SOUTH AFRICA’S FIRST Rugby Championship win since 2019 caught the attention of Bernard Jackman and co. on today’s brand new episode of Rugby Weekly Extra, the podcast for subscribers to The 42.
“I think the worst-case scenario for the world was that South Africa would win a World Cup and then wouldn’t just go with a copy-and-paste approach,” Jackman said.
“What Rassie has done; he’s brought in Tony Brown, they’ve blooded new talent, some have blossomed, some have been so and so, but he’s found out about them.
“They’ve won a Rugby Championship that they can add to a list of trophies and accolades that would be the envy of any country in the world. They’re in a great position. The connection they have with their fans, the bond that the squad seem to have and the humility of players when they are left out and their willingness to put the team first is second to none.
“But more importantly, they now have an attack which is very dangerous.
“They still have that power, set piece and kicking game, but now they have this attack which has already come a long way in a short period of time.
“There is so much to like about what they are doing. Even after winning a World Cup they haven’t rested on their laurels, and they’ve kicked on again.”
The 42’s Murray Kinsella added: “It’s absurd to me [that Ireland are above South Africa in the world rankings]. There’s no doubt in my mind about who the best team in the world is. They’re the reigning world champions, and they only won it last year and now they’ve got a Rugby Championship to go with that.”
“Like Bernard has said, they’ve also built depth in this Rugby Championship. It wasn’t just a case of them going out with the perceived number one in each position, each time. That perception of which players are number one just fades and constantly changes with the Springboks.
“They’re doing a brilliant job of having so many players at that level with decent experience and who can do really important jobs throughout the team.
“The breadth of quality players is outstanding. They’re all over the world and then they bring them together and they’re so aligned, it’s a brilliant set up,” Jackman said.
Elsewhere on today’s podcast, Jackman, Kinsella and host Gavan Casey discussed Ireland women’s phenomenal victory over New Zealand as well as a mixed bag of performances from the provinces in the URC over the weekend.
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They don’t just rely on their domestic player pool, they also can call on the overseas guys, who’s wages don’t cost them a penny, paid for by their competitors, and that includes us.
@brian o’leary: Ireland could do the same but chooses to manage the game time of the players.
@John Buckley: the saffas playing in Europe that are picked to play in the rugby championship are playing 12 months or the year, to get a break or holiday they need to be injured?
@brian o’leary: yeah I was wondering the same…we think our internationals have a long season, but look at the springboks…they don’t get a break
They’ve also lost to both Argentina a few weeks ago and Ireland at home in the summer..Ireland just finishing a long hard season where they bounced back and won a 6 nations..Unlucky not to get a grand slam losing it in the last minute to England..
Great show
This year we will play the four rugby championship teams, as well as our six nations games. If the other nine nations were scheduled to play each other like wise, then after the autumn tests, a league table could be produced using the results and we would know who the best team was? When teams play each other twice or more, one of the games would have to be nominated before hand?
@brian o’leary: it’s an interesting debate , the boks in rugby wilderness until rassie took over , Ireland having SA’s number especially in the rassie era where the boks have won 2x world cups, 2x rugby championships and a B&I lions series in the space of what 6 years. Really wish the boks were playing Ireland again in November , that’s what we all wanna see…not feckin Australia…
@brian o’leary: Or a World Cup.
@Stuart: league tables end debates, especially when everyone plays each other home and away. There’s a new competition coming in a few years, do we really need it, maybe just better scheduling?
@Brian M: the world cup was last year and the next one is in 2027?
@brian o’leary: We don’t need it and it decreases the value of a World Cup title.
@brian o’leary: that’s a really good idea.