Dubai: Former dual-code Wales international and British Lions centre Scott Gibbs will be a pundit for the OSN Orbit Showtime Network for the entirety of the 2011 Rugby World Cup which runs from September 9 to October 23.
All 48 games will be screened live by the broadcaster.
Here Gibbs talks about his tips for the tournament as well as delving into his own career highlights and assessing the problems plaguing the game in Wales.
GULF NEWS: Who is your tip for the Rugby World Cup?
SCOTT GIBBS: It's about how you break-up your rugby over that six week period and the smart money is on Australia and New Zealand.
If you compute the draw that's the final unless there's a major upset.
South Africa will look to retain it but they have a lot of injuries. They are arguably in the toughest group so there will be a lot of tired bodies coming out of that.
There's no greater package than Australia.
Why do New Zealand always choke?
They play so much rugby in those early rounds cropping up cricket scores when it comes to the clutch games they try and maintain that rhythm with open and expansive football instead of eating away at the clock and engineering a win.
It's been their Achilles heel since 1987. In order not to put themselves under pressure they have to play less rugby if that makes sense.
Who will be the performer of the tournament?
It's either your Jonny Wilkinson kicker or your Jonah Lomu style try scorer.
Digby Ioane is an interesting player, with the way he reads body language better than any winger and has huge work rate off his is wing, is very elusive and quick.
Australia are so strong and competent, that backline can cause any team problems in that 15 metre channel. He may well score a hatful of tries.
Were the Tri-Nations too close to the World Cup?
The Tri-Nations should have been scrapped in World Cup year.
We've had 20 rounds of Super Rugby and the Australian franchises have probably come out of that best.
Their local derbies weren't as ferocious as South Africa's. That's where South Africa paid the price for an extended season. Now they have 20 players hypothetically injured.
The players and more so the supporters pay the price for too much competitive rugby. Its been relentless and now more so than ever it's about keeping people fit and boiling over.
Do you believe the South African secret camp conspiracy?
Apparently they are in Rustenburg undergoing rehabilitation, conditioning and physical rest.
The reason it's so spurious is because its part of the constitution of the Tri-Nations that you have to field your best side.
If they had said we're not playing our top players in the Tri-Nations because we want to retain the World Cup no one would have batted an eyelid.
They are in cotton wool ahead of the most physical group. Australia and New Zealand will waltz through but South Africa has some heavy work to do.
I think they are genuinely injured. Never in the annuls of history have I heard of a fit player not playing.
Where is Welsh rugby going?
We never had that dominating pack behind the scrum like England did. There are lots of issues from the closure of the mines and steel works but we just don't breed big athletic second row and back row players like other nations.
The mine and steel work closures was an argument in the early 1980s but now we have physiology and sports science so you can become faster and stronger.
The advent of Premier League football has had a marked impact — everyone wants to be the next Rush, Giggs or Bale and now we have Swansea City in the Premier League.
Welsh rugby needs to retain its presence in schools.
Tell us about your ‘You-tube moment' — beating England at Wembley?
They knocked the stadium down after that. I thought it was a massive overreaction!
It was the last Five Nations game and it kind of started a losing streak of Grand Slams for England.
It was a huge career high, a last throw of the dice play that we had spoken about in the dressing room if all else fails.
It was a 20 metre short burst try. Their defence may have become complacent — there were a lot of hands but no tackle attempt.
It probably looked more decisive than it was. Everyone remembers where they were that day and there's no sweeter victory than one against the English.
You played rugby union and rugby league, which one's better?
I went from union into league with St Helens from 1994-96.
It was like going back to the university of rugby. I learnt all about the nuances of ball play and defensive capability.
It stood me in good stead for when I went back into union.
It was a period before professionalism so there was financial gain. I had got injured and had to pay out of my own pocket and thought ‘if I'm going to be treated like meat I may as well get paid'.
It suited my game. In league you touch the ball more and if you haven't got the ball you defend.
There's more opportunity to pick it up and run in league. There's far more personal satisfaction but it's ten times more painful.
Player of the Series on the 1997 British Lions tour, another high?
It means a lot more now than it did then.
A Lions victory in South Africa emulated the great Test side of 1974. It's something that can't be taken away from me. The ultimate for any northern hemisphere professional is to play for the Lions.
