The youngest of the Home Nations sides competing in the tournament, Wales faced a tough Pool Stage including holders South Africa, Samoa and Fiji, the latter being the team that kept Wales out of the quarterfinals in 2007. However, Wales came back from losing by a point to South Africa in a game that they should’ve won to qualify in style, putting 66 past Fiji with no reply. This Wales team, written off by many before the tournament as a team lacking in experience, instead showed great maturity and took the game to all comers. They should be in the final.
Best moment: aside from the 66-0 thumping of Fiji and the almost-win in their opening match against South Africa, the quarterfinal against Ireland, in which Shane Williams scored in the first two minutes and Wales subsequently defended for the rest of the half, was a tour de force. The young team, under the excellent captaincy of (22-year-old) Sam Warburton, did not lose their heads when Ireland appeared to mount a comeback late in the day, and saw out the game 22-10.
Worst moment: aside from the 9-8 result, which saw France’s one point lead turned into victory by unfortunate kicking misses from the Wales replacement kickers, the worst moment for Wales was undoubtedly Warburton’s red card in the first half of the semi-final. Regardless of whether or not the tackle was legitimate or deserved a yellow or red, the moment that referee Alain Rolland decided that Warburton had to go was devastating for the team, who never recovered. An almost spear tackle that will live on in the memory as the moment that a referee knocked Wales out of a final that seemed destined to be theirs.
Highest points scorer: full-back Rhys Priestland, described by some as one of the finds of the tournament, who scored 29 out of Wales’ 210 total points.
Best player: up until the red card, undoubtedly Sam Warburton. Honourable mentions should go to the evergreen Shane Williams, Mike Phillips, and the young tyro George North, who at only 19 and already with 14 caps under his belt surely has a very promising future.
Saturday, 15 October 2011
Wales v France, 5 am, 15th October
Present: flying solo on this one.
Pre-match expectations: the only team to play really well last weekend from the Northern Hemisphere (and maybe in all the quarter finals) was Wales. They are young, fast, physical and really good, as a team and also to watch. The French, on the other hand, are insouciant, flippant, cheese-eating bath-dodgers. They do not play great rugby and they have, as reports would suggest, ditched their embattled coach, Marc Lievremont. Wales should find this straightforward.
Prediction: Wales to win this by more than two tries.
Game: France have lost twice in this tournament, should have been knocked out by Tonga (blame Canada), and played good enough rugby last weekend to beat England. This should really be a no-brainer for Wales. Having said that, I’m pulling up short of supporting them entirely.
Half-time status: wow. What the hell? Wales started brightly, but then had influential flanker and captain Sam Warburton sent off after 17 minutes. Thereupon the only Welsh kicker left on the pitch, the once-much-better James Hook, lost his nerve and slowly allowed France back onto the scoreboard. The half-time score was 6-3 France but it could have been worse for Wales.
Full-time status: agony for Wales. After falling to 9-3 behind, they pulled a try out of nowhere through Mike Phillips, which should have been easily converted by Stephen Jones, brought on to replace Hook after the latter’s miserable evening. However, Jones couldn’t convert, and Halfpenny’s halfway line kick missed by inches. France, on the other hand, were poor. 9 points after playing for 60 odd minutes with an extra man? That is not tournament winning form. Final score: France through to the final with a 9-8 win.
Man of the match: I’d say Mike Phillips, who has come a long way since being arrested on a night out in Cardiff a few months ago.
Food: nothing.
Conversation keywords: no conversation…
Comments: I slept through some key moments in that game. I will be supporting whichever other team gets to the final.
Pre-match expectations: the only team to play really well last weekend from the Northern Hemisphere (and maybe in all the quarter finals) was Wales. They are young, fast, physical and really good, as a team and also to watch. The French, on the other hand, are insouciant, flippant, cheese-eating bath-dodgers. They do not play great rugby and they have, as reports would suggest, ditched their embattled coach, Marc Lievremont. Wales should find this straightforward.
Prediction: Wales to win this by more than two tries.
Game: France have lost twice in this tournament, should have been knocked out by Tonga (blame Canada), and played good enough rugby last weekend to beat England. This should really be a no-brainer for Wales. Having said that, I’m pulling up short of supporting them entirely.
Half-time status: wow. What the hell? Wales started brightly, but then had influential flanker and captain Sam Warburton sent off after 17 minutes. Thereupon the only Welsh kicker left on the pitch, the once-much-better James Hook, lost his nerve and slowly allowed France back onto the scoreboard. The half-time score was 6-3 France but it could have been worse for Wales.
Full-time status: agony for Wales. After falling to 9-3 behind, they pulled a try out of nowhere through Mike Phillips, which should have been easily converted by Stephen Jones, brought on to replace Hook after the latter’s miserable evening. However, Jones couldn’t convert, and Halfpenny’s halfway line kick missed by inches. France, on the other hand, were poor. 9 points after playing for 60 odd minutes with an extra man? That is not tournament winning form. Final score: France through to the final with a 9-8 win.
Man of the match: I’d say Mike Phillips, who has come a long way since being arrested on a night out in Cardiff a few months ago.
Food: nothing.
Conversation keywords: no conversation…
Comments: I slept through some key moments in that game. I will be supporting whichever other team gets to the final.
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
So, farewell: Argentina
Like South Africa, the feats of 2007 were always going to be difficult to repeat for the Pumas, and sometimes one felt the burden of expectation weighing heavily on Argentina, especially from a distance. The ESPN coverage of “our boys” was merciless, and the Pumas had injury problems to deal with before the tournament even started – the absence of Juan Martín Hernández keenly felt throughout. Having said that, Argentina nicked a win against Scotland, almost convincingly beat England and scored a try against New Zealand, despite picking up key injuries in almost every match. They head home, defeated but with a lot of pride.
Best moment: the mazy run by Lucas González Amorocino to seal Argentina’s glorious 73rd minute try against Scotland which pretty much sent the Scots home, in a fantastic match that bubbled and bristled. The look of sheer despair on Dan Parks’ face as he realized that his last minute penalty hadn’t gone over summed up what had been achieved on that rainy night. Argentina’s 13-12 win was a joy to behold.
Worst moment: slumping to defeat against both England and New Zealand, the former probably more painful than the latter. England’s cruel snatching of the game from Argentine hearts was a bitter blow, and holding on to that win would have probably seen Argentina avoid the All Blacks and face France instead. However, the final 13-9 result flattered England and left the Pumas scrabbling for second place.
Highest points scorer: Felipe Contepomi, who kicked 26 of Argentina’s 100 points and played like a leader despite sustaining serious rib damage in the England game.
Best player: difficult. Contepomi for his leadership, Mario Ledesma for his commitment, González Amorocino for his cameo as a find for the future.
Best moment: the mazy run by Lucas González Amorocino to seal Argentina’s glorious 73rd minute try against Scotland which pretty much sent the Scots home, in a fantastic match that bubbled and bristled. The look of sheer despair on Dan Parks’ face as he realized that his last minute penalty hadn’t gone over summed up what had been achieved on that rainy night. Argentina’s 13-12 win was a joy to behold.
Worst moment: slumping to defeat against both England and New Zealand, the former probably more painful than the latter. England’s cruel snatching of the game from Argentine hearts was a bitter blow, and holding on to that win would have probably seen Argentina avoid the All Blacks and face France instead. However, the final 13-9 result flattered England and left the Pumas scrabbling for second place.
Highest points scorer: Felipe Contepomi, who kicked 26 of Argentina’s 100 points and played like a leader despite sustaining serious rib damage in the England game.
Best player: difficult. Contepomi for his leadership, Mario Ledesma for his commitment, González Amorocino for his cameo as a find for the future.
Argentina v New Zealand, 4:30 am, 9th October
Present: John, Gabriel, Chance for some of it, Elisa for the second half, Kai, myself.
Pre-match expectations: Oh Tonga. If only you’d beaten Canada. And if only France had shown the form they showed yesterday to beat New Zealand. Or some sort of permutation. Either way, Argentina could have done a lot better than playing against New Zealand. Maybe if they’d beaten England, things would have been different, for everybody. Oh well. They’re going to get thumped.
Predictions: Pumas victorious against the odds. Yeah, right.
Game: national anthems pumped up to full and big Argentine men weeping while singing it. We’re all in the zone.
Half-time status: actually, that wasn’t too bad. For about four minutes, Argentina was even in the lead, following that surprise try from Cabello. However, the NZ kicker Piri Weepu is looking the business tonight, striking with a conviction and accuracy that is keeping the Pumas at bay. Who needs Dan Carter. New Zealand go in 12-7 ahead.
Full-time status: oh dear. There ends another dream. Just when it looked like Argentina were creeping back into the game, an unfortunate sin bin for Vergallo close to the 60 minute mark sent the Kiwis storming ahead. Two tries later, they were out of sight. New Zealand win 33-10.
Man of the match: the steady and clinical Piri Weepu, who accurately kicked 8 out of 9.
Food: Heineken and Imperial, and some very spicy Pringles that briefly put the Argentine out of action.
Conversation keywords: are we winning? Again from the Argentine, who had a loose grasp of rugby/was watching his first game.
Comments: this weekend of totally ruinous sleeping patterns is over. Semi-sanity beckons.
Pre-match expectations: Oh Tonga. If only you’d beaten Canada. And if only France had shown the form they showed yesterday to beat New Zealand. Or some sort of permutation. Either way, Argentina could have done a lot better than playing against New Zealand. Maybe if they’d beaten England, things would have been different, for everybody. Oh well. They’re going to get thumped.
Predictions: Pumas victorious against the odds. Yeah, right.
Game: national anthems pumped up to full and big Argentine men weeping while singing it. We’re all in the zone.
Half-time status: actually, that wasn’t too bad. For about four minutes, Argentina was even in the lead, following that surprise try from Cabello. However, the NZ kicker Piri Weepu is looking the business tonight, striking with a conviction and accuracy that is keeping the Pumas at bay. Who needs Dan Carter. New Zealand go in 12-7 ahead.
Full-time status: oh dear. There ends another dream. Just when it looked like Argentina were creeping back into the game, an unfortunate sin bin for Vergallo close to the 60 minute mark sent the Kiwis storming ahead. Two tries later, they were out of sight. New Zealand win 33-10.
Man of the match: the steady and clinical Piri Weepu, who accurately kicked 8 out of 9.
Food: Heineken and Imperial, and some very spicy Pringles that briefly put the Argentine out of action.
Conversation keywords: are we winning? Again from the Argentine, who had a loose grasp of rugby/was watching his first game.
Comments: this weekend of totally ruinous sleeping patterns is over. Semi-sanity beckons.
So, farewell: South Africa
The reigning champions came into the tournament following a dismal Tri-Nations campaign that saw them finish bottom, and many had already written off the slightly imbalanced side: too many old boys left over from the 2007 campaign (including a captain in Juan Smit who wasn’t quite fit enough and had to come in off the bench on the second half in most games) and a bunch of relatively untested new boys. However, the Springboks played admirably: brutal, bruising, unforgiving rugby at times, but admirable none the less. Realistically, the team was never going to make the final, but getting knocked out by Australia can’t have been what they had in mind. Peter de Villiers, the controversial coach who quit after the game following four years in charge, described the dressing room atmosphere after the Australia defeat as “three notches lower than a funeral.”
Best moment: the best game of the first weekend, a rip-roarer against Wales that saw the South Africans score a try to pull ahead, only to be extremely lucky following two mis-kicks by James Hook in the last ten minutes to maintain their lead. The game finished 17-16 South Africa.
