WORLD CUP SEMI FINALS

17.10.2015
South Africa 23, Wales 19 at Twickenham (World Cup, Quarter Final 1)
New Zealand 62, France 13 in Cardiff (World Cup, Quarter Final 2)

Briefly
South Africa scored a brilliant try just before the end of the game to end Wales’ hopes of progressing towards the semi-finals. In a fast and ferocious game the result could have gone either way

AMAZING

That has to be said about the way the All Blacks totally dismantled a dispirited and outclassed French side. The result almost certainly ended the coaching career of Philipe Saint-Andre. This performance has certainly placed the All Blacks back in the favourite position to progress further when they take on South Africa next weekend.

RUGBY WORLD CUP: France v New Zealand Quarter Final 2

17.10.2015

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

Venue: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

Preview
This is the game. There was always going to be the possibility that New Zealand and France would clash at this stage of the finals. There is such a long history between these two teams at World Cup finals.

France’s lead up to this game has not been impressive. A loss to Ireland in the final pool game has fuelled speculation of a rift within the French camp. This may well be so. But don’t let it put you off. France has the ability to turn this game on its head despite what has gone on before.

New Zealand has also not been that impressive but the teams own standards. There has been a lack of cohesion, too many errors and we saw Tonga hold and then push the All Black scrum off the ball! New Zealand rugby fans are concerned.

The time has come for the All Blacks to put it all together for the rest of the tournament or they could be packing bags for home tomorrow night.I expect they will win comfortably, out lasting the French in the second half.

Last Five Encounters
09.11.2013 New Zealand 26-19 in Paris
22.06.2013 New Zealand 24-9 in New Plymouth
15.06.2013 New Zealand 30-0 in Christchurch
08.06.2013 New Zealand 23-13 in Auckland
23.10.2011 New Zealand 8-7 in Auckland (World Cup, Final)

France last defeated New Zealand in 2009, the first test in Dunedin.

Previous World Cups
23.10.2011 New Zealand 8-7 in Auckland (Final)
24.09.2011 New Zealand 37-17 in Auckland (Pool A)
06.10.2007 France 20-18 in Cardiff (Quarter final)
31.10.1999 France 43-31 in Twickenham (Semi Final)
20.06.1987 New Zealand 29-9 (Final)

There is a wonderful history between these two teams at World Cups. Start with the final of the first tournament in 1987, the French comeback in 1999, France’s quarter final win in 2007 and that 1 point win to New Zealand in 2011.

France last Five P 5, W 4, L 1
11.10.2015 v Ireland L 9-24 in Cardiff (World Cup, Pool D)
01.10.2015 v Canada W 41-18 in Milton Keynes (World Cup, Pool D)
23.09.2015 v Romania W 38-11 in London (World Cup, Pool D)
19.09.2015 v Italy W 32-10 at Twickenham (World Cup, Pool D)
05.09.2015 v Scotland W 19-15 in Paris (World Cup warm Up)

New Zealand Last Five P 5, W 5
09.10.2015 v Tonga W 47-9 in Newcastle (World Cup, Pool C)
02.10.2015 v Georgia W 43-10 in Cardiff (World Cup, Pool C)
24.09.2015 v Namibia W 58-14 in London (World Cup, Pool C)
20.09.2015 v Argentina W 26-16 in London (World Cup, Pool C)
15.08.2015 v Australia W 41-13 in Auckland (Bledisloe Cup)

GWC Rankings
World Table: France 5th, New Zealand 6th

World Rugby Ranking Points
New Zealand 92.89, France 79.77

Prediction: Not this time! New Zealand comfortably, by 19. Score 33-14

TEAMS

France
15 Scott Spedding, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Alexandre Dumoulin, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Brice Dulin, 10 Frédéric Michalak, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Bernard le Roux, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (Capt.), 5 Yoann Maestri,
4 Pascal Papé, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Eddy Ben Arous
Replacements
16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Nicolas Mas, 19 Damien Chouly, 20 Yannick Nyanga, 21 Rory Kockott, 22 Rémi Talès, 23 Mathieu Bastareaud
Head Coach: Bernard Saint-André

New Zealand
15 Benjamin Smith, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (Capt.), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick,
3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements
16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Joseph Moody, 18 Charles Faumuina, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Samuel Cane, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Sonny Bill Williams.
Head Coach: Steve Hansen

RUGBY WORLD CUP

I am at a antique fair in Latrobe, Tasmania this weekend. I’m not sure how much time I will have to cover these games.

