The rugby world cup got underway at the weekend and with several games and plenty of action, it was off to a flier!
It all started on Friday with the hosts (and one of the favourites) France taking on the All Blacks of New Zealand. The French were impressive and earned a great victory against one of the biggies, and cemented their place as the team to beat, especially with home advantage.
A packed itinerary on Saturday saw 4 matches take place! That included the mighty Irish who are currently ranked number one in the world and will hope to go far – if not all the way – in this tournament. They looked great, although we can’t tell much against one of the lower ranked teams in Romania… Ireland romped in 80+ points, so a stroll in the park really. We’ll see what they can do against some of the tougher opposition.
Australia were solid in their opener, beating Georgia fairly comfortably. Georgia are looking to get into the Six Nations at some point, that being the yearly tournament for the top teams in the northern hemisphere. So we’ll see about that, but today the Aussies were too strong, and we can never count them out when it gets to the business end here.
Italy, who are often the whipping boys of the above-mentioned Six Nations, were in different territory in their opening match being by far the stronger team as they played Namibia. It was a comfortable victory but they will have their work cut out of course when it comes to playing the big boys.
That leaves dear ol’ England in the last of Saturday’s fixtures as they took on Argentina. The Pumas actually beat the English fairly recently and the tables have turned from back in the day. I remember putting 50 points on them regularly in the past but now we’re on a more even keel. England’s form has been terrible but they looked a lot better in this match.
There was a controversial sending off (a theme for a deeper conversation I’m sure) where flanker Tom Curry was dismissed for the Red & Whites. There’s a new rule in place where they get given a yellow card so head to the sin bin for 10 minutes but with the incident reviewed in that time and the officials able to upgrade that to a red if deemed appropriate. And this is what happened.
I won’t launch into the specific incident (or any others so far) but there is a lack of consistency and a lot of question marks over the rules and how they’re applied. A lot is down to safety but it’s a contact sport and much of these are just ‘rugby incidents’. We all hope the teething problems calm down, with everyone singing from the same hymn sheet and we can get back to business.
That sending off came in the first 3 minutes, so England faced the majority of the game with 14 players. But up stepped Jonny Wilki… I mean George Ford to kick our way out of trouble. Ford was playing fly-half (Farrell out suspended so wasn’t in the reckoning and Smith was on the bench) and he is always a reliable option.
3 drop goals towards the end of the first half helped put a few points between the teams which was added to with further penalties. Not so pretty rugby in terms of running and try scoring, but you do what you have to do and each incremental score takes you further away.
As for Argentina… piss poor I believe is the technical term and in depth summary of their performance. Even with the man advantage, they couldn’t get going. That was partly down to England playing well and Ford keeping that scoreboard ticking over. But they didn’t offer much and didn’t take advantage of what was a huge opportunity for them (England in shite form, and then a man down early).
I was pleased with the English performance though, and I’ll take what I can get for now. The win is the most important thing, and they rolled with the punches. Onwards and upwards!
There were 3 more matches on Sunday to round off the weekend…
South Africa too strong for Scotland in a low scoring but brutal affair. The Springboks are also one of the favourites and know how to win this thing. They’ve done it 3 times and are going for a record fourth victory.
Japan had a comfortable win over Chile, which just leaves Wales vs Fiji. This last fixture was a thrilling affair with the Welsh just edging the win which could have gone either way. Fiji are up there these days in the 15s and are competing with most nations now. Always great in the 7s but have lacked in this format. Not to be today for them but ones to watch in the future… and a great win for Wales!
There are a few days off now then back into the next round of pool games starting on Thursday and running through to Sunday. England will be playing Japan on Sunday night and that will be an interesting one as the Japanese are a solid side and will be up for it I’m sure. Uruguay, Tonga, Portugal and Samoa all start their campaigns too, as there are 5 teams per group.
Exciting start and all bodes well for a great tournament!