Worst moment: inability to grind out the game having taken hold of it in the match against Australia, which saw the Boks ahead at 9-8 at one point only to eventually lose 11-9.
Highest points scorer: their kicker Morné Steyn, who kicked 65 of the Springboks 175 total points.
Best player: Heinrich Brüssow, who battled through every game and kept South Africa in the tournament until the battle of the flankers between himself and David Pocock in the Australia game, which sadly saw him taken off after 20 minutes.
Best moment: the best game of the first weekend, a rip-roarer against Wales that saw the South Africans score a try to pull ahead, only to be extremely lucky following two mis-kicks by James Hook in the last ten minutes to maintain their lead. The game finished 17-16 South Africa.
Worst moment: inability to grind out the game having taken hold of it in the match against Australia, which saw the Boks ahead at 9-8 at one point only to eventually lose 11-9.
Highest points scorer: their kicker Morné Steyn, who kicked 65 of the Springboks 175 total points.
Best player: Heinrich Brüssow, who battled through every game and kept South Africa in the tournament until the battle of the flankers between himself and David Pocock in the Australia game, which sadly saw him taken off after 20 minutes.
South Africa v Australia, 2 am, 9th October
Present: myself for the duration; Chance for the first half, Elisa and Kai for the second.
Pre-match expectations: after the deflation of the day before and the limping home of England and Ireland, today’s matches offer excitement and unpredictability. Or at least the first one does. The misfiring Wallabies take on the Springboks, defending World Cup holders who came third in the Tri-Nations. It’ll be close.
Predictions: I can see South Africa winning this, but not by much. They have looked better and less error prone in the tournament so far.
Game: I really don’t like either sides and I couldn’t care less who gets knocked out/goes through. But at least I’m awake (just) and maintaining my commitment to knockout rugby. Great.
Half-time score: this game is brutal and physical. The Australians look rubbish, that wonderboy Qade Cooper letting them down a lot in the backs. However, the defence is strong and South Africa aren’t much better in terms of mistakes made. The half-time score, which I almost slept through, was 8-3 Australia.
Full-time score: this game got a lot better and South Africa looked like they should have won it, were it not for smart play by Australian flanker David Pocock. South Africa, the defending champions, are out. 11-9 to Australia.
Man of the match: that man Pocock.
Food: none, I think.
Conversation keywords: will anyone be bothered to turn up for the Argentina v New Zealand game? Isn’t the Australia kit disgusting?
Comments: I could probably have done with sleeping through this game.
Pre-match expectations: after the deflation of the day before and the limping home of England and Ireland, today’s matches offer excitement and unpredictability. Or at least the first one does. The misfiring Wallabies take on the Springboks, defending World Cup holders who came third in the Tri-Nations. It’ll be close.
Predictions: I can see South Africa winning this, but not by much. They have looked better and less error prone in the tournament so far.
Game: I really don’t like either sides and I couldn’t care less who gets knocked out/goes through. But at least I’m awake (just) and maintaining my commitment to knockout rugby. Great.
Half-time score: this game is brutal and physical. The Australians look rubbish, that wonderboy Qade Cooper letting them down a lot in the backs. However, the defence is strong and South Africa aren’t much better in terms of mistakes made. The half-time score, which I almost slept through, was 8-3 Australia.
Full-time score: this game got a lot better and South Africa looked like they should have won it, were it not for smart play by Australian flanker David Pocock. South Africa, the defending champions, are out. 11-9 to Australia.
Man of the match: that man Pocock.
Food: none, I think.
Conversation keywords: will anyone be bothered to turn up for the Argentina v New Zealand game? Isn’t the Australia kit disgusting?
Comments: I could probably have done with sleeping through this game.
Saturday, 8 October 2011
So, farewell: England
World champions in 2003, unlikely finalists in 2007, the 6 Nations 2011 winners looked set for great things this tournament. The combination of young stars like Chris Ashton, Ben Foden and Ben Youngs with hardened vets like Jonny Wilkinson, Lewis Moody and the evergreen Simon Shaw seemed to balance wit and wisdom. Unfortunately, England never really got going, and although the intensity of criticism for the team that won by playing ugly rugby was not surprising, the scrutiny of their off-field activities bordered on the petty and spiteful. Nobody likes England and they don’t care, so long as they’re winning. This morning against France, England failed to turn on the style and were left to look a lot like a pub team by a more experienced and versatile opponent. England did not deserve to go further, which doesn’t make their loss easier to take.
Best moment: aside from the thrashings of Georgia and Romania, the games against Argentina and Scotland were classic, vintage England: let the other team tire themselves out while in the lead and spring the trap in the last ten minutes. Of the two, the 16-12 victory against Scotland probably pips the 13-9 win against Argentina for sheer entertainment value.
Worst moment: undoubtedly this morning’s match against France, a 19-12 shuffle out of the World Cup and back home to Blighty with tails well and truly between legs. The silver lining is that there is a core of a really good side here and there is plenty of potential for the future.
Highest points scorer: the excellent Chris Ashton, when not making lewd comments to hotel workers, scored 30 of England’s 144 points and when England left the tournament he was joint top try scorer with 6, tied with France’s Vincent Clerc.
Best player: hard to pick, but probably Toby Flood, who was sharper than Jonny Wilkinson and knew how to get the best out of the backs. Without Flood, England might have lost to Scotland, at the very least.
Best moment: aside from the thrashings of Georgia and Romania, the games against Argentina and Scotland were classic, vintage England: let the other team tire themselves out while in the lead and spring the trap in the last ten minutes. Of the two, the 16-12 victory against Scotland probably pips the 13-9 win against Argentina for sheer entertainment value.
Worst moment: undoubtedly this morning’s match against France, a 19-12 shuffle out of the World Cup and back home to Blighty with tails well and truly between legs. The silver lining is that there is a core of a really good side here and there is plenty of potential for the future.
Highest points scorer: the excellent Chris Ashton, when not making lewd comments to hotel workers, scored 30 of England’s 144 points and when England left the tournament he was joint top try scorer with 6, tied with France’s Vincent Clerc.
Best player: hard to pick, but probably Toby Flood, who was sharper than Jonny Wilkinson and knew how to get the best out of the backs. Without Flood, England might have lost to Scotland, at the very least.
England v France, 4:30 am, 8th October
Present: Ben, Richard, Elisa, Kai and me.
Pre-match expectations: having had our appettites well and truly whetted by the exceptional Wales v Ireland, we expected much of the same. Brutal rugby, fast running, England playing to the potential that we know they possess against the French basket cases. Unfortunately, so much depended on what the French brought to the table, because they could be amazing or pony.
Predictions: England to sneak it against the team we always knock out in the World Cup.
Game: pints in hand, volume cranked fairly high, patriotism at full blast. Come on England.
Half-time status: this is terrible. England started brightly but have since been torn apart by a French side that want it more. England’s mistakes, like their passing, have been woeful. Toby Flood sums it up best when passed the ball and failing on a drop goal, turning to his teammates and shrugging his shoulders as if to say “why the hell did you pass me the ball?” No invention at all, one soft try and one good one sees France ahead 16-0 at the break.
Full-time status: England played much better in the second half but were still let down by basic errors. If the French had been more clinical and less profligate with their kicks then the scoreline could have been far worse. England did not play like world beaters and as such were beaten by a much better team. A disappointing but entirely deserved result. France win 19-12.
Man of the match: the French captain, Thierry Dusatoir, who literally seemed to be involved in every French move, omni-present, singlehandedly trampling on England’s dreams and wiping them off his boot.
‘Food’: several litres of Heineken.
Conversation keywords: England are so rubbish they look like a pub team. Variations on a theme.
Comments: the awkward joyful hugging after Foden’s try was so British.
Pre-match expectations: having had our appettites well and truly whetted by the exceptional Wales v Ireland, we expected much of the same. Brutal rugby, fast running, England playing to the potential that we know they possess against the French basket cases. Unfortunately, so much depended on what the French brought to the table, because they could be amazing or pony.
Predictions: England to sneak it against the team we always knock out in the World Cup.
Game: pints in hand, volume cranked fairly high, patriotism at full blast. Come on England.
Half-time status: this is terrible. England started brightly but have since been torn apart by a French side that want it more. England’s mistakes, like their passing, have been woeful. Toby Flood sums it up best when passed the ball and failing on a drop goal, turning to his teammates and shrugging his shoulders as if to say “why the hell did you pass me the ball?” No invention at all, one soft try and one good one sees France ahead 16-0 at the break.
Full-time status: England played much better in the second half but were still let down by basic errors. If the French had been more clinical and less profligate with their kicks then the scoreline could have been far worse. England did not play like world beaters and as such were beaten by a much better team. A disappointing but entirely deserved result. France win 19-12.
Man of the match: the French captain, Thierry Dusatoir, who literally seemed to be involved in every French move, omni-present, singlehandedly trampling on England’s dreams and wiping them off his boot.
‘Food’: several litres of Heineken.
Conversation keywords: England are so rubbish they look like a pub team. Variations on a theme.
Comments: the awkward joyful hugging after Foden’s try was so British.
So, farewell: Ireland
Lumped in a group with Australia and Italy seemed to promise runners-up at best for the men in green, and that prize would lead to a quarter-final against South Africa… except it didn’t. Ireland defied criticism of their creaking and unbalanced squad to take Australia by surprise and played thrilling rugby throughout almost the entire Pool Stage, only to hit this morning’s Welsh wall - losing to the first superior team they had come up against in the tournament. In the end, however, they were just a bit too old and not quite fit enough.
Best moment: the 15-6 victory against Australia that set up the hemispheric divide for the knockout stages.
Worst moment: being shown up and lacking the stamina, strength and imagination to deal with the Welsh in this morning’s 22-10 loss.
Highest points scorer: this tournament was supposed to be about the rise of Jonathan Sexton as the Irish kicker, but it was still Ronan O´Gara who scored 44 of the team’s points.
Best player: the tyro Keith Earls, who will be a star for the future. Like a bigger stronger Rooney.
Best moment: the 15-6 victory against Australia that set up the hemispheric divide for the knockout stages.
Worst moment: being shown up and lacking the stamina, strength and imagination to deal with the Welsh in this morning’s 22-10 loss.
Highest points scorer: this tournament was supposed to be about the rise of Jonathan Sexton as the Irish kicker, but it was still Ronan O´Gara who scored 44 of the team’s points.
Best player: the tyro Keith Earls, who will be a star for the future. Like a bigger stronger Rooney.
Ireland v Wales, 2 am, 8th October
Present: Ben, Richard, myself, and a lot of Irish rugger fans.
Pre-match expectations: The winner of this will play England in the semi-finals. Taking the head-to-head records and the 2011 6 Nations into account, I’d prefer Wales. On tournament form, probably the same, although both teams look capable of beating England.
Prediction: Wales to win, but not by much.
Game: The anthems are drowned out by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ ‘By The Way’, which is a shame because both the Irish and Welsh anthems are lovely tunes. After which, the Sugar bar staff realise that a) there’s a live game on and b) most of the people in the bar are watching it and kindly switch on the commentary.
Half-time status: wow, Wales are awesome. Quickfire try from Shane Williams followed by 35 minutes of serious defending. Fair play to Ireland for going for the try three times rather than taking the points, but unfortunately not one of them worked. Wales ahead at the break 10-3, with some semi-stunned Irish fans still explaining the rules to the Argentine girls in the bar.