17.10.2015
South Africa v Wales at Twickenham (World Cup, Quarter Final 1)
New Zealand v France in Cardiff (World Cup, Quarter Final 2)

Here are my predictions
Wales by 2 over South Africa. Score 24-22
New Zealand by 19 over France. Score 33-14

RUGBY WORLD CUP: Quarter Finalists Confirmed

17.10.2015
South Africa v Wales at Twickenham (World Cup, Quarter Final 1)
New Zealand v France in Cardiff (World Cup, Quarter Final 2)

18.10.2015
Ireland v Argentina in Cardiff (World Cup, Quarter Final 3)
Australia v Scotland at Twickenham (World Cup, Quarter Final 4)

Briefly
Here they are. Now we are down to the real business end of the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The eight quarter finalists are listed above.

RUGBY WORLD CUP

11.10.2015
Japan 28, United States 18 in Gloucester (World Cup, Pool B)
Argentina 64, Namibia 19 in Leicester (World Cup, Pool C)
Italy 32, Romania 22 in Exeter (World Cup, Pool D)
Ireland 24, France 9 in Cardiff (World Cup, Pool D)

Reviews
Ireland placed themselves at the top of Pool D after defeating France 24-9 in Cardiff. There concern though is for a trio of injured players who may not be fit enough to play in next weekends quarter final match against Argentina. Coach Schmidt may have to find four replacements for injured players Peter O'Mahony, Paul O'Connell and Jonathan Sexton.

France will rue their lost opportunities on attack and will face a real battle against old foes New Zealand next weekend.

In other results Italy eventually defeated Romania but not without the Eastern Europeans putting up a great fight. Argentina overwhelmed a tired Namibia whilst Japan finished their Rugby World Cup tournament with a win but not enough to secure a quarter final place.

RUGBY WORLD CUP: Sunday’s Fixtures 11 October

United States v Japan in Gloucester (World Cup, Pool B)
Argentina v Namibia in Leicester (World Cup, Pool C)
Italy v Romania in Exeter (World Cup, Pool D)
France v Ireland in Cardiff (World Cup, Pool D)

Briefly
The USA v Japan game is for pride only. Because Scotland defeated Samoa Japan did not reach the quarter finals. But they can be proud of their achievement in gaining automatic qualification to the 2019..hang on! They automatically qualified as they will be the host nation.

Pool C has also been sorted so the Argentina-Namibia game has no bearing.

The action is in Pool D. Ireland and France clash to see who tops this pool and has an easier ride to the semi-finals. Romania and Italy clash for third place. Romania will desperate to win this game, qualify for 2019 and push the claim that Romania and Georgia should be included into the 6 Nations tournament.

There is a lot to play for tomorrow.

Predictions
Japan to win by 14 points. Score 27-13
Argentina to win by 31 points. Score 42-11
Ireland to win by 8 points. Score 21-13
Italy to win by 9 points. Score 24-15

RUGBY WORLD CUP: Thursday 1 October

01.10.2015
Wales 23, Fiji 13 in Cardiff (World Cup, Pool A)
France 41, Canada 18 in Milton Keynes (World Cup, Pool D)

Briefly
Fiji and Wales put on a very entertaining game in Cardiff before Wales finally won 23-13. Fiji’s scrum often pushed the Welsh back at scrum time but they were unable to finish off some exciting free flowing moves. Wales’ defence was very good.

France overcame a very determined and spirited Canadian side in another very entertaining game.

