Argentina is the only Rugby World Cup semi finalist to have never hosted a Rugby World Cup.
By 2023 Europe will have hosted four Rugby World Cup´s, Oceania three, Africa one, Asia one and the Americas zero.
On Saturday in Lisbon, Portugal Canada went head-to-head with the 10th best European test side, Portugal. Canada entered the match below full strength as coach Kieran Crowley showed good will to European clubs in releasing some first choice players in an effort to obtain their services when need be ahead of Rugby World Cup 2011. Portugal fielded a strong team and were coming off a win by Rugby World Cup 2011 qualifiers and Africa's second best team for more than a decade, Namibia. Canada, in contrast, were coming off a loss to Georgia in Tblissi in which the North Americans traditional strength in the forwards was taken away from them as the emerging power from the former Soviet Union showed just how good they really are.
Portugal vs Canada was therefore a unique chance for both sides with both wanting no less than a win. The continued growth of global rugby was on show again as 8,000 Portuguese fans attended the match at the Universidade de Lisboa. The Canadians got off to a good start with scrumhalf Sean White picking up and diving over to score an early try. Fullback, James Prichard who went on to score 18 points, was successful with his conversion attempt which gave Canada a 7-0 lead after only 4 minutes. Canada found themselves leading 12-0 shortly afterwards as Pritchard ran down the touchline to score an unconverted try. The Portuguese Lobos (Wolves) responded with flyhalf Joe Gardner doing well to clean up a lineout before breaking the line and linking with fullback Antonio Aguilar who put the homeside on the board. With Gardner's conversion scores were 12-7 to Canada. Portugal took the lead in the 27th minute as Portugal scored a great try to winger Gonçalo Foro which Gardner converted. It was not for lon however as Pritchard slotted a penalty to close give Canada a 15-14 halftime lead.
In the second half, Portugal played positive rattacking rugby but Canada's defence proved strong and was able to hold off Portuguese raids. Gardner put Portugal in front with a penalty goal but shortly thereafter, Pritchard scored his second try, also unconverted which put Canada ahead 20-17. Portugal fought back with Gardner's boot continuing to influence the match as scores were tied 20-20. Pritchard responded with a penalty to put Canada ahead by three points before Canada were forced to defend for their lives as Portugal had a five metre scrum on Canada's try line. The North Americans were able to hold off the Portuguese and in doing so win 23-20 to make it three victories out of four in what has been a highly successful month of international rugby for Canada.
Ireland won yesterdays international match between Ireland and Los Pumas in Dublin after scoring two tries - one in each half. However, questionable refereeing from South Africa´s Mark Lawrence prevented what was surely a penalty try against Ireland in the first 10 minutes of play. Instead he awarded a scrum to Ireland. The greatest Irish hooker of all time, Keith Wood, said it should have indeed been a penalty try to Argentina. His refereeing at scrumtime appeared to go against the laws of rugby as the game continued but the loss can certainly not be contributed to the refereeing. Felipe Contepomi missed four penalty goals and Marcelo Bosch failed in a drop goal attemped. These 22 missed points could have changes the shape of the match entirely.
Ireland, however, were the better side playing a better match and, unlike Argentina, looked to play running rugby with teh world best centre pairing of Brian O´Driscoll and Gordon D´Arcy targeting larger forwards and Jamie Heaslip and Stephen Ferris running at the smaller backs. Argentina were pretty short of ideas and were seemingly following the coaches orders to keep it tight rather than use the potential attacking weapons of the backs. This worked in favor of Ireland as the hosts were not overwhelmed at scrum time or in rucks are was predicted. The missing forwards seemed to be needed in this match with Argentina not having its usual superiority around the park. The presence of Manuel Carizza, Alejandro Campos and Juan Leguizamon was eveidently lacking.
Ireland did not play well. They got a 20 point win - but an ugly win. Better kicking from Contepomi would have changed the match entirely. Jonathan Sexton proved to be a decieve player in kicking 17 points but he was unable to be creative and Ireland went through large patches of playing closed rugby. Their first try was scored by Ferris who combined with Heaslip who attracted two defenders before offloading to Ferris to score in the nineteenth minute. Argentina scored their first points in the 31st minute through a Contepomi penalty which made the scores 13-3. Sexton, however slotted two more in the first half to put Ireland in a comfortable 19-3 lead. After the break Contepomi kicked two and Sexton one with Ireland leading 22-9 in the 67th minute as Argentina were playing the better rugby. The visitors, were unable to score a try however and in the final minute of play, D´Arcy chipped and chased his own kick to score a great try and give Ireland a big win.
