KEY POINTS:
Samoa have enough to beat England and go through to the quarter finals, said former Samoa international and All Black Frank Bunce.
Samoa were competitive against South Africa in the first half, despite their 59 - 7 loss on the weekend.
Manu Samoa fans can boast of pushing England to the wire in Melbourne in 2003 and making the quarter finals in 1995 before being thumped by champions to-be South Africa.
The side performed well in this year's Pacific Nations Cup and Bunce, who was in Samoa to farewell the team, said the squad was in good physical shape but might be let down by their set-phases.
"They're strength is they're all natural ball players. Forwards run like backs and backs do everything forwards do - they have the strength," Bunce said.
But he said as far as the final goes, it will be South Africa, Australia and the All Blacks.
"South Africa are going in really confident. Everyone's on form and they had a great Tri-nations. Even though they've lost a couple of players over recent times," Bunce said.
The Aussies are getting better and better and the old heads in the side can pull the Wallabies through, he said.
Bunce said the biggest challenge facing the All Blacks will be selecting the right team on the day.
He said with the length of the tournament, it is important everyone remains a part of the team and match fit in case there is are further injuries.
Former All Black front rower Steve McDowell said the All Blacks are likely to meet Australia in the final but it could be France.
"I have fond memories of playing France at Eden Park," McDowell said, referring to the 1987 Rugby World Cup final.
The game was 20 years ago but McDowell remembers it clearly, particularly winning.
He said this year's World Cup will come down to the strength of forward packs and defensive patterns which the All Blacks have.
He said the All Blacks will have to be careful of the French who will rely on their forward pack and the ability of their backs who can run it out from anywhere on the field.
"The All Blacks will come out with new strategies that we probably haven't seen this year and I think they'll probably leave that to the quarters and semis," McDowell said.
He said the All Blacks will have to look out for Australia who have enough confidence to beat them. He said South Africa also pose a serious threat after keeping key players out of the Tri-nations.
YOUR PREDICTIONS
It's only weeks away from the Rugby World Cup and we want to hear your predictions of who will win. Who do you think will be in the final and what do you think the score will be?
We'll run your predictions online and you could be the winner by picking the right score.
The winner gets to the right to call themselves the Rugby Brain of New Zealand... and our sports team at nzherald.co.nz will also rustle up a prize for the most accurate prediction.
