Kieran Read: 'I don’t care, the All Blacks will win'

Former captain Kieran Read believes the All Blacks have the physical clout to take on and beat the Springboks machine in tonight's Rugby World Cup final in Paris.

Both sides are vying for their fourth World Cup and it promises to be an enthralling contest between two titans of the sport, even if both sides have lost a game at this tournament.

Read believes the All Blacks have the pack to take on the Springboks forwards - whose ranks have swollen to 15 care of a 7-1 split on the bench.

"Our forward pack is going to win the game for us. We’ve seen that the Boks have two forward packs, one to start, one to come on. They are going to come out firing so our big boys will win the game. I think they can match them in that area. If they do that, I truly believe they’ve got the backs, exciting players to unlock the Springboks defence.

"They probably didn’t kick as well against Argentina (in the semi-final) but against Ireland they kicked really well (in the quarter-final). I think they will have to do that again, whether kicking to recover through chip kicks or kicking really long and finding some space. I don’t think they’ll want to kick out too much. Keep the ball in play as much as they can."

Read also gave his take on Rassie Erasmus' much-vaunted 7-1 bench split, which he believes carries with it significant risk for South Africa.

"You’ve got to hand it to Rassie, he’s got the gumption to go for it. It’s a little bit of an all-in play. It’s risky, it has its risks.

"From the All Blacks points of view, it just reaffirms how much our forwards are going to have to work in the game. It offers some options too for us later in the game, to run against some tired backs potentially."

The 127 cap New Zealand great who was part of two successful World Cup campaigns in 2011 and 2015, believes that remaining calm will be key in what's been a stormy lead-in to the finale.

"Having been to two World Cup finals and knowing how big the weeks are, you can get caught up in playing the game too early. It’s all about trying to maintain a bit of calmness.

"There’s going to be nerves, anticipating that, knowing that they’ll be there and it’s fine.

"What I learned from the senior players (from 2011), Richie (McCaw) was really to simplify it. Simplify your messages, simplify what you need to do as a team. It’s never the special players, it’s never the magic play – those things might come off – but it’s just doing the basics really well.

"It’s going to be very close, decided by a few points. I don’t care, the All Blacks will win," concluded Read when asked for a score prediction.