Despite the bitter rivalry between the two teams, Irish fans failed to pack the stadium which was very surprizing. It was a very cold afternoon but, nevertheless, there were far more than a few empty seats. Should Argentina 2023 become a reality with the Rugby World Cup being hosted in the Americas for the first time ever it will mean a change in policy. Every Rugby World Cup since the second in 1991, Europe has always hosted - 1991, 1999, 2007 and will again in 2015 with England confirmed as tournament hosts. 2023 would thus be Europe´s time to host again to continue the eight year cycle. There are possible hosts in Europe with the main two being Italy and Ireland. The Irish could put a bid together which would depend on the GAA enabling their stadiums to be used for rugby matches and would possibly look to use Scorland or Wales as a co-host. Italy, on the other hand, made an official bid to host Rugby World Cup 2015 or 2019 but lost out to England and Japan. Italy has been succesfully hosting matches in different parts of the country and attracting good crowds.
Dublin has its own brand new wonderful stadium - the Aviva Stadium which was given hosting rights to all four of Ireland´s home matches this month. Yet todays match, like the three others, failed to draw spectators as countless empty seats were visible to all. The same cannot be said of matches in Buenos Aires or Argentina in general. With the Americas the only region to never have hosted Rugby's biggest tournament, 2023 appears to be not only a very good idea but unbeatable.
Romania have taken the final place at New Zealand 2011 after securing a 5 tries to 2 victory over Uruguay today in front of a fullhouse crowd at the Stadionul National Arcul de Triumf in Bucharest. The two teams entered on level terms after drawing thefirst clash in Montevideo two weeks ago. Romania were the better side from the get go shoing their dominance in leading by an impressive 21-0 at half time. Uruguay, like they have done in their tests over the past year, left their best until the second half but this time around were not able to catch the Europeans and were eliminated from qualification for New Zealand 2011 by a scoreline of 39-12.
Congratulations to Romania and good luck in New Zealand 2011. In qualifying, the Oaks will continue their tradition of participating at every Rugby World Cup so far. Aside from the Six Nations they are the only European country to ahve been to every Rugby World Cup. They will be in a very tough group with matches against Argentina, England, Georgia and Scotland. Realistically the clash vs Georgia is the only they certainly have the forwards to match it with anybody.
Despite failing to qualify it is clear that Uruguay were given a far more difficult path than African and European countries. Uruguay, despite winning the South American zone of qualification were not awarded automatic qualification as champions of Sul Americano. Rather, they were put into a play-off vs the United States who happen to be a far better side than the teams that Namibia defeated to qualify as Africa´s champion and Japan as Asia´s champion. Europe is gifted six spots to the Six Nations sides plus two direct qualifying places which were taken by Georgia and Russia. North America is awarded one with the runner up, which was the USA, facing the South American champion. It is a system that favors Africa and ignores the ability of Uruguay who have been to two Rugby World Cup´s and won two matches. Namibia, in contrast, have been to three Rugby World Cup´s and have never won a match and have never looked like doing so. Namibia were badly defeated today 33-20 by Spain in Madrid. Spain are not ranked in the top 10 in Europe.
Hopefully sense can prevail and Africa´s champion will face a similar task to South America´s champion. Direct qualification for Africa but not for South America is not only unfair it is nonsense with nothing in terms of history or ability to support the policy of the IRB.
Mission accompished for the USA Eagles. Or so it should have been. After 80 minutes up on the clock the USA were leading 17-12. They had done what Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Germany, Portugal, Romania, Russia and Spain and Ukraine have all failed to do - conquered Tblissi. It was the first international loss for Georgia at home in a long time. The last time the Lelos were defeated in Georgia was in 2004 by Portugal. However, the referee did not stop play and the match continued for 10 further minutes with Georgia scoring a try in the 88th minute and with the conversion won the match 19-17 as the crowd went wild.
The crowd was very loud and indeed hostile. It was a new experience for the USA Eagles who are used to playing in smaller venues and in front of far smaller crowds. Georgians showed up in large numbers to show the USA that the Lelos mean business. The Boris Paichadze National Stadium was treated to two of the worlds fastest growing teams and surely this will need to be a regular fixture. Georgia found themselves leading 6-0 early in the first half thanks to two penalties to flyhalf Lasha Malaguradze. The USA were under pressure and secondrower, Hayden Smith was yellow carded giving the hosts a massive advantage. It would be the USA who would score the games first try, however, as they fought back and were the better side in the first half with centre Paul Emerick scoring an unconverted try and a huge drop goal to flyhalf Nese Malifa to lead 8-6. The try was a result of quick thinking from scrumhalf Tim Usasz who took a quick lineout which resulted in Zee Ngwenya cutting in to beat his man before offloading to Emerick to score in the far corner.
