True. Scotland is the first game though followed by Japan, so thereāll be a bit of a lay of then until the quarter final. Last time, we put in a superhuman effort in to beat France and avoid Nee Zealand in a quarter final just 6 days later. That goal was achieved but we had lost one third of our starting team and as you said the spine of the team for Argentina.
Not true.
South Africa didnāt even compete in international rugby from 1984 to 1992 so Iād say that was a considerably lower ebb for them.
They were absolute dogshit from around 2001 to 2003 when Rudolf Straueli was coaching them and bringing them to army camps and such.
When Jake White took over after the 2003 World Cup, they were suddenly revitalised and won the Tri-Nations in 2004 and would go on to win the 2007 World Cup.
Theyāve just had a similar coaching change. However even since the 2015 World Cup and under a lame duck coach theyāve shown they can mix it with the very best on their day. Under a proper coach in Rassie Erasmus, theyāll be a serious force in 2019. Never underestimate the resilience of South African rugby.
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I was just reading there Geoff, that there are 4 million people playing rugby world wideā¦ thatās a huge figure in fairness ā¦ Itās fairly dwarfed by the 300 m that play soccer, but itās impressive all the same. However, I noted that rugby has no presence in over 18 countries world wide? With another 17 countries that has less than 1000 participants playing the gameā¦ Thatās almost half the globe with little or no rubby presenceā¦ No doubt many of these countries dont have a big enough middle class for the game to take hold.
South Africa if they were competing in the 1980ās would have been the best team for most of that decade. Youāve only to look at the calibre of players that they had - Naas Botha, Danie Gerber, Uli Schmidt, Louis Moolman, Schalk Burger, Jannie Breedt.
The New Zealand Cavalier tour of South Africa in 1986 (regardless of whether or not it was sanctioned by the IRB) was an All Black tour in all but name. David Kirk and John Kirwan (who in any case were not yet established as first choices) were the only New Zealand players who refused to travel. South Africa won that series 3-1.
South Africa 2007 World Cup win had a lot to do with the vagaries of the draw and a knock out tournament. That was a moderate South Africa team and nowhere near as strong as the 1995 side. The two strongest teams Australia and New Zealand were both ambushed in the quarter finals in 2007 by England and France. South Africa were pushed all the way by Fiji in a quarter final, beat Argentina in a semi final and a hopeless England team who had somehow bumbled their way into the final.
Its indisputable that South Africa are at the lowest ever ebb at the moment. Rassie Eramsus can only do so much.
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Iād call being being ostracised from international rugby a much lower ebb than what South Africa are currently going through. The 1986 New Zealand Cavaliers tour was seen by many in New Zealand as a way to effectively dispense with the services of several aging veterans, and new and much better players took their place. Of that 31 man squad, only 10 would make the squad for the inaugural World Cup a year later. It was not a very good New Zealand team that went to South Africa in 1986 and they played amidst a backdrop of considerable anger in their own country that they had travelled, which didnāt help the atmosphere in the squad. South Africa on the other hand were desperate to win those matches.
When South Africa came back in 1992 they were comically bad in their first test against New Zealand. Some of them appeared to not even know the rules, as the rules of the game had effectively moved on without them since 1984. I think they ran in a couple of late tries to make the score respectable but in reality they were destroyed. They werenāt much better on their tour of Europe that November when England beat them comfortably. Even in 1994 England thrashed them in the first test at Loftus Versfeld, At that stage winning the World Cup on home soil a year later looked a pipe dream. But they did.
You airbrush South Africaās disastrous period under Straueli from 2001 to 2003 and their phoenix-like resurrection in 2004.
That period from 2001 to 2003 is undoubtedly their lowest ebb bar as an international team bar the time they were banned. It canāt be overstated how bad they were. They were a joke.
Of the six World Cups theyāve contested, theyāve raised their game considerably from what was expected in four of them - 1995 and 2007 when they won, and 1999 and 2015 when they proved very dogged customers indeed and came away with highly respectable third place finishes. Even in 2011, they were only barely edged out by a good Australian team in the quarter-finals. 2003 is the only time they havenāt raised a gallop at a World Cup and that was largely due to a coach who was hated by his players. That wonāt be an issue next time.
Even under lame duck coach Allister Coetzee, they still managed to beat Ireland in a three match test series, and ran New Zealand to the pin of their collars (25-24) at Newlands in October 2017 in one of the most brutal test matches ever seen.
That test against New Zealand is a far better barometer of what to expect from them in the World Cup than an end of season November test in Dublin, which a lot of people here seem to mistakenly think is their true standard.
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have you a breakdown of that 4 million
England has the vast majority?
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I was only looking at an unofficial site tbh ā¦ Iām sure Geoff will be on with all the official facts and figures later so iāll hold off investigating further for now.
the lad that thinks CJ plays for Leinster is the go to guy for rogbee facts?
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Thatās the hand we are dealt here, we just have to play it.
Wow, 4 million playing, thats huge. Did that website mention how many countries American football is played in?
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yes mate, the official rogbee website talks a lot about American Football
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He said it was unofficial though mate?
Did you bang your head this morning? What the fuck has American football got to do with anything? Dear oh dearā¦
Trolls and haterz driving themselves dooolally here about the grand slam achievement of a 32 county team. The same lads rubbing themselves raw of a Sunday night about āgridironā calling their kids after players and setting up leagues etc and they having no connection at all to the place apart from getting blackout drunk there 4 nights a week on j1er as they call it
There is a thesis in it for someone
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South African rugby is financially broke though. It doesnāt matter how good the coach is, if the best players are off to Europe and not available for selection then they are not going to be a serious contender at a world cup.
Self loathing IRA men who despise the united Ireland team yet jack off to the New York Bearskins every Sunday night in their Kenny Daglish pyjamas.
You literally couldnāt make it up.
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Youāre doing it again chief, let it goā¦
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They are happy enough to pick them in world cup year I think
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Informative. I suspect it would be difficult to gather together a team that would seriously challenge if they can only start gelling next Autumn and they are at the mercy of European clubs though?
On that not what sort of rugby are Armitage and Abendanon playing now? Both were recent European player of the year winners and play in positions England are weak in. Any chance Eddie would use recent results as a justification to recall these 2, or are they even at that standard anymore?