Full-time status: in every position, at almost every breakdown, Wales have dominated this game. The Irish got back into it with a try from terrier Keith Earls, but Mike Phillips’ great try for Wales (dives over with both feet in the air, awesome try) and the superior fitness of the Welsh team left the Irish in the dust. Well-deserved win, looks scary for England in the semi-final: final score 22-10 Wales.
Man of the match: Mike Phillips, for being everywhere and scoring a great try.
‘Food’: Quilmes, several pints.
Conversation keywords: both teams look too good for England.
Comments: I think we were the only people in the bar supporting Wales. The Irish really didn’t mind the loss at all, apart from the guy who offered to headbutt me.
Pre-match expectations: The winner of this will play England in the semi-finals. Taking the head-to-head records and the 2011 6 Nations into account, I’d prefer Wales. On tournament form, probably the same, although both teams look capable of beating England.
Prediction: Wales to win, but not by much.
Game: The anthems are drowned out by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ ‘By The Way’, which is a shame because both the Irish and Welsh anthems are lovely tunes. After which, the Sugar bar staff realise that a) there’s a live game on and b) most of the people in the bar are watching it and kindly switch on the commentary.
Half-time status: wow, Wales are awesome. Quickfire try from Shane Williams followed by 35 minutes of serious defending. Fair play to Ireland for going for the try three times rather than taking the points, but unfortunately not one of them worked. Wales ahead at the break 10-3, with some semi-stunned Irish fans still explaining the rules to the Argentine girls in the bar.
Full-time status: in every position, at almost every breakdown, Wales have dominated this game. The Irish got back into it with a try from terrier Keith Earls, but Mike Phillips’ great try for Wales (dives over with both feet in the air, awesome try) and the superior fitness of the Welsh team left the Irish in the dust. Well-deserved win, looks scary for England in the semi-final: final score 22-10 Wales.
Man of the match: Mike Phillips, for being everywhere and scoring a great try.
‘Food’: Quilmes, several pints.
Conversation keywords: both teams look too good for England.
Comments: I think we were the only people in the bar supporting Wales. The Irish really didn’t mind the loss at all, apart from the guy who offered to headbutt me.
Monday, 3 October 2011
So, farewell: Fiji & Italy
Fiji
In 2007, Fiji took the Rugby World Cup by storm by defeating Wales 38-34 and dumping the Home Nation out of the tournament, nicking their quarterfinal berth in the process. As a result, great things were expected of the Fijians this time around, and the islanders totally failed to deliver. Aside from winning one game against tournament whipping boys Namibia, Fiji was battered, beaten and bulldozed by all of their other opponents. The final result in the much-hyped “Revenge Match” for Wales saw real revenge and not much a fight.
Best moment: beating Namibia 49-25 in a match that suggested that both teams had a lot to offer in the tournament.
Worst moment: all of the other games, in which they scored a total of 10 points, in a 49-3 defeat to South Africa, a 27-7 to island rivals Samoa and a closing 66-0 pounding from Wales.
Highest points scorer: fly-half Seremaia Baikeinuku, who scored 22 of the 59 points, followed by Vereniki Goneva, who scored 20 in four tries against Namibia.
Best player: all-round legend Nicky Little, who had the good grace to apologize for his team’s performance against Samoa and admit that Fiji were pony.
Italy
The perennial 6 Nations wooden spoon contenders arrived at this tournament with the intention of making heads turn, with the aim being to knock Ireland out of their expected second place. However, Ireland’s shock win against Australia effectively saw the Azzurri competing with the Wallabies for second place, and it was pretty clear who would be the winner in that particular outcome. Yesterday’s closely fought first half and second half capitulation was a fair summary of Italy’s World Cup.
Best moment: running in nine tries against Russia in a glittering 53-17 slugfest.
Worst moment: capitulating to both Australia and Ireland in the second half of both of these games after a hard-fought first half. The Australia first half ended 6-6 and ended 32-6 to the Wallabies, while the Ireland game, probably more painful after the almost-victory for the Italians in the same fixture Six Nations earlier this year, saw the first half ending 9-6 and the final score as 36-6 to the Irish.
Highest points scorer: kicker Mirco Bergomasco, who scored 19 of Italy’s 92 points.
Best player: toss up between captain Sergio Parisse and prop Martin Castogiovanni, both born in Argentina and both first-class players and ambassadors for the game.
In 2007, Fiji took the Rugby World Cup by storm by defeating Wales 38-34 and dumping the Home Nation out of the tournament, nicking their quarterfinal berth in the process. As a result, great things were expected of the Fijians this time around, and the islanders totally failed to deliver. Aside from winning one game against tournament whipping boys Namibia, Fiji was battered, beaten and bulldozed by all of their other opponents. The final result in the much-hyped “Revenge Match” for Wales saw real revenge and not much a fight.
Best moment: beating Namibia 49-25 in a match that suggested that both teams had a lot to offer in the tournament.
Worst moment: all of the other games, in which they scored a total of 10 points, in a 49-3 defeat to South Africa, a 27-7 to island rivals Samoa and a closing 66-0 pounding from Wales.
Highest points scorer: fly-half Seremaia Baikeinuku, who scored 22 of the 59 points, followed by Vereniki Goneva, who scored 20 in four tries against Namibia.
Best player: all-round legend Nicky Little, who had the good grace to apologize for his team’s performance against Samoa and admit that Fiji were pony.
Italy
The perennial 6 Nations wooden spoon contenders arrived at this tournament with the intention of making heads turn, with the aim being to knock Ireland out of their expected second place. However, Ireland’s shock win against Australia effectively saw the Azzurri competing with the Wallabies for second place, and it was pretty clear who would be the winner in that particular outcome. Yesterday’s closely fought first half and second half capitulation was a fair summary of Italy’s World Cup.
Best moment: running in nine tries against Russia in a glittering 53-17 slugfest.
Worst moment: capitulating to both Australia and Ireland in the second half of both of these games after a hard-fought first half. The Australia first half ended 6-6 and ended 32-6 to the Wallabies, while the Ireland game, probably more painful after the almost-victory for the Italians in the same fixture Six Nations earlier this year, saw the first half ending 9-6 and the final score as 36-6 to the Irish.
Highest points scorer: kicker Mirco Bergomasco, who scored 19 of Italy’s 92 points.
Best player: toss up between captain Sergio Parisse and prop Martin Castogiovanni, both born in Argentina and both first-class players and ambassadors for the game.
Sunday, 2 October 2011
So, farewell: Georgia & Canada
Georgia
What little hype the Georgians receieved before the tournament implied that they would be minnows; big, rough, violent minnows, but minnows nonetheless. Little emphasis was placed on their resilience and general ability to grind out games. However, the World Cup showed that there are minnows (I’m looking at you, Romania, Japan and Namibia) and minnows. The Georgians were great value, giving their share of scares and keeping defeats generally down to a minimum, barring the trouncing they receievd from England and the last fifteen minutes against Argentina.
Best moment: hard to pick – from winning against Romania in the “Eastern European Derby” that saw Georgia widen the gap between the two with a 25-9 victory, to the match against Scotland that was won by the Home Nation by 15-6. They also gave the Pumas a scare in the first half of this morning’s game, going in at half-time 7-5 ahead before eventually succumbing to a 25-7 loss.
Worst moment: playing well but losing heavily to England as the English campaign attempted to hit a new gear in the 41-10 victory.
Highest points scorer: Merab Kvirikashvili, their kicker, who scored 28 of the team’s 48 points.
Best player: Mamuka Gorgodze, affectionately known as “Gorgodzilla” by the fans at his club Montpellier, who put in two man of the match performances, against England and Romania.
Canada
The Canadians performed pretty much as expected during the tournament, getting tonked by the big teams and drawing with Japan in a repeat of the 2007 World Cup result between the two. Their crowning moment came in the shock defeat of Tonga, which almost certainly kept Tonga from qualifying at France’s expense. With their big beards and soft hands, Canada shall be missed.
Best moment: the aforementioned shock defeat of Tonga, which looked like the islanders had sewn it up but which ended 25-20 in favour of the North Americans. The last-minute 23-23 draw with Japan was also compelling viewing.
Worst moment: this morning’s 79-15 defeat at the hands of New Zealand, leaving a Canada team that was technically already out thoroughly well beaten in their final game.
Highest points scorer: Ander Monro, the fly-half who scored 22 of Canada’s 82 points, narrowly followed by James Pritchard, the full back who scored 20. Incidentally, Monro is the grandson of Lord Hector Monro, Baron Monro of Langholm, the former President of the Scottish Rugby Union.
Best player: the bearded forward Adam Kleeberger, who was instrumental in the defeat of Tonga.
What little hype the Georgians receieved before the tournament implied that they would be minnows; big, rough, violent minnows, but minnows nonetheless. Little emphasis was placed on their resilience and general ability to grind out games. However, the World Cup showed that there are minnows (I’m looking at you, Romania, Japan and Namibia) and minnows. The Georgians were great value, giving their share of scares and keeping defeats generally down to a minimum, barring the trouncing they receievd from England and the last fifteen minutes against Argentina.
Best moment: hard to pick – from winning against Romania in the “Eastern European Derby” that saw Georgia widen the gap between the two with a 25-9 victory, to the match against Scotland that was won by the Home Nation by 15-6. They also gave the Pumas a scare in the first half of this morning’s game, going in at half-time 7-5 ahead before eventually succumbing to a 25-7 loss.
Worst moment: playing well but losing heavily to England as the English campaign attempted to hit a new gear in the 41-10 victory.
Highest points scorer: Merab Kvirikashvili, their kicker, who scored 28 of the team’s 48 points.
Best player: Mamuka Gorgodze, affectionately known as “Gorgodzilla” by the fans at his club Montpellier, who put in two man of the match performances, against England and Romania.
Canada
The Canadians performed pretty much as expected during the tournament, getting tonked by the big teams and drawing with Japan in a repeat of the 2007 World Cup result between the two. Their crowning moment came in the shock defeat of Tonga, which almost certainly kept Tonga from qualifying at France’s expense. With their big beards and soft hands, Canada shall be missed.
Best moment: the aforementioned shock defeat of Tonga, which looked like the islanders had sewn it up but which ended 25-20 in favour of the North Americans. The last-minute 23-23 draw with Japan was also compelling viewing.
Worst moment: this morning’s 79-15 defeat at the hands of New Zealand, leaving a Canada team that was technically already out thoroughly well beaten in their final game.
Highest points scorer: Ander Monro, the fly-half who scored 22 of Canada’s 82 points, narrowly followed by James Pritchard, the full back who scored 20. Incidentally, Monro is the grandson of Lord Hector Monro, Baron Monro of Langholm, the former President of the Scottish Rugby Union.
Best player: the bearded forward Adam Kleeberger, who was instrumental in the defeat of Tonga.
So, farewell: Samoa & Scotland
Samoa
The islanders came into this tournament looking to go past the quarter-finals, their best record at World Cups, which was always going to be a big ask in the same group as South Africa, Wales and Fiji. Sadly, despite a convincing win against Namibia on the opening day and forcing both South Africa and Wales to pull out all the stops, the giants in blue were not quite good enough to advance.
Best moment/worst moment: two narrow losses to Wales (17-10) and South Africa (13-5) constitute both of Samoa’s best and worst moments, as they presented how close the islanders were, their position on the cusp of progressing to the next round, while ultimately revealing their shortcomings in their inability to win.
Highest points scorer: kicker Tusi Pisi, who scored 25 in total and 15 in one game (against Fiji), narrowly ahead of violent full-back Paul Williams, who scored 21 in total and 14 against Namibia, and who got a yellow card in the first game and a red in the last.