In the second half Malaguradze narrowed the lead to two points with his third penalty before leaving the field to be replaced by France 2007 first choice flyhalf, Merab Kvirikashvili who narrowed the gap to two points with a penalty to make it 14-12 to the USA. The Eagles responded with Malifa adding a further three points to give the visitors a 17-12 lead in the 64th minute.
Georgia were camped in the USA half in the final 10 minutes and gave away mulitple penalties on attack. nevertheless, the referee allowed the match to continue until well after the 80th minute with Georgia kicking a penalty of their own for touch to set up a lineout 10 metres from the USA tryline in the 84th minute. Play continued and the USA Eagles were awarded a 5 metre scrum in front of their own try line in the 86th minute. The Lelos showed their domination at scrumtime by pushing back the Eagles scrum with Abuseridze leaping over the ball to win it as it popped out of the scrum. Their moment of glory followed with winger Lexo Gugava scoring for the Georgians to the right of the posts in the 88th minute. Georgia had won the scrum by a tighthead and as Maisuradze scored USA Eagles captain Todd Clever looked at the ground wondering how his team had lost late in the game. With the try the scores were tied at 17-17 and Kvirikashvili would not fail in converting the try to give the Lelos a famous victory that will long be remembered.
It is fitting that this Sunday will see one international match while Saturday will see countless because the sunday match is indeed a match of the ages, a classic, a love-hate rivalry, one that rugby supporters from both countries always anxiously dread and await - Ireland vs Argentina. The two teams have a well documented recent history. They have gone head to head in the previous three Rugby World Cup's with the losing team being eliminated every time. For tommorows match, the brand new Aviva Stadium in Dublin will be the host venue as the old Lansdowne Road has been transformed from a hideous dinosaur to a world class arena - one of the best anywhere in the world.
Dublin's rugby team - Leinster is one of the top two teams in Ireland alongside Munster and is indeed one of the best in Europe. Of the 34 players in Declan Kidney's squad, 13 play for Leinster. The team is strong with Irish test internationals including Gordon D'Arcy, Luke Fitzgerald, Jamie Heaslip, Rob Kearney, Brian O'Driscoll, and Johnathan Sexton. The team also boasts one Argentine player - secondrower Mariano Galarza and was the home of Pumas captain, Felipe Contepomi, from 2003-2009.
History
The rivalry is legendary with many great matches having been played between the Irish and Los Pumas. Going back to Rugby World Cup 1999 as a starting point, which is what any fair analysis should do, the record is as follows. Played: 9 matches with 5 wins to Argentina and 4 wins to Ireland. During which Argentina have scored a total of 174 points and Ireland 152. The home team has always been the winner with Ireland winning in 2002, 2004 and 2008 when all matches were played in Dublin. Similarly, Argentina won the three matches in Argentina - winning in 2000 in Buenos Aires and in 2007 in Buenos Aires and Santa Fé. The Rugby World Cup clashes have seen Argentina winning twice - 28-24 in Lens in 1999 and 30-15 in Paris in 2007 and Ireland winning 16-15 in Adelaide in 2003.
Argentina have defeated Ireland three times by scores of 11 or more points with the largest win being 16-0 in 2007 in Buenos Aires. Ireland's largest win was in 2008 at Croke Park as Ireland scored the games only try on fulltime to Tommy Bowe to win 17-3. The other two matches in Ireland saw Ireland win by scores of 16-9 in 2002 and 21-19 in 2004. The victory in 2004 was the result of a drop goal by Ronan O'Gara on fulltime in a game in which Ireland failed to score a try. In short, results suggest that since Rugby World Cup 1999 there has been little between the two sides.
Form
Ireland enter this match coming off a heavy 38-18 loss to New Zealand at home last week. Despite losing by 20 points, Ireland were in no way dominated or even outplayed. To the contrary, Ireland played very well with the difference being that the All Blacks were able to capitalize on their chances. The previous week, Ireland hosted Samoa and defeated the Pacific Islanders 20-10 in a match that Ireland expected to win by a margin twice as big or more. Before defeating Samoa, an understrength South Africa secured a 23-21 victory over Ireland in a match in which they controlled after taking a 23-9 lead in the 65th minute. However, Australia were the first team to play at Aviva Stadium this month and the Wallabies defended well and scored two tries to nil to win 22-15. Ireland have thus lost two and won one test so far this month.
