RUGBY WORLD CUP: New Zealand into the Final

16.10.2011
New Zealand 20, Australia 6 in Auckland (World Cup, Semi Final 2)

Briefly
New Zealand booked a finals berth next weekend with a convincing 20-6 win over Australia. They will play France on Sunday evening. Australia will now play Wales for 3rd-4th next Friday night.

RUGBY WORLD CUP: Australia v New Zealand, Second Semi-Final

16.10.2011
Australia v New Zealand in Auckland (World Cup, 2nd Semi-Final)

Venue: Eden Park

Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Preview
Here we are at Eden park and the match of the tournament is about to take place. All the matches of the last eight have been, for me, exciting affairs. Nail biting even.

New Zealand, like so many Rugby World Cup tournaments previously, had eased their way through pool play only to fall when the real pressure hit. The Kiwis have a very shaky place in the history Rugby World Cup finals since winning the trophy in 1987. They lost a final in 1995, were swept out by the French in 1999 and 2007 at the quarter finals stage. Australia has a habit of dumping New Zealand out of World Cups at the semi-final stage. They did this in 1991 and 2003.

The pressure on New Zealand as hosts has been immense. For your average New Zealand rugby fan losing out on the Rugby World Cup title as tantamount to an unforgivable crime. This year is the year to make amends.

Then the unthinkable happened. New Zealand lost their star player Daniel Carter. The nation stopped! Then quickly moved on to the thought that, ‘One player doesn’t make a team. Everybody needs to step up a level of their play to compensate.’ (Well that was my thought). Against a tough Argentina team last weekend New Zealand by and large did step up. Slade and Cruden filled the gap capably if not brilliantly.

Then New Zealanders had to face the fact that captain fantastic Richie McCaw was not at his best. He was playing with an injured foot that has plagued him throughout this World Cup. Not catastrophic but significant enough for a reserve playing to slot down on the side of training scrums. The tension was becoming unbearable.

 
Can Richie McCaw lead New Zealand to
a place in the finals?

Australia has not been without its problems. The display against South Africa, whilst gutsy, saw what is generally considered a lucky result. South Africa dominated every area except the tackle count and the scoreboard. Such is life at the cutting edge of a World Cup. Then Australia suffered injury to Kurtley Beale just days ago.

I feel New Zealand has the edge over Australia for this match. They are the only team at the quarter finals stage who finished off opportunities and scored tries once they’d broken down the defence. New Zealand has a remarkable history against Australia on this ground and they will be playing with a huge fan support in the crowd.

Australia has an exciting set of backs. They have one of the best No.7’s in Pocock and on their day a pack that can hold its own.

If New Zealand can control the set pieces, be patient and snuff out the expected back attacks they should win comfortably.

A word of warning. I did say ages ago I expected Australia to be one of the teams in the final. My summary of them is not been so favourable of late. As a Kiwi I hope that prediction doesn’t come back to bite me!

Last Five Encounters
27.08.2011 Australia 25-20 in Brisbane (Bledisloe Cup; Tri Nations)
06.08.2011 New Zealand 30-14 in Auckland (Bledisloe Cup; Tri Nations)
30.10.2010 Australia 26-24 in Hong Kong (Bledisloe Cup)
11.09.2010 New Zealand 23-22 in Sydney (Tri Nations; Bledisloe Cup)
07.06.2010 New Zealand 20-10 in Christchurch (Tri Nations; Bledisloe Cup)

It has been 25 years since Australia won a test match at Eden Park.

New Zealand This World Cup (Pool A)
09.09.2011 v Tonga W 41-10 in Auckland
16.09.2011 v Japan W 83-7 in Hamilton
24.09.2011 v France W 37-17 in Auckland
02.10.2011 v Canada W 79-15 in Wellington
09.10.2011 v Argentina W 33-10 in Auckland (QF)

Australia This World Cup (Pool C)
11.09.2011 v Italy W 32-6 in Albany
17.09.2011 v Ireland L 6-15 in Auckland
23.09.2011 v USA W 67-5 in Wellington
01.10.2011 v Russia W 68-22 in Nelson
09.10.2011 v South Africa W 11-9 in Wellington (QF)

GWC Rugby Rankings
World Table-Australia 1st, New Zealand 6th
Oceania Table-Australia 1st, New Zealand 2nd

