RWC 2015 - A Tribute

The pool stages of the Rugby World Cup have finished and my word, the tournament has just been brilliant so far hasn’t it? This World Cup really could go down as one of the best in the tournaments history. I was going to write a round-up blog like I normally do. Before I do that though, I want to pay tribute to some of the tier two nations have just been eliminated from the tournament. Namibia, the lowest ranked team in the competition, made history for themselves by finally registering a World Cup point, getting a losing bonus point against Georgia. In their last game against Argentina, with their elimination well confirmed by this point, they still played their skins out and managed to score 3 tries. They also created what was for me one of the moments of the tournament. They scored a try right at the end of the game (which lead to their bench celebrating as if they had won). The commentators were all talking about the try and showing replays when suddenly focus turned to the conversion, and up stepped prop Johannes Redelinghuys to take it. It turns out this game was going to be his last game before ending his career, and the team let him sign off by taking the kick. What a great moment for him, Namibia and the game as a whole. Sadly, the kick hit the bottom of the post (I think had it gone over, it would have received one of the loudest cheers of the tournament so far). What a way to go out. The quote from him after the game as well was superb (picture from @rugbyworldcup on Twitter)

What a great tournament this has been for Georgia as well. They started off their tournament with arguably the biggest win in their history, beating Tonga 17-10. This World Cup has been their best performance at a World Cup I believe, as they got two wins in the pool stage, also beating Namibia 16-17. However for me, what I will remember about them from this tournament was the game against New Zealand. It was the first team these two nations played and although the result was not a shock, Georgia did not roll over and let it happen. They put in a massive shift against the All Blacks, with their captain Mamuka Gorgodze being named Man of the Match. That and their smiles whilst New Zealand performed the Haka made this a really special game. Beka Tsiklauri will always be able to say as well that he scored Georgia’s only try against New Zealand to date. Not a bad little piece of history to have! The Pacific Island teams had a bit of a rough tournament really, with all 3 of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga finishing fourth in their group. This means none of them automatically qualify for the next Rugby World Cup in Japan in 2019. It will be interesting to see what happens there actually. It would be odd to see a World Cup without all 3 of those nations there. I’m not sure how it will pan out. The team I feel most sorry for out of them though is Fiji. Drawn in a pool with Australia, England and Wales meant they had some top level games to play but almost no chance of qualifying for the quarter finals. They played three really good games against these teams as well but got no points to show for it. Sport can be a cruel beast at times. They closed out their World Cup with a win over Uruguay but the draw probably affected them just as badly as it did the other teams in the pool. I want to make quick mentions to Romania and Canada. I didn’t get to see their game against each other, but they both will go home happy from this tournament I think. Canada might go home slightly disappointed if they think back to the games against Italy and Romania. They pushed the Italians all the way and could have pulled off a famous win, but sadly they didn’t. They also got a losing bonus point against Romania as well, with Romania having to come from behind to win. Romania really caused France some problems for a long time in their game. France always looked like they would win but Romania definitely frustrated them at times, which was good to see. They also played a good second half against Italy in their final game and were close to getting a losing and try bonus point.

The final mention though has to go to Japan. I gave them no chance before this tournament, as I am sure so did many others. There have been so many words written about that game against South Africa. Just yesterday I watched that try which won Japan the game again. It was such a moment in time. The biggest Rugby World Cup upset? Undeniably. The biggest upset in the history of Rugby Union? If there is ever a top 10 list, it will be in it. One of the biggest upsets in sporting history? I would say so, yes. From that moment, almost everyone wanted to watch Japan win. I think it legitimately surprised people just how good they were. Their 4 day turnaround before the game against Scotland was just unfair really, and something which ought to be changed for the next World Cup. Teams like New Zealand can deal with such a short turn around as they can almost pick a new XV from their squad without issue. The smaller nations just can’t do that, and 4 days isn’t long enough to recover properly in time for another game. They comfortably beat Samoa in another game I expected them to lose. Samoa went in at half time having scored no points, and not looking like they would score any. They managed to get one try scored by the time the game ended but Japan were the deserved winners. They went into the last weekend knowing they could potentially qualify for the quarter finals. If Scotland lost to Samoa, they had their chance assuming they could beat the USA – a team they lost to back in July in the Pacific Nations Cup. Sadly for the, (and for rugby as a whole I think), Scotland beat Samoa and qualified for the quarter finals. This meant there was little to be played for in Japan’s game against USA. You wouldn’t know that by watching the game though! Japan played a fantastic game (and USA also played very well). Japan won, and became the only team in Rugby World Cup history to record 3 victories in the pool stage and not qualify for the last eight. It is such a shame they didn’t because they have been great to watch. For me, they have been the team of the tournament so far. Long after this tournament ends, people will still be talking about Japan and I think they will have become a lot of people’s “second” international team. Hopefully, the departure of their coach Eddie Jones does not derail their growth as a rugby nation. It would be great to see them make the last eight at their own Rugby World Cup in 2019.

