RWC News: Opponents praise All Blacks for 'unbelievable' tribute, ex-Wallaby excels for Samoa, wins for Wales and Ireland

The All Blacks players moved to comfort stricken Namibian centre Le Roux Malan after he suffered a horrific injury in their clash and later gave him a special gift to boost his spirits.

Malan suffered a badly fractured and dislocated ankle when he fell after chasing a kick in the 18th minute of Friday night’s match in Toulouse.

He was in clear distress on the field and was taken off on a medicab and requiring oxygen.

Namibia head coach Allister Coetzee confirmed Malan had had a successful operation and revealed the concern of the All Blacks players after the game.

“What was actually very good, and I hope it will help in a way, is the gesture from the All Blacks to hand him a signed jersey, a No 12 jersey signed by the whole team,” said Coetzee.

“It says a lot about the sportsmanship of this World Cup. It’s a good gesture from the All Blacks.

“That is not just saying the ethos and the culture and the values of rugby, but actually living and feeling it. That to me is unbelievable of the All Blacks to do something like that.”

Malan’s fractured ankle wasn’t the only blow suffered by the Namibians in the 11-try defeat, which takes their World Cup record to 0-24. Replacement forward Adriaan Booysen also dislocated his shoulder in the late collision with All Blacks prop Ethan de Groot which saw the big loosehead red-carded.

Le Roux Malan of Namibia goes off injured . (Photo by Paul Harding/Getty Images)

”It came back easily but we don’t know the extent of the trauma in the shoulder at this point in time,” added Coetzee.

The All Blacks will do their recovery in Toulouse before heading to Bordeaux on Monday for an in-tournament mini-camp ahead of their September 29 clash with Italy back in Lyon.

Sexton breaks Irish record

Johnny Sexton has set a new points record for his country as an efficient Ireland dominated Tonga to secure a 59-16 bonus-point victory and consolidate top spot in Rugby World Cup Pool B.

Ireland scored four first-half tries at Nantes’ Stade de la Beaujoire and four after the break to see off the Pacific islanders, who were playing their first game of the tournament but, despite the inclusion of several former All Blacks in their lineup, proved no match for the top-ranked team.

The 38-year-old Sexton only played the first half but scored a try, a penalty and four conversions for a 16-point tally that took him to 1090, going past playmaker predecessor Ronan O’Gara’s record of 1083.

Ireland’s first three tries came from Tadhg Beirne, Caelan Doris and Mack Hansen before an obviously delighted Sexton went past the record by dotting down between the posts to open up a 31-13 lead at the break.

Bundee Aki scored twice in the second half and James Lowe and Rob Herring also crossed to extend Ireland’s lead.

Tonga scored their try on the stroke of halftime through Vaea Fifita and five eighth William Havili, whose elder brother is in the New Zealand squad, did not miss any of his kicks to notch up 11 points.

Ireland attacked spaces left by Tonga’s propensity to over concentrate their defensive line and breaks through the middle set up the tries for Beirne and Sexton.

Doris’ 26th-minute effort came off a driving maul and Australian-born winger Hansen jinked his way off the touchline on the right wing for a sparkling try.

Ireland made multiple changes early in the second half nbefore again breaching Tonga’s line with Lowe looping around to finish off another strong driving maul.

Aki hit the line at speed to burst through a gap and sprint away for their sixth try and he grabbed another soon afterwards.

Herring added Ireland’s eighth try just before the final whistle to allow Sexton’s replacement Ross Byrne to put over his fourth conversion. 

Wales do it tough

A revamped Wales did it tough, needing until the 82nd minute to secure a bonus point for a fourth try in a 28-8 win over lowly Portugal.

The Wallabies will face a stronger Wales team next week in Lyon but the UK team kept the pressure on to go top of the table with 10 points, ahead of the Wallabies match against Fiji on Monday AEST.

Taulupe Faletau score with the final play of the game to earn Wales the much-needed bonus point against a willing Portugal team that wildly celebrated a second half try to Nicolas Martins.

“We’ve got to give full credit to Portugal they were brilliant today,”said Wales flanker Jac Morgan.

“They really brought that physicality and really tested us a a lot of times in that game.”

Coach Warren Gatland added: “It wasn’t pretty but we got the job done.”A few of the boys looked a bit rusty having not played together, but we’ll take the win and move on.

“People had an opportunity today and we’ll review that to see who performed well.

“I thought Rio Dyer looked sharp on the wing, I was impressed with his aerial work.

