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Cape Town - Reds coach Ewen McKenzie says the Springboks could only be considered as having an outside chance of winning the Rugby World Cup.
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The tournament kicks off on Friday when New Zealand tackle Tonga in the opening match in Auckland.
McKenzie, who steered the Reds to the Super Rugby title this year, believes the All Blacks, Wallabies and England are the only teams that stand a realistic chance of winning the Webb Ellis Cup.
He believes the Boks, France, Ireland, Wales and Scotland could spring a surprise or two, but they won't be a threat at the business end of the tournament.
"I'm looking at who could win seven games on the trot," McKenzie told the Australian Associated Press (AAP).
"There's not many that could (win seven games in a row) and also possess the necessary depth amongst their ranks.
"The All Blacks are clearly there, the Wallabies also, and the English have done well (in their build-up to the tournament).
"There aren't any other team that could do it when the opposition becomes harder and harder," said McKenzie.
Meanwhile, despite McKenzie's views, the Boks announced an experienced line-up for their clash against Wales on Sunday.
It is the Boks' most experienced team in their history for their opening match in the Rugby World Cup. The team contains a mammoth total of 815 caps - narrowly surpassing the 810 caps of the team that played Australia in Durban in August.
Many experts are of the opinion that an experienced line-up is key to World Cup success. However, former Australian flyhalf Michael Lynagh believes it's a statistic that could count against the Springboks.
"There is a view that a lot of the South African forwards may be a little aged. A lot of them were involved in the last World Cup and it’s a fact no nation has ever won back-to-back World Cups and a lot of the time that’s the reason why.
"Players that won a World Cup hold on a little bit long and want to do another one. It’s difficult to argue against. Some of the [South African] teams in Super Rugby this year didn’t particularly perform like they would have wanted to, specifically the Bulls, who have been champions the last few years and who have provided the bulk of the pack to South African rugby," said Lynagh.
Lynagh was part of the victorious Wallaby side that beat England 12-6 in the 1991 final at Twickenham. Four years later, the core of that Australian line-up lost out at the quarter-final stage of the 1995 tournament - 25-22 to England at Newlands.
Teams:
South Africa: 15 Frans Steyn, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Substitutes: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 18 CJ van der Linde, 19 Johann Muller, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Butch James.
Wales:
TBA
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Click to BUY the new Drifta Mobile USB Decoder
Click to BUY the Rugby World Cup 2011 Game for Xbox
The tournament kicks off on Friday when New Zealand tackle Tonga in the opening match in Auckland.
McKenzie, who steered the Reds to the Super Rugby title this year, believes the All Blacks, Wallabies and England are the only teams that stand a realistic chance of winning the Webb Ellis Cup.
He believes the Boks, France, Ireland, Wales and Scotland could spring a surprise or two, but they won't be a threat at the business end of the tournament.
"I'm looking at who could win seven games on the trot," McKenzie told the Australian Associated Press (AAP).
"There's not many that could (win seven games in a row) and also possess the necessary depth amongst their ranks.
"The All Blacks are clearly there, the Wallabies also, and the English have done well (in their build-up to the tournament).
"There aren't any other team that could do it when the opposition becomes harder and harder," said McKenzie.
Meanwhile, despite McKenzie's views, the Boks announced an experienced line-up for their clash against Wales on Sunday.
It is the Boks' most experienced team in their history for their opening match in the Rugby World Cup. The team contains a mammoth total of 815 caps - narrowly surpassing the 810 caps of the team that played Australia in Durban in August.
Many experts are of the opinion that an experienced line-up is key to World Cup success. However, former Australian flyhalf Michael Lynagh believes it's a statistic that could count against the Springboks.
"There is a view that a lot of the South African forwards may be a little aged. A lot of them were involved in the last World Cup and it’s a fact no nation has ever won back-to-back World Cups and a lot of the time that’s the reason why.
"Players that won a World Cup hold on a little bit long and want to do another one. It’s difficult to argue against. Some of the [South African] teams in Super Rugby this year didn’t particularly perform like they would have wanted to, specifically the Bulls, who have been champions the last few years and who have provided the bulk of the pack to South African rugby," said Lynagh.
Lynagh was part of the victorious Wallaby side that beat England 12-6 in the 1991 final at Twickenham. Four years later, the core of that Australian line-up lost out at the quarter-final stage of the 1995 tournament - 25-22 to England at Newlands.
Teams:
South Africa: 15 Frans Steyn, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Substitutes: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 18 CJ van der Linde, 19 Johann Muller, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Butch James.
Wales:
TBA
* Who is going to win the Rugby World Cup? Click HERE for the latest odds on BET.CO.ZA
