RC Player Watch.

With only a week to go untill the kick off of the Rugby Championship it is the best opportunity to take a look at some of the head-to-heads that will make or brake this years championship and IRB rankings.

 

It is clear that Argentina are still a long way off from beating any of it counterparts in this tournament that is measured in inches and seconds.With one of the star backs injured(Imhoff) coach Daniel Hourcade will be putting extra pressure on his more experienced players.The team is a mixture of experience and newbies.All eyes will be on new captain Creevy but my guess is that the impact on field will surely come from Lobbe,Leguizamon,Ayerza and Juan Martin Hernandez.It must be a strange time for Argentinian rugby as the they are undoubtably the younger brothers of football.With these scores:

Argentina 19 - 21 Scotland Argentina 17 - 23 Ireland Argentina 17 - 29 Ireland

 

From the June internationals we can expect a fiery start from the Argies but it will soon cool down.The score lines give a clear indication of the teams struggles.They have a limited understanding of the game and the skill level is not adequate.My prediction for the Argies are that they willl will struggle this year around as they did last year.

 

Next we look at Australia.Having won seven of its last internationals.Coach Ewen McKenzie does not have to look far for inspirational talent as the Warathas clinched their maiden Super Rugby title.It feels like old times again thinking about the Wallabies.Those times where Joe Roff,Jason Little and John Eales were still out on the park.Rugby is on the decline in Australia and the Union bosses have worked hard at a local competition to draw more attention and skill.A nine team national rugby championship will kick off in August.With not much depth,it is hard to imagine this being a success.But the June internationals gave a good indication of whats on offer:

Australia 39 - 13 France Australia 6 - 0 France Australia 50 - 23 France

 

The Wallabies had one thriller just the same as New-Zealand and South Africa,narrowly beating France in their second match by only 6 points.Did France play well or did the Wallabies loose their grip and cool?One thing is certian,the Wallabies will not be a push over this year.They have the looks of a team that can over come and adapt very quickly.With no Genia and Cooper it is clear that with McKenzie there are no easey chansers based on reputation taking the field.The Key players for the Wallabies are Isreal Folau that surely has set the example for crossing codes this year(SBW is yet to retrun to union but untill then Folau reigns supremely)they seem to have better backs then forwards.Can McKenzie get the balance right and trust to play Beale and AAC in a center combo then we are in for a long RC.Foley is gutsy and a quick thinker but he still needs to polish up on his defense and goal kicking.I predict that the RC will be a close call for the Wallabies.They will play in the final match for a win against NZL...and on that day we will see if the All-blacks have enough juice left in the tank to go the extra mile all the way to the RWC with its pensioners on board.

 

Lastly we turn to NZL.I will keep this brief as their is not much to say.NZL is the complete team in every aspect of the modern game.They set the standard but their close calls with a fiery England has left many thinking,especially the Wallabies.It is clear there will be a change of guard soon in manny positions,but dont let that fool anyone,who ever takes over from McCaw will be equally as good and the same can be said for Carter,C Smith and Mealamu.

 

New-Zealand will be clinical in deployment of the basics to the thickness of a hair.There will be no easey gaps and no quick turn overs.New-Zealand have mastered the skill of keeping possesion.With out the ball the opposition cant score points.Key players are Ben Smith,Brodie Retalick and keep a close eye on Malikai Fekitoa.He has beaten the most defenders in super rugby this year.I guarantee Hansen will keep that thought closely in mind.Also is Reed that will be looking for improvement and one other player that the Boks should be very afraid of ...Charlie Faumuina.New-Zealnd will win this years RC,in a thriller with the Wallabies.

PS-these are my own bullshit thoughts on the matter.By no means are they a solid set in stone work of art that is the ultimate above and beyond any other poster thoughts.Feel free to call it crap.I really dont care.

 I think everybody is entitled to his own ideas abiout the upcoming RC series - so I do not think what DA werote about is not necessarily the whole story.   One has to consider the following issues about the Argentinians:-
*   Ireland won the 6  Nations this year and beat Wales by 26-3 in the process.*   Argentina did quite well in the June tests against Argentina*   Argentina normally every year select a variety of inexperienced players to play in the June tests - they never play all their top players in those tests.  Most are players that routinely play for the Pampas in the Vodavom Cup series - their top players play for European Clubs and riutinekly are rested in June.
That basically are what should be borne in mind insofar any comparison between what happened in the June tests and what is to be expected in the RC is not really a sound basis to forecast anything insofar as Argentina is concerned.
Insofar as France is concerned - the team plays a different game on different days - one never knows what to expect from them.   In Australia in June they had two bad games  and one good game.   How strong is Australia really?   One would have to wait and see whether their performances in the June tests  and the performances of the Waratahs and Brumbies in the Super 15 are carried through to the  RC tests.
The only real problem the Aussies have is there are limitations as to what they can achieve in their Tiight 5 combination 0 they have very good backline players who are always competitive.   If they are capable of producing a reasonable number of balls from the set pieces and bearing in mind their top loosies and good ball recovery in breakdown situations - they will be able to compete strongly in the RC.
The AB's seems to eb on par with what they produced last year so they will ovbiously be the team to beat to win the RC.  
The problem we have is that last year our Tight 5 pulled us through all the matches - bar the matches against the AB's.   Even in those games the Tight 5 did well.   However the question is whether our Tight 5 is going to be competitive again this year.  The weak links here are the lock situation.  Bringing in Bakkies Biotha and Matfield is going to cost us dearly in the upcoming series.   We are stuck with a under-performing loosie in Alberts and then have problems in at least two positions in the backline as well.
The performance of the Springboks will be influenced by the selections of Meyer.   If we think that th team that played Wles in the June tests is the answer - we may as well close shop in the RC.   There will have to be drastic improvements and we will see what team Maeyer comes up with for Saturday and how the Springboks perform against the Pumas next Saturday.   Be it as it may - an interesting series is to be played soon and the answers as to winning the series are not ll that predictable.   
My personal opinion is that we will lose all four matches against Australia and New Zealand and struggle against Argentina in the away test that depends on Meyer's teams election though. .