IRB Ranking Points
New Zealand 90.92, Australia 87. 21

Prediction: New Zealand by 9 points

Teams

Australia
15 Kurtley Beale, 14 James O'Connor, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Patrick McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 William Genia, 8 Radike Samo, 7 David Pocock,
6 Rocky Elsom, 5 James Horwill, Capt. 4 Daniel Vickerman, 3 Benjamon Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Sekope Kepu.
Replacements
16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 James Slipper, 18 Robert Simmons, 19 Benjamin McCalman, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Berrick Barnes, 22 Anthony Faingaa.
Head Coach: Robbie Deans

New Zealand
15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Richard Kahui, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw, Capt. 6 Jerome Kaino,
5 Bradley Thorn, 4 Samuel Whitelock, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements
16 Andrew Hore, 17 Benjamin Franks, 18 Alistair Williams, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Andrew Ellis, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Sonny Bill Williams.
Head Coach: Graham Henry

TEST RUGBY RESULTS: Friday 14 and Saturday 15 October

15.10.2011
France 9, Wales 8 in Auckland (World Cup, Semi-Final 1)
Poland 20, Czech Republic 13 in Nowy Sacz (ENC 1B)
Denmark 28, Norway 5 in Odense (ENC 2C; Viking Tri Nations)
Bosnia Herzegovina 48, Slovakia 15 in Bratislava (ENC 3)

14.10.2011
Rwanda 28, Burundi 3 in Kigali (CAR Division 2, South, Final)

Scroll down for match reviews

RUGBY WORLD CUP: France Into The Final

15.10.2011
France 9, Wales 8 in Auckland (World Cup, Semi Final 1)

Briefly
It was a dangerous tackle that made Alain Rolland go for the red card. Simple as that. Despite a magnificent performance with 14 men, Wales just couldn’t breach the French defence often enough to score the vital try. They nearly got there with a long range penalty by Leigh Halfpenny. The ball just dipped under the crossbar. Oh dear! How close was that!

It wasn’t a game of free flowing rugby but it was close, exciting and the best team on the park nearly got there.

Congratulations to France. They did what Australia did last weekend. They tackled the Welsh out of the game.

Many are saying it is a foregone conclusion that New Zealand will meet France in the final. New Zealand still have to outplay Australia tomorrow. That is not a certainty.

RUGBY WORLD CUP: First Semi-Final

15.10.2011
Wales v France in Auckland (World Cup, Semi-Final 1)

Venue: Eden Park

Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

Preview
Can France reproduce the passion, the power and the skill that saw them outplay England 19-12 last weekend? Can Wales build on the flare, the skill and the passion they showed against Ireland? We will have to see after 80 minutes of what I’m predicting will be a fast, furious and fascinating Semi-Final.

Wales seem to me to be the more consistent, balanced side. France had a memorable win over England but can they reproduce that form? This team has shown they can be very much up and down under the present coach.

Last Five Encounters
19.03.2011 France 28-9 in Paris (6 Nations)
26.02.2010 France 26-20 in Cardiff (6 Nations)
27.02.2009 France 21-16 in Paris (6 Nations)
15.03.2008 Wales 29-12 in Cardiff (6 Nations)
26.08.2007 France 34-7 in Paris (6 Nations)

Wales This World Cup (Pool D)
11.09.2011 v South Africa L 16-17 in Wellington
18.09.2011 v Samoa W 17-10 in Hamilton
26.09.2011 v Namibia W 81-7 in New Plymouth
02.10.2011 v Fiji W 66-0 in Hamilton
08.10.2011 v Ireland W 22-10 in Wellington (WCQF)

France This World Cup (Pool A)
10.09.2011 v Japan W 47-21 in Albany
18.09.2011 v Canada W 46-19 in Napier
24.09.2011 v New Zealand L 17-37 in Auckland
01.10.2011 v Tonga L 14-19 in Wellington
08.10.2011 v England W 19-12 (WCQF)

GWC Rugby Rankings
World Table-Wales 3rd, France 7th
Europe Table-France 1st, Wales 4th

IRB Ranking Points
Wales 83.21, France 82.68

Prediction: Wales by 3 points

Teams

Wales
15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 James Roberts, 11 Shane Williams, 10 James Hook, 9 Michael Phillips, 8 Tobias Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton, Capt. 6 Daniel Lydiate, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements
16 Lloyd Burns, 17 Paul James, 18 Bradley Davies, 19 Ryan Jones, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 Stephen Jones, 22 Scott Williams.
Head Coach: Warren Gatland

France
15 Maxime Médard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Morgan Parra, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir, Capt. 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Pascal Papé, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements
16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Fabien Barcella, 18 Julien Pierre, 19 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 20 Francois Trinh-Duc, 21 Jean-Marc Doussain, 22 Cedric Heymans.
Head Coach: Marc Lievremont