Rugby World Cup 2015

[NSDukeFan]

The world's biggest sporting event of 2015 has begun in England and Wales. There is usually such a huge gap between the top 8 or so teams and the bottom teams that there tends not to be many major upsets. Georgia provided a minor upset as they defeated Tonga. I believe they were ranked around 18th and 13th in the world. The big story so far though is Japan, who had previously won one World Cup match all-time beat two time champ and always contender South Africa on a last minute try for probably the greatest Rugby World Cup upset ever (rhe first every 4 year competition was held in 1987)

For the first time that I know of the US is ranked higher than Canada, both in the mid to high teens,and beat Canada head to head at least the last couple of meetings. Canada got destroyed 50-7 by second ranked Ireland and the US was beaten by Samoa this morning.

Defending champs and #1 ranked New Zealand All Blacks open up pool play with their toughest pool opponent Argentina this afternoon. Hopefully I'll get a chance to watch some of the All Blacks and Pumas match. Should be a fun month.

[Deslok]

The world's biggest sporting event of 2015 has begun in England and Wales. There is usually such a huge gap between the top 8 or so teams and the bottom teams that there tends not to be many major upsets. Georgia provided a minor upset as they defeated Tonga. I believe they were ranked around 18th and 13th in the world. The big story so far though is Japan, who had previously won one World Cup match all-time beat two time champ and always contender South Africa on a last minute try for probably the greatest Rugby World Cup upset ever (rhe first every 4 year competition was held in 1987)

For the first time that I know of the US is ranked higher than Canada, both in the mid to high teens,and beat Canada head to head at least the last couple of meetings. Canada got destroyed 50-7 by second ranked Ireland and the US was beaten by Samoa this morning.

Defending champs and #1 ranked New Zealand All Blacks open up pool play with their toughest pool opponent Argentina this afternoon. Hopefully I'll get a chance to watch some of the All Blacks and Pumas match. Should be a fun month.

Several Brits I worked with came in this morning all amazed at the Japanese performance last night. It wasn't just that they won - with a last gasp try rather than take the easy draw at the end - but it was that they were considered very deserving winners having outplayed the Springboks for most of the match. Of course, they were amazed that an American would have any awareness of the match, and I just needed to remind them who the two time Olympic rugby champs are .

[NSDukeFan]

Several Brits I worked with came in this morning all amazed at the Japanese performance last night. It wasn't just that they won - with a last gasp try rather than take the easy draw at the end - but it was that they were considered very deserving winners having outplayed the Springboks for most of the match. Of course, they were amazed that an American would have any awareness of the match, and I just needed to remind them who the two time Olympic rugby champs are .

The upcoming Scotland - Japan game on Wednesday got a lot more exciting after this weekend's result, as did the Samoa - South Africa. US could find them in a really entertaining group. They acquitted themselves quite well in their 25-16 loss to Samoa and look like they will be underdogs in their other 3 pool matches, but all have the potential to be competitive. I hope Canada has a better showing against Italy on Saturday.

[NSDukeFan]

The upcoming Scotland - Japan game on Wednesday got a lot more exciting after this weekend's result, as did the Samoa - South Africa. US could find them in a really entertaining group. They acquitted themselves quite well in their 25-16 loss to Samoa and look like they will be underdogs in their other 3 pool matches, but all have the potential to be competitive. I hope Canada has a better showing against Italy on Saturday.

In the group of death (3 of the top 6 teams in the same bracket), Wales edged England 26-23 this week and Australia hammered the host nation to eliminate England from the quarterfinals. Australia will play Wales to see who is first and second in the pool, but both will advance to the quarters. New Zealand has also already qualified. Japan continued their impressive World Cup with a win over Samoa to keep their quarterfinal hopes alive with only their game against the US left in pool play, but they need help from Samoa against Scotland to give themselves a chance after Scotland hammered them earlier in the week. Argentina plays a big match against Tonga tomorrow with the winner likely qualifying second in New Zealand's pool. I expect Ireland to beat Italy (who Canada battled well in a close match) tomorrow before setting up a fun final pool match with France (who beat Canada relatively easily despite a very good effort by the Canadians) to determine first and second places in the pool. The U.S. Had a tough match against Scotland, losing 39-16, but get an even tougher one coming up against South Africa, who have hammered both Samoa and Scotland, after their opening upset to Japan.

[NSDukeFan]

Unfortunately, North America finished 0-8 at the tournament after Canada disappointingly lost to Romania in the final minutes after being up most of the match and U.S. lost to Japan, who have been one of the good stories of the tournament. Scotland and Samoa had an entertaining almost 50 point first half before Scotland settled down to win and advance to the next round, making the Japan U.S. match for pride.

