Carter can show why he is the greatest 10 ever

It’s been said that most Rugby World Cup finals have been dour, boring affairs, and there’s good reason for that, but I think we could be looking at the exception to the rule this weekend, writes Ronan O’Gara

The pressure on these games is what affects the quality on display. Even in the final minutes of Australia’s semi-final win over Argentina, there was panic setting in. You saw Will Genia needlessly kick a ball away, something he would never normally do. For most games, coaches will say they are looking for a performance, but in the World Cup final, only the result matters. You’d have to have some tunnel vision to be just concentrating on performance.

Nonetheless, I think this one could buck the trend and be more exciting and higher scoring than some other finals. Both sides have a certain confidence about them, they’ll back their game plan, and will come to play.