Rugby World Cup 2019 - South Africa World Cup Champions

South Africa beat England 32-12. No tries for England who were on the back foot almost the whole game. The Springboks played to their strengths and kept field position, with the English pinned in their own half. Eventually the points came. Very sensible tactics from South Africa; kick for position, defend stoutly, put pressure on set pieces, kick the goals and seal the win with tries toward the end.

For me the decisive and most telling moment was in the first half, the Springboks up 6-3. England were hard on attack, threatening to score a try. Time and again they mounted attacks only for South Africa to push them back. South Africa eventually gave away a penalty, the score then stood at 6-6 when it could have been 6-10. England looked dejected, from that point on they never looked like scoring a try. South Africa were prepared to put their bodies on the line, several players suffered game ending injuries as a result of that defensive effort, but the team didn't buckle.

As a footnote, thought has to turn to whether England peaked too early. They played the perfect game against New Zealand in their semi-final, making it very hard for them to get back up for the final a week later.

Lawrence Dallaglio Deluded

Apparently, the former captain of England's rugby team, Lawrence Dallaglio thinks if England win the 2019 World Cup final against South Africa, that it would be the greatest rugby World Cup victory of all time.

Err, newsflash, the greatest final has already been played and that was in 1995, the game was between South Africa and New Zealand's All Blacks, a game that was won by the Springboks in overtime. It's great because of the political and social significance of the result. It united a fractured country. Nelson Mandela famously wore the Springbok uniform when greeting the players.

Then in second place we have the greatest feat, New Zealand going back-to-back in 2011 and 2015. Truly remarkable. That's similar to Brazil in soccer going back-to-back, 1958 and 1962.

If England do win in 2019 it can at least be said to be a proper win. England previously won a World Cup in 2003, a soft world cup that as they didn't defeat New Zealand on the way through.

However, I don't think England are going to win in 2019. I predict that will be South Africa, for the simple reason they have more to play for. They desperately want to equal NZ's three victories, and put themselves in place to score a back-to-back and in so doing go to the top with four titles. Watching the semi-finals, England will have to get back up again after playing out of their skins, while South Africa played in a very measured and calculating way against Wales. They'll have the reserves of endurance needed to win.

RWC 2019 Semi-Final South Africa v Wales

South Africa go through to the Rugby World Cup final against England, beating Wales 19-16. It was a tight contest but South Africa had the better bench while Wales had a couple of injuries, forcing them to make replacements earlier than expected. The Springboks were able to capitalise on this slight advantage.

I'm picking South Africa for the championship. My reasoning is twofold; England have already climbed Everest but to win the final they now have to climb K2. Meanwhile the Springboks must have the feeling they've been let out of jail after their loss to the All Blacks at the start of the tournament. They'll be out to steal the title from England, and all round I think they've got the talent to do it. South Africa by 10.

RWC 2019 Semi-Final England v New Zealand

England beat New Zealand 19-7. The All Blacks were thoroughly outplayed, the score flattered them. England were completely dominant, they read the NZ game well and effectively shut down the All Blacks possession. It's hard to think of a single thing NZ did well, apart from restricting the rate of England scoring, getting lucky at times with referee decisions that went their way.

For England, it's on to the final and facing either Wales or South Africa. My pick is for South Africa to take Wales out and go on to win the tournament.

NZ will need to re-think their approach, clearly the better nations have caught up and now have them figured out.

RWC 2019 - Japan beat Scotland

Japan have topped their group, going through unbeaten. In their last game they held on strongly to defeat Scotland. Earlier they beat Ireland as well, Japan have arrived on the world stage and surely now must be considered Tier 1.

The quarter-finalists are:

England v Australia
New Zealand v Ireland
Wales v France
Japan v South Africa

Based on current form, I'm picking the semi-finalists:

NZ v Australia
Wales v South Africa

And for the final:

NZ v South Africa