Rubgy World Cup in France

Note: I am still looking for at least 4 tickets to the FINAL, if anybody has any to sell please get in touch with me, leave a comment here and I will get back to you!

Tomorrow I leave for what will be my third trip to France and the penulitmate one before going to the Final next weekend. So far this World Cup has been utterly amazing, games have been exciting and things have gone our way up to now. I think that all four teams have a 50-50 chance of winning, I would love to see a South Africa v France final, its the game I wished for at the beginning of the tournament and if all goes according to plan its the game we should get. IF England beat France I will be annoyed, the atmosphere won’t be great this Saturday if France lose but next weekend every Frenchman and his poodle will be supporting the Springboks against England.

Last weekend the atmosphere down in Marseille was fantastic, we stayed on the coast in a small beach resort town called Six Four Les Plages, and yet again I mixed a lot of alcohol, a lot of rugby and plenty all-night parties! I really enjoyed our time down on the Cote d’Azure, the weather was brilliant, the people were great and the passion they showed over the weekend really made for a great time.

Tomorrow we hop on the Eurostar and head over to Paris, I have taught myself the words to La Marseillaise and I am gonna be belting it out along with 50,000 other Frenchmen! I hope the English get stuffed this weekend, one bloody win against Australia and now they think they are the best team in the world. Lets face it Australia had a crap team and they’re missing Larkham, it wasn’t THAT difficult to beat them.

And could the Kiwis please just shut-up and quit whining, you lost against France in the Quarter-Final, deal with it, the best teams in the world DO NOT LOSE in Quarter-Finals. You choked and you’re going home like you do at every world Cup with a lame excuse. If you want to talk referees lets discuss kiwi Steve Walsh (who incidentally has been appointed to referee the Springboks semi-final) and his blatant mistake which cost the Sharks the Super 14 final this year, just look at this if you need proof! If any team in the world has been hard done by when it comes to referees its the Springboks and I’ve never heard a peep out of any Kiwi in support of us before, so you’ll get NO sympathy from me now either, go back to your little island, get that chip on your shoulder sorted out and start practising for 2011.

Onto Argentina, what a fantastic World Cup they’re having, they have beaten France, Ireland and Scotland so far and have arguably produced the player of the tournament in Juan Hernandez their flyhalf. South Africa should beat them, we have never lost to them, but its a world cup semi-final and anything can happen. As long as we play a tight game, and yes, I am advocating a kicking game similar to the way we played against England and make sure we close down Pichot and Hernandez, I think Argentina will play the ball back into our hands and in one or two movements we could score whereas they may struggle to score against us. I predict a really tight game and I am not really looking forward to watching yet another nailbiting finish!

My final prediction though is that John Smit will raise the world cup above his head next weekend*, its his destiny and he will be remembered as one of the greatest captains ever, and the Springboks will once again be the World Champions!

*I’m thinking with my heart here, so its more hope than an actual prediciton!