D'Arcy Waldegrave: On why the All Blacks will lift the Webb Ellis Cup

Let me tell you why the All Blacks will hold the World Cup aloft tomorrow morning. 

Plainly no-one can accurately predict the outcome of two evenly matched teams with such a deep and passionate history. 

But the men in black have the edge.  

The Springboks look gassed. They were hammered last week by England in a brutal game of 10-man rugby. Relentless trench warfare only paused with the obligatory punt from the first five has left the Boks battered. They have countered the debris of that pack whopping with a 7-1 split on the bench for tomorrows encounter, hoping they can roll in a second wave of goliaths to supress the AB forwards. 

This selection of course leaves them vulnerable in the back division, should one of their bigger numbers slump, help is thin on the ground to say the least. If it’s halfback du Klerk early enough, South Africa will wilt. 

The trick for the All Blacks is threefold.  

1. Speed. Run the Bokke ragged. To engage these monsters in hand-to-hand combat is to play to their strength. With the ability to attack with great pace at furious angles at the sniff of a turnover, the AB side possess the ability to shred the cumbersome livestock of the SA pack. This they need to do from the outset. Out of the blocks like Usain Bolt.  

1. Accuracy. Precision in passing. Meticulous breakdown entry. Exactitude from the boot. Concise line out throwing.  

1. The ever-present menace of discipline shadows every breakdown, evocation of this demon would haunt whichever team dares to summon such a wanton spectre. Scott Barrett, I’m looking at you. 

The All Blacks are rested, have continuity of selection and entire rugby world to stick it too after reports of their demise echoed across the globe, reports which I believe have been grossly exaggerated.  

ABs 13 plus.  

That’ll do.   

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