To Japan, and to all of the tier two nations that have just been eliminated – thanks for the memories. You have all helped make this one of, if not the best Rugby World Cups in the history of the tournament. The next post will be my week round-up and a look back at my predictions blog – we shall see how I got on!

RWC 2015 - The Week In World Cup Rugby

The Rugby World Cup has now been going for just over 2 weeks and so far, it is shaping up to be one of the best World Cups in the history of the game. Records are being set and broken quite frequently (or at least it appears that way). As with the last post to this page, I wrote about the results and some of my thoughts on the games. This will be a two part blog though as there is a fair bit to be written about the first host nation to not make it out of the pool stages. I left off last time with Australia having just pumped Uruguay 65-3 – the biggest point difference in a game so far in this World Cup.

In what seemed like a repeat of their last game, Scotland started off slow against the USA. Now, they had played 4 days earlier against Japan but unlike Japan, Scotland have reasonable depth in their squad. It would be foolish to say this short turnaround wouldn’t impact them at all, but Scotland, like all of the bigger rugby nations, would be better equipped to deal with it than say Japan (or any other tier 2 nation for that matter). USA scored the only try of the first half and went in at half time with a 13-6 lead. While it was possible at this stage for an upset to happen, I figured it was only a matter of time before Scotland would wake up and take control of this game. The second half was pretty much all one way traffic in Scotland’s favour with USA only getting 3 more points. Scotland scored 5 tries (4 of which were converted) giving them a 39-16 win. In the 3^rd and final game of Sunday 27^th September, Ireland faced Romania and once again, the record attendance at a Rugby World Cup was broken – 89, 267 people were at this game. Ireland comfortably won this game, scoring six tries against Romania. One of the main talking points would be whether the Irish defence could hold out and prevent Romania from scoring a try. They succumbed eventually and the final score was 44-10 to Ireland.

I can’t talk much about the Tonga v Namibia game (the only game on the 29^th September) as it kicked off when I was at work and I ended up missing the rest of the game due to travelling and the need to go food shopping (a poor excuse I accept). Namibia scored 3 tries in this game, two of which came from their captain Jacques Burger. It would have been good to see them get one more and come away with a bonus point but alas, not to be. October kicked off with a game which somehow seems to be a regular at Rugby World Cups – Wales v Fiji. They have played each other now for 3 RWC’s in a row. Before this game it was one game all, with the Fiji win in 2007 being a pretty historic win for the Pacific Islanders. The 2011 game however was a tad one sided, with Wales winning 66-0. Once again, I missed this game due to having to work late. From what I heard though, it was a very close match, with Wales doing well to get the win. Wales won this one 23-13 and much like Australia, failed to get a try bonus point. I wondered at the time if this might come back to haunt them. Answer? No. Fiji have put up a good fight against 3 of the top teams in the world, and played some really good rugby. Almost seems criminal they haven’t at least got one bonus point. Such is life. I suspect they will look to batter Uruguay and have something to show for their tournament. The evening game on Thursday was France versus Canada. I expected this to be one way traffic in favour of France. However, credit where credit is due - Canada actually played quite well at times during this match. They seemed to fall away as the game went on though and France took advantage, with them getting the win 41-18.

