Will Antoine Dupont follow the path of Louis Rees-Zammit in NFL?

Supporters should be looking for things like cultural commitment and cohesion, and basics like fitness, passing, tackling, kicking, and set piece execution. Other layers get built on that, including defensive structures, on-field communication, and positional combinations. And while you're building all of that you need to build depth of players in the squad. Its only when you have all of that in good shape that you can really be effective with attacking innovations, game plans, sophisticated game management, and effective tournament planning.

Some teams, including Ireland, France and SA, have been building all of this for years, with coaching continuity and plenty of time to refine it all. Right now, for "rebuild teams", like NZ, Oz and England, to be competitive at all is impressive. But in a couple of years things will be different. They may not be fully in their stride by then, but they will be consistently in the mix against anyone.

By RWC 2027 there are going to be seven or eight teams that will be serious contenders, including all four TRC teams. And I would not be surprised if NZ were ranked #1 at that point.

In the meantime supporters should be hoping for wins, but focusing on continuous improvement. It is what it is.

If your testing is so ineffectual that WADA close your facility down then you are Goddamn enouraging Cheating. "Those individuals who were caught were dealt with" you mean those who were stupid enpugh to be caught under SAs clown testing system. Are you having a laugh?

Man up? Do you not remember the amount of blood spilled from SA bodies in Durban? Did Ireland choke in Durban.

Just a reminder, so ridiculous was the draw that the top 4 teams could play the greatest rugby ever seen and still two would be eliminated at QF stage. If youre making a claim of 'Choking' against Ireland in 2023 then you will have to give us more than that.

Fair pundits said that anyone calling Ireland chokers after their performances in 2023 were basically a$$holes. Well said!

If you want to see discord look at NZ’s woes at 9/10. They’d love to have our “problem”.

I don’t agree with the sentiment in this article. Highlighting problems that don’t exist. In year one of a cycle everyone is supposed to be rebuilding in, except the boks. They must lose the oldies, play young ones, and have a >90% win ratio.

You can’t win!

Who are we to argue with a double World Cup-winning coach?

Indeed.

Grant Williams was solid this year. I think he has definitely put his hand up.

It’s very clear that Rassie’s plan is to have an experienced scrum half in the mix. That was always going to be Faf or Cobus. Faf was off colour before he got injured which is why we’ve seen more of reinach than usual.

Morne got his break. Wasn’t convincing but he needed to be tried. He’s at the bottom of the pecking order in my view.

Jaden was injured. He’s looked solid being brought back in and had he not been injured may have nailed the full time role down by now. Which is why he’s being selected for the decider. And he’s fairly experienced in his own right.

There’s no crisis at scrum half. The challenge has been to give the long list of contenders an opportunity to sort out the pecking order. And having injuries in the mix. Injured players mostly lose momentum. And scrum half is imho one of those positions where time in the saddle is vital.

The pecking order (based on this year’s consistency in form):

1. Grant Williams

2. Jaden Hendrikse

3. Cobus Reinach

4. Faf de Klerk

5. Morne VDB

Who’ve I missed (there’s so many of them). The URC is no doubt going to reveal another option at 9. Probably Jantjies and possibly Nohamba. He’s got to get a chance and I think he’s way better than Morne.

Do you understand that laughing at your jokes does not make them funnier or funny? I thought this was so obvious that I could call it a universal fact. The f**k you on about 'delusions of grandeur'? think through your brain not your ass.

You compalined about trolling yet here you are..trolling me.

Ireland are better than SA. Fact. You need to be juiced up, to have dodgy draws and to have luck to win anything. Any of the even playing field tournaments or tests you tend to lose.

The closing of the test laboratory is a massive story. SA were not testing their players properly.

Thats Cheating.

Conor O'Shea and Steve Aboud (who developed the Irish academies in the '90s) developed the Italian academies which Marzio Innocenti abandoned. Needed to be readdressed quickly thats why he is gone. The fruit of Italian success is based on that acdemy work, Italian clubs have identified that and voted accordingly.

In 2023, Ireland were better than SA but NZ knocked them out and SA needed an enormous slice of luck to beat NZ. That's a fact.

Everything is GOAT this and GOAT that with SA these days. I think a bit of humility may be necessary.