Rugby World Cup - Le Crunch!
The group stages come to a dramatic end this weekend with 8 teams still in with a shout of qualifying for the last 5 quarter-final places, and to celebrate, I’ve jumped on the bandwagon of lazy ‘franglais’ headlines with the title of this post.
Southern Hemisphere giants New Zealand, South Africa and Australia are already through. England face Tonga, Wales take on Fiji and Scotland play Italy in winner-takes-all clashes, whilst Ireland must win a bonus point and stop Argentina from doing so in their Pool D clash.
Four years ago, I could not imagine ever being worried about playing Tonga, but they have had an outstanding World Cup and probably deserve to go through ahead of the drab English team.
Wales will be wary of the Fijians and their pace out wide, and will probably look to keep it tight - something they do not normally do, and they could be embarrassed.
Scotland will also be red-faced should they lose to Italy, after yielding to New Zealand without a fight to rest their top players for this game.
With Ireland’s chances dangling by the tiniest of threads, this could be the worst ever World Cup for the home nations. Realistically, England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland could all tumble out of the competition at the group stage in what would be a triumph for the emerging Southern Hemisphere nations, but a travesty for these four rugby superpowers.
A thrilling weekend lies in wait.
New timewaster - rugby game
Have a look at the ‘Martin Johnson Extreme Rugby Training School Game’ where you can hone your tackling skills against a sumo wrestler and a caravan amongst other things.
Johnno himself provides post-training anaylsis and it’s very easy to waste an hour or two!
Best foot forward for England?
From a fan’s perspective, and one who enjoyed Saturday’s match from pitchside, the Samoa result provided a much needed feel good factor. Now that the dust has settled, what is the reality of the situation? Paul Ackroyd was scathing in his article in the Sunday Telegraph, dismissing England as patchy and fortunate against inferior opposition, and even daring to criticise Jonny!
Yes, England’s talisman was slightly off-key with the boot, notably missing what could have been a vital penalty from in front with the scores only separated by four points. Yes, he missed a tackle apiece on the Tuilagi brothers early on – but hold on Paul: who wouldn’t? The 20-stone Henry Tuilagi brushed aside South African Number 8 Danie Rossouw, and was only just dragged down by the fearless neanderthal Schalk Burger in a joint tackle. There was a point in the second half when Wilkinson was everywhere in defence when England really had their backs to the wall, and he brought a sense of calm organisation throughout.
Furthermore, whilst the score may have slightly flattered les blancs towards the end, let’s not forget that four years ago this was also the case when we scraped by 35-22: and what did that England team do next? No-one is suggesting the 2007 model could replicate the feat, but Samoa are an opposition not averse to World Cup upsets, having twice vanquished Wales in the tournament. In fact, in their last four head-to-heads this equals England’s highest score against Samoa which came in the 1995 competition.
Put in context, with both sides fighting for their world cup lives, up against a fitter, more professional Samoa side coached by one of the world’s great players, this was an impressive performance by England. Although Brian Ashton’s men lost their shape for a quarter of an hour, in the first half they showed glimpses of rugby which the world’s elite will take notice of, and they had the composure to finish the job. Critically, they have given their supporters something which has been missing since the Wales warm up match: hope.
Now, Tonga. The last time the teams met was in the 1999 pool stages at Twickenham in the 101-10 mauling by England, described by Epi Taione as the low point of his career, when the Tongan bench actually got in the shower at half time and refused to re-join the game. Somewhat of a different proposition now then: if their surprise win over Samoa suggested this, their heroics against South Africa only emphasised the threat they pose.
If the English pack can subdue their opponents and sideline Finau Maka, probably the standout forward of the tournament to date, we will win. Set piece dominance should be a given, it is at the breakdown that England can and must turn the screw on their opponents. Disciplined aggression in defence, coupled with timely, ferocious counter-rucking should be England’s mantra from now on. They have the skill and the conditioning to deal with the Tongans, and should go into the quarter-final showdown with Australia on more of a high.