In comparison, Argentina have played against Italy and France both in away fixtures and were successful in Verona vs the Italians but were defeated 15-9 in a tryless match in Montpellier vs the French. Argentina, did play an aggressive final 20 odd minutes vs France and were the superior side. Argentina were also able to control the tempo of the match throughout as the backrow was successful in slowing down play which all but prevented France from unleashing its backline. Italy also failed to score a try against Argentina. The referee did award a penalty try but the defensive line is yet to be breached. Therefore, despite some comentators suggesting otherwise, there is therefore little reason ton suggest that Ireland are likely to win by a big score. There is also little historical evidence to suggest this.
Key Matchup
The old and the new in Geordan Murphy vs Martín Rodriguez Gurruchaga will be a true test for both players with the Argentine increasingly looking like being Argentina´s next best thing. Murphy will need to work well will Andrew Trimble and Tommy Bowe to shut down the young Puma. Ireland´s star winger will be in an interesting tussle himself as Tommy Bowe vs Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino will take place for the first time ever. Bowe is a big match player with a huge reputation whilst Amorisino is newer to the international game but just as deadly in attack. Their contest will be highly important. Ireland will need their Captain fantastic to play well as Brian O´Driscoll vs GonzaloTiesi looms one which Ireland should have in the bag but Tiesi had a strong match vs France. Leinster´s new and old in Johnny Sexton vs Felipe Contepomi will be the key ballt of the back however. Both are worldclass but Contepomi continues to be the superior player. While at Leinster, the Argentine captain kept Sexton on the bench.
Mick O´Driscoll vs Patricio Albacete will be very important with the the Irish player facing a huge challenge against the best secondrower in European club rugby. The Irishman will need to be on his game or else his side may suffer in the set pieces and at rucks. Frontrow vs Frontrow will as always have alot to do with how the game unfolds. Ireland have made an interesting selection in Healy - Cronin - Buckley to take on Roncero - Ledesma - Scelzo. The Pumas should have a clear edge. However, the most important matchup will see two of the worlds leading 8´s go head-to-head in Jamie Heaslip vs Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe. Both are key players in their team and are able to lift the players around them when they play well.
Prediction
Ireland played very well vs New Zealand and Argentina played well towards the end of the match vs France. Ireland, as always, have a superb backline but look vulnerable in the forwards. Argentina were able to control the speed of the game by slowing thw ball down at rucks when the French were in possession and were also able to speed it up when Los Pumas had the ball, especially in the last 25 minutes. Conditions should benefit the visitors as it will be a cold Dublin afternoon which will not favor running rugby so much. The forecast is for a mixture of cloud and sun with showers possible. Argentina´s superiority in the forwards is enough to tip Argentina to make history in claiming its first win in Dublin. But it will be very close. Argentina to win by 3 points.
Ireland
15 Geordan Murphy (Leicester, England)
14 Tommy Bowe (Ospreys, Wales)
13 Brian O'Driscoll (Leinster, captain)
12 Gordon D'Arcy (Leinster)
11 Andrew Trimble (Ulster)
10 Johnny Sexton (Leinster)
9 Peter Stringer (Munster)
8 Jamie Heaslip (Leinster)
7 David Wallace (Munster)
6 Stephen Ferris (Ulster)
5 Mick O´Driscoll (Munster)
4 Donncha O´Callaghan (Munster)
3 Tony Buckley (Munster)
2 Sean Cronin (Connacht)
1 Cian Healy (Leinster)
Reserves: D Varley (Munster), T Court (Ulster), D Toner (Leinster), D Leamy (Munster), E Reddan (Leinster), R O'Gara (Munster), K Earls (Munster).
A true test match will take place in Lisbon on saturday as Portugal host Canada in what is to be only the third ever test between the two countries. The match is to kickoff at 3pm local time and is a great opportunity for both teams with Canada building for New Zealand 2011 and Portugal looking to return to the top of the ENC ladder in Europe after debuting at Rugby World Cup 2007 and proving to be a crowd favorite as they played well against Italy and Romania. Officially it will be Portugal ranked 21st vs Canada ranked 14th in the world. Should Canada fail to will they cuold drop as low as 18th while Portugal would move into the worlds top 20.
History
Canada won the two previous matches between the two countries. In the lead up to France 2007, Canada defeated Portugal 42-12 and then returned in November 2008 and secured a 21-13 win. The two matches suggest Canada are the better side and indeed they should be considered superior but Portugal are certainly not a weak side. Canada were defeated by Georgia last weekend but interestingly Portugal drew 20-20 with Georgia in Tblissi in February 2009. That is the only occassion that Georgia have not won at home in over five years. Portugal also defeated Romania 22-21 in Bucharest in 2009 and this year has recorded matches over Germany, Spain and most recently Namibia.