“Our lineout didn’t function as well as we would have liked and we were a bit lateral at times. When we were direct and won the contact we looked comfortable.

“In fairness to Portugal, they put us under pressure they moved the ball well and I was impressed with them.”

Samoa come home strong

Samoa outclassed Chile 43-10 in Bordeaux with former Wallaby flyhalf Christian Leali’ifano leading the way.

Los Condores delighted the massed ranks of their exuberant fans by scoring the opening try of the match through prop Matias Dittus and Samoa needed the place-kicking of former Wallabies star Christian Leali’ifano to creep ahead towards the end of the first half in Saturday’s (Sunday AEST) pool D encounter.

Tries from fullback Duncan Paia’aua and halfback Jonathan Taumateine immediately before and after halftime gave the Pacific islanders some breathing room and two tries from rolling mauls then secured the bonus point.

Despite having two players sin binned, the Chileans continued to fight and had the better of a scrappy final quarter until Samoa’s reserve hooker Sama Malolo scored his second try late on with yet another rolling maul.

Chile’s breakout star of the tournament so far has been their No.10 Rodrigo Fernandez, a running flyhalf with a wicked sidestep who got Los Condores going with a slick show and go down the left that led to the early try for Dittus.

It continued a theme from this tournament of the underdogs scoring first and fast.

“It’s hard to put it in words to be honest. This is such an amazing feeling. I feel so alive,” Chile captain Martin Sigren said, despite the loss.

Samoa were just too strong, though, a constant threat with their direct, aggressive running as Chile conceded a string of penalties while trying to stop them which Leali’ifano steadily converted into points.

Leali’ifano, eligible after World Rugby permitted players who stand down from internationals for three years to change allegiance, turns 36 at this tournament and has overcome leukaemia on the way to an unlikely second chapter in  his Test rugby career.

The Wallabies’ leading points scorer at the 2019 World Cup provided the steady hand Samoa needed in what turned into a scrappy encounter as both sides wearied in the heat, and survived a monster tackle late on from Domingo Saavedra.

While the game was short on quality at times, it featured running rugby from both sides, tries, some big hits and the haircut of the tournament in Samoan scrumhalf Taumateine’s bleached platinum blonde mullet.

Such a bold look demanded a performance to match and Taumateine delivered, bustling over in the corner after the break and flinging the ball into the crowd in delight with some fans still taking their seats.

There is little substitute in rugby for raw power and Samoa’s told in the end, their maul proving too much for Chile and setting a marker for their remaining opponents.

Samoa next face Argentina on September 22 , while Chile play pool D frontrunners England on September 23, having already used up their best two shots at a shock first World Cup win.

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Hansen worried officials will ‘drag game into the mire’

World Cup winning coach Steve Hansen has criticised the refereeing in the team’s 71-3 thrashing on Namibia, describing some of Luke Pearce’s decisions as “nit picking.”

Hansen was bemused by a disallowed try for Ofa Tuʻungafasi, who was judged to be offside at a lineout and impeding players coming through to contest.

“I felt it was a bit on the nitpicking side, but in a lot of situations, you can find a penalty if you want to. Is there a chance the officials are just going a little too far and it will really drag the game into a mire?” Hansen told NZ radio.

“I think we have been dishing out red cards out all over the place and I’m not sure that’s the answer. I think it’s the bottom of the cliff rather than the top of the cliff. We’ve got to spend more money, more time, more expertise on teaching people how to tackle better.”

The All Blacks lost Ethan de Groot to a late red card.

“There’s some real changes we need to make, too. When in our game do we make the ball carrier responsible for his own safety and lowering his head into the tackle? It’s spoiling the games, I think,”Hansen said.

Hansen, who has spent time with the Wallabies and All Blacks in camp over the past month, was happy with the ABs’ scrum and driving maul, against outgunned opposition.

The team’s kicking also impressed him.

“The kicks they made were pretty much spot on. It wasn’t willy-nilly kicking. It was kicking for a purpose and kicking for space.”

Drua boost for Team Fiji

Fiji lock Isoa Nasilasila expects the entry of the Drua into Super Rugby to helpo the long term future of the game in the Pacific Island.

Not that rugby has ever struggled for a passionate following in Fiji, but the engagement levels are soaring thanks to Super Rugby.

“The young kids growing up can look at the Fijian Drua players and see that’s their team,” Nasilasila said.

“They can aspire to be someone that is close to home for them and they can relate to. A lot of the boys, they grew up in the village, stayed there and played for the local teams. This gives the young boys more role models.”