If they are to do themselves any justice in that game whatsoever they must concentrate on raising the tempo of their play. By now the familiarity and confidence in one another should have transferred itself from their club game; a game plan seems to have been collectively embraced and selection has today been proved consistent for once. The players know they need to be sharper and more penetrating. One Pacific Island as been taken, brush past the next and suddenly the Southern Hemisphere clash becomes a touch more mouthwatering. Roll on Friday.
By Rob Douglas
Guinness Premiership Review - 22nd/23rd Sept
With all eyes and ears distracted by the World Cup, which teams have been using the first couple of rounds of the Guinness Premiership to their advantage? Full points are being awarded for wins regardless of the fact that the top teams are being penalised by having their world class players taken away for a couple of months. Some squads are being severely stretched so we could see a strange-looking table come the end of October.
On Saturday Leicester finished strongly to see off a spirited Bath challenge at Welford Road. The scores were drawn with 10 minutes to go but late tries from the lesser known Murphy + Smith in the Tigers’ squad (Johne + Matt) sealed the win, sans bonus point, 26-16. If Leicester are able to keep stringing wins together they will be very strong contenders for a play-off place even before the year is up.
Having started sluggishly (again), Wasps looked to have wrapped up a hard-fought win at Sixways against Worcester with the clock counting down in the second half. Mike Ruddock’s men had different ideas and the former Welsh coach rallied his troops to pull off an unlikely 24-24 draw, having been 24-10 down at one stage.
Harlequins thrashed Leeds at the Stoop, 39-15. The squad’s up-and-coming youngsters, Jordan Turner-Hall (pictured) and Tom Guest, were amongst the scorers. Dean Richards always manages to put together competitive squads and Quins are my tip for a surprise play-off place, i like the cut of their jib.
London Irish used the good weather to their advantage to beat Newcastle, without allowing the northerners to score a point. Geraghty has fully recovered from the hamstring injury that hamstrung his hopes of a world cup place to star in the victory. London Irish won the match 19-0.
As predicted, Saracens v Gloucester was the tie of the round, the cherry and whites eventually outscoring Sarries 38-31. It’s not all doom and gloom for England’s future prospects as Gloucester’s stable of young English backs including Lamb, Allen and Morgan stole the show.
Surprisingly, Bristol could not recreate the form of last season against Sale, losing 20-6 at Edgeley Road. A commanding performance in the wet by Charlie Hodgson was the difference between the sides. The Sale fly-half controlled the game well, mixing up a decent kicking game with some deft hands to put Bristol to the sword.
Gloucester and Harlequins sit pretty at the top of the table; worrying early season starts for Leeds, Bristol, Worcester and Wasps mean those teams have a lot to do over the next couple of weeks to make up ground.
That’s 4 correct predictions out of 6 for our Guinness Premiership reporter Jon Hobbs - not a bad start, let’s see how he gets on over the course of the season.
Ashton leaves Vickery on the bench
Matt Stevens has played himself into the starting XV for Friday’s crucial game with Tonga and has been selected ahead of the England captain.
The only changes are Steve Borthwick in for Simon Shaw and Lewis Moody for Joe Worsley at openside. Mathew Tait keeps his place at outside centre, despite calls for Dan Hipkiss to replace him.
What are your thoughts? Will we make the knockout stages?
England:
15. Josh Lewsey (London Wasps)
14. Paul Sackey (London Wasps)
13. Mathew Tait (Newcastle Falcons)
12. Olly Barkley (Bath Rugby)
11. Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks)
10. Jonny Wilkinson (Newcastle Falcons)
9. Andy Gomarsall (Harlequins)
1. Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks)
2. George Chuter (Leicester Tigers)
3. Matt Stevens (Bath Rugby)
4. Steve Borthwick (Bath Rugby)
5. Ben Kay (Leicester Tigers)
6. Martin Corry (Leicester Tigers, captain)
7. Lewis Moody (Leicester Tigers)
8. Nick Easter (Harlequins)
Replacements:
16. Lee Mears (Bath Rugby)
17. Phil Vickery (London Wasps)
18. Lawrence Dallaglio (London Wasps)
19. Joe Worsley (London Wasps)
20. Peter Richards (London Irish)
21. Andy Farrell (Saracens)
22. Danny Hipkiss (Leicester Tigers)
World Cup mystery: the Irish question
As England were applying some semblance of shape to their World Cup challenge against Samoa, the post mortems were beginning in another beleaguered European rugby nation. Ireland must beat Argentina next week by more than 7 points and must score 4 tries in the process and on present form this looks rather unlikely. If they fail, they will be on their way home to lick their wounds and face the angry questions of their countrymen who will demand to know how a team widely fancied to challenge in the tournament’s latter stages sank to the ignominy of a first round exit.
