South Africa Battles Whales In Rugby World Cup Quarter Final

All  you need to know about the Rugby World Cup 2015 quarter-finals,twenty teams have been whittled down to eight, but who will emerge triumphant in the quarter-finals,the pools stage  is done and dusted,  Australia, Wales, South Africa, Scotland, New Zealand, Argentina, Ireland and France are in the running.This weekend, that will be narrowed down to just four. 



South Africa v Wales,Twickenham Saturday, 4pm.

This will not be for the faint-hearted, because these are the most physical sides in the tournament. Wales’s injury woes continue with Liam Williams’s departure, but they have been so wonderfully resilient so far that you simply cannot write them off.
Their victory over South Africa last autumn, their first after 16 successive defeats and only their second ever, was hugely significant. They will surely bring back Dan Lydiate at blindside flanker for his chop tackling in what is likely to be a match as tense and tight as the 12-6 win in late November.
Squad named by south African coach-Heyneke Meyer for Wales in the round of 1/8

1. Tendai Mtawarira
2. Bismarck du Plessis
3. Frans Malherbe
4. Eben Etzebeth
5. Lood de Jager
6. Francois Louw
7. Schalk Burger
8. Duane Vermeulen
9. Fourie du Preez (captain)
10. Handré Pollard
11. Bryan Habana
12. Damian De Allende
13. Jesse Kriel
14. JP Pietersen
15. Willie le Roux

Replacements:

16. Adriaan Strauss
17. Trevor Nyakane
18. Jannie du Plessis
19. Pieter-Steph du Toit
20. Willem Alberts
21. Ruan Pienaar
22. Pat Lambie
23. Jan Serfontein

Coach Meyer of South Africa.

 
South Africa, for their part, have recovered from their shock defeat by Japan by doing what they do best: bullying teams physically. No team like to demonstrate their machismo quite so simply and obviously.

They have been helped by the injury to captain Jean de Villiers, because it has eased the selection at centre, where Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel have been excellent.

But at lock, Heyneke Meyer will have to decide whether to bring veteran Victor Matfield back after injury. Lood de Jager has been in imperious form and will be exceptionally unfortunate if he does not partner Eben Etzebeth in the second row.

Prediction
South Africa 15 Wales 12
 
New Zealand v France,Millennium Stadium ,Saturday, 8pm.

Ah, the ghosts of 2007. That was when, if you remember, France sensationally won a quarter-final against New Zealand in Cardiff late on a Saturday night. It hurt so much that most of New Zealand is still cursing the referee, Wayne Barnes.

Can it happen again? Well, New Zealand have not been hitting their straps of late. Their scrummage has wobbled, Dan Carter has not been anywhere near his best and there have been a mountain of errors that you would never usually associate with an All Black side.

But they have not lost a game, of course. They are still ranked No 1 in the world, they are the champions and they have a posse of champion players in Richie McCaw, Kieran Read, Brodie Retallick and the three Smiths, Aaron, Conrad and Ben.


But France were desperately poor in Cardiff yesterday, doing nothing of note on the front foot, despite all of Ireland’s problems. They were sustained only by the remarkable industry of their captain, Thierry Dusautoir, and No 8 Louis Picamoles in defence. One thought that they might have improved since a dreadful Six Nations, but they clearly have not.

France have lost their last eight Tests against New Zealand, winning the next match after 2007, in Dunedin in 2009, but nothing since.

Prediction
New Zealand 26 France 9

Ireland v Argentina,Millennium Stadium ,Sunday, 1pm.

Victory over France yesterday came at considerable cost, with significant injuries to Jonathan Sexton, Paul O’Connell and Peter O’Mahony. They are three serious players at Test level. And there might also be a citing for Sean O’Brien, another highly influential player who had a monumental match. But their tremendous resolve, and the fact that their replacements performed so admirably will give them heart.

Ireland would not have underestimated Argentina anyway, simply because they were knocked out at the pool stage by them in 2007 in France, but they will enter this contest even more warily now. The Pumas have improved so much because of their experience in the Rugby Championship.


They have always had a powerful scrummage, and that has not altered, but they have also broadened their horizons and can play a wider game, as shown by the influence of the likes of Juan Imhoff, Joaquín Tuculet and Santiago Cordero. Nicolás Sánchez has been controlling matters calmly at

fly-half and up front Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe will be looking to finish his international career on a high.

Prediction.
Ireland 19 Argentina 15

Australia v Scotland,Twickenham ,Sunday, 4pm.

What was so impressive about Australia’s victory over Wales was its difference from the win over England. Whereas the England triumph was based on speed of ball and thought, the Wales match was stamped with heroism in adversity. It showed that this side have an extraordinary togetherness, which will worry other sides as much as their attacking abilities. While David Pocock was not quite as influential as against England, the likes of Scott Fardy and Kane Douglas stepped up.

Scotland are very fortunate to be here. They were so sloppy in defence against Samoa that any repeat could see them embarrassed against Australia, who will simply not allow them to regroup as Samoa did. They do have some real attacking potency in their back line, with the likes of Finn Russell, Mark Bennett, Sean Maitland and Stuart Hogg, but then consider by comparison Matt Giteau, Tevita Kuridrani, Israel Folau and Drew Mitchell and you have the size of their task.

Some solace comes from Scotland having won two of their last three Tests against Australia, but they had lost 16 on the bounce previously. They have met once before in the Rugby World Cup, and in a quarter-final too, in Brisbane in 2003, when Australia won 33-16.

Prediction
Australia 30 Scotland 10