Best player: the human tank, Alesana Tuilagi, who scored a great hat-trick of tries against Namibia and was a constant menace from the backs.
Scotland
Andy Robinson’s Scots came into the tournament following great performances in the Six Nations, where the team narrowly lost to France, Ireland and England, and with a united and confident team. From the opening demi-disaster against Romania, however, Scotland looked short of confidence and unconvincing. Two legendary defeats to the other two big teams in the group saw Scotland head home yesterday morning without having got to the quarter-final stage reached in 2007.
Best moment: Scotland’s finest hour was probably against Romania, where the team showed mental strength and resilience to come back from a Romania lead to totally rip the Oaks apart in the last ten minutes. The game finished 34-24 and suggested that Scotland still had some work to do.
Worst moment: take your pick. Scotland faced two crunch games, first against Argentine last weekend and then England on Saturday, and almost won both – only to be robbed by lapses in concentration in defence in the last ten minutes. The inability to score tries and put games to bed cost the Scots their quarter-final place, although it is hard to tell result would be more punishing for the Home Nation: 13-12 to Argentina, or 16-12 to England.
Highest points scorer: faintly surprisingly, replacement kicker Dan Park scored more than kicking legend Chris Paterson (24 to 23).
Best player: Chris Paterson kicked the most important of Scotland’s points and put them in the positions that the team had to be in to win, only to watch them fail to.
The islanders came into this tournament looking to go past the quarter-finals, their best record at World Cups, which was always going to be a big ask in the same group as South Africa, Wales and Fiji. Sadly, despite a convincing win against Namibia on the opening day and forcing both South Africa and Wales to pull out all the stops, the giants in blue were not quite good enough to advance.
Best moment/worst moment: two narrow losses to Wales (17-10) and South Africa (13-5) constitute both of Samoa’s best and worst moments, as they presented how close the islanders were, their position on the cusp of progressing to the next round, while ultimately revealing their shortcomings in their inability to win.
Highest points scorer: kicker Tusi Pisi, who scored 25 in total and 15 in one game (against Fiji), narrowly ahead of violent full-back Paul Williams, who scored 21 in total and 14 against Namibia, and who got a yellow card in the first game and a red in the last.
Best player: the human tank, Alesana Tuilagi, who scored a great hat-trick of tries against Namibia and was a constant menace from the backs.
Scotland
Andy Robinson’s Scots came into the tournament following great performances in the Six Nations, where the team narrowly lost to France, Ireland and England, and with a united and confident team. From the opening demi-disaster against Romania, however, Scotland looked short of confidence and unconvincing. Two legendary defeats to the other two big teams in the group saw Scotland head home yesterday morning without having got to the quarter-final stage reached in 2007.
Best moment: Scotland’s finest hour was probably against Romania, where the team showed mental strength and resilience to come back from a Romania lead to totally rip the Oaks apart in the last ten minutes. The game finished 34-24 and suggested that Scotland still had some work to do.
Worst moment: take your pick. Scotland faced two crunch games, first against Argentine last weekend and then England on Saturday, and almost won both – only to be robbed by lapses in concentration in defence in the last ten minutes. The inability to score tries and put games to bed cost the Scots their quarter-final place, although it is hard to tell result would be more punishing for the Home Nation: 13-12 to Argentina, or 16-12 to England.
Highest points scorer: faintly surprisingly, replacement kicker Dan Park scored more than kicking legend Chris Paterson (24 to 23).
Best player: Chris Paterson kicked the most important of Scotland’s points and put them in the positions that the team had to be in to win, only to watch them fail to.
Saturday, 1 October 2011
England vs Scotland, 4:30 am, 1st October
Present: Cameron, Richard, Wez, Elisa, Kai and me.
Pre-match expectations: the build-up for this game consisted of watching the second half of Tonga’s enthusiastic and rousing (though ultimately unimportant) defeat of France in Sugar, accompanied by several ‘Jaëger Bombs’ and some Stella. Having been rudely turfed out before the match had ended, a litre of Stella was transferred home in a Coke bottle and everyone was in the mood for a slugfest.
Predictions: going on what the papers and everyone has been saying, I can’t see past a victory to England by 6-10 points.
Game: the conditions look terrible but both sides are noticeably fired-up and keen to set about the action, as are we: pints in hand and patriotic fervour at boiling-point. Chance ventures out in his boxers but swiftly returns to the safety of his room.
Half-time status: a torrid, messy, scrappy, generally rubbish game. I can’t tell whether Scotland are playing well or England are just crap. I think both teams are playing pretty badly actually. Dan Parks is a terrible kicker. So is Jonny Wilkinson (the sacrilege!). We could be up by three at this point, but thanks to Messers Cole and Wilkinson, the score reads 9-3 Scotland. We´ve also lost Kai, Elisa and Wez to the land of nod. If England have another half like that, we’re out.
Full-time status: glorious, wonderful, incredible rugby, the gift that keeps on giving. Scotland have stuffed it again, they really are becoming first-class chokers. After being ahead by six points for a long stretch of the second half, Jonny finally finds his feet and kicks us within distance, then gets replaced by Flood who loops a wonder pass to Ashton, who puts his head down and charges. The sound of Ashton breaking through the flimsiest of Scottish defences is the sound of Scottish hearts breaking in the New Zealand night. Meanwhile, our exultations in the sitting room wake up Elisa and Kai but fail to rouse Wez. The match finishes 16-12.
Man of the match: ooh. Croft perhaps, for being a really fast forward who saves an almost certain try. Or Flood, for setting up a try. Or Tuilagi, for being really big and fast. Or Ashton, for scoring his sixth try of the tournament. So many to choose from… Croft it is. Anyone but Wilkinson.
‘Food’: Jaëger, Stella, Corona, spicy Pringles
Conversation keywords: why are England so terrible? Variations on that theme.
Comments: at 4 am it was almost dawn; by 6:20 it was daylight. Loving Spring at the moment. Not impressed about being kicked out of a bar with 5 minutes to go of a match, though.
Pre-match expectations: the build-up for this game consisted of watching the second half of Tonga’s enthusiastic and rousing (though ultimately unimportant) defeat of France in Sugar, accompanied by several ‘Jaëger Bombs’ and some Stella. Having been rudely turfed out before the match had ended, a litre of Stella was transferred home in a Coke bottle and everyone was in the mood for a slugfest.
Predictions: going on what the papers and everyone has been saying, I can’t see past a victory to England by 6-10 points.
Game: the conditions look terrible but both sides are noticeably fired-up and keen to set about the action, as are we: pints in hand and patriotic fervour at boiling-point. Chance ventures out in his boxers but swiftly returns to the safety of his room.
Half-time status: a torrid, messy, scrappy, generally rubbish game. I can’t tell whether Scotland are playing well or England are just crap. I think both teams are playing pretty badly actually. Dan Parks is a terrible kicker. So is Jonny Wilkinson (the sacrilege!). We could be up by three at this point, but thanks to Messers Cole and Wilkinson, the score reads 9-3 Scotland. We´ve also lost Kai, Elisa and Wez to the land of nod. If England have another half like that, we’re out.
Full-time status: glorious, wonderful, incredible rugby, the gift that keeps on giving. Scotland have stuffed it again, they really are becoming first-class chokers. After being ahead by six points for a long stretch of the second half, Jonny finally finds his feet and kicks us within distance, then gets replaced by Flood who loops a wonder pass to Ashton, who puts his head down and charges. The sound of Ashton breaking through the flimsiest of Scottish defences is the sound of Scottish hearts breaking in the New Zealand night. Meanwhile, our exultations in the sitting room wake up Elisa and Kai but fail to rouse Wez. The match finishes 16-12.
Man of the match: ooh. Croft perhaps, for being a really fast forward who saves an almost certain try. Or Flood, for setting up a try. Or Tuilagi, for being really big and fast. Or Ashton, for scoring his sixth try of the tournament. So many to choose from… Croft it is. Anyone but Wilkinson.
‘Food’: Jaëger, Stella, Corona, spicy Pringles
Conversation keywords: why are England so terrible? Variations on that theme.
Comments: at 4 am it was almost dawn; by 6:20 it was daylight. Loving Spring at the moment. Not impressed about being kicked out of a bar with 5 minutes to go of a match, though.
So, farewell: Russia & Tonga
Russia
Friday night’s crushing 68-22 defeat at the hands of Australia saw Russia’s exit confirmed, but their fate had already been written: one solitary point was the Bears return after four punishing losses.
Best moment: their first game, against the other alleged minnows the United States, which saw a Rocky 4-esque clash full of energy and excitement but ended in a 13-6 loss for the Bears.
Worst moment: of the three subsequent thrashings they received, last night’s against Australia was the most convincing and saw the Wallabies qualify for the quarter-finals.
Best player and highest scorer: the centre Konstantin Rachkov, who kicked 14 points and scored a try against Australia.
Tonga
The islanders had a real mixed bag of a tournament, starting with an 41-10 tonking from New Zealand in the inaugural game and ending in last night’s fireworks against France. The team seemed unsure of itself at times and struggled in terms of expression on the pitch, with intermittent flourishes that suggest that, were it not for that loss against Canada, then there could have been more.
Best moment: beating France 19-14 in their last match, which showed that the French are just not at the races at the moment. Tonga can take a lot of pride from a thoroughly enthusiastic performance which showed that on their good days, they deserved better.
Worst moment: but on their bad days… the 25-20 loss to Canada was a shock result but showed that the Tongans were not really able to compete with the big boys. If they'd won this... What might have been.
Best player and highest scorer: their kicker, Kurt Morath, who amassed a mighty 45 points in the tournament, second only to South Africa’s Morne Steyn in terms of personal achievement.
Friday night’s crushing 68-22 defeat at the hands of Australia saw Russia’s exit confirmed, but their fate had already been written: one solitary point was the Bears return after four punishing losses.
Best moment: their first game, against the other alleged minnows the United States, which saw a Rocky 4-esque clash full of energy and excitement but ended in a 13-6 loss for the Bears.
Worst moment: of the three subsequent thrashings they received, last night’s against Australia was the most convincing and saw the Wallabies qualify for the quarter-finals.
Best player and highest scorer: the centre Konstantin Rachkov, who kicked 14 points and scored a try against Australia.
Tonga
The islanders had a real mixed bag of a tournament, starting with an 41-10 tonking from New Zealand in the inaugural game and ending in last night’s fireworks against France. The team seemed unsure of itself at times and struggled in terms of expression on the pitch, with intermittent flourishes that suggest that, were it not for that loss against Canada, then there could have been more.
Best moment: beating France 19-14 in their last match, which showed that the French are just not at the races at the moment. Tonga can take a lot of pride from a thoroughly enthusiastic performance which showed that on their good days, they deserved better.
Worst moment: but on their bad days… the 25-20 loss to Canada was a shock result but showed that the Tongans were not really able to compete with the big boys. If they'd won this... What might have been.
Best player and highest scorer: their kicker, Kurt Morath, who amassed a mighty 45 points in the tournament, second only to South Africa’s Morne Steyn in terms of personal achievement.
Wednesday, 28 September 2011
So, farewell: Romania
England and Argentina’s Pool B rivals limped out of the competition this morning following their fourth defeat, at the hands of Georgia in the lightly-hyped “Eastern European Derby”. The Oaks scored a total of 54 points in four games, and provided the punching bag for at least 60 percent of the Pool. Like so many teams, their first game promised so much but really had little to show for it by the end. Coached by a man named Romeo.
