Rugby World Cup 2011 – New Zealand
It’s less than a week to go until the 2011 Rugby World Cup gets under way in New Zealand. Fans throughout the world are asking one big question...Who will win in 2011? We take a look at some of the main contenders for this year’s competition.
New Zealand
Coach: Graham Henry
Captain: Richie McCaw
New Zealand are the world’s number 1 ranked team and have been in imperious form in the four years leading up to the 2011 tournament.
However, recent poor results in the latter half of the annual Tri-Nations tournament have left a slight question mark over the All Blacks form. New Zealand began the competition well, with a compelling 40-7 and 34-14 points victories over South Africa and Australia respectively. But an under strength All Blacks lost 18-5 to South Africa in Port Elizabeth and when a title deciding match against Australia in Brisbane came around, they faltered once more losing 25-20 in a thrilling game.
Whilst the All Blacks quality and team unity are unquestionably outstanding, they do lack the ability to grind out big games, especially when forced to play and more ‘unattractive’ style of the game than they are used to.
All eyes will be on the hosts and World Cup favourites come 9th September and the home support will surely roar the All Blacks to at least the semi finals. But a potential last four clash against South Africa will give them a chance to prove that they do have the temperament and desire to clinch their first world title since 1987.
Predicted finish – 3rd
France
Coach: Marc Lievremont
Captain: Thierry Dusautoir
The mercurial French side are, without doubt, the best side never to have won the Rugby World Cup. In the six tournaments previous to this one, the French have finished runners up twice (in 1987 and 1999) and reached the semi finals three times (in 1995, 2003 and 2007.) Yet despite their decent tournament record, very few are tipping France to win in 2011.
Despite boasting some of the greatest rugby players in the world, the French always seem to lack team unity and that all important ability to grind out physical matches. After finishing 2nd in this year’s Six Nations Championship, France were at their inconsistent best as they ran up impressive wins against Scotland, Wales and Ireland, but lost to England and, more embarrassingly Italy in Rome.
Unquestionably France’s best opportunity to win the World Cup came four years ago when they hosted the 2007 tournament. Things got off to a terrible start as they lost their opening match 17-12 to Argentina. The French recovered their form and finished second in their group, to set up a titanic quarter final match with favourites New Zealand.
Crucially the match was to take place in Cardiff, as the Welsh capital was elected to host one of the quarter finals. France edged New Zealand 20-18 and their World Cup dream seemed alive once more. However form deserted ‘Les Bleus’ in the semis, as they lost to a scrappy England 14-9.
When France take to the field in New Zealand they may not be the favourites, but if their fluid running game takes shape and their star players like Morgan Parra and Maxime Mermoz perform to the top of their abilities they can beat anyone over the 80 minutes of a rugby match.
Predicted finish – Quarter Finals
England
Coach: Martin Johnson
Captain: Lewis Moody
2011 could prove to be a big year for Martin Johnson’s team. After winning the Six Nations earlier this year, they rounded off a mixed set of World Cup warm up matches with a convincing 20-9 victory over Ireland in Dublin.
In some ways England are a very different team from that which took to the field in the World Cup four years ago. In that tournament England started badly, very badly in fact. Despite narrowly beating USA in their opening match, they were outclassed by South Africa 36-0 in the next game.
This was a stern lesson for the English who went on to finish 2nd in their group and against all the odds beat Australia in the quarter finals and France in the semis. This set up another clash with the South Africans and whilst the Springboks finished eventual winners 15-6, it marked an impressive turnaround for England.
This current England team are similar to the 2007 side in that they know how to win rugby matches. England has one thing over almost every other rugby team in the world, namely their world class forward play. The likes of Andrew Sheridan, Courtney Lawes and Dan Cole, along with Jonny Wilkinson’s trusty left boot, could see England reach their third successive final. It’s not pretty, but it sure is effective.
Predicted finish – 4th
Australia
Coach: Robbie Deans
Captain: James Horwill
The 2011 Tri Nations champions go into this year’s tournament in fantastic form on the back of consecutive victories over southern hemisphere rivals South Africa and New Zealand. Add their form to a fantastic balance of youth and experience, dogged determination and typical Aussie self-confidence and the Wallabies are many people’s favourites to claim their third world crown.
However their recent good form was thrown into question just before this year’s Tri Nations tournament when they were out played and out classed by Samoa 32-23 in Sydney on the 17th July. Despite this being a largely second string Australian side, doubts were raised about the strength of their overall squad, particularly in the front row which has been the Wallabies achilles heel for a number of years.
In this year’s World Cup, Australia should progress easily through to the quarter finals, where they face a potential last eight clash against Wales and a mouth watering semi final against England. If the Wallabies play to their strengths and gain the required momentum, they may have a real shot at bursting the New Zealand bubble on the All Blacks home soil.
Predicted finish – Winners
South Africa
Coach: Peter Devilliers
Captain: John Smit
The defending World Champions travel to New Zealand with an unusual problem. There is undoubted quality in their starting line-up, with many World Cup winning stars, such as John Smit, Fourie du Preez and Schalk Burger still pulling on the green jersey. In fact, the main bulk of the Springbok team in the 2011 tournament will contain those who performed so well in the 2007, when they beat England in the final in Paris to clinch their second world title in four attempts.
However they have been desperately struggling for form since winning the Tri Nations back in 2009. In the same year they outperformed a very talented British and Irish Lions side, winning the test series 2-1. In this year’s Tri Nations, they narrowly avoided the ignominy of a ‘wooden spoon’ campaign, which occurs when a team loses all matches it has competed in, by beating a second string All Blacks 18-5 in Port Elizabeth.
Perhaps the big question is ‘Are South Africa picking names to go on a team sheet or a team of rugby player who will perform well for them in this World Cup?’ One suspects that the former may be true, with star performer in 2007, Bryan Habana, reaching nothing like the glittering heights that saw him score eight tries in seven matches four years ago.
However, South Africa are a top quality rugby team with many players in their ranks who know how to win a closely contested match. They face an improving Wales side in the group stages and unless they are on top form they may find themselves finishing second in the group and a potential quarter final against Australia.
Predicted finish – Runner Up
Best of the Rest
Wales
The men in red know they will need to be on top form if they are to progress form a difficult pool which includes South Africa, Fiji, Samoa and Namibia. World Cup warm up wins over England and Argentina gave them confidence and if creative dynamo James Hook can play to the level we know he can, on their day Wales can beat anyone.
Scotland
Andy Robinson’s side have put in some impressive performances of late, but have failed to turn performance into results. This was evident when they finished 5th in this year’s Six Nations, despite pushing Wales, England and Ireland all the way when suffering narrow defeats. Scotland’s team unity is key and their big group games against England and Argentina will determine whether they can progress from the group.
Ireland
Poor form has rendered Ireland’s chances of winning this year’s competition almost non-existent. Four consecutive losses in the last month, against Scotland, England and France twice have erased the pleasant memories for Irish fans of when they beat England 24-8 and denied their geographical neighbours a first Six Nations Grand Slam since 2003. However Ireland still have top quality players and wouldn’t have the most difficult route to the semi finals if they manage to regain some form and confidence.
Argentina
The Pumas made an incredible impact at the 2007 World Cup when they beat hosts France twice to finish 3rd. This was even more remarkable considering that it was only the second time Argentina had made it out of the group stage. Having been drawn with Scotland and England for this year’s World Cup first round, it means Argentina may struggle to make it past the group stage. But if they unite and rediscover the 2007 spirit, they could surprise England in their first group stage fixture.
Article submitted Sunday, September 04, 2011 & read 349 times.
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