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Must-watch ‘Chasing the Sun 2’ available on RugbyPass TV from this Friday
By Jon Newcombe
The highly acclaimed five-part documentary Chasing the Sun 2 is free to watch on RugbyPass TV from Friday September 13th, at 12:30 pm (BST).*
The gripping series chronicles the journey of the Springboks as they strive to successfully defend the Rugby World Cup, resulting in a sequel every bit as dramatic as Chasing the Sun 1, which covered their path to glory in Japan in 2019 and can be watched again, by clicking here.
While the Springboks had been there and done it before, new and unforeseen challenges are never far away in professional sport and France in 2023 was no different.
Only New Zealand had ever gone back-to-back before and the reigning champions faced a daunting pool with the world’s number one team, Ireland, as their second opponents. The fall-out from that game shaped the rest of the campaign.
From the loss of prolific try-scoring hooker Malcolm Marx to the racism row involving Bongi Mbonambi and Tom Curry, Chasing the Sun 2 has every corner uncovered.
As with the first documentary, the series doesn’t hold back, giving an intimate glimpse into life inside the Springbok camp through a string of one-to-one interviews and beautifully shot behind-the-scenes footage.
With the charismatic Rassie Erasmus at the helm, there is never a dull moment and all hell breaks loose when the Springboks’ then Director of Rugby, along with head coach Jacques Nienaber, has the audacity to select a 7-1 bench split in the final against the All Blacks.
The success of such documentaries depends on total buy-in from those taking centre stage, and Chasing the Sun 2 has this in abundance.
Sequels can sometimes disappoint but this isn’t one of them: it’s pure 'Boks-Office' viewing.
*Chasing the Sun 2 is available to watch in all territories except Africa
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Latest Comments
England have all the makings of a good team. We know that, and we have known that for years (including when Eddie was delivering disappointing results). But sometimes the positive comments about under-performing teams sound like describing a darts player as "fantastic, aside from their accuracy".
Its a trivial observation to say that scoring more points and preventing more points against you would result in better outcomes. And points difference does not mean much either, as it is generally less than 5 points with top teams. Usain Bolt would win the 100m sprint by 200 milliseconds (approximately two blinks of an eye), but that doesn't mean the others could easily beat him.
Also, these kinds of analyses tend to talk about how the team in question would just need to do X, Y and Z to win, but assume that opponents don't make any changes themselves. This is nonsense, as it is always the case that both teams go away with a list of work-ons. If we're going to think about what would have happened if team A had made that tackle, kicked that goal or avoided that penalty, the n let's think about what would have happened if team B had passed to that overlap, avoided that card, or executed that lineout maul.
There are lots of things that England can focus on for improvement, but for me the main observation is that they have not been able to raise their game when it matters. Playing your best game when it counts is what makes champions, and England have not shown that. And, for me, that's a coaching thing.
I expected Borthwick to build a basics-first, conservative culture, minimizing mistakes, staying in the game, and squeezing out wins against fancier opponents and game plans. It's not that he isn't building something, but it has taken disappointingly long, not least if you compare it to Australia since Schmidt took over, or SA after Rassie took over.
Go to commentsYeah he went ot France to develop himself because Aussie showed no interest. More fool them.
But JW thinks all SH players only ever go to Europe for the money which is facile to the nth degree.🤣
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