Best moment: almost beating Scotland in their opening match and dealing a serious blow to Scottish confidence in the process. At one point in the last ten minutes in the 34-24 defeat, the Oaks were even ahead, only to be let down by their defence and inferior fitness. That was also the only time in the competition where the team broke the double figures ceiling.
Worst moment: leaving to one side the 43-8 loss to Argentina and the 67-3 loss to England the following week, both of which served as confidence boosters for their rivals, Romania had placed the majority of their expectations on beating Georgia, even resting key figures to ensure peak fitness. The net result was a well-rested 25-9 capitulation. Oh Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Probably on the plane back to Bucarest, I should imagine.
Highest points scorer: fly-half Marin Danut Dumbrava kicked 15 in the tournament, with Tiberius Ionut Dimofte, the replacement kicker who scored 11.
Best player: captain Marius Tincu, Romania’s leading try-scorer of all time with three (not bad from a hooker), who was the best player on the pitch in the Scotland game and consistently the sharpest Romanian, although with little competition.
Best moment: almost beating Scotland in their opening match and dealing a serious blow to Scottish confidence in the process. At one point in the last ten minutes in the 34-24 defeat, the Oaks were even ahead, only to be let down by their defence and inferior fitness. That was also the only time in the competition where the team broke the double figures ceiling.
Worst moment: leaving to one side the 43-8 loss to Argentina and the 67-3 loss to England the following week, both of which served as confidence boosters for their rivals, Romania had placed the majority of their expectations on beating Georgia, even resting key figures to ensure peak fitness. The net result was a well-rested 25-9 capitulation. Oh Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Probably on the plane back to Bucarest, I should imagine.
Highest points scorer: fly-half Marin Danut Dumbrava kicked 15 in the tournament, with Tiberius Ionut Dimofte, the replacement kicker who scored 11.
Best player: captain Marius Tincu, Romania’s leading try-scorer of all time with three (not bad from a hooker), who was the best player on the pitch in the Scotland game and consistently the sharpest Romanian, although with little competition.
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
So, farewell: Japan & the United States
Japan
The Brave Blossoms, who were probably putting themselves on the back foot from before kick-off with that nickname, entered the tournament with the intention of at least winning one game. They failed to do so, despite having several New Zealanders in their midst (eg those noble samurais Luke Thompson, James Arlidge and Bryce Robins, among others). However, it was always going to be tough with hosts and favourites New Zealand in their Pool, along with France and Tonga, and after three losses and one draw, Japan bowed out this morning.
Best moment: their final game, which saw Japan come within a hairs breadth of of gaining their first win in the Rugby World Cup since defeating Zimbabwe in 1991. This morning’s match at Canada saw Japan as distinct second favourites, but the Blossoms (bless) were ahead 17-7 at half time and the Canadians snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat in the 79th minute, to end the game 23-23, four years after drawing 12-12 at the same stage in the 2007 competition.
Honourable mention: Japan’s surprise result in their opening game, when they managed to score a few points against France, the final score being 47-21 to the Frogs.
Worst moment: their match against New Zealand, which saw the All Blacks put most of the nails in the Blossoms’ coffin in an 83-7 tonking. You could say that the fact that they scored a try against the favourites was a good show in itself, but they’d already shipped 59 points by that stage.
Top points scorer and best player: the Kiwi-born Arlidge, who scored 34 points in the competition, all through kicking.
USA
The Eagles (at least Japan’s nickname is imaginative) charged into this tournament full of zest, vim and vigour. They leave it much as they found it, except for a couple of valiant losses and one bruising win. There’s something to be said for the United States’ eagerness to play, and play quick, running rugby, but they seemed to let themselves down when it came to the next stage. The US is better than Russia, almost as good as Italy and Ireland on an off day, and nowhere near as good as the big boys. Still, as a work in progress, the Eagles have promise.
Best moment: one of the best games of the tournament, in the United States v Russia, saw two fairly evenly matched teams battle it out. The Russians were hyped as being big burly ‘bears’ and the Americans as, er, ‘eagles’, but in the end it was the other way round as the US eventually bulldozed the Russians off the park in a 13-6 win.
Honourable mention: playing ok but making the Irish look a lot worse in the opening game, a 22-10 win to Ireland.
Worst moment: as ever, the slightly lower league team took one considerable thrashing in the 67-5 loss to Australia.
Best player and top points scorer: the kicking full-back, Chris Wyles, who scored 18 of the Eagles’ 38 points, including a converted try against Italy this morning.
The Brave Blossoms, who were probably putting themselves on the back foot from before kick-off with that nickname, entered the tournament with the intention of at least winning one game. They failed to do so, despite having several New Zealanders in their midst (eg those noble samurais Luke Thompson, James Arlidge and Bryce Robins, among others). However, it was always going to be tough with hosts and favourites New Zealand in their Pool, along with France and Tonga, and after three losses and one draw, Japan bowed out this morning.
Best moment: their final game, which saw Japan come within a hairs breadth of of gaining their first win in the Rugby World Cup since defeating Zimbabwe in 1991. This morning’s match at Canada saw Japan as distinct second favourites, but the Blossoms (bless) were ahead 17-7 at half time and the Canadians snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat in the 79th minute, to end the game 23-23, four years after drawing 12-12 at the same stage in the 2007 competition.
Honourable mention: Japan’s surprise result in their opening game, when they managed to score a few points against France, the final score being 47-21 to the Frogs.
Worst moment: their match against New Zealand, which saw the All Blacks put most of the nails in the Blossoms’ coffin in an 83-7 tonking. You could say that the fact that they scored a try against the favourites was a good show in itself, but they’d already shipped 59 points by that stage.
Top points scorer and best player: the Kiwi-born Arlidge, who scored 34 points in the competition, all through kicking.
USA
The Eagles (at least Japan’s nickname is imaginative) charged into this tournament full of zest, vim and vigour. They leave it much as they found it, except for a couple of valiant losses and one bruising win. There’s something to be said for the United States’ eagerness to play, and play quick, running rugby, but they seemed to let themselves down when it came to the next stage. The US is better than Russia, almost as good as Italy and Ireland on an off day, and nowhere near as good as the big boys. Still, as a work in progress, the Eagles have promise.
Best moment: one of the best games of the tournament, in the United States v Russia, saw two fairly evenly matched teams battle it out. The Russians were hyped as being big burly ‘bears’ and the Americans as, er, ‘eagles’, but in the end it was the other way round as the US eventually bulldozed the Russians off the park in a 13-6 win.
Honourable mention: playing ok but making the Irish look a lot worse in the opening game, a 22-10 win to Ireland.
Worst moment: as ever, the slightly lower league team took one considerable thrashing in the 67-5 loss to Australia.
Best player and top points scorer: the kicking full-back, Chris Wyles, who scored 18 of the Eagles’ 38 points, including a converted try against Italy this morning.
Monday, 26 September 2011
So, farewell: Namibia
The second-best African side in the tournament became the first team to leave it following their fourth defeat earlier today at the hands of Wales (81-7). The Namibians, or Welwitschias (a monotypic genus of gymnosperm plant found only in Namibia and Angola – thanks Wikipedia), struggled to make a dent on the tournament and generally lived up to their ranking, placed at 19th by the IRB.
Best moment: giving Fiji an apparent run for their money in the opening game – the final score was Fiji 49-25 Namibia and saw two tries scored, seeming to herald a new dawn for the African side, which naturally failed to materialize. Individual moments of brilliance were shown in Danie van Wyk’s try from halfway against Samoa after a neat kick-and-gather by Llewellyn Winkler, and Heinz Koll’s deft run and try against Wales.
Worst moment: undoubtedly the 87-0 thrashing at the hands of South Africa. Hyped by some sources as “the African Derby”, the Springboks trampled all over the Weltwischias. That works on multiple levels.
Most points scored by: Theun Kotze, Namibia’s fly-half, who finished the tournament with 24 points.
Best player: despite not scoring any points, the Namibia captain Jacques Burger, who plays for Saracen, was instrumental in ensuring that the team’s performances weren’t necessarily always reflected by the final results.
Best moment: giving Fiji an apparent run for their money in the opening game – the final score was Fiji 49-25 Namibia and saw two tries scored, seeming to herald a new dawn for the African side, which naturally failed to materialize. Individual moments of brilliance were shown in Danie van Wyk’s try from halfway against Samoa after a neat kick-and-gather by Llewellyn Winkler, and Heinz Koll’s deft run and try against Wales.
Worst moment: undoubtedly the 87-0 thrashing at the hands of South Africa. Hyped by some sources as “the African Derby”, the Springboks trampled all over the Weltwischias. That works on multiple levels.
Most points scored by: Theun Kotze, Namibia’s fly-half, who finished the tournament with 24 points.
Best player: despite not scoring any points, the Namibia captain Jacques Burger, who plays for Saracen, was instrumental in ensuring that the team’s performances weren’t necessarily always reflected by the final results.
Sunday, 25 September 2011
Argentina v Scotland, 4:30 am, 25th September
Present: Neto, Elisa, Kai and me.
Pre-match expectations: the Pool Stages so far have been a combination of total mis-matches and occasional gems. The gems, predictably, have been between teams playing at roughly the same level (see Ireland v Australia, South Africa v Wales and the US v Russia). Today’s match should be no exception. If Scotland win, England’s place in the quarter-finals is guaranteed and Argentina are heading home; if Argentina win, then Scotland have to beat England in next week’s match or they will be on a plane. In that respect, this is very much a decider, even though the final result won’t be known until after next weekend’s matches. As a result, I’m expecting a belter.
Predictions: Argentina to sneak it. Or Scotland. I want Argentina to win but it could easily go either way, although probably not by much.
Game: it’s 4:30 am and I haven’t slept properly. I really didn’t want to miss this match so I set several alarms, but text messages from other people during the night have woken me up so often that I’m not sure what time it is or where I am.
Half-time status: it’s tipping it down in Wellington and you can really tell from how the game is going. The two sides are very evenly matched, and there isn’t a point scored either way in the first 18 minutes, a Rugby World Cup record, I believe. Argentina take the lead through a Felipe Contepomi penalty, but Scotland grind on. Two more of Argentina’s talismans in prop Rodrigo Roncero and flanker Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe are injured in the first half, Fernández Lobbe at one point apparently refusing the advice of Argentina’s medical team to leave the field. Eventually he realises he can’t quite make it so hobbles off. The half ends with Scotland ahead by 6-3.
Full-time status: Neto turned up close to the end of the first half and stayed until long beyond the end of the second, although he passed out long before the excitement. Once again, no points were scored in the first fifteen minutes of the half, but the rain and wind was becoming increasingly prevalent, as the ball slipped out of hands and kicks went awry. With just over eight minutes left to play, Scotland had a 12-6 lead, but a great Contepomi pass led to substitute Lucas Amorosino leaving three Scottish defenders in his wake with some smart running to score a try, which Contepomi calmly converted. The final ten minutes see Scotland scrabbling for a the winning points, with Dan Parks seeing a drop goal go just wide at the death, and Argentina hang on to claim a famous 13-12 victory.
Man of the Match: either Contepomi or Amorosino; the latter was the star of last week’s match against Romani and had an instant impact here. Probably Contepomi though for keeping his team together and grounded in terrible conditions.
Food: cheese and salami with biscuits. Captain Morgan and Coke.
Conversation keywords: for a large part at the beginning and end there was none. The middle was spent cursing New Zealand for its time zones and talking about Sugar.
Comments: Kai was the only Argentine-born native in the room.
