RUGBY World Cup 2011 is warming up nicely and a shock result at the weekend blew the competition wide open. Ireland produced a heroic display out of nowhere to defeat one of the pre-tournament favourites Australia in Auckland, 15-6. Not only does it mean that the Irish should finish top of Pool C, it now means Australia, South Africa and New Zealand could well be in the same section in the quarter-finals.
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The Irish had laboured through their opener against the USA and few gave them much hope, but the scoreline didn’t flatter them either. Two disallowed tries in the closing stages could have added even more gloss for the underdogs. Two penalties each from Dave Sexton and veteran Ronan O’Gara, in addition to a Sexton drop goal were enough for glory. Two penalties from James O’Connor was the only Wallabies response and by failing to get a bonus point for losing by less than seven points, it severely dents their chances of topping the pool. Despite winning the Tri-Nations before the tournament, I didn’t predict much from Australia in this Rugby World Cup and perhaps, this result shows the inexperience at the highest level for this young crop of players.
South Africa might have also made a very unconvincing start against Wales, but the defending champions are beginning to find their feet. Six unanswered tries saw them easily brush aside a potential banana skin in Fiji at the weekend. Their 49-3 demolition of the Pacific Islanders was followed this morning by a 12-try romp of Namibia at the North Harbour Stadium. The 87-0 landslide of their African neighbours included a record-breaking try for Brian Habana, who became the Springbok’s leading try scorer in their distinguished rugby history. However, Habana’s body language throughout was poor and he was substituted early in the second half, with doubts over the rest of his participation in the Rugby World Cup. The margin of victory was South Africa’s biggest in RWC history and questions have to be asked of Namibia’s performance, as they simply rolled over and died. I have to agree with Francois Pienaar, who is a leading pundit for ITV’s coverage and the winning captain of the 1995 South African team that Namibia are not up to this standard of rugby. All the other minnows; Japan, Georgia, Russia and Romania have put in worthy efforts against teams of a higher standard in this competition, yet the Namibians continue to be left behind.
Hosts New Zealand warmed up for their crunch Pool A clash with France at the weekend by overwhelming Japan 83-7 last Friday in Hamilton. It was entertainment of the highest standard and Coach Graeme Henry will be delighted to see his side run in more points in the second half, following their stale performance after the interval against Tonga the week before. John Kirwan, coach of Japan and part of the great All-Black team of 1987 was proud of the efforts his players put in and I don’t think there will be a more popular try scored in the competition than that by Japan’s Hirotoki Onozawa. The whole crowd in the stadium cheered this try, which was nice to see. Without Dan Carter, Miles Muliana and Richie McCaw, the All-Blacks looked very formidable. Despite a 46-19 success over Canada in Napier on Sunday, the French still looked far from convincing, blowing more cold than hot. They will do well on Saturday to repeat the stunning upsets of 1999 and 2007 against the hosts.
Great is one word that can’t be used to describe England’s World Cup so far. Unsavoury tabloid headlines of players drinking in bars and dangerous recreational activities such as bungee jumping dominated the build-up to the Georgia game at the weekend. Martin Johnson was infuriated, but couldn’t really defend his players after a scrappy 41-10 triumph in Dunedin. England did score six tries, with flying winger Chris Ashton and Shontayne Hape both crossing the Georgian try-line twice, as the European defence tired in the closing stages. Despite the bonus point gained, the lack of discipline from England was shocking. They gave away 11 penalties in the first half and if they do that in the knockout stages, forget winning the Webb Ellis trophy! Toby Flood had a poor game at fly-half and has subsequently been dropped for the Romania game this weekend. Johnson’s team need to put in a resounding performance on Saturday morning to silence the doubters once and for all.
After their narrow and agonising loss to the defending champions the previous weekend, Wales bounced back impressively to overcome Samoa 17-10 in the early hours of Sunday morning. A sole Shane Williams try was the difference in a hard-fought and bruising encounter, which was dedicated to the lives of the four Welsh miners who lost their lives in the tragedy last week. This was a game that a Welsh side last year would have definitely lost, so it is encouraging to see them edge these narrow battles.
Scotland didn’t play in this set of matches, but are injury-free ahead of their encounter with Argentina on Sunday. No doubt they will have been interested to see the Pumas beat Romania 43-8 and signal their intent for this tournament. Lastly, the Russian team has made its debut at the finals and despite two defeats; a narrow 13-6 reverse to the USA and a walloping against Italy on Tuesday, they have won the hearts of many neutrals for their intent to play proper rugby. Apart from Namibia, the minnows of world rugby can be proud of their efforts at this Rugby World Cup as the gap continues to narrow between the heavyweights and the lightweights of the rugby union game.
THE WEEK’S RESULTS: Russia 6-13 USA, New Zealand 83-7 Japan, Argentina 43-8 Romania, South Africa 49-3 Fiji, Australia 6-15 Ireland, Wales 17-10 Samoa, England 41-10 Georgia, France 46-19 Canada, Italy 53-17 Russia, Tonga 31-18 Japan, South Africa 87-0 Namibia
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