Proteas
When a player works four years to get in prime condition for the World Cup it is very sad when they get injured. The way a player handles his disappointment shows his metal. There are disappointments in your career and adversity makes you a better person. There might be many more disappointed players at this stage but the three Southern Hemisphere partners each lost one or more of their best players.
Here is the Dan Carter story.
Frans Steyn, Drew Mitchell and Wycliff Palu can be added as big losses.
The International Rugby Board announced the group of match officials who will take charge of the Rugby World Cup 2011 knock-out matches.
Bryce Lawrence will be in charge of the South Africa vs Australia quarter-final match in Wellington.
Does discontent in the France camp threaten to derail Les Bleus’ hopes of winning Rugby World Cup 2011?
Will England be distracted by ball-swapping inquests and newspaper allegations of player misbehaviour?
And, perhaps the question preoccupying all New Zealanders right now, has the loss of injured Dan Carter dealt a fatal blow to the All Blacks’ hopes of glory?
Jeremy Paul the ex-Aussie hooker made an interesting comment after the NZ / Canada game namely that on the evidence of the Canada game NZ would not be able to win the RWC.
Weepu was not convincing on 10 neither was Slade. The rest of the NZ game was, in my, appreciation pretty good. They lost some form in the second half -which is understandable considering the scoreboard at that stage- but the big concern according to Jeremy Paul is the fact that the NZ halfbacks will have less time and space (than against Canada) when playing against quality opposition.
Paul obviously has the NZ/Aus Brisbane game in mind where the Wallabies secured a win by cutting down the space of the NZ halfbacks. Continue reading
So the die has been cast and the quarter finals match-ups have been decided.
South Africa have called Blue Bulls fullback Zane Kirchner into the Springboks Rugby World Cup squad as a replacement for the injured Frans Steyn.
Ireland (9) 36 / Italy (6) 6 (Final Score)
Ireland and Italy did battle in the final Pool Game of Rugby World Cup 2011, in Dunedin 09:30 SA Time (20:30 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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At Halftime it was still anybody’s game, Italy only 3 points adrift, but in the second half the Irish game flourished and the Italian game floundered. 3 Tries eventually for Ireland in the second stanza, taking Irealand out to a 30-point win.
The Quarter Finals now loom large, with some monsterous battles ahead, none more so than Ireland vs Wales and the Springboks vs the Wallabies!
Wales (31) 66 / Fiji (0) 0 (Final Score)
Wales and Fiji did battle in Hamiton at 07:00 SA Time (18:00 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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Wales romped to a 66 / 0 victory, 9 tries to nill. Fiji exits what was a very scrappy World Cup for them.
All Blacks (37) 79 / Canada (8) 15 (Final Score)
The New Zealand All Blacks and Canada did battle in Wellington at 04:30 SA Time (15:30 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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As expected, the All Black ran riot and scored 12 tries against Canada. Canada could muster 2 good tries but wasted many more and they never stood a chance against New Zealand.
Dan Carter is out of the World Cup!
All Blacks first five-eighth Carter has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament because of the groin injury he suffered at yesterday’s captains run and Colin Slade will now be expected to wear the No 10 jersey for the crucial play-off matches.
Argentina (5) 25 / Georgia (7) 7 (Final Score)
Argentina and Georgia did battle in Palmerston North at 02:00 SA Time (13:00 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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Georgia led 7-5 at half time but only one team came out in the second half. Argentina scored 20 unanswered points in the second half. Penalty count against Georgia 17 vs 8.
Places in the quarter-finals of Rugby World Cup 2011 are still in the balance in all but one of the four pools going into Sunday’s final day of action.
England (3) 16 / Scotland (9) 12 (Final Score)
England and Scotland did battle in Auckland at 09:30 SA Time (20:30 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Scotland gave England a hell of a go, just running out of puff in the end and Chris Ashton was England’s tool to punish the brave Scotts, with a late try, securing a narrow win.
France (6) 14 / Tonga (13) 19 (Final Score)
France and Tonga did battle in Wellington at 07:00 SA Time (18:00 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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Tonga beat France by 19 / 14 but miss out on the quarter finals. For Tonga, this was an epic win though!
South Africa may have guaranteed their place in the Rugby World Cup 2011 quarter-finals but coach Peter de Villiers had plenty of reasons for a restless night after the match against Samoa at North Harbour Stadium on Friday.
Wallabies (47) 68 / Russia (5) 22 (Final Score)
The Australian Wallabies and Russia did battle in Nelson at 04:30 SA Time (15:30 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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After a very good first half it looked like the Wallabies were going to put over 100 points over the Russians, but the wheels came off a bit for the Wallabies in the second half and the brave Russians came back hard, almost outscoring the Wallabies in the second half.
The Wallabies also lost Drew Mitchell, with what looked like a bad hamstring injury, ahead of the looming quarter final.
Some key moments in the game.