The only game of Friday night was New Zealand taking on Georgia. I don’t think anyone gave Georgia a chance in this one. It was a great sight though to see how happy the Georgians were at getting to play the All Blacks. This much was obvious just looking at their faces during the haka – there were several big grins beaming. New Zealand took just 73 seconds to score their first try. When this happened, my immediate thought was “how many will we see tonight?” However, the next score to come was a try from Georgia! They capitalised on a New Zealand error and scored a try, which they then converted as a result. I think if Georgia could declare at this point, they would have. 5 minutes in and they were level at 7 all. Sadly, that was the only try of the game for Georgia. New Zealand scored 7 in total and won 43-10. The main talking points from this game were that New Zealand were not their usual selves in that they made a large number of handling errors (19 I think it was – some of which definitely denied them more tries) and Dan Carter looked positively human from the kicking tee. However, I feel the question does need to be asked, if New Zealand can make as many errors as they did, and still score 7 tries – how many would they have scored if they didn’t make any errors? Frightening thought really.

Saturday started off with Samoa versus Japan. Samoa had to win this game if they wanted to keep their hopes of making it out of the pool alive. Japan were in much the same boat. They benefitted from having 10 days between their last game against Scotland and this one. Samoa had a week so really, it was two fresh teams facing off. Not that you would have known it looking at Samoa. I don’t know what it is about them, but they just haven’t looked very good at this World Cup. They looked poor against South Africa but I wondered if part of that was to do with the Springboks showing how good they actually are.  This performance against Japan was not good though, which made me wonder if there is something systematically wrong in the Samoa camp at the moment (well, there has been a lot of chat about issues with the rugby authorities in Samoa but that aside). However, Japan didn’t win this game purely because Samoa weren’t playing well – Japan were worthy of their second win of this Rugby World Cup. They went in at half time 20-0 up. The second half was a much tighter contest between the two, but Japan won the second half points-wise, meaning the full time score was 25-6. Cracking result for Japan this one.

The next game was the top of the pool clash between South Africa and a weakened Scotland team at St James’ Park in Newcastle. I couldn’t work out why Vern Cotter had made as many changes as he did for this game. Perhaps it was so the first choice team will face Samoa and they stand a better chance of winning that one? I’m not sure. This game was all South Africa. Scotland didn’t get much of a look in really. South Africa proved in this one they were still a force to be reckoned with. At half time, they went in 20-3 in front and it didn’t look like Scotland were going to get back in it. They didn’t. Scotland did score a second half try but they couldn’t build on that to even secure a losing bonus point. Two moments of madness from Scotland are worth mentioning. Greg Laidlaw was sent to the sin bin for deliberately taking Bryan Habana out off the ball, preventing him from potentially scoring a try. It was a very cynical move by the Scotland captain and had it been closer to the try line, I think his visit to the bin might have been accompanied by a penalty try. The other moment of madness was Stuart Hogg seemingly taking a dive to claim he was more hurt from a collision with a South Africa player in the air than he actually was. Replays showed that the collision was minimal and Hogg had in fact taken a dive. The referee for this one was Nigel Owens – who had a few choice words to say to Hogg. I do love Nigel Owens sometimes, and this is one of those times. South Africa won this one 34-16. Australia beat England 33-13. I will be doing a separate blog about this result and what England’s elimination from the tournament means for them going forward.

Today offered up two games, one each from pools C and D. Both had potential to be very interesting. Argentina were playing Tonga, who were above them in the pool (a solitary bonus point separating the two teams). Ireland were facing Italy in a reprise from the Six Nations at the Olympic Stadium. I had assumed Argentina and Ireland would win their respective games, but I was surprised at which one was closer, score line wise. The first half in the Argentina/Tonga game was really close, with Argentina getting two tries on the board and then Tonga following suit. Half time was 20-13 to Argentina and at this point, I really felt we were in for a cracking second half where it could go either way. The second half was really good but it was one sided. Argentina scored a further 3 tries, securing a try bonus point. The final score was 45-16. I will be interested to see how Argentina develop as most of the starters in this game have all signed for the new Argentina Super Rugby franchise, which means the national team will be playing with each other for most of the year against some really good opposition. That can only do good things for the game in Argentina. Ireland versus Italy was a very tight affair, a much tighter game than I would have imagined it would be. Italy haven’t looked great at this World Cup and suffered a bit of a scare at the hands of Canada last week. Ireland on the other hand have been playing quite well. I dipped in and out of this game but from what I saw, Ireland were being frustrated by Italy and struggled to get their game going. The only try of the game came in the first half. I know it is wrong to suggest that any team is a one man team, but I wonder if it is much of a coincidence that Italy made a rapid improvement in their play when Sergio Parisse recovered from injury and took his place in the Italian pack. It was not enough however to lead them to victory. Ireland won 16-9 and consigned Italy to an early exit.

