world cup is not about entertainment.

the rugby world cup is not about entertainment,it is about playing a certain type of rugby.
not my words,but the words of peter de villiers south africa coach. what "playing a certain type of rugby" means is open to discussion, but i hope most teams will try to entertain the millions of world wide viewers,after all it is rugby's jewell in the crown! i hope it's won by a team who are bold and chances their arm,rather than a team who are happy to get involved in an arm wrestle and kick more penalties than anyone else.
thoughts.

Well,let me start off by saying this. South africa has played 23 odd games in their RWC history, of the games they were involved in I can count the games that were not entertaining on one hand.

Canada in 1995, it was a dirty sloppy game filled with atrition, fights and cards.

France 1995, waterlogged, muddy and almost called off due to the rain.

England 2007, not my opinion but that of the so called ”purists”

So if once a world cup we have to play a boring game according to those with the attention span of a fly, then so be it.

The fact is SA is seldom given credit for the way they play, even when they score plenty of tries.

So come world cup and despite our coach, criticism of how we play etc. If we actually do end up with our third trophy, the criticism will still not outweigh our successes at RWC

It most certainly is not about entertainment - it's about winning.

The 1995 final was tense but unentertaining. 3-0 was disappointinting.

If 'entertaining' means playing attractive attacking rugby then, the Heineken Cup and Super 15 were both won by teams playing an attractive brand of attacking rugby. They could also both defend mind you. The top two ranked teams in the world are seen as offensive attractive teams, so I think it's very likely an 'entertaining' team will win the world cup.

That said, it is really only winning that matters. When Ireland won the Grand Slam in '09 it was by playing the dullest, tightest style of rugby I've seen them play, but I didn't give a monkeys. When I had stopped jumping around and screaming after five minutes and was still trembling with excitement I was thinking "We are the Champions"; I was not thinking "We made less passes than any other team in the tournament".

Teams win by whatever methods they can,if it means running teams off there feet.Or drop goaling them to death Boks 1999.Argentina 2007,the All Blacks played 10 man Rugby virtually unchanged 1950-65,Boks of the same period too very successfully.
RWCs are won by teams playing smart Rugby,not going with just one rigid plan.But by playing heads up Rugby and adapting there game on the fly.
If one or more loose forwards is picked on by the ref, have him stand off in defence and use someone else.
If you need to kick for territory,orplay ball in hand or both.the Boks have a relatively good set piece,solid defence,great goal kickers place/drop.Plus backs who can hurt you if you get sloppy.

I think the whole points a whole lot of crock.

Some of the most memorable tries moments runs and tackles have been entertaining.

If hes talking purely about winning it then he's again displaying his infamous insecurity and need to reassure his position as coach. Such a negative position to hold for a defending teams coach.

He should be thinking about the wider meaning of the World cup, its position on the global sporting world stage and how he in his position is encouraging this.

In NZ thousands have done the leg work to get this event off the ground, to be successful and we'll be damnd if it wont be entertaining.

Once again, and if its true as I'm trying to be more astute in commenting on media reports after Biltongs points in another post-these sort of comments are narrow, defensive and not good for the game or SA rugby in general.

If SA rugby is seen as boring, I dont see it and that is still the one team that sends chills down my spine a second after kickoff, then its partly due to pdv's rantings. He's locked into the old school thinking of SA rugby despite the ultra promising rugby the country is churning out around him.

World cup is not about entertainment...Geeez...

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/springboks/news/110421/Why_Div_thinks_Kiwis_will_fail

Oh yep.
Well his got his wish about seeing the Saders Stormers match as a yard stick where they got thoroughly beaten in every area so I wonder if thats still his thinking?

In saying that, he was correct about the next game. Saders tried the same expansive style and it didnt pay off and talk here is that part of what pdv is saying has already been simmering on the AB blackboard for some time but even then to just label it non entertainment is just silly.

Last year it was GH and his panel that knew EXECTLY the style to play and the results clearly illustrated it. SA went in the same direction as 2009 and they probably will again, this year seeing the other two yachts reaching back towards him more.

So I believe the AB 3 will get the gameplan right again, and Oz are already playing it if the Reds are the template over there. So this year it will be more about the ability to execute the gameplan, one which will mean changes for a lot of the AB's, especially the backs.

P Divvy being the coach of the Springboks,is like every rugby fans bestest dream come true.........

Its all smoke and mirrors,coaches talking of this or that tactics,simply wait and see.
What worked in the past may not in the future,what works on hard baked surfaces may not work in the wet.
The Australian template based on the Reds well Waratahs aside,Deans could hardly build on the other 3 they just didn`t perform.
Don`t take the injury weakened end of season Stormers as your Bok template.look that over the season Stormers/Bulls/Sharks were all in the top 7 sides in the S15.
PDV is not as bad as he`s painted and has great players at his command,and better depth than most .#
Pessimism of Bok supporters is a hoax me thinks they`ll be there or there abouts come RWC time.