SCRUM Magazine – September 2019

CANADA

ITALY

NAMIBIA

Italian rugby as a whole has improved

imessurably since Conor O’Shea took over as

Head Coach of the national side - Benetton’s

qualification for the Guinness PRO14 play-offs

is evidence of that. The Azzuri, though, have

fallen on tough times and this may well be the

international farewell of their talismanic skipper

Sergio Parisse.

He’ll need to roll back the years and rediscover

his best form, while Tomasso Allan - the former

Scotland U20 stand-off - is another key man.

SCRUM Prediction

They’ll hope to record at least two wins, against

Canada and Namibia, and put in performances

that restore pride in the jersey.

The Canadians will rely heavily on the experience

of record try scorer DTH van der Merwe in Japan,

the Glasgow Warriors wing who has excelled in

the Guinness PRO14 in recent seasons, while

Evan Olmstead and Tyler Ardron bring grunt

to a pack that is otherwise somewhat lacking

firepower.

SCRUM Prediction

The Canadians will struggle in this pool - they’ll

be aiming for damage limitation against the top

two sides but targeting victory over Namibia,

which would represent a successful campaign.

With their talismanic former skipper Jacques

Burger now comfortably retired, Namibia

will have to look elsewhere for inspiration at

this World Cup. Saracens’ back-row Burger

won high praise for his Man of the Match

display against the All Blacks four years ago,

but this time round the likes of Chrysander

Botha, Harlequins’ Reynaldo Bothma and

ex-Glasgow lock Tijuee Unanivi will have to

provide their talismanic performances.

SCRUM Prediction

Namibia are the worst ranked side at the

2019 Rugby World Cup, and arguably have

the toughest pool. They’ll do well to avoid

four comprehensive defeats and must eye

their clash with the Canadians as their best

chance at recording a victory.

Visit http://www.scottishbs.co.uk

And that’s just our mortgage advisors.

At the Scottish we treat every mortgage application individually,
offering our members truly personal service and support,
backed by competitive rates available across the range.

ISSUE 116 2019 • WWW.SCRUMMAGAZINE.COM • 99

RUGBY WORLD CUP - POOL GUIDE