And so it started, the Rugby World Cup 2015 kicked off on Friday night at Twickenham with a big victory for England. It wasn't entirely convincing as Fiji appeared to have ignored the script and played a great game and the score didn't reflect the toughness of the match. Mike Brown, England fallback had an amazing game, 2 tries and a huge influence on the game. I saw the match earlier in the year when he was carried off with concussion and was out for 3 months, England really missed him and it is good to see him back and hitting form. This match had more concerns, it showed flaws in the England game, hopefully this means that we will have the chance to put this right because I have no doubt that we have all the elements that make up a World beating team, it just needs to come together. The talent on the bench is a testament to the talent on the pitch. The only negative is that I would love to have seen Matt Banahan playing, Bath's 6ft 7" winger is a talent, he tackles hard, has a great turn of pace and is a huge presence on the pitch, shrugs off tackles and he is coming off the back of an exceptional season:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu2-fhNjALE
There appears to be a lot of controversy about the TV ref and the amount of time it is taking to reach a decision on a try or a foul. I think it is a good thing, it means that Rugby is leading the way in Europe in cleaning up the sport of cheating. Unlike Football, Rugby has never allowed the players to contest a referees decision, his decision is final and now there can not even be any controversial matches, a try is either correct or not, any infringements in the lead up to the try are spotted, all of this can only be a good thing for sport as a whole. The concern seems to be on the amount of time this takes, a Rugby match is 40 minutes a side but the England match ended up at 50 minutes a side, an extra 20 minutes and the concerns appear to be that it is a hindrance to flow of the game and that viewers will get bored and turn off. It might affect the flow of the game but it is a process that will get faster as time goes on. as a viewer, I prefer to see a fair match with cheats penalised and the a try being correctly awarded. I have seen 2 tries disallowed, both looked good and both refs gave the try until the replay showed that the ball was dropped over the line, the player wasn't in control of the ball, and the decision was rescinded, a correct decision. What will happen, as this tournament progresses, is that the balance will come together and processes will speed up, I just hope that it is given a chance and that the press doesn't tear it apart before it is given the chance to be the future of sport.
Anyway, Saturday, a day that was looking like a walk over for 2 of the matches and the Tonga Vs Georgia and France Vs Italy looking like the only matches worth watching. Tonga and Georgia was a bruising match that never really allowed the teams to find their stride. The tackling was immense, huge clashes, and huge packs that charged, making small gains in a war of attrition, there was no room for fear, this was raw and courageous, tactics and gameplan out the window and they simply slogged it out, it wasn't pretty but it was exciting with Georgia coming out as the victors.
Next up was Canada Vs Ireland. Ireland hadn't looked great in the final warm up match, losing convincingly to England but this was a rejuvenated side, Johnny Sexton was exceptional and Canada, a team that still has a number of part time amateur players, never stood a chance. I did cheer when they got a consolation try but Ireland were impressive and this firmly places them on the radar.
Next up was potentially the match of the tournament, and yes, this goes for all matches to come, Japan, seeded at 14, winning a single World Cup match against Zimbabwe 24 years ago, against South Africa, a troubled side but 2 time World Cup winners and ranked at number 3 in the World. Japan were a revelation, by the end of the first half, despite a slender lead, you could see the defeat in the South African players eyes. The Japanese pack is light in comparison to the Springboks and the Springboks are expected to push that advantage in every scrum, lineout and ruck but it didn't happen. I've never seen a scrum over so quickly, when the Japanese had the put in, the ball was literally rolling out as it was going in, the forwards simply didn't have any tie to assert themselves. Japan was so fast, the ball speed, movement off the ball and fitness of the team frustrated the Springboks and made them look jaded. When the first Japanese try came off the back of a rolling maul that contained 13 players, you just knew they had trained specifically for this match, they knew how to win and after the first try, they had the belief. It was a truly emotional and moving game, watching the no hopers never giving up, always being slightly behind but knowing they had the skills to win. It came down to the final play, South Africa at 32, Japan at 29, Japan could kick a penalty and finish with a draw or go all or nothing and go for the win. They opted for the win and what a nail biter it was before they finally dove the ball over the line in the corner for the biggest upset in Rugby history. All team have a name, the All Blacks for New Zealand, Springboks for South Africa, apparently England is the Red and Whites (after the kit) and Japan is the Brave Blossoms and they put in one of finest performances I have ever seen, they tackled hard, showed not an ounce of fear, played the game cleanly and put in one of the finest performances of running Rugby that I have ever seen, South Africa was outclassed and I think this will send a shockwave through the tier one teams, South Africa didn't take them seriously but this is a team that has the potential to become tier one, maybe not in this World Cup but over the next few years. The shame is that their coach is leaving and he is a genius.
This is what Rugby is about, this is a match that I wish I could have been at and I now have my second favourite team for this tournament. The really unfair thing is that the tier one teams have plenty of rest time, 5-6 days, Japan play Scotland on Wednesday, Scotland's first match so they are fresh, Japan have only 4 rest days, it seems mighty unfair.
The final match of the day was France Vs Italy. This was a tough one, both teams losing key players to injury and Italy are without their talisman Captain, Sergio Parisse, an amazing player that lifts the Italian team, even when they lose, he leaves his heart and soul on the pitch, without him Italy struggle for direction, movement and ideas and they never imposed themselves against France. It was a good match but given the previous match, this was the wind down.
So, this reaches its climax on October 31st, 6 weeks of Rugby, my life is nearly complete and given the matches yesterday, and yes I watched them all, I have an exciting month and a half to come. An England victory over Japan in the final would be the perfect result for me!
Any Americans that ever read this blog, look up Rugby, you need to get behind your national side, it is a far more exciting sport than American Football, take off all the padding and protective clothing, have just the one team to play defense and offence and you have Rugby. Your people play every team sport with belief and courage and it is a shame that your teams are playing this alone. Every other nation has large pockets of support that turn out for them but the US National teams in Rugby and Football (Soccer to you), seem to be in a lonely place, I'll support them today on your behalf, even though my nature urges me to support the tiny Island nation of Samoa, it's just a shame that you're probably not even aware of this tournament.
**Update** Samoa 25 USA 16
It was a good match but Samoa are a Rugby nation and they are in form. The USA played well but Samoa were just too much for them.
No comments:
Post a Comment