POOL A

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	TF	TA	BP	PT
WALES	3	3	0	0	105	47	58	11	2	1	13
ENGLAND	2	1	0	1	60	39	21	5	2	2	6
AUSTRALIA	2	2	0	0	93	16	77	14	1	1	9
FIJI	3	0	0	3	37	86	-49	3	9	0	0
URUGUAY	2	0	0	2	12	119	-107	0	19	0	0

Coming Up
03/10: England v Australia
06/10: Fiji v Uruguay

POOL D

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	TF	TA	BP	PT
IRELAND	2	2	0	0	94	17	77	13	2	2	10
FRANCE	3	3	0	0	111	40	71	12	4	1	14
ITALY	2	1	0	1	33	50	-17	1	2	0	4
CANADA	3	0	0	3	36	114	-71	3	12	1	1
ROMANIA	2	0	0	2	21	82	-61	1	5	0	0

Coming Up
04/10: Ireland v Italy
06/10: Canada v Romania

RUGBY WORLD CUP: France v Canada Pool D

France v Canada in Milton Keynes (World Cup, Pool D)

Referee: JP Doyle (England)

Preview
France needs a bonus point win to ensure a place in the quarter finals. They should get that against Canada. For France Rémy Grosso makes his test debut on the wing after coming into the squad replacing the injured Yoann Huget.

Canada will be struggling to keep up with the pace of the French although they performed well against Italy.

Prediction: France by 28 points. Score 46-18

TEAMS

France
15 Scott Spedding, 14 Rémy Grosso, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Brice Dulin, 10 Frédéric Michalak, 9 Sebastien Tillous-Borde,
8 Damien Chouly, 7 Bernard Le Roux, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (Capt.), 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Pascal Pape, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Eddy Ben Arous.
Replacements
16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Nicolas Mas, 19 Yannick Nyanga, 20 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Remi Tales, 23 Alexandre Dumoulin.
Head Coach: Philippe Saint André

Canada
15 Matthew Evans, 14 Philip Mackenzie, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Nicholas Blevins, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Nathan Hirayama, 9 Philip Mack, 8 Tyler Ardron (Capt.), 7 Richard Thorpe, 6 Kyle Gilmour, 5 James Cudmore, 4 Brett Beukeboom, 3 Douglas Wooldridge, 2 Aaron Carpenter, 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements
16 Raymond Barkwill, 17 Djustice Sears-Duru, 18 Andrew Tiedemann, 19 Evan Olmstead, 20 Nanyak Dala, 21 Gordon McRorie, 22 Harry Jones, 23 Conor Trainor.
Head Coach; Kieren Crowley

RUGBY WORLD CUP: Thursday 23 September

23.09.2015
Australia 28, Fiji 13 in Cardiff (World Cup, Pool A)
Scotland 45, Japan 10 in Gloucester (World Cup, Pool B)
France 38, Romania 11 in London (World Cup, Pool D)

Briefly
Australia’s first outing at this Rugby World Cup met with a win but not without many anxious moments. Fiji were very competitive right to the end and exposed weaknesses early on at scrum time and in the lineout throughout the game. Australia failed to gain a bonus point in the win a factor that could be telling later.

Japan’s fairy tale entry into the World Cup came to an abrupt end when Scotland, playing their first game in this tournament, dominated at the game progressed. Japan showed glimpses of the form, speed and skill they showed against South Africa, but another hard game four days after their first was too much to ask.

France stuttered and stumbled their way to a win over Romania and were made to fight hard throughout the game.

POOL A

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	TF	TA	BP	PT
WALES	1	1	0	0	54	9	45	8	0	1	5
ENGLAND	1	1	0	0	35	11	24	4	1	1	5
AUSTRALIA	1	1	0	0	28	13	15	3	1	0	4
FIJI	2	0	0	2	24	63	-39	2	7	0	0
URUGUAY	1	0	0	1	9	54	-45	0	8	0	0

POOL B

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	TF	TA	BP	PT
SCOTLAND	1	1	0	0	45	10	35	5	1	1	5
SAMOA	1	1	0	0	25	16	9	2	2	0	4
JAPAN	2	1	0	1	44	77	-33	3	4	0	4
SOUTH AFRICA	1	0	0	1	32	34	-2	4	3	2	2
UNITED STATES	1	0	0	1	16	25	-9	2	2	0	0

POOL D

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	TF	TA	BP	PT
FRANCE	2	2	0	0	70	22	48	7	2	1	9
IRELAND	1	1	0	0	50	7	43	7	1	1	5
ITALY	1	0	0	1	10	32	-22	1	2	0	0
CANADA	1	0	0	1	7	50	-43	1	7	0	0
ROMANIA	1	0	0	1	11	38	-27	1	5	0	0

Stats from www.rugbyinternational.net