Talking Points: Day 3

Denied: James Hook’s penalty appeared to go over but was disallowed by the officials. Had the referee referred it to the TMO, Wales may have come away with a famous victory.

Classy Cooper: Quade Cooper put in an entertaining and creative performance against Italy, setting up three of the Australians’ four tries.

Drought over: Ireland ended their three match losing streak with a victory over a very average USA side. Brian O’Driscoll has admitted that his side need ti improve when they face the much fancied Aussies this weekend.

Warrior Warburton: Wales’ captain Sam Warburton put in a man of the match performance against World champions South Africa. The open-side flanker was later described as a ‘pain’ by Springbok captain Smit. 

Straight from the training ground: Digby Ioane’s try against Italy demonstrated why the Wallabies are so dangerous. A perfectly executed set piece move put the Red’s winger in under the posts. Have a watch for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYURnww7vGA. 

Scroll down for a round-up of the games from Day 3 of the RWC, or click HOME. 

Day 3 round up

Day three of the RWC saw southern hemisphere giants Australia and South Africa both record victories over their northern hemisphere opponents.

Australia were convincing winners against Italy in Taranaki. Tries from Alexander, Ashley-Cooper, O’Connor and Digby Ioane powered the Wallabies to a comfortable 32-6 victory. Quade Cooper kicked two penalties and provided three assists in a very accomplished individual showing.

Two tries from Tommy Bowe helped Ireland to their first win of the tournament against the USA. Rory Best also crossed for O’Driscoll’s men in a scrappy and error-ridden performance. The wet weather conditions didn't help proceedings but Ireland have work to do before they face Australia at the weekend.

In the reasonably timed kick-off, a late Francois Houggard try broke Welsh hearts as South Africa snuck a 17-16 win over Wales. The Boks took an early lead through Frans Steyn’s first half try, but Wales struck back with a try from number eight, Toby Faletau; his first International try.

Wales put up a worthy fight and on another day, may have walked away with the win, but the 2007 Champions held on to record an important victory. However, James Hook and his teammates can feel hard done by after a penalty by the full-back was judged to have gone narrowly wide. To the naked eye, the kick appeared to go over but the touch judges ruled it out, much to the disapproval of many.

The early pace is certainly being set by the southern hemisphere giants. Although, England, Ireland, Scotland and France all won their first game, the Tri-Nations sides have looked sharp, confident and clinical. England will be desperate to top their group in order to avoid the mighty All Blacks in the quarter finals.

Check out the ‘Team of the week’ from the opening round of matches and have your say on who should be in it. 

Talking Points: Day 1 & 2

Star Man: New Zealand’s Richard Kahui was instrumental in the AB’s curtain raiser victory over Tonga. The winger scored twice and was heavily involved during the build up to three others.

Fiji’s First: Fiji wing Vereniki Goneva crossed the line four times to become the first Fijian to score a World Cup hat-trick in their game against Namibia.

Goal kicking glitch: Jonny Wilkinson and Dan Carter were both out of sorts with their goal kicking in the opening games; Wilkinson missed five penalty attempts.

Bulky Back-line: The All Blacks fielded a starting backline with an average weight of 98.7kgs, that’s 15 stone 7lb in old money. Staggering.

Group C Banana Skins: Both England and Scotland narrowly avoided defeat to teams that they were expected to beat. From that showing, the Argies’ will be handful for Scotland, possibly too much. 

Scroll down or click HOME to read the Day 1 & 2 Round-ups...

Round-Up: Day 1 & 2

And they’re off…

The RWC returned with a bang on Friday night as the hosts New Zealand kicked off proceedings with a convincing 41-10 win over a battling Tonga. The All Blacks were quickly into their stride and two tries each from Israel Dagg and the very impressive Richard Kahui helped the tournament favourites to a comfortable win. Dan Carter had an off night with the boot by his very high standards, but he certainly wasn’t alone in opening days of the tournament. More on that later.

A late try from replacement scrum-half Ben Youngs proved decisive as a sloppy and mistake ridden England fought off an injury hit Argentina to win 13-9 in Dunedin.

England’s first game of the tournament was far from a walk in the park. In fact, it was more of a crawl through a warzone as they came up against a motivated and physical Argentinian side.

The South Americans dominated the early possession and a Felipe Contepomi penalty gave them an early lead. But it was to be Contepomi’s last meaningful act in the game as he was forced off with a rib injury. Outside centre Gonzalo Tiesi followed soon after; feeling the full force of a dubiously late hit from Courtney Lawes.

But it was a game off missed chances with both sides’ frequently floundering opportunities to put points on the board. Between them, the sides missed ten shots at goal with England’s Wilkinson missing five penalties in total. It was a very uncharacteristic performance with the boot from the normally so reliable fly-half.

England’s discipline was their downfall with eight penalties being conceded in an error-ridden first half. Referee Bryce Lawrence finally lost his temper with the frequent infringements at the breakdown and sent Dan Cole to the sin-bin just before the break.

The Six Nations champions struggled to find the magic they had demonstrated during a successful build-up period and continued to force the play, leading to an unprecedented number of turnovers. Ben Foden broke the line mid-way through the first half, but that was as close as the 2007 finalists came during the first forty minutes.

The Argentinians continued in their brutal defensive manner and had the opportunities to cross the line themselves. Some weak first-up tackling allowed wingers Agulla and Camacho to carry the ball fifty metres downfield before being hauled down by the covering defence.

But with thirteen minutes left on the clock, Ben Youngs found a gap around the fringes of the ruck and accelerated in under the posts. It was England’s first real sign of quick-ball and the Leicester number nine showed just why Martin Johnson was so keen to have him on the plane down under.