Don’t you just hate it when the Springboks go into their infuriating defensive mode of play?
Truth is the Springboks were never really at risk of losing the game and it was almost like a big boy holding a little kid at arms length while the little guy punches himself to a stand still.
The last couple of days required extreme patience from South Africans here in New Zealand. It took quite some maturity to stay relaxed and calm in the face of the overbearing arrogance and confidence exhibited by the Samoan supporters here in New Zealand.
Listening to them you would have thought they are the world champions and a team who have beaten every other rugby nation/team on the continent (as oppossed to the Springboks who have actually done it) so assured where they that they were going to win the match. The pre-match gamesmanship like having a team talk before doing their Haka just an example of an overbearing cocksureness that really should be the privilage of competitors that have done the hard yards and who have the track record and ability to utilze such tactics too gain advantage. If primary school kids pulls such antics against high school kids it is out of place and utterly useless becuase it will make no difference whatsoever to the outcome of the match.
Springboks (13) 13 / Samoa (0) 5 (Final Score)
The South African Springboks and Samoa did battle in Albany at 09:30 SA Time (20:30 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
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The Springboks won a very hard match, with a lot of niggle in the match and a fiery Samoa not giving up.
The game was marred by the first Red Card of the tournament, to Paul Williams, for a punch to the face of Heinrich Brussow and also marred by a Yellow Card to John Smit.
Samoa exits the tournament and the Springboks end top of the “Pool of Death”, Pool D.
Mark Reason the man who wrote the article about the All Blacks cheating at the break down came out with another controversial statement yesterday.
Essentially he is expressing dissatisfaction with the make-up of the England rugby team. Indicating that it’s full of hired-guns and that the rules have been bent since the advent of professionalism to allow players from one country to play test rugby in another country.
Being a New Zealand citizen (although originally from England) he is probably the last one to talk considering the history of New Zealand utilizing South Pacific Island players like Frank Bunce, Bryan Williams, Jono Lomu and so forth.
As the Rugby World Cup reaches the final weekend of pool stage action, seven quarter-finals spots are mathematically still up for grabs and various theories abound as to which teams may upset the apple cart.
How old is too old? Despite South Africa’s impressive figures from their three matches so far (153 points scored, 19 against, 20 tries), 18 is the one that seems to be exercising the sceptics.
New Zealand No 8 Kieran Read will make his World Cup debut against Canada on Sunday after overcoming a serious ankle injury in the strongest loose forwards mix available to coach Graham Henry after the side was named on Friday.
History suggests Saturday’s clash between England and Scotland should be an epic battle between two old foes.
Australia have been forced to name loose-forward Radike Samo on the wing against Russia and the only back reserves are two scrum-halves after they have been ravaged by injury.
Delon Armitage will replace Mark Cueto who scored a hat-trick against Romania as one of three England changes for their Pool B decider against Scotland at Eden Park on Saturday.
A difference in IRB world ranking places of eight, and South Africa’s commanding RWC track record against them, suggests that the Springboks should have a reasonably smooth ride past Samoa in their last Pool D fixture at North Harbour on Friday.
England made further unwanted headlines on Thursday when they suspended two coaches for illegally swapping match balls, as the Rugby World Cup prepared for the make-or-break last round of pool matches.
Samoa coach Titimaea Tafua on Wednesday announced two changes to his starting line-up to face South Africa in their final Pool D game in Auckland on Friday.
Georgia (12) 25 / Romania (6) 9 (Final Score)
Georgia and Romania did battle in Palmerston North at 08:30 SA Time (19:30 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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In the sloppiest, most error-ridden game of the tournament, thus far, the Georgians managed to grind out the win.
When Dan Carter reckons something isn’t quite right with a rugby ball, people listen.
So when the All Blacks’ goal kicking wizard admitted yesterday that the official Gilbert “Virtuo” ball used during the World Cup had caused some frustrations, it was time to dig up a few statistics.
Italy (20) 27 / USA (10) 10 (Final Score)
Italy and the USA did battle in Nelson at 08:30 SA Time (19:30 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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USA forced Italy to grind out a win, with their dominant scrum, and for the first time in a very long time, Nick Mallett’s side managed to get a bonus point for tries scored.
One could say mission accomplished by Italy, but they really made hard work of the task.
Canada (7) 23 / Japan (17) 23 (Final Score)
Canada and Japan did battle in Napier at 06:00 SA Time (17:00 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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A draw, in this very good battle! In 2007 at the World Cup these two sides also drew (12 / 12).
There are five changes in the pack as Bismarck du Plessis is partnered with the returning Tendai Mtawarira and Bismarck’s brother Jannie du Plessis in an all-Sharks front row. The final change among the forwards sees the return of Heinrich Brüssow to the back row.
Victor Matfield will captain the Springbok team to play Samoa in the deciding Rugby World Cup Pool D clash at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland on Friday.