South Africa avoided another major defeat to the Brave Blossoms. The hosts having been the top qualifiers from Pool A had grabbed the attention of the world of rugby. However, the Semi Finals were beyond their reach as they were unpicked by the South Africans. The Japanese had kicked 47%, however it was not there …
Continue reading “South Africa dismiss hosts Japan with ease”
Irish woes continued at the quarter final stage yet again in Japan. Crashing out as they were crushed by a brutally strong and efficient New Zealand performance. Throughout the World Cup Ireland have played well in patches, starting strong against a Scotland team in a dominant display. However, Ireland had been unable to beat the …
Continue reading “All Blacks with masterful performance dismiss Ireland”
England began their knockout campaign with a test against a strong wallabies team. England had won the previous 6 encounters since being dumped out of their home world cup and Cheika was looking to change the script. England hadn’t really been tested or needed to show anything spectacular whilst Australia had come with a different …
Continue reading “England cut through Australia to confirm place in semi finals”
Lots has been written on the poor performances of Scotland and the success of the Brave Blossoms, who have invigorated the tournament. The lease of life given by the brave blossoms applies not only to the successes of the home world cup but the future of modern rugby. Diverging from traditional rugby patterns and putting …
Continue reading “Japan dump Scotland out of World Cup, as Scottish revival comes too late”
Tonga and the USA had been dealt a hard blow before the World Cup. With little chance of progression this World Cup represented an experience rather than a fully open opportunity. While the US had done well at home in a few games at home, they were struggling with form, and went into the game …
Continue reading “Tonga and the USA show bright patches in pool of death”
Australia and Georgia shared a close affair in which Australia struggled to break down the Georgians, and made intriguing watching. The game became ever more tense for the wallabies, as up until the 60th minute they were unable to distance the lelos threat. The lack of inventivity really caused issues for Austrlaians, as well as …
Continue reading “Australia struggle against resilient Georgians”
Fiji may have had a 2007 in their sites in Oita. The Fijjians had played very well against Australia, their physicality and speed troubling Australia particularly early on. Wales had come off two strong performance a dismantling of Georgia before a titanic encounter with Australia left them in pole position in the group. But it …
The plucky Scottish with a dazzling attack put on a masterclass The hard work put in by support runners securing the victory. Whist at the end of the day, the bonus point meant little, put out of the tournament on the Sunday by Japan, it is the style in which the bonus point was secured …
Continue reading “Scottish support secure must win bonus point against Russia”
Argentina had a disappointing campaign compared to the success of four years ago, reaching the Semi Final and exciting everyone for the flair of outside backs away from the traditional grunt of the Pumas. The last 4 years have hardly been a cake walk, but with key results, including victories against Australia and South Africa …
Continue reading “Argentina go out with bang, as transition takes apart USA”
In this piece, I aim to show, 1) why SA were able to exploit a Canadian side who struggled to cover the back field, 2) why Canada were able to exploit SA at points, and 3) why Canada’s heart and at points, how their level of effort exposed them. While they started slowly and were …
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