Today we see the repeat of last years World Cup final with New Zealand taking on South Africa in Johannesburg. The All Blacks are the underdogs for this match, but no one knows what to expect as these are the two top rivals in world rugby and the score line is always close. My head says the the Springboks will win, but it will be close and then the next game next week the margin will be bigger. The Springbok forward power is just too much of a factor and this will be fine tuned for the second encounter.
What we saw at last years World Cup was a one point difference for South Africa and if we were honest anyone of 4 teams could have won because the margins between these teams were all so close. France and Ireland could easily have been the teams playing in the final and if the team management had rotated their squads maybe things would have ended differently.
Since last years World Cup many teams have been rebuilding for 2027 as this is now the 4 year cycle between World Cups. There has been some mixed results and why today will tell us a little more about who has improved since last year and progressed.
Ireland toured South Africa in July and the series ended 1-1 yet we still don't know too much because South Arica rotated their squad. The first game was different to the second match due to the changes as SA is blooding new players building depth in their squad. Other teams are not in that position and are still trying out different combinations with different ideas.
Ireland are close to where they were last year, but there seems to be somehting missing or have South Africa improved since last year making Ireland look like they have not progressed.
France are a team who have to get over the emotions of losing out at last years World Cup being the home favorites. Again they are a difficult team to gauge on any improvements due to a mixed bag of results this year. Drawing a series with Argentina in Argentina is not what they would have been looking for, but Argentina are not a push over.
New Zealand have played England recently winning their series 2-0 but in all honesty England could have won this 2-0 as it was that close. The questions being asked is have England been the team who has improved since last years World Cup or is New Zealand struggling? Today will give us this answer and why todays match is a good gauge on what teams are doing what. News that England's defense coach Felix Jones has resigned yesterday which could be a major setback as he was making a huge difference on team performance. Jones was part of SA's back room staff winning two World Cups. All eyes will be watching which team will benefit from his services next.
South Africa have lost only 1 player since the World Cup and they are a team that has bee able to grow adding new skills. Tony Brown has come in as the attacking coach and this is one area the team has changed since last year. What is worrying for most teams is the SA team in may ways is a far better all round side now than it was last year.