Any one of the four remaining teams which successfully gets into the final and wins the 2015 William Webb Ellis Cup will create rugby history.
The tournament’s semi-final opponents have already grabbed their slice of history, as for the first time there is no northern hemisphere team in the final four. England created rugby history for a different unpalatable reason, being the first host nation to fail to make it out of the pools.
While this has created significant debate around the quality of European rugby, there are some other historical points to look out for in the coming weeks.
For the All Blacks and the Wallabies, it will be a double whammy if either one wins.
1. For the All Blacks, it will be the first nation in the history of the game to win three World Cups and the first team to win as a defending champion.
2. For the Wallabies, it,will be the first nation in the history of the game to win three World Cups and the first team to beat six teams in the top 10 rugby rankings at one tournament. The Wallabies have beaten Fiji (formerly ranked 10), England (now 8), Wales (5), Scotland (9) and this weekend take on Argentina who are ranked fourth.
3. For Argentina, it will be the first team in the history of the game to win the Cup despite losing a game in the Pools match and the first team ever to win the Cup from the American continent.
4. For the Springboks, it will be the first team in the history of the game to win the Cup despite losing a game in the Pools match and the first time a team has won three World Cups.
Vic
Guest
Brilliant idea, Shop, you should market that to the Japanese :)
taylorman
Roar Guru
For McCaw it will also be two titles as winning captain, a first as well.
Emric
Guest
It could just make them angry and motivate them so it might not be a bad time to mention it either
RT
Guest
For the AB's it would also be the first time they had won a World Cup outside their own country and for Australia it would also mean they would continue their odd but cool record of never losing a game on British soil.
Now on the eve of the semi finals is not the best time to remind the Springboks of that. ;)
lao hu
Guest
summing it up this way must make the eyes of many NH journos and former players water. Japan will most likely keep their 100% record intact until their admission to the RC.
Haha, no idea mate, but I can tell you the Franchises won't take them lightly in Super rugby.
Shop
Guest
Number 2 or 3 would be my preference. On a side note BB, do you think SA and Japan will play again before the next World Cup? Maybe Japan would prefer to keep their status as the only nation with a 100% record against the Boks.
Well, I might be biased (althought I think I will be forgiven) but personally I like number 4. :D