Opinion | Never mind a New Zealand three-peat – Rugby World Cup needs a shock of the new
- The modern visions of white and red this weekend are challenging the southern titans by morphing into them
- It’s about time the Europeans added to England’s anomalous-looking 2003 triumph
Is it so far-fetched to picture a northern hemisphere winner as England face the All Blacks and Wales take on South Africa this weekend? No, because of the fluid nature of modern sport and this configuration of semi-finalists.
And most of all, timing. Strange though it seems to cast mainstays of rugby history as overnight successes, years of wasted potential is being tapped by Eddie Jones and Warren Gatland, leading lights of the age of the travelling supercoach.
There are solid grounds to predict and enjoy another All Blacks procession. The most seamlessly all-court team, the Kiwis, liberated from their World Cup complex in 2011, had their dip between tournaments.
Switching the world’s best player, Beauden Barrett, to full back has worked out stunningly, accommodating a new fly half in Richie Mo’unga whose composure and rugby intelligence, for a guy with 15 caps, is remarkable. Around him are 2015 and even 2011 survivors who know all about the rhythms of this final fortnight, about tapering, staying sane and players taking ownership. And the gas, oh the gas.