THE pool stages at the 2011 IRB Rugby World Cup are over and so are the hopes of twelve teams who were dreaming of reaching the final. Quarter-final weekend will ultimately see eight of the top nine sides in the IRB rankings do battle; Ireland, England, South Africa, New Zealand, Wales, Argentina, Australia and France. The team missing out is Scotland, who lost their proud record of having at least made the last eight of every Rugby World Cup competition.
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| CRUSHED: Ashton finally put the knell in Scotland's hopes |
For a while on Saturday morning, it looked like the impossible might become possible, as Dan Parks kicked Scotland into a 12-3 lead against England in Auckland. However, the English dug in throughout another scrappy performance from our boys. Once again, Johnny Wilkinson had a shocking day with his kicking and surely, Martin Johnson has to consider picking Toby Flood as his no.1 choice at fly-half. In the end, it was Chris Ashton who once again managed to bail out England. Trailing 9-12 with three minutes remaining, Ashton finished off the one flowing move England were able to put together in the entire match. It makes him the leading try scorer in the tournament and earnt us a 16-12 triumph. It comes at a cost; with a dangerous tackle on Chris Patterson, Dylan Armitage was cited and since been banned from this weekend’s quarter-finals. Scotland has been unlucky at the tournament, but when you fail to score any tries against Argentina, Georgia and England, I’m afraid it has to be an early flight home.
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| UPSET: Tonga celebrate a historic victory over the dismal French |
It could be worse, as you could be French at the moment. They may be in the last eight again, but at the height of a national embarrassment. They were dominated by a resolute and magnificent Tonga in Wellington and fell to a 19-14 defeat; one of the biggest upsets in Rugby World Cup history. Only a late try from Francois Clerc was even enough for Les Bleus to secure the losing bonus point. The French have looked atrocious from their opening match, but knowing them, they have a performance in them, so England shouldn’t take them too lightly. For Tonga, victory meant like winning the World Cup to them. It secures them an automatic place for the 2015 finals, at Canada’s expense. However they will be regretting the loss to the Canadians, otherwise they would be deservedly in the last eight. Unless they progress on Saturday, France’s rugby players deserve similar treatment to their football counterparts in the 2010 football World Cup; fly home in standard class!
New Zealand received a hammer blow as arguably, the best player in the world at the moment, Dan Carter was ruled out of the tournament. He looked in agony and limped away in tears after an Achilles tendon ruptured finished the 29-year’s old participation in his home tournament. You wonder whether this is his last attempt at the World Cup, after injury ruined his 2007 campaign too. The All-Blacks didn’t need him against Canada though, cruising to a comprehensive 79-15 victory, scoring twelve tries in the process. Four of these came from Zac Guildford, while Miles Muliana returned from injury to cross once in his 99th test for the hosts. We’ll see how much Carter’s absence will now affect the New Zealand squad and also, the fans.
Wales banished their nightmare of Nantes 2007 in their revenge rematch against Fiji. Samoa’s luckless and narrow defeat to world champions South Africa on Friday meant a bonus point was only required for the Welsh to progress. The potential banana skin turned into a no contest encounter, with the Welsh cantering to 66-0 annihilation in Hamilton. Welsh centre Jamie Roberts scored two tries in this emphatic performance. The Welsh have looked very impressive in the pool stages, and can look forward to a very intriguing quarter-final showdown with Ireland on Saturday. Fiji; quarter-finalists themselves four years ago, have had a dismal tournament. No wonder; they even let Namibia score over 20 points!
In the final pool match of this World Cup, one more quarter-final spot was up for grabs. Ireland sealed it and it turned into a mismatch against Italy. Once Brian O’Driscoll crossed the Italian try line in the opening stages of the second half in Dunedin, there was little doubt who was going to be the winning team. On his birthday, Keith Earles touched down twice, as Ireland scored 27 unanswered points in the second half. The Emerald Isle eventually won 36-6 and deservedly ended top of Pool C, leaving Australia with a much harder route now to the final.
Quarter-final weekend looks a very tasty one and at least three of the games look too close to call. The final gets closer and with the hard-working minnows dispatched, the real action starts this weekend! Good luck to the remaining teams left fighting it out for Rugby World Cup glory in 2011!
THE FINAL POOL RESULTS: Georgia 25-9 Romania, South Africa 13-5 Samoa, Australia 68-22 Russia, France 14-19 Tonga, England 16-12 Scotland, Argentina 25-7 Georgia, New Zealand 79-15 Canada, Wales 66-0 Fiji, Ireland 36-6 Italy
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| CLOSER: Just eight teams can still dream of lifting the trophy in 2011 |
THIS WEEKEND’S QUARTER-FINALS
Ireland v Wales, Saturday 8 October, from Wellington, 6am UK time, live on ITV1 and ITV1 HD,
England v France, Saturday 8 October, from Auckland, 8.30am UK time, live on ITV1 and ITV1 HD,
South Africa v Australia, Sunday 9 October, from Wellington, 6am UK time, live on ITV1 and ITV1 HD
New Zealand v Argentina, Sunday 9 October, from Auckland, 6am UK time, live on ITV1 and ITV1 HD
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