- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
What did we learn from the opening weekend of the Rugby World Cup? We saw the big teams get through but it wasn’t smooth sailing for any of the teams, while the referees had their moments and the ball received a dose of controversy.
All of the “big” teams avoided defeat, albeit very narrowly in some cases.
Unless you are a fan of one of the favoured sides that suffered scares at the hands of supposedly weak opposition (I am looking at you Scotland, England, France and to a lesser extent Australia), the performances of the “minnows” shows that world rugby is in rude health.
Many would argue that this World Cup should have been held in Japan or Argentina, in order to further promote the game outside its traditional strongholds, but that is a moot point. On this evidence the growth of the game is progressing regardless.
No doubt nerves played a large part on the poor performances from the favoured sides, but that is no excuse.
On the biggest stage in world rugby, players cannot afford to freeze, and it would seem that many did.
With any luck these nerves will now have been flushed out of the season and we will see less error strewn performances from the big teams when they next take the field.
New Zealand and Australia remain the favourites
The pressure for New Zealand to perform and perform well was almighty. Graham Henry picked a big side as a counter to the physicality of the Tongan outfit and it paid off.
While Tonga exposed some All Black frailty in the second half, the game was long since won by then, and the All Blacks can be forgiven for taking their foot off the gas in sheer relief. Expect an improved performance when they next run out.
Australia started slowly, hampered by poor weather and a ferocious Italian effort lead by stars Castrogiovanni and Parisse, but in the second half they came good. James O’Connor showed his attacking value when introduced.
Anthony Fainga’a is a world class defender but the Wallaby backline looked much more potent (a scary thought for upcoming opponents) when Adam Ashley-Cooper is at 13 and O’Connor on the wing.
Ireland will need to improve dramatically before next Saturday to be competitive
Referees are having a torrid time
Paddy O’Brien was a fine referee, but his pre tournament guidelines have made the lives of his charges very tough.
George Clancy and Bryce Lawrence in particular had difficult games. The England versus Argentina contest was particularly scrappy, with England failing to get to grips with how Mr Lawrence was interpreting the rules.
In the interests of seeing some good flowing rugby in the tournament, the teams will get on board with the refs and the refs will employee a bit more pragmatism from now on.
More on the South Africa versus Wales contest below, but it would be remiss of me not to congratulate Wayne Barnes on a fine display.
Experience is invaluable
In what was easily the best game of the tournament’s opening weekend (and by some margin), South Africa showed that experience cannot be undervalued.
Wales beat South Africa everywhere apart from on the scoreboard. H
eroic performances by Roberts, Warburton, Lydiate, Faletau and Priestland to name but a few went unrewarded.
Wales were magnificent. Their back row was immense. Warburton will have woken up this morning with the mother of all headaches, in the aftermath of the beating he took from the Springbok forwards at the breakdown, yet there he was again and again, matching everything Brussow was producing and making countless tackles to boot. He has truly signalled his arrival in world rugby.
But at the end of the day Wales lost. South Africa know how to win tight games.
When the chips were down, their big game players came to the fore, and although star in the making Francois Hougaard scored the decisive try, it was the likes of Fourie Du Preez who put them in position to get there.
Much has been said about John Smit, and a fine player he was and leader he remains. These days, however, he doesn’t deserve to polish Bismark Du Plessis’s boots, let alone relegate him to bench duty.
The quality of the Springbok forward play improved dramatically when coach De Villiers made the change. If South Africa harbour real hopes of winning this tournament they need to make the boldest of calls and put the skipper on the bench.
I fear for Wales next Sunday. The despair that they must be feeling having not managed to pull off the win will be acute.
The Samoan side, is a tough outfit (just ask the Wallabies), and assuming they come through their midweek opener healthy, they will fancy upsetting an emotionally frail Wales.
Enough with “Ball-Gate”
Jonny Wilkinson misses a few kicks and suddenly there must be something wrong with the ball. Yet, there didn’t seem to be much wrong when Morne Steyn banged over a touchline conversion, did there?
The kicking stats from the England vs Argentina game are ugly to say the least. But when you realise that Martin Hernandez’s misses were predominantly pot shots from beyond his range, it becomes clear that the previously metronomic Wilkinson just had a shocker.
He has admitted as much himself. Whether it was the pressure, the occasion, the sound of Toby Flood straining at the leash to get on the field, or just a bad day we will never know, but don’t expect to see it happen again, assuming Jonny starts another game for his country.
Final thoughts:
1. A marked improvement from England and France. England must pick Youngs and Flood to inject some more dynamism into their game.
The likes of Easter, Thompson and Deacon will be looking anxiously over their shoulders and must improve if they are to hold onto their starting positions come Scotland and the knock-out stages.
France cannot possibly be as error prone again. They will improve, they must improve, especially of we have any hope of seeing this New Zealand side tested before the Semis
2. Enough with the “furore” over England’s kit. I don’t see England crying over the French playing in all white as their change strip
3. Scotland are lucky they draw Georgia mid week, and don’t move on to face an Argentinean side baying for blood, having failed to close out victory against a vulnerable England side
4. For my money the Welsh were robbed three points on James Hook’s goal that never was
5. Anyone seen Brian O’Driscoll?
6. Todd Clever. Phenomenal. If there is a guy who puts in more effort every game, then I haven’t seen him.
7. Look out Japan – I fear there could be some All Blacks’ with points to prove heading your way
8. Australia versus Ireland looked to be the tie of the weekend, but not any more. Look for Samoa versus Wales.. big hits, attaching flair and maybe an upset? Big week for Warren Gatland to get his side mentally ready
9. Butch James and Courtney Lawes need to be careful, very careful. Both flirted often with dangerous challenges in their games. James rarely uses his arms in the tackle, and Lawes’ penchant for the big hit sees him come in dangerously close to being late, more often than not.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.