The beginning of the end?

I note with interest the fact that on the all new singing & dancing South African World Cup shirt (for technical blurb please see comments on the Scotland version below) the Springbok symbol has disappeared from the front.

Admittedly the Springbok does still make an unobtrusive, almost apologetic appearance on the sleeve of the shirt and it may be that the explanation is nothing more sinister than something having to make way for the RWC logo on the front.

However, while I acknowledge that I am possibly one of the least qualified individuals to be blogging about South African politics, I do wonder whether the Springbok will ever make it back to front of shirt prominence?

What was I thinking?

Forget previous predictions.

Ireland for the Rugby World Cup.

Decked out in their new Puma shirts, made using an innovative 'four-way stretch' fabric that allows unrestrictive body movement and is engineered to wick away moisture to help regulate body temperature and therefore improve player comfort, the Irish now have to be favourites.

Those clever chaps at Puma tell us that the new shirt works with the body during exertion providing compression to support muscles and improving blood circulation and, furthermore, the control panel on the chest takes the shape of the basalt columns that make up the Giant's Causeway for extra support when on pitch! What more can you ask for?

Ireland for the World Cup.

Almost definitely.

Revised prediction

Forget what I posted below. France will definitely win the Rugby World Cup.

Their new Nike kit is, after all, engineered to improve athlete performance, with an innovative tight fit design to aid movement and has a 3D grip zone on the chest to enhance ball grip.

A 3D GRIP ZONE, for goodness sake. How can they fail?

Admittedly it looks bloody awful (and doesn't bode well for England fans given Nike's design history).

Nevertheless, it's a done deal.

France for the World Cup. Or Wales. Or Scotland.

Early prediction

Scotland will win the Rugby World Cup 2011.

I know, as predictions go, it's a little "out there" but the result does look somewhat inevitable after the announcement earlier this week that Scotland will be wearing a "revolutionary" new Canterbury rugby shirt at the World Cup incorporating "iconic" (?) gold detailing and featuring the new Loop 21 collar design and latest fabric technology.

Simply put, it's the strongest shirt that Canterbury have ever produced and, according to the blurb, provides improved sweat evaporation, enhanced freedom of movement and superior shape retention whilst improving the players’ ability to evade tackles and providing bespoke position-specific support to enhance movement.

With a shirt like that how could they possibly lose? Scotland for the World Cup.

Or maybe Wales.

You see, not to be outdone, the WRU has announced that Wales will be sporting their new Under Armour "state-of-the-art" kit in New Zealand which, they say, will be the most technologically advanced kit on display in the tournament. With shirts made from military grade fabric and featuring new “ArmourGrid” and "ArmourGrip" technology, the kit has, we're told, been engineered by Under Armour to provide “no-grab” jersey and shorts, which are both lightweight and mapped to the athlete’s body to give maximum mobility.

So there you have it - Wales for the World Cup. Or Scotland. Or any other team sporting Canterbury or Under Armour kit.

Everyone else may as well not turn up.