With just two days until the 2015 Rugby World Cup kicks off in England, we asked our South African stars Louis Ludik and Wiehahn Herbst to predict who will win the tournament... LOUIS: "If I had to bet I'd have to say New Zealand will win the World Cup. I think most of the time they are the favourites and they have just been so consistent over the past few years, so I'd put my money on them. "I think the Boks will do pretty well too, but they could meet New Zealand in the semis and I don't think they'll have enough to be able to overcome that challenge. "Before the last two games I would have fancied a New Zealand v Ireland final as Ireland had been very consistent and were playing some good, winning rugby. They've struggled a bit in the last two games but if they can recapture their form they'll have a good chance of going all the way." WIEHAHN: "My heart says South Africa but my brain says New Zealand, they just have too much quality all over the park and throughout their entire squad. "There are good teams throughout the competition, who all have a good chance of winning. Pool A, with England, Australia and Wales, will have some really exciting matches and I'm looking forward to seeing who progresses from that group. Those teams will be battle-hardened going into the knock-out stages and that could give them an advantage over some of the other teams who maybe won't have been tested as much. "Ireland's pool is also quite difficult as they will face France and Italy, but they are more than capable of topping that group. That could possibly hand them a slightly easier quarter-final draw. I think Ireland will make the semi-finals at least."
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Ludik and Herbst: World Cup predictions
16th September 2015
With just two days until the 2015 Rugby World Cup kicks off in England, we asked our South African stars Louis Ludik and Wiehahn Herbst to predict who will win the tournament... LOUIS: "If I had to bet I'd have to say New Zealand will win the World Cup. I think most of the time they are the favourites and they have just been so consistent over the past few years, so I'd put my money on them. "I think the Boks will do pretty well too, but they could meet New Zealand in the semis and I don't think they'll have enough to be able to overcome that challenge. "Before the last two games I would have fancied a New Zealand v Ireland final as Ireland had been very consistent and were playing some good, winning rugby. They've struggled a bit in the last two games but if they can recapture their form they'll have a good chance of going all the way." WIEHAHN: "My heart says South Africa but my brain says New Zealand, they just have too much quality all over the park and throughout their entire squad. "There are good teams throughout the competition, who all have a good chance of winning. Pool A, with England, Australia and Wales, will have some really exciting matches and I'm looking forward to seeing who progresses from that group. Those teams will be battle-hardened going into the knock-out stages and that could give them an advantage over some of the other teams who maybe won't have been tested as much. "Ireland's pool is also quite difficult as they will face France and Italy, but they are more than capable of topping that group. That could possibly hand them a slightly easier quarter-final draw. I think Ireland will make the semi-finals at least."