McCaw relishing World Cup challenge

“Oh Argentina”, replied a tongue-in-cheek Hansen when quizzed on the greatest threats to New Zealand’s crown.

This year’s probability for the All Blacks to win is slightly lower than in 2011, when Forsyth Barr proffered that team had a 43 per cent chance of winning. Twenty teams are as ready as they will ever be to compete for the Webb Ellis Cup, known to its friends and admirers as Bill.

The prospect of another quarterfinal meeting with France at Cardiff would seem likely to haunt the All Blacks but Hansen said it was not on the players’ minds.

New Zealand are looking to become the first team to retain the World Cup, but their head coach, Steve Hansen, who is involved in the tournament for the fourth successive time after leading Wales in 2003, says they see themselves as contenders rather than defenders. The All Blacks open their title defence against Argentina at Wembley on Sunday week, determined to break new ground in two senses.

They have lost only three of 47 tests between the Cups, discovering the art of the escape, to play to the whistle with an incomparable attitude and desire.

Many opinions have been aired over recent weeks and I have listened to them with growing frustration. They couldn’t quite score the try, but it was an admirable effort that had South Africa gasping for breath, the Springboks limited to just 12 points in the second half against the spirited amateur side. The No 8 ended the Wales game with a badly bruised leg and underwent minor surgery to drain away excess fluid.

“There are pluses and minuses to being in a tough group like England“. They don’t need England to go far, but it would help.

New Zealand captain Richie McCaw insists he is determined to lead the nation to a first World Cup success on foreign soil. Who knew there were so many Romanians in Palmerston North, or Russians in Rotorua?

It’s hardly any better in Gauteng, Free State, the Northern Cape and even the Eastern Cape where around 85 percent of boys NEVER have access to rugby at school.

At least the tournament’s legacy is being secured.

South Africa’s buildup has been harried by injuries and it has drawn many older players back into its squad as the bulwark of its campaign. The World Cup is the reason we train so hard.

Check out our video of the event at London’s South Bank above.

Morgan’s place in the World Cup squad came at the expense of 37-year-old Nick Easter, who learned on the morning of announcement that his late charge for inclusion had been ended when his rival proved his fitness in training.