So, with most teams having just the one game left, what is the state of the pools?

Pool A – Australia and Wales will face off in a pool winner shoot out next Saturday at Twickenham. England are out of the Rugby World Cup – the first host nation to fail to make it to the knock out stages.

Pool B – This is a very tight pool actually. South Africa have a 4 day turn around before facing USA at the Olympic Stadium. They are currently top by a point but one would assume they will win this game and probably pick up maximum points. If they do, they will win the pool and face the loser of Australia v Wales. USA then have a 4 day turn around before facing Japan. Scotland face Samoa on Saturday. For Samoa to qualify, they need maximum points out of their game against Scotland and for Japan to get no points against USA – unlikely I would say. Japan are currently 3^rd in the pool, two points behind Scotland. For them to qualify, they need Scotland to lose to Samoa and not get 2 bonus points. Scotland just need to beat Samoa and they will qualify for the quarter finals. Simple right? I think we are in for some drama in this pool before all is said and done.

Pool C – New Zealand have qualified from this pool. Who saw that coming? Their last game is against Tonga, who are the only team who can prevent Argentina from qualifying. In a nut shell, to qualify, Tonga need to beat New Zealand and Namibia, after a 4 day turn around, need to beat Argentina. So I guess what I am trying to say is that New Zealand and Argentina have qualified from this pool. I guess it is still technically possible for Tonga to qualify. However, their chances are remote.

Pool D – Ireland and France have qualified from this pool and will face off in a pool winner shoot out next Sunday. The winner will likely get a quarter final date with Argentina. The loser will likely get a quarter final date with New Zealand. I think I speak for everyone who wants to see history repeat itself when I say COME ON IRELAND! It would be awfully funny if France and New Zealand played each other again at a Rugby World Cup, and funnier still if France won again.

We have one more week of pool games before the business end of the tournament begins. Two things are for sure. The first is that England will not be in the knockout stages for the first time since the inception of this tournament. The second is that this tournament is just getting going in terms of excitement. I think we are in for some great rugby before the pool stages wrap up. I will post another blog as I said earlier about England, but I will be back next weekend to sum up the weeks games and to talk about the quarter finals, and if my predictions were right (I know one of them was wrong!)

Rugby World Cup 2015 Predictions

Today is the day that Rugby fans have long been looking forward to. It is the opening day of the 2015 installment of the Rugby World Cup. Living in the host country, there has been a lot of hype for this tournament. On a personal level, I would say I am more excited about this World Cup than I have been previous tournaments. In 2011, I was still pretty new to the game - I had attended a couple of games and would occasionally watch England on TV. I would also keep an eye on the Bath results. In the 2010-11 domestic season, I made the switch from football being the main sport I follow to rugby union. By the time the 2011 World Cup rolled around, I was a fan but I still had a lot to learn about the game (hell I’m still learning). This time around, I’ve been a supporter for several years. I try to keep up with the game as much as possible and as such, have been caught up in the hype of this tournament for some time. The opening game is today, and I’ll be heading to Twickenham soon to be there. The point of this post is to not just talk about my excitement about the tournament and how it has finally arrived, but to post my predictions for the tournament. I’ve not opted for any major surprises in this prediction I don’t think (although if the quarter finals pan out the way I think they will, there will be a couple very interesting contests). Anyway, onto the predictions! For the pool stages, I won’t be predicting each game but rather putting up the way I think the pool will finish.

Pool A

England
Australia
Wales
Fiji
Uruguay

What a tough pool! It seems to get worse the more I look at it. 4 of the top 10 teams in the world in one group – quite something really. It is also a bit frustrating when you look at other pools but never mind. I think England will come out on top of this pool. I think home advantage will give them the edge over Wales and Australia. I’m not sure they will go through the pool stage undefeated, but I can see them doing enough to win it. I would have predicted Wales to finish 3^rd in the pool 3 weeks ago. Now they have lost Leigh Halfpenny and Rhys Webb? I know they are just two men in a 31 man squad, but they are two massive names to lose right before the tournament. I think that will be their undoing this time around which I am sad about. One thing I love about the World Cup is watching the world’s best players play on the biggest stage. Injuries can happen at any time, but them happening right before the world cup just seems cruel. I think Fiji won’t be anyone’s pushover, but I don’t see them beating England, Australia or Wales. As for Uruguay…at least they qualified!