Australia and Wales had an epic defensive match after that as they traded penalties in a tight first half, with the Aussies up 9-6. The second half was highlighted by 2 Australian players getting temporarily sent off with yellow cards to give Wales, who were already playing in their offensive end most of the time, having the 15 men vs. 13 advantage. Wales gave up a couple of chances to kick for penalty points and instead went for trys to give themselves the lead. Australia wouldn't allow it though as Wales launched wave after wave of attack without turnovers and attacking from all directions but Australia made every tackle. Wales had a 7 or 8 minute stretch at the Australian goalline without being able to score the necessary try to take the lead. Unbelievable goalline stand that highlighted why they have been the most impressive team so far after beating both England and Wales.

The next day Ireland had an impressive win over France to win their pool and get the easier matchup with Argentina, while France will have to pull off another upset of the New Zealand All Blacks in the quarterfinals if they're going to advance. France - New Zealand is today, as well as South Africa, who have looked very impressive after their opening loss to Japan, facing Wales in what I think is the best matchup of the quarterfinals. Ireland-Argentina is tomorrow as well as Australia vs. Scotland. I would expect Ireland and Australia to win those matches, but they have to do it on the pitch.

Should be a great weekend.

[NSDukeFan]

Last weekend provided an exciting quarterfinals round as expected. The game I most anticipated didn't disappoint as Wales and South Africa battled back and forth until South Africa scored a late try to seal the victory. New Zealand would not be upset by France this year as they had a record breaking 63-14 win over France as the experienced All-Blacks passed Australia for most impressive performance so far this World Cup, showing great skill at all positions. The next two matches were both surprising to me as Argentina got out to an early 17-0 lead against Argentina before Ireland fought back to within 23-20 midway through the second half, but Argentina, who I had certainly underrated, scored a couple tries at the end to put the game away at 40-20. I figured Australia would have an easy time with Scotland, based on how they had played the most impressive matches so far in beating both England and Wales to come out of the group of death. I was very wrong as Scotland played with them the whole way before they got an interception in the 72nd minute to score a late try to tie with the conversion giving them the late 2 point lead. In the 80th and last minute, there was a scramble, and a Scottish player caught the ball, as one automatically would, after it went forward and the ref ruled it was off a Scottish player and therefore a penalty. After a World Cup where replay has been used exclusively, apparently this was a non-reviewable play, unfortunately for the Scots as it was clear the ball went off an Australian player and shouldn't have been a penalty. The last play of the game, was a 3 point penalty kick for The Wallabies which was a tragedy for a deserving Scotland.

The semifinals this morning have New Zealand looking to continue its impressive play from last weekend against South Africa, who have called New Zealand the best team ever in the lead up. They wifi not be afraid as they split two matches earlier this year against them. These four Southern Hemisphere teams know each other well as they play each other home and home in the annual Rugby Championship, that I believe has only included Argentina since the last World Cup four years ago. This regular competition looks like it has benefited Argentina with their very solid win over Ireland. I would think Australia would be favoured in their semifinal tomorrow, but Argentina had the much more impressive quarterfinals match.

I am looking forward to another fun weekend, but am disappointed the Northern hemisphere was eliminated.

Go All Blacks (they are so fun to watch when they are clicking, which may not happen today against a very tough Springboks squad.)

[weezie]

Don't mess with the haka...

http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-d...aka-1445465824

[NSDukeFan]

No surprises in the first semifinal as New Zealand and South Africa played a very solid defensive game, with South Africa taking early advantage of uncharacteristic All Black penalties to hit 4 3-point kicks in the first half vs. One converted try for the All Blacks to lead 12-7 at halftime. New Zealand had a large advantage in position and possession in the first half, but whenever South Africa got across half they seemed to come away with points. Jerome Kaino also got a yellow card near the end of the first half so the All Blacks were down a man for almost 9 minutes to start the second half.
Though South Africa were very strong in the scrum, it was New Zealand's all time leading scorer Dan Carter who kicked a drop goal for the first points of the second half to bring the score within 2. It stayed that way until New Zealand brought on some subs and soon after coming on Beauden Barrett scored a great try off some great running from veteran Ma'a Nonu and a nice pass. Dan Carter kicked the conversion to put the All Blacks in front 17-12. While South Africa then had a man off for a yellow card, they still managed to get a penalty to bring the score within 2. Carter quickly kicked another penalty for some breathing room, but South Africa again took advantage of their opportunities as they kicked their sixth penalty kick out of 6 chances to bring it down to a 2 point margin for the final 10 minutes. Both sides continued to defend superbly and South Africa couldn't do enough as New Zealand pinned them in their own end for a nail biting finish to claim the first berth in the finals.

Hopefully, Argentina- Australia is as exciting tomorrow.