Form
Despite failing to qualify for Rugby World Cup 2011 Portugal have proven they continue to be a strong team with a strong performance in losing 22-17 to the USA Eagles two weeks ago before defeating the second highest ranked country from Africa, Namibia 24-12 last weekend. Canada are coming off a loss to Georgia and two comfortable wins vs Belgium and Spain. In other matches this year the North Americans have played very well claiming victories over Uruguay and France A. Canada have been scoring tries throughout the tour while Portugal have tended to score a lot of points via penalties. That said, Portugal did score a well worked pushover try vs the USA and played positive rugby to score tries without conceeding any vs Namibia.
Key Matchup
Vasco Uva vs Adam Kleeberger in the backrow will put two great players head to head in what is to, in general, be a great contest between two strong backrows.
Prediction
Canada have not selected its strongest XV. The Glasgow duo of DTH van der Merwe and Kevin Tkachuk, for instance, have been released to play in the Magners League - quite surprizing given the test vs Portugal falls during the IRB test window. The changed side sees more homegrown players in the team in what will be a chance for the Canadians to prepare players for Rugby World Cup 2011 in which Canada will face Tonga and France four days apart and will naturally be forced to rotate players. Portugal have retained a similar side to that which faced the USA and Namibia and will be very competitive. Canada, though, should have the edge. Canada to win by 6 points.
Portugal
1 FERNANDO FERNANDES
2 JOÃO CORREIA (c)
3 CRISTIAN SPACHUK
4 RUI D'OREY
5 GONÇALO UVA
6 VASCO UVA
7 JULIEN BARDY
8 TIAGO GIRÃO
9 JOSÉ PINTO
10 JOE GARDENER
11 ANTÓNIO AGUILAR
12 PEDRO SILVA
13 FREDERICO OLIVEIRA
14 GONÇALO FORO
15 PEDRO LEAL
RESERVES: 16 BERNARDO DUARTE, 17 JOÃO JUNIOR, 18 EDUARDO ACOSTA, 19 LAURENT BALANGUÉ, 20 PEDRO CABRAL, 21 FRANCISCO MIRA, 22 BERNARDO SILVEIRA
Canada
15 James Pritchard (Bedford Blues, England)
14 Ciaran Hearn (The Rock)
13 Phillip Mackenzie (Esher RFC, England)
12 Nick Blevins (Prairie Wolf Pack)
11 Justin Mensah-Coker (Unattached)
10 Ander Monro (Ontario Blues)
9 Sean White (BC Bears)
8 Aaron Carpenter (Plymouth Albion, England)
7 Adam Kleeberger (Auckland, New Zealand)
6 Sean Michael Stephen (Plymouth Albion, England)
5 Tyler Hotson (Plymouth Albion, England)
4 Jebb Sinclair (The Rock)
3 Andrew Tiedemann (Prairie Wolf Pack)
2 Pat Riordan (BC Bears - Captain)
1 Tom Dolezel (Prairie Wolf Pack)
Reserves: 16 Jason Marshall (BC Bears), 17 Dan Pletch (Ontario Blues), 18 Jon Phelan (The Rock), 19 Chauncey O’Toole (The Rock), 20 Connor Braid (BC Bears), 21 Jamie Mackenzie (Ontario Blues) 22 Taylor Paris (Ontario Blues)
With all of the international matches going on this weekend there is one that is head and shoulders above the rest. Only one match actually matters and it will take place in heart of the former Eastern Block - Bucharest, Romania with The Oaks vs Los Teros. Only one place remains at Rugby World Cup 2011 and it will go to the winner of this match - the Oaks of Romania or Los Teros of Uruguay. The winner will qualify as the 20th and final team and enter Pool B alongside Argentina, England, Georgia and Scotland. Whatever happens it will contribute to a first for a Rugby World Cup - either two South American teams will play each other or Romania will miss out for the first time ever.
History
The teams, despite being similar in ability have only played each other three times ever. The first match was in Bucharest in June 2008 with the hosts winning 10-6. The following year Uruguay returned again forthe IRB Nations Cup and were defeated 17-11. The other match was played two weeks ago with both temas scoring 21 points. The two narrow wins and the draw do little to suggest that Romania is the better side. Rather, this appears to be a dead even contest with either team capable of winning.
Romania are the favorites and have history on their side after having been to ever Rugby World Cup. However, they failed to capitalize on a good start in the first match in Montevideo and in the end returned to Europe after drawing the match with the South Americans. Uruguay have been to two Rugby World Cups - in 1999 and in 2003. They won a match in both tournaments which matches Romania at the same two Rugby World Cup´s and also at Rugby World Cup 2007. Romania, depiste having been to every Rugby World Cup, are in the Final Place Play-Off´s series after finishing third in Europe behind Georgia and Russia. They are, therefore not as good as former teams carrying their flag.