Pool B

South Africa
Samoa
Scotland
Japan
USA

No disrespect to the other four teams in this pool, but South Africa will win this pool. I don’t see them being tested by USA or Japan. Samoa and Scotland might throw up a bit of a challenge, but I think they will be able to see them off. The big battle for me will be between Scotland and Samoa. I think Samoa will win the match between the two of them and see themselves through to the last eight. There are a lot of positive noises coming out of the Japan and USA camps, but I think at this world cup, they will finish in 4^th and 5^th place respectively. I think Japan will beat USA and use that as a platform to build on for when they host the world cup in 2019 (by the way, has a host ever gone out at the group stage?)

Pool C

New Zealand
Argentina
Tonga
Georgia
Namibia

No disrespect to the other four teams in this pool (wait a minute…) but New Zealand will win this pool. Their main challenge will be Argentina and they are undefeated against them (21 matches, 20 wins and 1 draw). I think Argentina have been looking fairly good as of late though (especially that win away against South Africa) and I think they will get the better of the other teams in the pool. I have guessed Tonga will finish 3^rd. I think they will better Georgia and Namibia. As for Georgia v Namibia…I mean I’m pretty confident that I’ll watch it. It could be the game I’m looking forward to least in this tournament to be honest (possibly tied with Canada v Romania from Pool D). Speaking of…

Pool D

Ireland
France
Italy
Canada
Romania

Italy will make some noise in this pool, but for me it will be between Ireland and France, and I think Ireland will finish top. It really could go either way between these two though. I predict it will finish this way, but I also hope it will finish this way for reasons that will become clear when discussing the quarter finals. The only way I see Italy making the last eight is if they pull off an unlikely victory over France. They have done that a couple of times recently so it could happen. Canada and Romania will unlikely get a win against the top 3 teams in this pool and will scrap it out to not go home having lost all four games.

Quarter Finals

South Africa v Australia
New Zealand v France
Ireland v Argentina
England v Samoa

South Africa against Australia will be an epic encounter. I reckon Australia will win this as they have looked pretty good in recent months but this is one that could go either way. New Zealand v France at the Rugby World Cup – if only there was some history to refer back to…! I think New Zealand would win this rematch of the 2011 final, but France have a bit of a habit when it isn’t the final of sticking it to the All Blacks in the knockout stages so who knows? I think Ireland will be given a tough match against Argentina, but I see them winning that one. I think it will be a similar story between England and Samoa to be honest. At this stage in the tournament, no game is a sure thing, but if I were a betting man, I’d say England will win this one.

Semi Finals

Australia v New Zealand
Ireland v England

Australia against New Zealand have had so many fantastic matches between them. The most recent of these clashes saw both teams each grab a win. I appreciate that I’ve said this a lot so far, but this one could go either way. I am calling a New Zealand win, but I would not be surprised to see Australia get the win. Before the tournament, I thought this is where England would bow out. However, the performance against Ireland a few weeks ago really encouraged me. I think if England go into this game and don’t underestimate Ireland’s game, they could come out victorious in this one. This game being at Twickenham could be a huge advantage as well.

Bronze Medal Match

Australia v Ireland

I have a ticket for this game, so I’d love to see Ireland win it. I think they would stand a good chance of it as well.

Final

England v New Zealand

New Zealand of course would be the favourites going into this match. However, they are not unbeatable. I remember a conversation I had with my Dad the morning of the 1^st December 2012 where I confidently stated that as excited as I was to be seeing the game, England would get battered by New Zealand. I couldn’t have been more wrong and England ran out 38-21 winners. My overall prediction is that New Zealand will win the tournament, and it would be a fitting sign off for Richie McCaw (assuming he does actually retire at the end of the tournament as has been suggested). If it is an England v New Zealand final, I will not be writing England off (I’ve made that mistake once before). I think England making the final would be a fantastic achievement for the team, and it is not beyond the realms of possibility that they go all the way.

So, that is how I see the tournament unfolding over the next 6-7 weeks. Regardless of what happens though, I know I am looking forward to what will hopefully be the best RWC in history thus far. Happy Rugby World Cup Day to all!