Probably the biggest mystery of this tournament so far is what on earth has happened to Ireland. The plight of the champions has attracted more column inches but nobody can say that they did not see England’s stuttering performance coming. Yet a mere 6 months ago, Ireland only missed out on a Grand Slam through a late French try and then lost the championship due to a similar Gallic late-show. They were fancied by many as the leading European challengers for the World Cup after recording impressive victories against South Africa, Australia and England in quick succession.
Come the World Cup though, and it has all gone wrong. They have lacked any form of cohesion and their basic skills appear to have deserted them. I do not know the precise number of handling errors they committed against Namibia but I doubt it made pretty reading for Eddie O’Sullivan. The urgent, abrasive forward game usually engineered by their excellent back row has been replaced by a series of uncertain and ponderous performances and their lineout, previously without peer in the game, has misfired badly. At the same time, their quick and skilful backs have played as though no one has had the courtesy to introduce them to each other with Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy strangely subdued.
One struggles to find excuses for this. At least England’s lack of cohesion can be attributed to the fact that, for a variety of reasons, the team has barely played together before. Rewind to the 2000 Six Nations though, and you find Ireland fielding a back line of Stringer, O’Gara, Henderson, O’Driscoll, Horgan, Hickie and Dempsey. Sound familiar? With the exception of D’Arcy replacing Henderson, this is the same as their first choice back line at the start of the tournament and makes the utter desertion of form all the more bewildering.
2007 was supposed to be Ireland’s year, the year when the strongest Irish team for many years would write its name on rugby’s honours board. Mind you, the same was said in 2005 and 2006. This Irish side seems destined to be remembered as a ‘nearly’ team who never quite fulfilled their potential consistently and went out of a World Cup in which they were supposed to be a genuine force with a whimper. This team has been capable of rampant performances, none better than their demolition of England in the 2007 championship. But they never achieved the necessary degree of consistency and seemed to develop something of an inferiority complex when confronted with France or New Zealand. They have never done themselves justice against these two opponents, with Friday’s match with France being a further demonstration of this.
Next week Ireland do have the opportunity to answer these questions and at least their fate remains in their own hands. They also have a core of Munstermen who have been in this position before in the Heineken Cup and have passed the test with flying colours. However it would take an extraordinary reversal of form for them to achieve something similar against Argentina, especially without the Thomond roar spurring them on. If Ireland’s name does appear in the quarter final line up in this tournament then we will have seen a mightily impressive performance.
There have been reports of unrest in the camp with some players unhappy that their camp is so far from any form of life. It would also appear that some have been unsettled by the press reports of Ronan O’Gara’s personal problems but for a group of professional sportsmen these are not adequate excuses for such good players in an established team performing with such ineptitude. I am sure that we will learn more in the coming weeks but for now we can only speculate why this team has fallen so far in such a short period.
By Stuart Peel
Murrayfield mismatch lets down the World Cup
The Scots conceded the game to New Zealand yesterday before it had even begun. Frank Hadden selected a weakened team to face the tournament favourites, hoping to save his best players for the match with Italy next weekend.
To be fair, the second string played reasonably well, although they couldn’t muster a point against the All Blacks who scored 40.
In my opinion, they would have been better served taking them on with all guns blazing. The Scots have a good lineout, with Alistair Hogg and Jason White providing additional options to the second rows, and they should have targeted this New Zealand weakness. As it happened, the All Blacks played pretty badly, and so with home advantage you never know, they could have caused a big upset.