Prediction
Despite never having defeated Romania, Uruguay are a very strong chance of getting the job done in Bucharest. The previous matched were all played during the late spring or the summer in conditions that enabled teams to play open rugby. Despite this, Romania always played forward orienteated matches. For tommorrows match it will not be summer, it will in fact be cold and played in conditions that do not suit open rugby. Is this good or bad for Romania? It will certainly mean they will play a tight game whis the South Americans, coached by a former Puma, will be trying to continue their revolutionary style which goes against the traditional style of Uruguayan play. They will, regardless of the cold, look to use their centres and wingers. Romania will have the edge up front but the willingness to play with the ball will be an advantage to the visitors. Uruguay to win by 1 point to qualify for New Zealand 2011.
1 Bogdan Bălan (Lyon, France)
2 Marius Tincu (Perpignan, France)
3 Mihai Lazăr (Aix En Provence, France)
4 Socol Sorin (Lourdes, France)
5 Cristian Petre (Saint Etienne, France)
6 Daniel Carpo (Constanta)
7 Ovidiu Toniţa (Perpignan, France)
8 Alexandru Manta (Lyon, France)
9 Lucian Sîrbu (Millau)
10 Dan Dumbravă (Steaua)
11 Cătălin Fercu (Timisoara)
12 Ionuţ Dimofte (Baia Mare)
13 Csaba Gal (Baia Mare)
14 Nicolae Cătălin (Constanța)
15 Iulian Dumitraş (Lourdes)
Uruguay
1 Alejo Corral (San Isidro Club, Argentina)
2 Carlos Arboleya (Trébol)
3 Mario Sagario (Dax, France)
4 Diego Magno (MVCC)
5 Matias Fonseca (Los Cuervos)
6 Juan Pablo Gaminara (Old Boys)
7 Mathias Braun (PSG)
8 Santiago Vilaseca (Old Boys)
9 Manuel Martinez (Old Christian’s)
10 Matias Arocena (Old Christian’s)
11 Gaston Mieres (Lobos)
12 Juan De Freitas (Champagnat)
13 Martin Crosa (Old Boys)
14 Leandro Leivas (Old Christian’s)
15 Jeronimo Etcheverry (Carrasco Polo Club)
Reserves: 16 Juan Pedro Rombys (Trébol), 17 Pablo Lemoine (unattached), 18 Martin Espiga (Old Christian’s), 19 Nicolas Badano (Old Boys), 20 Emiliano Caffera (Champagnat), 21 Nicolas Morales (Trébol), 22 Ivo Iugonjic (PSG)
An historical match is to take place tommorrow in the capital city of former USSR republic and the nation of Soviet dictator, Josef Stalin as Georgia host the US Eagles for the first time ever. The popularity of rugby in the country is strong as Georgia has previously filled the 65,000 Boris Paichadze National Stadium inthe capital city, Tblissi which will be the setting for Georgia vs the USA tommorrow. The match will be broadcast live on the internet and can be viewed simply by clicking on the following link: http://1tv.ge/Live.aspx?LanguageID=1
History
Since France 2007 Georgia are undefeated at home with their largest win being a 77-3 crushing of Germany in February. During this time Georgia has won 80% of its international matches having played 22 matches and won 17 of them with one draw vs Portugal. The only match not against European opposition was last weekends win vs Canada. Georgia have played the USA once before - in the 2009 Churchill Cup in Denver, Colorado which the USA Eagles won 31-13 against an under strength side. The Lelos at home and at full strength will be a totally different prospect.
Form
It is to be a game of two contrasting styles. The Europeans are a side built on forward power and are famous for being able to hold their own against all opponents in the forwards. In Rugby World Cup 2007 Georgia underlined this by losing 14-10 to powerhouses Ireland in a match they very nearly won. Last weekend Georgia hosted Canada and won 22-15. Georgia were able to bully the Canadians up front and showed their superiority in the scrum which totally took the Canadians apart. Considering the Canadians have a better scrum than the United States, the Lelos will certainly target this area and look to play a tight game against the USA who will certainly have a superior backline. The Georgian front row is very formidable consisting of three players some of the best French Top 14 teams in Goderdzi Shvelidze (Montpellier), Akvsenti Giorgadze (Castres) and David Kubriashvili (Toulon).
