Feb 25th, 2008 | Laws and Refereeing, Test Rugby | 14 Comments | print
For 65 minutes on Saturday, every English fan of rugby union watched with bated breath as two young, inexperienced French half-backs poked and prodded their countrymen to within 3 points of their opponents, the aging English juggernaut.
French scrum-half Morgan Parra and fly-half François Trinh-Duc, just 19 and 21 years of age with only 6 caps between them, showed courage and tenacity beyond their years. The young half-backs performed almost flawlessly with Parra testing the forwards at every opportunity around the break-downs/set pieces and Trinh-Duc slicing through the mid-field.
However, France could not convert these opportunities into enough points to take the lead. Although the midfield attack and defense in general were excellent, the wide French attack that has been so successful during this campaign for the likes of Cédric Heymans and Vincent Clerc sputtered frustratingly as the English slide defense grappled the players ‘ball-and-all’ into touch not less than four times. In addition to penalties, the typically reliable replacement fly-half David Skrela prevented a final French assault with a knock-on on the French 5 metre line with the scoreline in favor of England by just 6 points. → continue reading
Feb 25th, 2008 | Test Rugby | 2 Comments | print
In one of three exciting Six Nations matches this past weekend, Ireland with an impressive 5-try effort emerged victorious over Scotland. Ireland flashed memories of last year’s Six Nations further quelling any speculation that after their disappointing World Cup campaign that they were on a downturn. After narrowly defeating Italy in their opening match and staging a miraculous, near victory comeback against France in Paris, Ireland appear to have rediscovered their form from a year ago.
Ireland began the match on their heels as Scotland pounded the ball successfully downfield for the first 7 minutes of the match only to concede a penalty to Ireland after often hot-tempered Nathan Hines took a swing at Denis Leamy. While Ireland’s defense looked suspect at times often looking a little lax, their attacking lines were very effective and in some instances showed some glimpses of the renewed “French Flair” that we have seen from France’s Six Nations squad. Ireland played a very balanced match against Scotland continuing their surprising pack play and spinning it out wide to the backs, Ireland’s strength in recent years. Still, Ireland’s lineout struggled once again losing several lineouts and looking sloppy at times. Perhaps the return of feared lock Paul O’Connell will remedy Ireland’s lineout woes when they face off against undefeated Wales at Croke Park on March 8th. O’Connell received tremendous applause when he came onto the field for Mick O’Driscoll most certainly having an impact on Ireland and even further lifting their spirits and confidence with the return of their massive lock. → continue reading
Jul 8th, 2007 | Test Rugby | 10 Comments | print
As I noted previously, the Springbok guests in Sydney on 07-07-2007 started the Mandela Challenge Plate as if their lives depended upon the outcome and quickly accumulated 17 unanswered points against the heavy favorites the Wallabies. In the first stanza, it seemed that the Aussie’s simply weren’t interested in scoring despite this match being the last home test match for the legendary team of Greegan (133 Caps) and Larkham (100 Caps).
Of course, with two Wallabies having the combined test match experience of the entire South African team, it is not surprising that cool heads prevailed. With tries before and after half-time, Australia brought the score-line level. A South African professional foul gave the home side a 1-man advantage and their opponents quickly took the lead and eventually the match, 25-17.
Despite the win, Australia again showed their major weaknesses: lack of focus early in the match and an underpowered scrum. Both of these deficiencies require solid solutions if the Wallabies are to have any chance at hoisting the Web Ellis Cup at RWC 2007.
In addition, an 8-point margin over the Springbok so-called ’second-string’ line is hardly anything to get excited about and is a testament to the depth of the rugby program in South Africa. If you remember that post-apartheid South Africa came out of almost 30 years of international sporting isolation to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup, the depth of the their rugby program doesn’t actually seem that surprising.
Jun 30th, 2007 | Test Rugby | 4 Comments | print
As I’ve discussed previously, the New Zealand All Blacks have begun to show signs of trouble that are no doubt worrying to their countrymen and fans alike as the 2007 Rugby World Cup approaches. Today, the Australian Wallabies officially exposed the All Black weaknesses as they captured a come-from-behind win in Melbourne and snapped a 5-match losing streak against their opponents (BBC, Reuters).
In typical fashion, the All Blacks started the match with extreme prejudice and hammered the ball over the try line to take the lead early on. However, numerous errors by both teams resulted in spastic play and collared the half-time score to just 15-6 for the visitors. In particular, All Black fly-half Dan Carter continued his growing habit of poor penalty kicking and extended his errors by putting at least 2 kicks into touch ‘on-the-full’.
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