South Africa beats reining champs England 15-6 to claim the 2007 RWC Championship. In pool play on September 14, South Africa had beaten England 36-0. After that game, Jonny Wilkinson returned to the team, putting them on a four match win streak. But the Springboks gave Wilkinson little opportunity to put his mark on the game! Wilkinson scored all of England’s points on two penalty kicks, but missed two drop kicks, whereas Percy Montgomery, the leading scorer in this RWC, had 12 points for South Africa on four penalty kicks.
South Africa and fans are very happy that instant replay is used in RWC play! At the beginning of the second half (South Africa led 9-3), center Matthew Tait made a great run setting up Mark Cueto for what was called a try on the field. But instant replay did show that Cueto’s left foot touched out of bounds just before the ball was put down for a try when he was tackled by South Africa number 8 Danie Rossouw (a winger tackled by an 8??). The try, which would have been a game turner, was not to be. (more…)
Jonny Wilkinson almost went from hero to goat. After coming back from injury, missing
the first two matches of pool play, the England flyhalf led his team through to the semi’s including an upset of Australia. But, through minute 75 of England’s semifinal match with France, Wilkinson had missed 4 of 5 kicks, and his team trailed France 9-8 with just five minutes remaining.
But a penalty kick in minute 75 and a trademark dropkick in minute 78 has Wilkinson on the verge of leading his team to a 2nd consecutive RWC title, by beating France 14-9 (nice BBC article on Wilkinson’s kicking here).
England will meet South Africa, winners against Argentina 37-13. (more…)
This is why they play the games.
In two somewhat stunning turns, the #1 and #2 ranked teams in the world, New Zealand and Australia, are sent to the sidelines by England and France who will meet in one semi. Argentina, winners over Scotland 19-13 (sorry Gordon) and South Africa (37-20 over Fiji) meet in the other semi. (more…)
Quarterfinals are set with three excellent matches and one potential road kill; and, yes Gordon, pic of Jason White from Scotland!
With some outstanding matches and a few blowouts, the pairings are set for the eight teams entering the knockout phase for the Rugby World Cup. The Quarterfinal matches are:
- Australia vs. England
- New Zealand vs. France
- South Africa vs. Fiji
- Argentina vs. Scotland
England had won its way in on Friday with a 36-20 win over Tonga, with Jonny Wilkinson scoring two penalties, two conversions and two drops to move to within 5 points of Scotlands Gavin Hastings for the RWC points lead. England plays long time rival Australia in what would have been a runaway for the Wallabies if not for the return from injury of Wilkinson which seems to have stepped up the play of the entire England side. (more…)
Quarter final pairings get closer, but five matches next weekend will decide who moves to the knockout round!
With five mostly blowout matches and one surprisingly close one with South Africa besting Tonga only 30-25, the Rugby World Cup setup five great matches for next weekend to decide who moves on to the next round.
Australia, winner of pool B, will play the winner of Tonga vs. England (Sep. 28). Tonga is playing well, but it is hard to bet against the English side when Jonny Wilkinson seems to be playing injury free. Wilkinson scored 24 points with 3 conversions, 4 penalty kicks and 2 drop goals, and also setup tries and overall played extremely well. He moved to second on the RWC Overall Points standing, with 206 to Gavin Hastings of Scotland’s leading 227. Wilkinson has an excellent chance to break the record in next weekend’s match with Tonga. (more…)
See my weekend one post here.
- New Zealand looked everything the favorite as they beat Portugal 108-13, even with many second tier players playing and some out of position.
- Neither Jonny Wilkinson nor his replacement Olly Barkley played as England lost the first clash of the titans to South Africa 36-0. It certainly does not look like the defending champs belong in the ranks with New Zealand, Australia or South Africa. It is likely that England’s match with Tonga (winner of their first two matches are current 2nd in pool A behind South Africa) will determine if they even get through to the quarters this go round.
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While I, like most Americans, am excited about the NFL season (especially with the hometown Houston Texans looking like a team to cheer for for a change!), I am more enthralled with watching the 3rd most watched event in the world (after the Olympics and the Soccer World Cup) - the 2007 Rugby World Cup. I played Rugby for the Woodland RFC for several years (yes, back when I was young) and have occasionally played for the Texas XXX’s vintage rugby team. Rugby and basketball are by far the most enjoyable sports I have ever played.
Like the Soccer World Cup, the Rugby World Cup takes place every four years, and there are qualifying tournaments in the time in between.
Several things to watch for:
- Can any team derail the New Zealand All-Blacks?
- Will Jonny Wilkinson set the RWC all-time points record this year?
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South Africa beats reining champs England 15-6 to claim the 2007 RWC Championship. In pool play on September 14, South Africa had beaten England 36-0. After that game, Jonny Wilkinson returned to the team, putting them on a four match win streak. But the Springboks gave Wilkinson little opportunity to put his mark on the game! Wilkinson scored all of England’s points on two penalty kicks, but missed two drop kicks, whereas Percy Montgomery, the leading scorer in this RWC, had 12 points for South Africa on four penalty kicks.
