Rugby world cup: what to expect
Tonight is the opening of the highly anticipated world cup, with the Boks playing their first match tomorrow, are armed with the right details?
The world awaits: The rugby world cup will kick off in London tonight, with Twickenham stadium the stage for opening game. Photo: David Rogers.
The 2015 Rugby world cup will kick off tonight, when hosts England will face Fiji at 21:00.
The opening ceremony will start at 20:00 and will tell the story of the sport’s birth. Expected to be included is the story of William Webb Ellis, who in 1823 picked up a football and started running with it and is often credited as the creator of the sport.
Today the world cup’s trophy is named the Webb Ellis Cup. The show is expected to last 20 minutes and will end 40 minutes before the first match will kick off.
South Africa will play their first game tomorrow against Japan. All South Africa’s pool games are scheduled to take place at 17:45 making it convenient for most of us to catch the game.
Also joining us in Pool B will be Samoa, USA and Scotland. Most predictions point to us progressing from the group stages. But the problem starts after that. With their being a very good chance that we will be facing either hosts England or Australia in the quarter-finals, or perhaps even New-Zealand in the semi-finals.
If this is the case many believe the finals might be too predictable an outcome with all the tension placed in the previous rounds.
The obvious teams to keep an eye on are Australia and England in Pool A, New-Zealand, Argentina, France.
This will be the 4th World Cup for veteran Boks Schalk Burger and Victor Matfield. It was clear at their welcoming event, last Sunday, that the team have supporters backing them in England. More than a hundred people were stranded when the venue in Eastbourne reached full capacity, as crowds fill the stadium to cheer on the Boks.
