First came Germany's Paul the octopus, now there's Sonny Wool,  the sheep, New Zealand's very own World Cup match predicting genius.

Sonny Wool is following in Paul's tentacle steps, and yesterday picked New Zealand to beat Tonga in last night's opening Rugby World Cup match.

The sheep, who was wearing a custom made black jersey and named after All Blacks centre Sonny Bill Williams, chose to munch on hay under a New Zealand flag rather than another container with the flag of Tonga, delighting a small crowd of onlookers in suburban Wellington.

His owner Dan Boyd said like his namesake Sonny is a proud All Blacks supporter, but that won't stop him picking another team to win.

Boyd said the next game is against Japan and if he picks Japan then they will be the team to win.

In the short time since Paul's emergence   and death last October   the world has seen a host of imitators, including an avowedly clairvoyant crocodile in Australia and China's Bo Si, the psychic panda.

Story by: Safire Koroitanoa
Source: stuff.co