Joel & Bullet back Boks

1995 World Cup winners Joel Stransky and James Dalton are backing the Springboks to win the 2007 event.

“If I were a betting man I’d put my money on South Africa,” said Stransky.

“They’re the complete side right now – there’s a good blend of youth and experience in the squad, pretty much like we had in 1995, and in the coaching staff and captain John Smit, there’s really strong leadership.

“There’s also tons of experience Jake can call on. A number of the guys have been to a World Cup before and many of them have played a lot of Test matches for South Africa.

“The way the team played against Scotland last weekend was really impressive. For 20 minutes they played world champion rugby and showed how unstoppable and unbeatable they can be.

“The Boks are a powerful unit up front and that’s what will be needed in the crunch games if they’re going to succeed, but concerning is still the inability of the backs to be a creative force.

“With a few days to go before kick-off I really hope some more time will go into the backs and the way they attack the gain line.

“I think with Eddie Jones in the mix, the backs might start thinking out of the box a bit and be a little more street smart. Eddie will bring a new element to the Bok team, and I like it,” concluded the former Bok flyhalf.

Speaking to the New Zealand Herald, former Bok hooker James Dalton said he believed the Springboks have a real chance of lifting the Webb Ellis trophy this year. And he sees the dominant Bok lineout as a key factor in their campaign.

“Victor Matfield’s performance speaks for itself,” said Dalton.

“You have a look at Ibanez, his line out work is poor at the best of times. You have a look at Anton Oliver who – God bless his soul – still remains a problematic line-out thrower.

“England are also very, very thin on hookers but line outs are important. Any platform in the modern game when you don’t have ball, you don’t see it for at least five minutes at a time,” Dalton said.

He also emphasized the importance of scrums in the modern game.

“Nowadays, with them cleaning the game up so heavily, you can’t even swipe or stamp on anybody so scrums are the only place where you can exercise your dominance over your opponents.

“England are stretched to their limit and Australia seem not to be having any real players coming through up front but the biggest danger for Graham Henry is, is he going to be able to get his selections right at the right time?

“And in the final, you look, we haven’t beaten New Zealand this whole year. Normally we beat them at least once in the year so maybe if we face them in the final, it will be that one game we are looking for.

“You have a look at the negativity that surrounds rugby in South Africa, the overseas teams are tired of our self-pity and only want to be playing the best 15.

“It’s time South Africa put up a good showing again and do well like people know we can. At the end of the day the Springbok comes with a hell of a tradition and it’s time it did itself some justice,” concluded Dalton.