Pre-match expectations: the Pool Stages so far have been a combination of total mis-matches and occasional gems. The gems, predictably, have been between teams playing at roughly the same level (see Ireland v Australia, South Africa v Wales and the US v Russia). Today’s match should be no exception. If Scotland win, England’s place in the quarter-finals is guaranteed and Argentina are heading home; if Argentina win, then Scotland have to beat England in next week’s match or they will be on a plane. In that respect, this is very much a decider, even though the final result won’t be known until after next weekend’s matches. As a result, I’m expecting a belter.
Predictions: Argentina to sneak it. Or Scotland. I want Argentina to win but it could easily go either way, although probably not by much.
Game: it’s 4:30 am and I haven’t slept properly. I really didn’t want to miss this match so I set several alarms, but text messages from other people during the night have woken me up so often that I’m not sure what time it is or where I am.
Half-time status: it’s tipping it down in Wellington and you can really tell from how the game is going. The two sides are very evenly matched, and there isn’t a point scored either way in the first 18 minutes, a Rugby World Cup record, I believe. Argentina take the lead through a Felipe Contepomi penalty, but Scotland grind on. Two more of Argentina’s talismans in prop Rodrigo Roncero and flanker Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe are injured in the first half, Fernández Lobbe at one point apparently refusing the advice of Argentina’s medical team to leave the field. Eventually he realises he can’t quite make it so hobbles off. The half ends with Scotland ahead by 6-3.
Full-time status: Neto turned up close to the end of the first half and stayed until long beyond the end of the second, although he passed out long before the excitement. Once again, no points were scored in the first fifteen minutes of the half, but the rain and wind was becoming increasingly prevalent, as the ball slipped out of hands and kicks went awry. With just over eight minutes left to play, Scotland had a 12-6 lead, but a great Contepomi pass led to substitute Lucas Amorosino leaving three Scottish defenders in his wake with some smart running to score a try, which Contepomi calmly converted. The final ten minutes see Scotland scrabbling for a the winning points, with Dan Parks seeing a drop goal go just wide at the death, and Argentina hang on to claim a famous 13-12 victory.
Man of the Match: either Contepomi or Amorosino; the latter was the star of last week’s match against Romani and had an instant impact here. Probably Contepomi though for keeping his team together and grounded in terrible conditions.
Food: cheese and salami with biscuits. Captain Morgan and Coke.
Conversation keywords: for a large part at the beginning and end there was none. The middle was spent cursing New Zealand for its time zones and talking about Sugar.
Comments: Kai was the only Argentine-born native in the room.
Saturday, 24 September 2011
England v Romania, 3 am, 24th September
Present: once more in Sugar. The hardcore of the group is Richard, Vero, Mercedes, Elisa and myself, with a strong cameo from the two Maxes before the night caught up with them.
Pre-match expectations: I haven’t seen a live game of rugby since last week, as all other games have not been on normal tv. I’ve seen the matches, sure, because they’re all shown at 9 am before I’m out of bed/can check on the scores. But live rugby has been elusive. Last time I was in Sugar I was basically by myself. This time we have a growing contingent, which is promising in itself at 3 am.
Predictions: Argentina put 43 past these chaps last week. I’m looking for England to break the 60 points mark.
Game: the English Max (sidenote: both the Maxes are blond and good-looking, so we lost the attention of all the females ‘watching’ the game with us the minute they walked in) has decided to enforce international drinking rules on Richard and myself, which means endless pints of Quilmes being consumed in fits and starts. Two fingers for a swearword, four fingers for a try by us, etc. Dangerous precedent but makes for interesting viewing.
Half-time status: We also have no commentary, which means that we get to see Mark Cueto’s three first-half tries to the tune of “Eye of the Tiger”, “Like a Virgin” and other such wonders. The rapid embibing and cheesy pop soundtrack slightly undermines the all-powerful might of watching England totally steamroller the Romanians in the first half. England go in at the break up 34-3.
Full-time status: the tally-ho drinking habits of Max the Brit saw him drink himself into several smashed glasses, some warnings from the bouncers and an early exit as he admitted self-defeat. The other Max couldn´t speak by this stage, I have no idea what had happened to him. Sugar had almost entirely emptied by the 60th minute, but we still had the cheesy pop-rock, with longer songs being played every time the DJ needed to “take a break.” At one point this was Baba O’Reilly, a glorious tune to see England wiping the floor/field with the Romanians and run off the pitch as 67-3 winners.
Man of the match: Mark Cueto, whose first international try in fifteen months turned into a sublime hat-trick in eleven minutes.
‘Food’: a brace of Coronas, several pints, some Jager Bombs.
Conversation keywords: the build-up involved a subtitled documentary about England’s road to glory in 2003, which dominated much of conversation. I’d like to say that we talked about more, but I just can’t recall.
Comments: trying to stay awake for the New Zealand v France extrvaganza was one rugby match too far. Damned international time zones.
Pre-match expectations: I haven’t seen a live game of rugby since last week, as all other games have not been on normal tv. I’ve seen the matches, sure, because they’re all shown at 9 am before I’m out of bed/can check on the scores. But live rugby has been elusive. Last time I was in Sugar I was basically by myself. This time we have a growing contingent, which is promising in itself at 3 am.
Predictions: Argentina put 43 past these chaps last week. I’m looking for England to break the 60 points mark.
Game: the English Max (sidenote: both the Maxes are blond and good-looking, so we lost the attention of all the females ‘watching’ the game with us the minute they walked in) has decided to enforce international drinking rules on Richard and myself, which means endless pints of Quilmes being consumed in fits and starts. Two fingers for a swearword, four fingers for a try by us, etc. Dangerous precedent but makes for interesting viewing.
Half-time status: We also have no commentary, which means that we get to see Mark Cueto’s three first-half tries to the tune of “Eye of the Tiger”, “Like a Virgin” and other such wonders. The rapid embibing and cheesy pop soundtrack slightly undermines the all-powerful might of watching England totally steamroller the Romanians in the first half. England go in at the break up 34-3.
Full-time status: the tally-ho drinking habits of Max the Brit saw him drink himself into several smashed glasses, some warnings from the bouncers and an early exit as he admitted self-defeat. The other Max couldn´t speak by this stage, I have no idea what had happened to him. Sugar had almost entirely emptied by the 60th minute, but we still had the cheesy pop-rock, with longer songs being played every time the DJ needed to “take a break.” At one point this was Baba O’Reilly, a glorious tune to see England wiping the floor/field with the Romanians and run off the pitch as 67-3 winners.
Man of the match: Mark Cueto, whose first international try in fifteen months turned into a sublime hat-trick in eleven minutes.
‘Food’: a brace of Coronas, several pints, some Jager Bombs.
Conversation keywords: the build-up involved a subtitled documentary about England’s road to glory in 2003, which dominated much of conversation. I’d like to say that we talked about more, but I just can’t recall.
Comments: trying to stay awake for the New Zealand v France extrvaganza was one rugby match too far. Damned international time zones.
Sunday, 18 September 2011
England vs Georgia, 3 am, 18th September
Present: Keith, myself, and about 100 total strangers. Nice appearance by Dave Deadman with about twenty minutes to go.
Pre-match expectations: the game is at 3 am on Sunday morning, it’s not on normal TV and the only option is Sugar. Not a bad option, but definitely no commentary and accompanied by a whole bunch of people who really couldn’t give two hoots.
Prediction: England have to win. I can’t see past a thumping victory, whatever it is they say about the ‘big’ Georgians. So England to win, with a better performance than last week’s against Argentina.
Half-time status: it’s hard to tell what's really going on with no sound. England were fast out of the blocks with Shontayne Hape’s fourth minute try, but then things settle down or rather into the rut discovered last week against Argentina. England spend the majority of the half defending, with forwards giving away countless penalties and only the failure of Merab Kvirikashvili to score five of them (on the same ground where Jonny Wilkinson struggled last week) keeping England ahead at half time. With Dylan Hartley sin binned just before half time, the Georgians got in a try and looked really happy about it. They looked really happy about everything, actually. More so than the English. Half-time score was 17-10 to England.
Full-time status: after about 60 minutes you could really tell the difference between the two teams in terms of fitness. You could also tell the difference in Sugar: when I arrived just before 3 it was almost rammed, but by 5 people were staggering homewards, especially one poor punter who was carried out by two bouncers after losing his ability to walk. England were good in parts. Something isn’t working though, and it seems to be the forwards. Next week’s game against Romania will be the last one that comes ‘for free’, I just hope it all works then. 41-10 to England at the end.
Man of the match: probably Shontayne Hape, but also could be James Haskell, Simon Shaw, Chris Ashton, Delon Armitage or Toby Flood. Men of the match.
‘Food’: several Coronas until Dave turns up, then it’s a couple of pints of Quilmes.
Conversation keywords: I had one conversation with a girl who I thought I was friends with on Facebook, but who informed me that she’d deleted me two months earlier for “numerous reasons” and after this conversation would not like to speak to me again. A bit surprising, but also quite entertaining.
Comments: the Sugar punter who staggered out of the male toilets, only to turn around, fix his glassy stare on the prohylactics dispenser and dismiss it with a derisive snort pretty much summed up the attitude of everyone in there last night.
Pre-match expectations: the game is at 3 am on Sunday morning, it’s not on normal TV and the only option is Sugar. Not a bad option, but definitely no commentary and accompanied by a whole bunch of people who really couldn’t give two hoots.
Prediction: England have to win. I can’t see past a thumping victory, whatever it is they say about the ‘big’ Georgians. So England to win, with a better performance than last week’s against Argentina.
Half-time status: it’s hard to tell what's really going on with no sound. England were fast out of the blocks with Shontayne Hape’s fourth minute try, but then things settle down or rather into the rut discovered last week against Argentina. England spend the majority of the half defending, with forwards giving away countless penalties and only the failure of Merab Kvirikashvili to score five of them (on the same ground where Jonny Wilkinson struggled last week) keeping England ahead at half time. With Dylan Hartley sin binned just before half time, the Georgians got in a try and looked really happy about it. They looked really happy about everything, actually. More so than the English. Half-time score was 17-10 to England.
Full-time status: after about 60 minutes you could really tell the difference between the two teams in terms of fitness. You could also tell the difference in Sugar: when I arrived just before 3 it was almost rammed, but by 5 people were staggering homewards, especially one poor punter who was carried out by two bouncers after losing his ability to walk. England were good in parts. Something isn’t working though, and it seems to be the forwards. Next week’s game against Romania will be the last one that comes ‘for free’, I just hope it all works then. 41-10 to England at the end.
Man of the match: probably Shontayne Hape, but also could be James Haskell, Simon Shaw, Chris Ashton, Delon Armitage or Toby Flood. Men of the match.
‘Food’: several Coronas until Dave turns up, then it’s a couple of pints of Quilmes.
Conversation keywords: I had one conversation with a girl who I thought I was friends with on Facebook, but who informed me that she’d deleted me two months earlier for “numerous reasons” and after this conversation would not like to speak to me again. A bit surprising, but also quite entertaining.
Comments: the Sugar punter who staggered out of the male toilets, only to turn around, fix his glassy stare on the prohylactics dispenser and dismiss it with a derisive snort pretty much summed up the attitude of everyone in there last night.
Saturday, 17 September 2011
Argentina vs Romania, 12:30 am, 17th September
Present: Chance, Stephanie, Mercedes, Trevor, Jon, Cameron, Juan Pablo, Marcelo, Elisa and me.
Pre-match expectations: a good game from an Argentina who were either robbed in last week’s narrow defeat to England or are flattering to deceive and actually pretty rubbish. Lucky for them that they’re in the same group as Scotland.