The United States Eagles has been defeated in non-internationals this year against opposition ranging from Saracens to France A but have not lost an actual international match in over a year. Their last defeat was vs Canada in July 2009 in a Rugby World Cup Qualifier in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Since this time the USA have defeated Uruguay 27-22 and 27-6, Russia 39-22 and most recently Portugal 22-17. The strenght of the USA is clearly different to Georgia with the country´s best weapon being its back three which can rival the back three of any team in the world with Chris Wyles (Saracens), Zee Ngwenya (Biarritz) and Kevin Swiryn (Agen) all in great form for the European clubs. The frontrow of Mate Moeakiola, Phillip Thiel, and Shawn Pittman are no pushovers and will be looking to prove this vs the Lelos but there is no denying the difference in strenghts of the two teams.
Key Matchup
The general interesting matchup is Backrow vs Backrow with the better backrow surely the victorious side. Ther treal battle to influence this game, however, will be the battle of the pivots at flyhalf. Lasha Malaguradze vs Nese Malifa will be the difference between a win and a loss in a match with two teams playing vastly different rugby and with vastly different strenghts. Malaguradze is a very taletned player consideredby some as Georgia´s first worldclass back. Malifa, is a running flyhalf not known for his kicking and will have a better set of backs to work with than Malaguardze.
Prediction
A match of contrasting styles with the USA looking to all of their experience in playing Rugby Sevens and to use width. Canada showed how not to play against Georgia - do not try to take them on up front as the Lelos will not only be better in this area but they will want to be attacked here. The USA have named an attacking backline and one that could well be the starting side chosen for New Zealand 2011. In total, fourteen of the players were in the victorious side vs Georgia in 2009. Georgia have a very different side, however. The USA will prove to be too strong in the backs especially from 11-15 with a ser of superior players and a better strategy. This will be the difference as the USA will win a close game by 5 points.
1 Mate Moeakiola (Bobigny 93, France)
2 Phillip Thiel (Life University)
3 Shawn Pittman (London Welsh, England)
4 Samu Manoa (San Francisco Golden Gate)
5 Hayden Smith (Saracens, England)
6 Louis Stanfill (Mogliano, Italy)
7 Todd Clever (Suntory, Japan)
8 Inaki Basauri (L’aquila, Italy)
9 Tim Usasz (Nottingham, England)
10 Nese Malifa (Glendale)
11 Kevin Swiryn (Agen, France)
12 Andrew Suniula (Chicago Griffins)
13 Paul Emerick (Ulster, Ireland)
14 Takudzwa Ngwenya (Biarritz, France)
15 Chris Wyles (Saracens, England)
Reserves: 16 Chris Biller (San Francisco Golden Gate), 17 Mike MacDonald (Leeds Carnegie, England), 18 Scott Lavalla (Dublin University, Ireland), 19 Nic Johnson (Denver Barbarians), 20 Mike Petri (Sale Sharks, England), 21 Taivalu Enosa (Belmont Shore), 22 Seta Tuilevuka (Montpelier, France)
Argentina coach Santiago Phelan has opted for two changes in the backs and one in the forwards in Los Pumas´ starting lineup as they prepaer to take on the old enemy, the men in green - Ireland this Sunday in Dublin. It will only be the second match between the two sides since Rugby World Cup 2007. The changes see first choice winger from France 2007 and fullback from 2008-2009, Horacio Agulla, get his first start of the tour after being on the bench for the clash vs Italy but not playing at all and being left out of the side altogether that faced France. Agulla replaces Gonzalo Camacho who, despite not scoring a try in the first two matches, was a standout player and outplayed his opponent in both games. Camacho seems likely to be Argentina´s first choice right winger at New Zealand 2011. Biarritz fullback, Marcelo Bosch has been selected at inside centre in his first start since June 2008. Bosch, naturally a flyhalf has been Biarritz´s first choice fullback but continues to be seen as a 10 or 12 by Pumas staff. he replaces Santiago Fernández. Meanwhile, Julio Farías Cabello has won his first ever test start after impressing off the bench in his debut appearance for Argentina vs France in Montpellier. He replaces Miguel de Achaval who had a poor game vs France.
The three changes all show experimentation as Phelan is looking to give the players all a chance as the number of tests Argentina have between now and Rugby World Cup 2011 is very few. In positive news for Los Pumas, former test inside centre, Miguel Avramovic is returning for his French club, Agen this weekend. Secondrower, Mariano Galarza retains his place in the starting XV where he has impressed so far this month for Los Pumas. He is the only Ireland based player in the squad and will be playing in Dublin - the home of his club Leinster Rugby. Captain, Felipe Contepomi is a former Leinster player having played there for six years before moving to France last season.
