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.
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