rugby World Cup – England, Ireland, Australia or New Zealand.

England
England head into the World Cup in mixed form after two contradicting performances against the French. However I believe these performances have not shown the dominant strength of the England team over the past four years and that they are a leading contender to lift the Web Ellis Cup.

Under Stuart Lancaster the English have comprehensively beaten New Zealand – the only team to do so other than the Wallabies in the last four years – and they have made their home ground Twickenham a fortress. They also have arguably the biggest and most disciplined forward pack heading into the World Cup.

Even though they have not yet settled on their best 15 I believe that the power and strength they possess in the forwards, combined with exciting outside backs such as Mike Brown and Jonathan Joseph, can lead them to a second World Cup.

Ireland
Over the past two years Ireland have been the feel good story of world rugby, they have beaten the Springboks and Wallabies, won the Six Nations two years in a row and have pushed the All Blacks right to the edge. In my opinion there are two reasons Ireland can win the rugby World Cup.

Firstly, they have the most in-form halves pairing in world rugby. Jonathan Sexton and Colin Murray have created a lethal partnership in the last few years, tearing apart teams such as England, Wales, Australia and South Africa by their ability to either combine with their attacking outside backs or play a power game with their dominant forwards.

Advertisement

The second reason Ireland can win is their game style. The Irish possess attacking backs such as Simon Zebo and Tommy Bowe while also having dominate forwards in Sean O’Brien and Paul O’Connell, enabling to change their game plan depending on the situation.

This could be very handy as they will have to play teams that run the ball like the Wallabies and New Zealand or teams that like to kick the ball like England. Thus, if Ireland play at their full potential I don’t believe they can be defeated.

New Zealand
Leading into this year’s World Cup New Zealand are the obvious favourites, as they are for every World Cup. They are the number one team in the world, have only lost two games in four years and boast two great players in Dan Carter and Richie McCaw, as well as the brilliant Aaron Smith and Brodie Retallick.

New Zealand play a fast free-flowing style using their talented outside backs to their full disposal while also using their well drilled forwards to secure the ball and dominate the breakdown. I believe that this World Cup is New Zealand’s to lose and anything other than a victory on that last day of October will be a failure for the men in black.

Australia
Most rugby fans leading into this World Cup would rate Australia an outside chance to lift the cup, however I believe they can. If Australia were to win this year’s World Cup it would be because of three things – passion, precision and intensity.

The Wallabies’ victory over New Zealand earlier this year was not a fluke and I believe that it was a sign to come for the men in gold under Michael Cheika. To have the will and desire to win those close games you need to have passion, passion for country, your teammates and your coach.

When Nick Phipps was sin-binned the Wallabies could have rolled over and given up however they kept on fighting and emerged victors after 80 minutes. When that siren sounded you could see the joy on the players’ faces and how much it meant to them.

Advertisement

Secondly, if the Wallabies want any chance to win the World cup they have to be precise. What let them down at Eden Park wasn’t a lack of will it was a lack of precision. In the first 20 minutes of that game the Wallabies had all the possession and territory, however were unable to convert their opportunities and let the All Blacks back in the game.

Thirdly, over the past few weeks we have been hearing about the intensity of the Wallabies’ training and that players are getting bloody noses and getting into fights. I believe if the Wallabies bring that type of intensity to the World Cup they can advance deep into the knockout stage.

close