ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, UNBEATEN IN WORLD CUP

 

 

The Rugby World Cup. Every rugby fan knows the themetune and while the inaugeral tournament back in 1987 wasn't taken all that seriously, since then the highest levels of the game have become fully professional and while the tournament hasn't become quite as big as the football equivilent and probably never will do, it was still my first introduction to rugby and still gets the attention of a lot of people. Last time round, in '07 England reached the final of this tournament, the last time they won it was back in '03. As for the other international team I follow, Scotland, well in '07 they only made the quarter finals, the last time they made the semis was back in '91, the tournament that introduced me to the sport and they have never reached the final of this tournament, let alone win it.

Back in '07, England found themselves in Group A alongside the USA, South Africa, Samoa and Tonga. The men in white survived that campaign but it was still a messy affair, starting with an ugly victory over the Yanks before being caned by the Springboks and only then showing the promise to beat Samoa and Tonga. Scotland found themselves in Pool C alongside Portugal, Romania, New Zealand and Italy. They survived that campaign well enough, well Portugal was always going to be a cinch, Romania was pretty straightforward and while the All Blacks were always going to be a write off so a win over Italy was needed to seal a spot in the quarter finals.

This time around, the tournament was going full circle, returning to New Zealand after 24 years. England are now coached by Martin Johnson, captain of the '03 side that lifted the trophy and Scotland are coached by Andy Robinson, the assistant coach of that England '03 side. This time around both sides have found themselves in Pool B, an interesting situation. England's warm up games against Wales and Ireland were a bit hit and miss while Scotland picked up two wins out of two. In theory that was decent enough form for them to at least have a chancve to get out of the group but some opponents cannot be underestimated, with the Scots having particular reason to be nervous.

Scotland were the first of the two sides to get down to business, facing Romania at Rugby Park. Petterson opened the scoring with a penalty before Blair added in a try then Romania replied with a Marin Danut Dumbrava penalty. Ansro got another try, Dumbrava another pen and Patterson reponded in kind before Romain got a try through Maihaita Alexandru Lazar at half time. Patteron grabbed another pen early in the second half only for Romania to run the show for a while, Tiberius Ionute Dimofte grabbing two pens before Daniel Carpo grabbed another try. However the Scots replied with a Patterson pen and two tries from Simon Daneilli to complete a 34-24 win and claim a winning bonus point.

Next was England, facing Argentina at the Otago Stadium. The ref was not in a particularly good mood that night and the Argies opened the scoring with a Felipe Conteponi penalty before an off-form Wilkinson eventually managed to get a kick through the posts. Contemponi got another pen before half time though and to add insult to injury, England got a guy binned. A Martin Rodriguez penalty put England in further trouble early in the second half only for England to finally come alive with Leiceter's Ben Youngs grabbing a try, converted by Wilkinson who hit a penalty to secure a messy 13-9 win for England which left the men in white with plenty of questions to answer.

Scotland were then back in action, facing Georgia at Rugby Park. Georgia were the ones who eventually opened the scoring with a Merab Khvirikashvili penalty. Scotland replied with two pens and a drop goal from Parks but this was already looking like a very messy affair. The back end of the match got particularly tedious with the stubborn, newly professional Georgians clearly eager to get a major scalp but eventually Parks and Khvirikashvili exchanged pens with the Scot winning the exchange two to one. Scotland won the battle 15-6 and a win is never anything to complain about but much tougher tests are yet to come. What else do the Scots have available?

It was then England's turn to face Georgia at the Otago Stadium. England didn't hang around this time, Hape grabbing two early tries with Flood converting both of them. However the latter stages of the first half got pretty messy with Merab Khvirikashvili grabbing a penalty and while Flood replied in kind, Khvirikashvili then converted a Dimitri Basilaia try after England had yet another guy thrown in the bin. The second half however turned out to be much smoother with tries from Armitage, Leicester's Manu Tuliagi(his first international try), and a further two from Ashton securing a 41-10 win and England's first WBP of the campaign. That's more like it guys.

Elsewhere, Argentina beat Romainia 43-8 at Rugby Park in what was very much a demonstration of how good the Argies can be, the Pumas helping themselves to a WBP grabbing six tries to Romania's one. They clearly aren't done yet That leaves England and Scotland both on course for the quarter finals, both three points ahead of third placed Argentina. England top the group with a +16 match points difference advantage over the Scots. So far that's nothing to complain about for either side, OK both sides have put in a messy performance but things could be a lot worse. Neither side is garunteed a place in the quarter finals yet though.

Wales are in Pool D. They started their campaign with a 17-16 defeat to South Africa at Wellington Regional Stadium. This was a gutting defeat for the Welsh who took the lead early in the second half only for the reigning champions to turn the game back around before the end. The Welsh then got their first win of the tournament by beating Samoa 17-10 at the Waikato Stadium, both sides only grabbing a try each but the Welsh kicking proved to be superior. That leaves Wales 3rd in the group, one point behind Samoa and the quarter finals, level on points with Fiji and having to qualify for the 2015 competition but with a+28 match points difference advantage.

Ireland are in Pool C. They opened their campaign with a 22-10 win over the USA at the Taranaki Stadium. The men in green grabbed themselves three tries to the Yanks' one but the general feeling was that they could have done better. Better was to come though. Somehow, the Irish managed to beat the Aussies 15-6 at Eden Park! Neither side were able to get any tries but from the start the Irish looked the better side and they went on to pull off a result that got the attention of the entire rugby world! That leaves Ireland top of the group, three points ahead of Australia and 2nd place and Italy and heading home early. Very nice work so far from them.

So, here's what the quarter finals look like as things stand:

New Zealand vs Scotland

England vs France

Ireland vs Samoa

South Africa vs Australia

Fine by me.

Click here to go to 'other sports' archive

Comments go here

Click here to return to sports homepage

Click here to return to Matt G's homepage