WATCH: Officially the most compelling case for why the Boks will win World Cup
If you are looking for the ultimate argument for why South Africa will retain the World Cup at the end of October, look no further than David Flatman’s explanation.
The former England prop was asked recently by ITV Rugby who he thinks will win the World Cup, and he provided the most compelling case for why Siya Kolisi will raise the Webb Ellis Cup again at the Stade de France.
“I look at the various teams and I think who knows best what they’re about?” Flatman said.
“Who knows exactly what to do and when? You could say Ireland do, certainly. When they played against France in the Six Nations, one of the great games, France fell apart a little bit. They weren’t quite in good enough knick, and of course they will get fitter but so will everyone else, right? So it’s relative. They’ve got a lot of huge men, that’s their game. They relied slightly more on brilliant individuals doing something brilliant- the Penauds, the Duponts of course. Ireland were just a much slicker, much more sophisticated, cohesive machine. Now they play a very intricate style of rugby, which relies a lot on them being on the front foot and dominating physically- that’s hard against the Boks. But it’s very intricate, it’s very, very high skill, the execution is magnificent. When they’re on it they are brilliant to watch.
“South Africa, one to twelve at least, have a much simpler way of playing rugby and it’s brutal and it’s confrontational and it isn’t that nuanced a lot of the time. So it’s very easy to translate. If everyone’s big and hard enough, and everyone’s got it clear in their heads ‘we’re going to bully you as much as we can, we’re going to bully you from one to twelve,’ and then 13 and out they’ve got magic, they’ve got genius, they’ve got gold, they’ve got stardust everywhere in that backfield.
“So I think they’ve got the perfect mix and I think they’ve got the physiques to put their gameplans on the field and I think they’ve got one of the simplest approaches, simplest identities of any international rugby nation. So everyone takes the field- I could play for South Africa tomorrow and I’d be rubbish but I’d know exactly what they wanted me to do, right? That’s my point. So under pressure, I think that helps.”
Take a look at the video:
“I could play for South Africa tomorrow and I’d be rubbish, but I’d know exactly what they wanted me to do!” 😅@davidflatman is in no doubt on who wins #RWC2023 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/gMfM5LxbH2
— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) August 23, 2023
