RWC 2019

[Ruckedtobits]

NZ will not want to meet Ireland in Q/F and will assume they will win their Group. Their games in the Championship are a preparation for the RWC and nothing else. Hanson will not have any concern about the result if the game gives him information about his selections of players 20 to 31 in his RWC Squad.

His players will be trying to win because that's what they do and in Super Rugby they've been beating S.A. teams regularly and don't see why that should stop.

I feel sorry for Cheiks. He is fighting against the tide of public opinion in Australian where the punters have voted with their feet and ignored Rugby Union for NRL and Aussie Rules. I think he will get them better for the RWC and so long as they respect Fiji, they will be dangerous opponents in a Q/F.

As in previous comments, Argentina are the team that could take important scalps in the RWC. France and England cannot be looking forward to that Pool.

[Twist]

SA, Japan and Scotland all look far better now than when the draw was made.


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[cormac]

This is a truly awful game between Australia and Argentina

[Dave Cahill]

This is a truly awful game between Australia and Argentina

Very poor stuff. No shape to either team

[dropkick]

Retallick has a dislocated shoulder. Big blow for NZ.


SA look well managed and great defensively. You'd expect that with Rassie. Like his time with Munster, they tend to kick everything.

[johng]

Better than a broken collar bone.

Not what we would have wanted. Boks drawing in Wellington ahead of WC

[Ruckedtobits]

Retallick has a dislocated shoulder. Big blow for NZ.


SA look well managed and great defensively. You'd expect that with Rassie. Like his time with Munster, they tend to kick everything.

The 'clear-out' that injured Retallick was absolutely brutal. Probably legit line of entry, as Retallick tries for a steal, but Snyman (?) lined him up from 10m away and targeted the shoulder joint and upper body and went right through at full pace - with an arm loosely associated with the hit.

It was far from a starting 15 for NZ but the game was intense in the tradition of Boks v NZ encounters. Certainly, the Boks have improved and Kolby showed some of his Toulouse skill-set when attacking.

[Hippo]

I've been very impressed with SA so far, they're a squad transformed from a couple of years ago and are playing with real belief.

Re Retallick, those clear-outs are becoming a serious issue, players are regularly turning themselves into projectiles in order to inflict injury.

[Morf]

Better than a broken collar bone.

Not what we would have wanted. Boks drawing in Wellington ahead of WC

It definitely isn't.

Bones heal quite well. Joint once they dislocate are never the same. Ligaments and tendons are stretched and struggle to get to the same tension without surgery.

BOD 2005 as example.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

It looked to me like Retallick broke his arm too, and not sure how he would have avoided doing so given the way his arm was bent inwards by the hit.

It's early days in their season and there was a small bit of experimentation in the selection but it doesn't look like NZ have rectified any of the issues they had last year. Not sure why the commentators praised Frizell and SBW, thought they were very average (apart from the pass from SBW to set up the try although it was terrible defence too), so looks like they're still going to have an issue at 6 and still lack a big physical presence in midfield. Barrett's kicking is still an issue, Read still looks old and out of sorts, and Ben Smith is the same. SA were good, even when they were being dominated in the second half their defence never looked overly stretched and they had the confidence to go for important steals even when the ref had started pinging them. Mentally they're very strong to do that kind of thing and I thought the same when they needed scores late on against France and managed to stay composed and score with the last play despite having a couple of scores chalked off just before that. Some of their back play was sloppy but a lot of that was down to Le Roux who's usually a super footballer but just hadn't played in ages, but apart from that and the dreadful defence by the winger for the try they were really good.

I'm kind of in shock at how bad the other game was. Not sure I've ever seen so many knock ons in a game where the conditions were so good. You'd think there'd be obvious structures in place in the lead up to a World Cup but both sides (especially Oz) were so erratic. To be fair to Argentina, some of their offloading and support play/lines were excellent but they seemed to blow every opportunity they created. Maybe the travel affected both sides but it's hardly a new thing for Australia to look all over the place and now they don't have Folau (and rarely Pocock) to paper over the cracks. I know they won yesterday but I can only see them getting worse. One or two injuries could really destroy them.

[Ruckedtobits]

The debate in Ireland about Sexton v Carbery is put into perspective by the equivalent discussion in NZ about Barrett and Mo'unga. The latter has played a central role in the Crusaders successful season and looked like he had made himself an inevitable choice for Hansen. But yesterday proved that international rugby is a step up in level and the pressure from the S African defence, back-row and mid-field, proved too much for Mo'unga to unleash the NZ backline.

As SA are the key opponents in their Pool in RWC2019, it's seems inevitable that Hansen is going to have to pick Barrett, and try to improve his penalty kicking performance. Certainly Rassie will be the happier coach after yesterday and he left more 'calling cards' than Hansen yesterday.

For Joe Schmidt, yesterday was not good news. S Africa are improving. NZ have depth in their front-five, whatever weaknesses they may have displayed elsewhere.. Japan and Samoa picked up good wins which will build their confidence.

From here on, for the next 3 months, the picture will change by the week. Injuries and performances will change the perspective and the challenges ahead. Timing the build up is part science and part feel and we do not have a great history of getting it right for RWC competitions.

The clock is ticking and the temperature rising.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Faletau out of the World Cup.

I'll never forget him playing in Donnybrook in a pre season game after the Lions tour, really feels like he's been flogged over the years.

[cormac]

Faletau out of the World Cup.

I'll never forget him playing in Donnybrook in a pre season game after the Lions tour, really feels like he's been flogged over the years.

A real shame for him but it seems like he's barely played since that Lions tour.

[Morf]

It was the name change that done him in. The ol' swticheroo

Toby is chilling out on a beach in Tonga while Taulupe sits in the physio room in Bath.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

[neill_m]

Samoa 25-17 Tonga
Japan 34-21 Fiji
USA 47-19 Canada
USA 13-10 Samoa (in Fiji)
Fiji 38-13 Canada
Japan 41-7 Tonga

In Rounds 1 & 2 of the PNC so far.

Final round of games:

Fri Aug 9 4am Tonga v Canada
Sat Aug 10 5:35am USA v Japan (in Fiji)
Sat Aug 10 8:15am Fiji v Samoa

All PNC games on World Rugby Youtube Channel.

USA and Japan 2/2 so far so whoever wins their game is the Champion. Fiji and Samoa 1/2 so far and Tonga and Canada 0/2 so far.

[neill_m]

Tonga 33-23 Canada this morning in PNC. Tonga finish 5th 1/3 and Canada last 0/3.

[neill_m]

Japan 34-20 USA and Fiji 10-3 Samoa. Japan champions with max 15 points then Fiji 9, USA 9, Samoa 5, Tonga 5, Canada 1.

[Ruckedtobits]

Japan 34-20 USA and Fiji 10-3 Samoa. Japan champions with max 15 points then Fiji 9, USA 9, Samoa 5, Tonga 5, Canada 1.

Thanks @neill_m for updates on fixtures and results. Much appreciated.

[cormac]

Gareth Anscombe out of the RWC after suffering an ACL tear in the defeat to England yesterday. Bad news for the Ospreys too as he's presumably unlikely to feature much for them this season either.