Predictions: convincing rout by Argentina following difficult tussle with big Eastern Europeans managed by a man named Romeo.
Game: By the time enough people arrive, the anthems have already been sung. The ‘stadium’ they’re playing in looks smaller than a lot of school pitches; there aren’t many people in the living room either. It’s not exactly 5:30 am, but people are struggling to get into gear.
Half-time status: can this be the same Romania that gave Scotland such a scare the week before? This team is being eviscerated by the Pumas, who are 19-0 up before twenty minutes have passed. Chance is explaining the rules to Stephanie who is doing her best to keep up. The Argentina kicker, Rodríguez, is continuing his indifferent form from the England game and misses a few less than challenging kicks. Still, following a brief flurry and a Romania try, the half-time score is 26-8 to Argentina.
Full-time status: Romania have proved through this performance that despite having a world ranking of 17, they are far from being able to compete with the big boys. Having said that, Argentina were more opportunistic than enterprising, taking advantage of slack defending and an early second half sin binning for Mihaita Lazar. The Romania breakaway run that looked like it was heaing for a try, only for the ball to be picked up by Imhoff who sprinted in the other direction for Argentina’s fifth try, was but one example of the mis-match. One can only wonder what this performance says about Scotland… The final score was 43-8.
Man of the match: Argentina’s zippy full back, Lucas Amorasino.
Repast: left-over sushi, salami and cheese, several litres of beer.
Conversation keywords: there were several Yanks and uninitiated, which led to lots of rule explanations, shudders or exclamations at tackles and yawns during pauses in play.
Comments: Argentina are not going to win the World Cup, but they might beat Scotland.
Pre-match expectations: a good game from an Argentina who were either robbed in last week’s narrow defeat to England or are flattering to deceive and actually pretty rubbish. Lucky for them that they’re in the same group as Scotland.
Predictions: convincing rout by Argentina following difficult tussle with big Eastern Europeans managed by a man named Romeo.
Game: By the time enough people arrive, the anthems have already been sung. The ‘stadium’ they’re playing in looks smaller than a lot of school pitches; there aren’t many people in the living room either. It’s not exactly 5:30 am, but people are struggling to get into gear.
Half-time status: can this be the same Romania that gave Scotland such a scare the week before? This team is being eviscerated by the Pumas, who are 19-0 up before twenty minutes have passed. Chance is explaining the rules to Stephanie who is doing her best to keep up. The Argentina kicker, Rodríguez, is continuing his indifferent form from the England game and misses a few less than challenging kicks. Still, following a brief flurry and a Romania try, the half-time score is 26-8 to Argentina.
Full-time status: Romania have proved through this performance that despite having a world ranking of 17, they are far from being able to compete with the big boys. Having said that, Argentina were more opportunistic than enterprising, taking advantage of slack defending and an early second half sin binning for Mihaita Lazar. The Romania breakaway run that looked like it was heaing for a try, only for the ball to be picked up by Imhoff who sprinted in the other direction for Argentina’s fifth try, was but one example of the mis-match. One can only wonder what this performance says about Scotland… The final score was 43-8.
Man of the match: Argentina’s zippy full back, Lucas Amorasino.
Repast: left-over sushi, salami and cheese, several litres of beer.
Conversation keywords: there were several Yanks and uninitiated, which led to lots of rule explanations, shudders or exclamations at tackles and yawns during pauses in play.
Comments: Argentina are not going to win the World Cup, but they might beat Scotland.
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Samoa v Namibia, 11:30 pm, 13th September
Present: just me and Kai (who has been surprisingly patient with rugby so far. Canine patience is new to me).
Pre-match expectations: this is the Samoa who put Australia to shame in their World Cup preparation game in July, beating the Wallabies 32-23. Nothing more than sweeping expansive rugby by huge fast men is in order.
Predictions: a rout by Samoa. How much will depend on themselves rather than the opposition, who struggled manfully against fellow islanders Fiji in Saturday’s 49-25 defeat.
Half-time status: Samoa do not disappoint, putting away a try in the first 46 seconds. Indeed, what is most impressive about the Samoan team is their ability to trip themselves up. For most, if not all of this half they dominate the game, only let down by senseless passing or their own physical limitations. At one point a Namibian player tries a mazy run only to run straight into one Samoan player and drop to the floor. The player, Paul Williams, gets sinbinned, but Samoa head in at half-time at 25-0.
Full-time status: the Samoans look nervy at the start but quickly start racking up the points, as Alesana Tuilagi bags a hat-trick. However, more dubious passing and dodgy running leads to Namibia getting a look in and scoring an improbable but marvelous try. This is followed by more handbags and a Namibia yellow card, a penalty try to Samoa and another surprise break by the Africans gets Namibia a try under the posts. An entertaining game, the Samoans have a lot in their favour but they made some really questionable decisions and were lucky not to have been caught out more. The game finished 49-12.
Man of the match: has to be Alesana Tuilagi, who is massive and fast and has a knack of being able to run in a straight unstoppable line. His hat-trick is well deserved.
Food: leftover curry from Saturday and a glass of whisky. Yum.
Conversation keywords: there was remarkably little conversation between myself and Kai.
Comments: Namibian forward Jane Du Toit is the biggest man I’ve ever seen with a girl’s name. Explaining the Samoan cross-dressing tradition of fa’afafine in 140 characters is beyond me.
Pre-match expectations: this is the Samoa who put Australia to shame in their World Cup preparation game in July, beating the Wallabies 32-23. Nothing more than sweeping expansive rugby by huge fast men is in order.
Predictions: a rout by Samoa. How much will depend on themselves rather than the opposition, who struggled manfully against fellow islanders Fiji in Saturday’s 49-25 defeat.
Half-time status: Samoa do not disappoint, putting away a try in the first 46 seconds. Indeed, what is most impressive about the Samoan team is their ability to trip themselves up. For most, if not all of this half they dominate the game, only let down by senseless passing or their own physical limitations. At one point a Namibian player tries a mazy run only to run straight into one Samoan player and drop to the floor. The player, Paul Williams, gets sinbinned, but Samoa head in at half-time at 25-0.
Full-time status: the Samoans look nervy at the start but quickly start racking up the points, as Alesana Tuilagi bags a hat-trick. However, more dubious passing and dodgy running leads to Namibia getting a look in and scoring an improbable but marvelous try. This is followed by more handbags and a Namibia yellow card, a penalty try to Samoa and another surprise break by the Africans gets Namibia a try under the posts. An entertaining game, the Samoans have a lot in their favour but they made some really questionable decisions and were lucky not to have been caught out more. The game finished 49-12.
Man of the match: has to be Alesana Tuilagi, who is massive and fast and has a knack of being able to run in a straight unstoppable line. His hat-trick is well deserved.
Food: leftover curry from Saturday and a glass of whisky. Yum.
Conversation keywords: there was remarkably little conversation between myself and Kai.
Comments: Namibian forward Jane Du Toit is the biggest man I’ve ever seen with a girl’s name. Explaining the Samoan cross-dressing tradition of fa’afafine in 140 characters is beyond me.
Sunday, 11 September 2011
South Africa v Wales, 5:30 am, 11th September
Present: Wez and myself.
Pre-game expectations: after a weekend where favourites stuttered and every games seemed geared towards a cupset, I was looking forward to the first well-matched game of the tournament.
Prediction: Wales run South Africa close in the 2010 November international, reaching a lead of 20-9 just after half-time, only to lose 29-25. This game will be close, but I can see Wales just pipping it.
Game: third 5:30 game in three days, really didn’t want to wake up for this. And then South Africa scored a try in the first five minutes through running and pushing rugby and it suddenly became a great reason to be awake.
Half-time status: the quietest crowd in the sitting room so far, an intimate occasion for Wez and myself, but the game is a belter. A missed penalty by James Hook is what divides the teams at the end of the half, South Africa going in 10-6 ahead at the break.
Full-time status: this has definitely been the best game of the tournament so far. Running rugby, wily hands and a pair of great tries in the second half. Toby Feleatu, the Tongan-born ‘Welshman’ scores after some great running and a solid conversion leaves Wales ahead by 6 points, until Bryan Habana gets hauled off for Francois Hougaard who instantly makes mischief and is on hand to run in a try between two confused Welsh defenders under the post. Wales have two opportunities to take the lead when one point behind in the last ten minutes, first from Rhys Priestland, whose drop goal effort is skewed wide from in front of the posts, and then from James Hook again, whose penalty seems to go over but is reported to have failed to do so. A storming encounter ends with South Africa winning, 17-16.
Man of the match: Sam Warburton, the second youngest Wales captain ever at 22, showed maturity and great leadership. Runner-up here would be Feleatu, who was dangerous whenever he got the ball.
Food: two bottles of Imperial lager, one packet of spicy Pringles.
Conversation keywords: the beauty of real ales, Miami in September, Facebook status updates.
Comments: it feels like the weekend has been split into six; my mind thinks that it’s Tuesday.
Pre-game expectations: after a weekend where favourites stuttered and every games seemed geared towards a cupset, I was looking forward to the first well-matched game of the tournament.
Prediction: Wales run South Africa close in the 2010 November international, reaching a lead of 20-9 just after half-time, only to lose 29-25. This game will be close, but I can see Wales just pipping it.
Game: third 5:30 game in three days, really didn’t want to wake up for this. And then South Africa scored a try in the first five minutes through running and pushing rugby and it suddenly became a great reason to be awake.
Half-time status: the quietest crowd in the sitting room so far, an intimate occasion for Wez and myself, but the game is a belter. A missed penalty by James Hook is what divides the teams at the end of the half, South Africa going in 10-6 ahead at the break.
Full-time status: this has definitely been the best game of the tournament so far. Running rugby, wily hands and a pair of great tries in the second half. Toby Feleatu, the Tongan-born ‘Welshman’ scores after some great running and a solid conversion leaves Wales ahead by 6 points, until Bryan Habana gets hauled off for Francois Hougaard who instantly makes mischief and is on hand to run in a try between two confused Welsh defenders under the post. Wales have two opportunities to take the lead when one point behind in the last ten minutes, first from Rhys Priestland, whose drop goal effort is skewed wide from in front of the posts, and then from James Hook again, whose penalty seems to go over but is reported to have failed to do so. A storming encounter ends with South Africa winning, 17-16.
Man of the match: Sam Warburton, the second youngest Wales captain ever at 22, showed maturity and great leadership. Runner-up here would be Feleatu, who was dangerous whenever he got the ball.
Food: two bottles of Imperial lager, one packet of spicy Pringles.
Conversation keywords: the beauty of real ales, Miami in September, Facebook status updates.
Comments: it feels like the weekend has been split into six; my mind thinks that it’s Tuesday.
Saturday, 10 September 2011
England v Argentina, 5:30 am, 10th September
Present: Richard, Vero, Mecha, Neto, Wes, Cameron, Jon, Elisa, myself.
Pre-match expectations: a good clean game. Some decent rugby. A lot of insanely biased commentary from the Argentine ESPN+ crew.
Prediction: a resounding win to England by at least 30 points.
Game: a lot of expectation riding on this so we’ve invited as many Argentines as possible, eg three. Two of them turn up (Vero & Mercedes), on the tail-end of a night out. Much geo-political banter ensues.
Half time status: Neto’s asleep. Argentina have given everything and are three points up, although as many players have been taken off. England look lost. Not bad, but not there. Some highly interpretative decisions by the referee and rubbish kicking by Jonny Wilkinson led to both teams limping off the field at 6-3 to Argentina.
