8 Reasons You Should Watch The 2015 Rugby World Cup

Following on from the theme of ‘underdogs’, there a strong possibility that this year’s World Cup could see a nation that has never been crowned champions go on to win the tournament. Of the sides that have never won many believe that Ireland have the best chance of being the ones to lift the trophy (admittedly as an Irishman I may be biased in saying that). Having won back to back Six Nations trophies, defeated South Africa and Australia in 2014 and risen to 3rd in the World Rankings they seem more than capable of mounting a big challenge for the trophy. Given these credentials it actually seems strange that they are even considered underdogs to win the tournament, yet there is no doubt that if they were to win it would go down as one of the biggest shocks in rugby history.

Wales and France are two other underdogs who will fancy themselves in with a shout. Wales only narrowly missed out on winning this year’s Six Nations on point’s difference and came up with some strong performances throughout the tournament. With world class players like George North and Leigh Halfpenny at their disposal Welsh fans will surely be confident that if they perform at their top level that they are capable of beating any team in world rugby. France meanwhile had a fairly miserable Six Nations. However there is little doubt that, on paper at least, they are one of the world’s best teams and many fans have blamed their poor displays on the team’s coach Phillippe Saint-Andre. If Saint-Andre were to get things right come World Cup time however it isn’t beyond the realms of belief that the French could cause a big shock.