Before the tournament kicked off I questioned whether anybody would be able to stop the All Blacks from winning their 3rd RWC title, but then the All Blacks put in two stuttering performances in the pool stages against Namibia and Tonga while the Wallabies were very impressive throughout the pool stages to the extent that they effectively became the tournament favourites. But then came the near disaster against Scotland in the quarterfinals and suddenly the Wallabies looked very beatable again.
Both teams came under some pressure in their semifinal games but then showed great character to book their place in the final. RWC finals are generally hard fought low-scoring games but with these two great backlines opposing one another - together with great linking loose forwards on both sides - I'll be surprised if we don't see a few tries.
I think the two potential game changing players are David Poc'ock and Julian Savea. A moment of magic from either of these two great players can turn the game.
Hope it's a close game with no controversy. I'm saying New Zealand by 5.
As for the Bronze final, I couldn't really care what happens and it's hard to say which team will be more motivated to perform. I'm going with the Springboks but without a lot of conviction. Springboks by 11.