Full-time status: Twenty more minutes of attritional rugby and rubbish kicking finally see a breakthrough for England through Ben Youngs and his try. Wilkinson finally sees a conversion go through (in front of the posts) and the tension is relieved. That was unbearable for a while. The Argentines look deflated. What could have been a famous victory ends up a limping semi-embarrassment for both teams: a win’s a win for England, but that was miserable, while Argentina stuffed upwards of 7 penalties and lost three of their best players in aid of… a 13-9 defeat. On the plus side, Neto woke up.
Man of the match: probably Ben Youngs, for coming on when allegedly injured and scoring a winning try. Nobody else really deserved it.
Food: a curry, slow-cooked over almost a day, containing roast squash, onion, roast chicken, cumin, cinnamon, garam masala, tandoori spices, chili, yoghurt, cream. Well tasty. [Slaps own back]
Conversation keywords: as stated previously, a lot of geo-political banter linked with the relationship between the two countries.
Comments: for about twenty minutes in the second half before Youngs’ try, there was a really tense silence.
Pre-match expectations: a good clean game. Some decent rugby. A lot of insanely biased commentary from the Argentine ESPN+ crew.
Prediction: a resounding win to England by at least 30 points.
Game: a lot of expectation riding on this so we’ve invited as many Argentines as possible, eg three. Two of them turn up (Vero & Mercedes), on the tail-end of a night out. Much geo-political banter ensues.
Half time status: Neto’s asleep. Argentina have given everything and are three points up, although as many players have been taken off. England look lost. Not bad, but not there. Some highly interpretative decisions by the referee and rubbish kicking by Jonny Wilkinson led to both teams limping off the field at 6-3 to Argentina.
Full-time status: Twenty more minutes of attritional rugby and rubbish kicking finally see a breakthrough for England through Ben Youngs and his try. Wilkinson finally sees a conversion go through (in front of the posts) and the tension is relieved. That was unbearable for a while. The Argentines look deflated. What could have been a famous victory ends up a limping semi-embarrassment for both teams: a win’s a win for England, but that was miserable, while Argentina stuffed upwards of 7 penalties and lost three of their best players in aid of… a 13-9 defeat. On the plus side, Neto woke up.
Man of the match: probably Ben Youngs, for coming on when allegedly injured and scoring a winning try. Nobody else really deserved it.
Food: a curry, slow-cooked over almost a day, containing roast squash, onion, roast chicken, cumin, cinnamon, garam masala, tandoori spices, chili, yoghurt, cream. Well tasty. [Slaps own back]
Conversation keywords: as stated previously, a lot of geo-political banter linked with the relationship between the two countries.
Comments: for about twenty minutes in the second half before Youngs’ try, there was a really tense silence.
Scotland v Romania, 10 pm, 9th September
Present: myself. In bed. The 5:30 wakeup was starting to take its toll…
Pre-match expectations: let’s hope that the second game is better than the first?
Prediction: thumping win for Scotland as the perennial quarter-finalists get their campaign off with a bang.
Game: Unfortunately, I was really struggling by this stage and missed the first half entirely because I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Rookie mistake to be sure.
Half time status: Ready to watch a half of good rugby. The game started the second half at 18-11 to Scotland, a surprisingly close scoreline.
Full time status: A really exciting second half saw Scotland given a run for their money through some totally average rugby and some adventurous play from the Romanians, who at some points looked like they were learning the rules as they went along. However, with just under ten minutes to go, Romania was for some reason ahead, 24-21, before it all seemed to get too much for them and Scotland took advantage of some defensive errors to finish 34-24. A real sigh of relief for the home nation.
Man of the match: the official verdict was Romania captain Marius Tincu, can’t say fairer than that, although a special mention should go to Tiberius Ionout Dimofte, the Romania kicker, who managed to almost scuff two crucial penalties from just in front of the posts.
Food: none.
Conversation keywords: I wasn’t having much conversation with myself while watching the game.
Comments: I’m glad I watched this one, but I can tell the midnight, 1 am and 3 am kickoffs are going to be very difficult.
Pre-match expectations: let’s hope that the second game is better than the first?
Prediction: thumping win for Scotland as the perennial quarter-finalists get their campaign off with a bang.
Game: Unfortunately, I was really struggling by this stage and missed the first half entirely because I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Rookie mistake to be sure.
Half time status: Ready to watch a half of good rugby. The game started the second half at 18-11 to Scotland, a surprisingly close scoreline.
Full time status: A really exciting second half saw Scotland given a run for their money through some totally average rugby and some adventurous play from the Romanians, who at some points looked like they were learning the rules as they went along. However, with just under ten minutes to go, Romania was for some reason ahead, 24-21, before it all seemed to get too much for them and Scotland took advantage of some defensive errors to finish 34-24. A real sigh of relief for the home nation.
Man of the match: the official verdict was Romania captain Marius Tincu, can’t say fairer than that, although a special mention should go to Tiberius Ionout Dimofte, the Romania kicker, who managed to almost scuff two crucial penalties from just in front of the posts.
Food: none.
Conversation keywords: I wasn’t having much conversation with myself while watching the game.
Comments: I’m glad I watched this one, but I can tell the midnight, 1 am and 3 am kickoffs are going to be very difficult.
Friday, 9 September 2011
New Zealand v Tonga, 5:30 am, 9th September
Present: myself, David, John (his Aussie friend), two friends they made at a traffic lights party earlier in the evening, and Richard.
Pre-match expectations: hard to say. I scrambled out of bed to catch a glimpse of the opening ceremony, which as far as I can tell consisted of an hour of Maouri dancing and fireworks. All very pretty but totally lost on my 4 am brain.
Predictions: New Zealand in thumping win. Nobody can really see past that as an outcome.
Game: And we’re off! Two extremely choral yet entirely indistinct national anthems followed by a haka that is so bitty it looks like it’s being made up on the spot from the Tongans, and a haka that is quite impressive but so totally professional that it’s almost emotionless from New Zealand. Except for Dan Carter sticking his tongue out and widening his eyes. We get a slow motion replay of that; Carter not only has a long tongue but it looks like he’s been smoking or eating marmite as it has a yellow tinge.
Half-time status: the two new friends are long gone, totally passed out on the sofa. Everyone else is holding steady, including New Zealand, who go in at the break 29-3.
Full-time status: David passes out while a spirited fightback from a Tonga team that was apparently defeated at half-time makes the game more interesting than it might have been. Approximately ten minutes are spent while the islanders camp out on the New Zealand try line, hoping to get one over, which they eventually do. However, New Zealand immediately respond with a slick try, and the game ends 41-10.
Man of the match: um. Not sure. Sonny Bill Williams for the All Blacks? The game was really patchy, and what intermittent moments of brilliance that there were involved the centre.
Breakfast: bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, coffee. As soon as the game is over, the coffee wears off and everyone quickly departs: Richard to work, the rest to bed.
Conversation keywords: doing a ‘hopper’, male embarrassment, Argentina’s new foreign land ownership laws, are Facebook friends real friends.
Comment: both David and his friend were wearing green (for the traffic lights party). Does anybody ever wear any other colours to a traffic lights party? What is the point of going to a traffic lights party if you're going to wear red? And so on.
Pre-match expectations: hard to say. I scrambled out of bed to catch a glimpse of the opening ceremony, which as far as I can tell consisted of an hour of Maouri dancing and fireworks. All very pretty but totally lost on my 4 am brain.
Predictions: New Zealand in thumping win. Nobody can really see past that as an outcome.
Game: And we’re off! Two extremely choral yet entirely indistinct national anthems followed by a haka that is so bitty it looks like it’s being made up on the spot from the Tongans, and a haka that is quite impressive but so totally professional that it’s almost emotionless from New Zealand. Except for Dan Carter sticking his tongue out and widening his eyes. We get a slow motion replay of that; Carter not only has a long tongue but it looks like he’s been smoking or eating marmite as it has a yellow tinge.
Half-time status: the two new friends are long gone, totally passed out on the sofa. Everyone else is holding steady, including New Zealand, who go in at the break 29-3.
Full-time status: David passes out while a spirited fightback from a Tonga team that was apparently defeated at half-time makes the game more interesting than it might have been. Approximately ten minutes are spent while the islanders camp out on the New Zealand try line, hoping to get one over, which they eventually do. However, New Zealand immediately respond with a slick try, and the game ends 41-10.
Man of the match: um. Not sure. Sonny Bill Williams for the All Blacks? The game was really patchy, and what intermittent moments of brilliance that there were involved the centre.
Breakfast: bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, coffee. As soon as the game is over, the coffee wears off and everyone quickly departs: Richard to work, the rest to bed.
Conversation keywords: doing a ‘hopper’, male embarrassment, Argentina’s new foreign land ownership laws, are Facebook friends real friends.
Comment: both David and his friend were wearing green (for the traffic lights party). Does anybody ever wear any other colours to a traffic lights party? What is the point of going to a traffic lights party if you're going to wear red? And so on.
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
Harder Than It Looks
On starting this blog, it’s probably fair that I declare and recognize the following: I am English, and have been a fan of international rugby since 2003.
I remember England’s grand slam victory in the 6 Nations in 2003 quite clearly, but obviously not as clearly as the World Cup victory later that year. My mother was so excited about Jonny Wilkinson’s World Cup-winning drop goal that she dropped a glass jug which smashed into a million pieces, but if I´d been holding a jug I would have done the same. Instead I was jumping up and down on the sofa. And I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget being told by my own friends to “sit down and shut up” while screaming and blocking a tv screen in a pub as we knocked the French out at the semi-finals in 2007. Golden memories, no doubt.
However, this year I find myself in a difficult situation: the tournament, which starts on Friday, is being held in New Zealand, while I am currently in Argentina. For those of you who aren’t great on your time zones, that’s a thirteen hour time difference. Luckily for everyone in New Zealand, the games will be on at spectator-friendly times; for all rugby fans in South America, the organizers have given us a selection of kick-offs ranging from 10 pm to 5:30 am.
Not to be undone by the dastardly international timezones, I have decided to give this tournament the coverage it deserves, and have also invested in a projector. I will therefore be watching as many games as possible, and in order to prove my devotion to this cause, I am going to write a diary entry in this blog for every game that I watch.
The entries will focus on the important thing: who is playing; what the time is locally; if I have decided to eat anything, what it is that I am eating; who has been kind enough to join me; how we all feel at the start; how we all feel at half-time; how we all feel at full time. I may also deign to predict scores and provide updates as to how happy both my better half and my dog are about the continuation of the tournament, but that will be decided closer to the time/if I remember. After careful deliberation (two minutes) and much thought, I have decided to call the blog “Harder Than It Looks”, because that sums up both the sport and the practical implications of trying to watch as much of this tournament as possible.
However, it would be only fair to recognize both my own human limitations, as well as the far more significant limitations of ESPN+, the only channel showing it. ESPN+ will not be showing all the games live. Therefore, the amount that I watch live will be determined in a shadowy room by people that I have never met nor ever will, and my diary will be limited as a result. I beg your pardon in advance for any discomfort this may cause.
Also, despite this blog, rugby and everything else, I do have some semblance of a life, and other things that go with it, eg a job. In order to give the tournament the coverage it deserves, I henceforth promise that I will watch the following:
- all England games
- all Argentina games
- as many of the group games as I can
- all knockout games.
Finally, I would like to extend my invitation to anyone reading this blog to come and join me and my projector in a small room with white walls to watch the feast of rugby that is no doubt storming over the horizon. The only requirement is that we know each other and/or are friends on Facebook.
That’s it for now. May the best team win, unless it’s Australia or France.
Swing low.
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