“It looks like I’m going to eat some humble pie.”
On his appearance on JOE UK’s House of Rugby two weeks ago, Mike Tindall expressed his doubts about whether Ireland could win the World Cup next summer.
The former England captain, who won the World Cup in 2003, claimed that Ireland were unlikely to be victorious in Japan in 2019 because of their style of play.
English rugby legend completely dismisses Ireland’s World Cup chances
“My issue with Ireland is that I’m not sure if they will ever do well at a World Cup with the rugby they play, currently,” he said on the show.
“I always believe a team are going to beat them, which is weird because they don’t! They are just great at getting results. Now, do they always play out of their skin? No, but they get the job done.”
Ahead of Ireland’s game with New Zealand, Tindall had another chance to compliment the Irish team.
However, he doubled down on his original critique.
James Haskell said he didn’t expect Ireland to beat the All Blacks, because he felt the world champions to be fired up after their narrow victory over England.
Tindall was asked if Ireland were to beat New Zealand, would it change his mind on their chances of World Cup glory next year.
“No it won’t,” he said, laughing as he refused to take his opportunity to get back into the good books of Irish rugby fans.
“It won’t change my mind on where I believe they are now – which is basically I don’t think they can win the World Cup playing the way they play at the moment.”
“I hope to be proved wrong,” he continued.
“But I just think they need a little bit more. If New Zealand get nine line-breaks against them (as Argentina did the previous week) on Saturday, they will convert most of them. Because that’s what they do.
“Ultimately, I have to bow down, as they win games, they win Test matches. Just because I don’t like the style that they play, doesn’t mean they’re not getting the job.
“Can they win? Yes, they definitely can. But I think New Zealand will just be too clinical.”
It turns out that the All Blacks weren’t clinical enough.
Ireland recorded a 16-9 victory, their first win over the world champions on home soil, and never looked like losing the dramatic tie in Dublin.
Tindall admitted on social media that he may now have to eat “humble pie” after his comments on Joe Schmidt’s team.
So I haven’t seen the game but it looks like I’m going to eat some humble pie or am I!!!!!!!!! 😉
— Mike Tindall (@miketindall13) November 18, 2018
You can watch the clip here:
