Compiled by Elaine Krige
The Springboks and the All Blacks will both aim to become the first team to lift the World Cup four times this year.
The All Blacks knitter Ian Forster believes his team can win the World Cup again this year, despite their defeat against the Springboks last weekend. “The group going to France is well prepared and has faced many opponents and found solutions,” Vorster said on Wednesday.
If New Zealand wins the Rugby World Cup, it will be only the second world cup they have won away from home. The first was the 2015 World Cup in England against Australia.
“The pressure is enormous, but this is exactly where we want to be,” said Forster. New Zealand will play France in the opening match on 9 September.
RNews reported on Tuesday that the Springboks are the favorites to win this year’s Rugby World Cup. Especially the depth in the Boks team makes rugby fans believe that the Boks will bring home the cup for the second time in a row this year, the only team besides the All Blacks who could manage it (in 2011 and 2015). Siya Kolisi could also be the first Bok captain to hold the cup more than once.
“Me and Rassie (Erasmus) say the main objective since we took over the coaching of the Springboks in 2018 was to build depth in the team with a view to the 2023 World Cup,” said Jacques Nienaber last week.
“You don’t win the World Cup with a good team, you win it with exceptional players.”
The Boks are currently the only rugby team that has won every single World Cup final in which they have played. The first Rugby World Cup won by the Boks was in 1995 against New Zealand at Ellis Park, Johannesburg, then in 2007 against the Roses in France and again in 2019 against England in Japan.