The pack would have been battle-hardened from the confrontation, and with a good performance, confidence would have been boosted.
At the very least, they would have avoided irritating the crowd - this fixture was the main attraction at Murrayfield, and those that bought tickets were let down. Hadden’s tactics violated the spirit of the World Cup and of the sport itself by saying, we don’t think we’re going to win, therefore we’re not going to try.
What are your thoughts?
Biggest mismatch of tournament so far…Rosenthal and Johnson
Watching Jim Rosenthal talking to Martin Johnson after yesterday’s England game was like seeing an excited schoolboy talking to a professor, like Ron Weasley talking to Albus Dumbledore. The difference in their depth of knowledge and analytical prowess is surely the biggest mismatch of the 2007 Rugby World Cup so far.
Rosenthal asked of Johnson something along the lines of, “Didn’t Jonny Wilkinson destroy Samoa today?”, at which Johnson started to defend the Samoans - after all, they were magnificent opponents, and were close to taking the lead with a quarter of the match remaining.
Unfortunately, Rosenthal’s thirst for tabloid-esque nonsense of hamming up Wilkinson the hero was unsated. He interrupted Johnno to say, “Yes, but wasn’t Jonny Wilkinson brilliant?”. Toying with the programme host, Johnno responded, yes, he played well but not perfectly, and it was the improvement in the English pack that was the biggest difference over the South Africa embarrassment.
Luckily Francois Pienaar stepped in, lauding Wilko to put the childish grin back on Rosenthal’s face.
Having two World Cup-winning captains as pundits is tremendous, but surely ITV can find a more worthy anchor for the studio analysis - step up Martin Bayfield?
Gomersall and Wilkinson return to give England direction
At last, some evidence of shape and direction in England’s performance. Orchestrated by the half-back combination of Andy Gomersall and Jonny Wilkinson, England exerted control over feisty opposition to set up an all-or-nothing showdown with Tonga to qualify for the knockout stages.
To use a well-worn phrase, Wilkinson kept the scoreboard ticking over. He slotted two dropped goals and kicked four penalties (as well as three conversions) to reward England’s dominance in possession and territory.
The forwards made a significant improvement, and looked more competitive at the breakdown. Nick Easter carried well, and Martin Corry’s unerring loyalty and determination was rewarded with two tries. Simon Shaw was prominent in the loose with delightful hands, whilst Matt Stevens was rock solid and deserves selection even when Phil Vickery returns next week.
By no means was this a polished performance from England, with Josh Lewsey, Olly Barkley and indeed Wilkinson kicking very poorly out of hand, often missing touch and rarely finding space. The midfield still does not look creative, and surely Danny Hipkiss must feature against Tonga - Mathew Tait did nothing wrong, and I’d actually move him to the wing instead of Paul Sackey, but no doubt others will have something to say about that.
Tonga next week will offer a similar challenge to Samoa, with physical runners making up for the shortfall at the set piece. Their outstanding performance against South Africa will worry the England camp - the winner on Friday will go through to face Australia, and the loser will go home.
France live to fight another day as Ireland disappoint
France comprehensively defeated Ireland to get their World Cup campaign back on track. Ireland were once again disappointing, and are now likely to tumble out of the tournament before the knockout stages.
Only in the first ten minutes did Ireland look as if they could win the game, as Ronan O’Gara got the better of kicking exchanges with Frederick Michalak. However, France soon started to control the game with Serge Betsen’s pack dominating the set piece and Jean-Baptiste Ellisalde punishing Irish ill-discipline.
Ireland must now beat Argentina, win a bonus point by scoring 4 tries, and by a margin of more than 7 points to deprive the opposition of a bonus. On this showing, and on recent form, it’s unlikely they will even win the game.
If that is the case, Argentina will win the group, France will face New Zealand as runners-up and Ireland will be sent home to face the wrath of its public that was so expectant just a few weeks ago.
The inquest into Ireland’s disastrous World Cup display will now begin. Should Geordan Murphy have been picked for this game to provide some extra spark when they were chasing the game? Was Peter Stringer’s experience missed? Let me know where you think it all went wrong.
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