I was being facetious about the 6Ns champions being champions of Europe, mate … it’s an exclusive competition played by Britain, Ireland, France and Italy.
You also touched on a key difference between the sports — football is so widely played you need to actually have a significant qualifying process spread out over 2 years to qualify for major competitions – I’m not even sure how Ireland qualify for the rugby WC, is it through the autumn friendlies and the exclusive 6Ns tournament?
we will win
Ireland Ireland Ireland
Yes I am getting in on this bandwagon early. I don’t want to be accused of being a bandwagoner the day before the World Cup final
Those world Cup odds are hilarious.
South Africa should be a lot more than a team that should never be written. Up until their exile in the 1980’s, it was South Africa that was the pre-eminent international rugby team for the best part of a century, not New Zealand. They have an in-built advantage genetically which should enable them to produce the best players and by extension the best team. If they were organised, focused and pulling together, of course there’d be a force in 2019 or in any tournament or match they play in. I very much doubt they will be though, even with a good coach like Rassie Erasmus now at the helm. South African rugby like the country in general is a shambles and seemingly in irreversible decline. There’s no guarantees South Africa will snap out of it. Just look at the West Indies cricket team. Again, West Indies genetically produce the best and most naturally talented cricketers, but they’ve been a shambles for over 20 years now, as a consequence of fairly similar root causes - regional infighting, bad administration and socio-economic factors.
Call a spade a spade Geoff… no pun intended!
That’s the sad reality of it all as well. Apartheid lent itself to a formidable Springbok side and it gave them the bloody mindedness and siege mentality that made them what they were.
The trolls and the haterz are adopting a ‘kill them with kindness’ approach to this. Fascinating to watch
WTF?
Have you been to South Africa? You should see the size of the Afrikaans. Lends itself to very good and effective rugby players.
So the best team in rubby comes down to size which is down to genetics … What a sport, no mention of skill, technique, coaching— just sheer size.
Thanks for confirming what most of us have always said.
Size has to be allied with athleticism, speed, skills, mindset and good coaching. The great South African sides had all of those. They haven’t had too much of that mix of late.
But South African’s dont have the advantage of having Gaelic football skills… that surely trumps the genetic card every time?
They play a lot of basketball in high school in South Africa. Basketball is even better that Gaelic football for handling skills.
that is an unbelievable line, how did I miss it?
How do NZ over-come the genetic advantage SA have — do they play both Gaelic football and Basketball in secondary school?
For a country that plays a lot of basketball, they’re pretty shit at basketball
They dont have the genetic disposition for it.
iv been getting some air, whats the gist of all the activity on this thread by the bigots and the rubby haters?
You left out anabolic steroids