They will have taken it at the start but should have won match 1.
Wales and England a class below Ire and Fra,but I am not sure NZ are far behind. The Boks are very beatable, they always are. It's just that they win a lot in matches where they look vulnerable, a good trait to have but sooner or later they will get their just deserts.
Shame the next WC is seeded the way it is.
While I am not a fan of this "bomb squad" stuff there is no doubt the SA bench across all areas is superior to any other in terms of the quality, power and impact they have so as long as they are in touch they will always be in the game the longer it goes on.
I think their is a danger of this 'bomb squad' turning into the All Blacks.
Sir Clive famously made England refer to New Zealand rather than 'All Blacks' (a term he happily uses as a pundit). We talk of the bomb squad but really it is a 6/2 bench with a very decent front row on it. I don't think their second row resources are that different to ours. That said, these front row guys are not infalable- it was Koch who knocked on last week to end the game, whilst I recall England beating a SA team at HQ that totally outplayed it, mainly because Marx's throwing was so bad it could have been Groucho's. If teams expect to be beaten up by the bomb squad it will happen. Eddie talks about finishers all the time, but the role of the bench is the same as it was twenty years ago at professional level.
SA certainly do have the skills to win the WC, but I they find themselves 20 down vs Ireland, NZ or France they won't be able to stick to their game.
If refs tend towards Karl Dixon's approach, where teams are often told to use it after the front rows are down with ball available and there is a reluctance to award a penalty at scrum time, then SA may struggle. Their game may well be suited to a a wet autumn up here.
Personally I think it would be good for the game if we move away from scrum pens- they should be a rarity.
Always a Wasp