It was dull and rusty, but most importantly it was a win. Johno’s boys are off to a winning start in New Zealand and with the rust now under the carpet, the Sweet Chariot can swing on to bigger and better things, hopefully.

For those of you that were fast asleep and couldn’t wake yourself up to watch Fiji take on Namibia; you missed the best game of the day. Fiji wing Vereniki Goneva crossed the line four times to become the first Fijian to score a World Cup hat-trick and in doing so, helped his side to a 49-25 win against rank outsiders Namibia.

Seventeen points from the boot of Dimitri Yachvili guided France to a comfortable victory over Japan. The French scored six tries and survived a late Japanese comeback before eventually running out winners 47-21.

Two late Simon Danielli tries saved Scotland’s blushes as a resolute Romanian side pushed them all the way. With twelve minutes remaining, Romania led 24-21, but couldn’t hold on; Scotland won 34-24.

Follow the RWC on Tournament Talk for all the news, views and opinions you need. 

Wilkinson back for the big stage

Martin Johnson pulled few surprises when he named England’s starting fifteen for their World Cup opener against Argentina on Saturday. The only absentee from a full strength side is wing Mark Cueto, who is out with a back injury; Delon Armitage comes in to replace the Sale man. 

Manu Tuilagi starts in the centre with Mike Tindall, who captains the side in the absence of Lewis Moody. Richard Wigglesworth starts at scrum half, with Jonny Wilkinson, playing in his fourth World Cup, regaining the number ten shirt once again.

It signifies an almost miraculous comeback from the hero of 2003, whose international career appeared to be all but over after a disappointing Six Nations campaign in 2010. After spending the previous few years out with injury or sat on the bench, England’s all time record points scorer is the leading man once again.

Wilkinson demonstrated a fresh approach and style during England’s warm up campaign; taking the ball at pace and playing flat on the gain line, allowing the strong running centre combination of Tindall and Tuilagi to pick lines and get in behind opposition. However, it’s not a completely new model, he still possesses two wonderful feet with which to find field position or to dissect the uprights, in whatever form is necessary. In defence, JW is still giving attackers the brick-wall treatment, retaining his mantel as his countries best tackling back.

At thirty-two years old, Wilkinson is still the fittest member of the England squad, eclipsing the rest of the squad during the various boot camps over the summer months. In fact, add all this together and maybe, just maybe Jonny is better now than he was in 2003. There are no doubts over his big-match temperament and an improved Jonny Wilkinson is a scary prospect for the rest of the world.

England team to play Argentina:

Ben Foden, Chris Ashton, Manu Tuilagi, Mike Tindall (captain), Delon Armitage, Jonny Wilkinson, Richard Wigglesworth, Andrew Sheridan, Steve Thompson, Dan Cole, Louis Deacon, Courtney Lawes, Tom Croft, James Haskell, Nick Easter.

Replacements:

Dylan Hartley, Matt Stevens, Tom Palmer, Tom Wood, Ben Youngs, Toby Flood, Matt Banahan.

RWC - Ones to Watch

Two days and counting until the 2011 RWC kicks off in New Zealand, with the hosts taking on Tonga in Auckland. Tournament Talk looks at the competitions potential Players of the Tournament in ‘Ones to Watch.’

                    

 Quade Cooper


 Australia’s charismatic playmaker has come of age in sparkling fashion this season with an array of eye-catching performances. His quick feet and eye for a gap are sure to cause havoc in the even the best of defences.

                                           

Conrad Smith

In amongst the All Blacks’ star-studded squad, Conrad Smith often goes unnoticed. Often seen as one of the games’ most under-rated players, Smith oozes class. His gliding running style and clever lines of running make him a sure contender for player of the tournament.

Will Genia

The form player coming into the tournament, Genia is a model scrum-half. Quick around the base with an accurate kicking game and precision passing, the Australian number nine is my bet for the tournaments’ top accolade.

Sergio Parisse

The influential Italian number eight may seem an odd choice to many people as a potential player of the tournament. However, if the Italians can topple the out of form Irish in the group stage and make it through to the quarter finals, anything can happen. If they do manage this, Sergio Parisse is sure to be one of the main reasons.

Dan Carter

Very little needs to be said about DC; New Zealand are odds on favourites to lift the World Cup and Carter will no doubt play a huge part in any potential success. The Kiwi’s talisman has been dominating International rugby for a number of years now and there is no reason to think he won’t continue doing so, come September 9^th. 

Hang your hopes on Hook

As far as World Cup preparations go, Wales’ was better than average. Their defeat to England in the first warm-up match, although disappointing provided a number of positives, most notably a strong second half performance.

The Welsh reversed the previous weeks result when the sides met in Cardiff; with a resolute Wales defence stealing the headlines this time round. The only try of the game was scored by James Hook, playing at full-back but standing in the fly-half channel as he weaved his way through the English defenders and powered over the line. However, the Welsh playmakers’ opportunities to create and finish these chances are being limited by the number on his back. Hook is Wales’ best player; he has a strong running game, good distribution, a solid kicking game as well as attacking flair in abundance. If Wales are to fulfil their potential and upset the odds at the RWC, James Hook must play at fly-half.

Supporters must omit memories and thoughts of interceptions and forced passes from his previous spell in the number ten shirt. Hook has grown as a player in the past few seasons and, if given the chance, could prove to be one of the players of the tournament in New Zealand.

Stephen Jones has been a fantastic servant to Welsh rugby and still has a huge role to play, but not as a starter. Jones’ role must now be as a ‘closer,’ much in the way Ronan O’Gara is. A player that can use their vast experience to play the territory game, accumulate points with clockwork-like goal-kicking and mentor the younger players through tough situations.

Wales should get through their group and on their day, are capable of beating anyone.