Pumas captain, Felipe Contepomi has teamed up with Argentina Rugby sponsor and uniform provider, Adidas, to challenge New Zealand flyhalf Dan Carter to a kicking duel. In the days leading up to New Zealand´s 49-3 crushing of Scotland at Murrayfield, Carter and fellow All Blacks attempted to hit the crossbar from 40 metres out as shown in the first video and you can see Contepomi´s challenge in the second video. Adidas also sponsor New Zealand Rugby. The two are considered to be amongst the greatest rugby players in the world and both should be stars at next years Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. The home venue of Carter´s New Zealand teams, the Chirsthucrch based Canterbury and the Crusaders will play host to Argentina´s two key pool matches vs England and Scotland.
Unfortunately there is no sign of Rodrigo Capó Ortega in Uruguay´s squad for the winner takes all elimation match this Saturday vs Romania in Bucharest in which the winner will qualify for Rugby World Cup 2011 and the loser be forced to wait at least another four years. Capó Ortega has been absent from the team for 12 months due to an unresolved dispute between the Uruguay Rugby Union (URU) and one of Montevideo´s leading clubs - Carrasco Polo. The teams fullback however, Jeronimo Etcheverry, is back in the Los Teros squad for the match vs Romania. He, like Capó Ortega and many others has been absent all year.
Los Teros are preparing for the match in Prato, Italy utilizing facilities that their coach, former Argentina international winger Gonzalo Camardón is familiar with from his 10+ years of rugby in Italy. Without Capó Ortega the Uruguayan group consists of 24 players. His absence will certainly be important. Nonetheless, it is a very positive sign for everyone involved in Uruguayan rugby that Etcheverry is back.
Squad
1-Arboleya, Carlos (Trébol)
2-Arocena, Matias (Old Christian's)
3-Badano, Nicolas (Old Boys)
4-Benitez, Edgardo (Trébol)
5-Braun, Mathias (PSG)
6-Caffera, Emiliano (Champagnat)
7-Corral, Alejo (San Isidro Club - Argentina)
8-Crosa, Martin (Old Boys)
9-de Freitas, Juan (Champagnat)
10-Dugonjic, Ivo (PSG)
11-Espiga, Martin (Old Christian's)
12-Etcheverry, Jeronimo (Carrasco Polo Club)
13-Fonseca, Matias (Los Cuervos)
14-Gaminara, Juan Manuel (Old Boys)
15-Horta, Juan Pablo (Old Christian's)
16-Leivas, Leandro (Old Christian's)
17-Magno, Diego (MVCC)
18-Martinez, Manuel (Old Christian's)
19-Mieres, Gaston (Lobos)
20-Morales, Nicolas (Trébol)
21-Rombys, Juan Pedro (Trébol)
22-Vilaseca, Santiago (Old Boys)
23-Lemoine, Pablo (unattached)
24-Sagario, Mario (Dax - Francia)
Portugal will not be at Rugby World Cup 2011 after finishing fourth in the European zone of qualification behind Georgia, Russia and Romania. This meant they were eliminated. On Saturday they hosted the winners of the African zone, Namibia, who as winners directly qualified for Rugby World Cup 2011. Coimbra, Portugal was the setting with the home side winning 24-12, scoring two tries to zero to again point out clearly that Africa´s champion having automatic Rugby World Cup Qualification is not a reflection of ability. It was a similar story at home vs Russia in 2009 with the Europeans winning 30-15. The Africans sit in 20th in the IRB World Rankings with Uruguay 21st and Portugal 22nd. They are in this position thanks to winning the 2010 IRB Nations Cup in Romania but, importantly, won against Romania and Georgia who were both far from being at full strength.
A simple question that the IRB needs to address: If Africa recieves an automatic qualifier at Rugby World Cup´s then why doesn´t South America?
Africa has been handed an automatic qualifier in every Rugby World Cup despite the team in question never having wona match. In Rugby World Cup 1987 and 1991 Zimbabwe competed as the only African side and was winless. South Africa returned from their banned status in test rugby to host and compete in Rugby World Cup 1995 and won the tournament. Their participation was not as the only African side as Africa retained a guaranteed participant via qualification which saw Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) play in South Africa 1995 and do so without winning a match. Their participation meant that neither Fiji or the USA played as both Oceania and the Americas were only alloted two places which saw Samoa, Tonga, Argentina and Canada participating.
Rugby World Cup 1995 having room for Côte d'Ivoire but room for neither Fiji nor the USA was nothing less than a travesty. Fiji were a Quarter Finalists at Rugby World Cup 1987 and the USA had defeated Japan at the same tournament. The IRB addressed this problem by expanding in time for Rugby World Cup 1999 when 20 rather than 16 teams participated. Africa continued to have two teams with South Africa as champions not needing to qualify and Namibia advancing automatically as winners of the African zone of qualification matches. Namibia lost 20-17 to Tunisia but defeated Zimbabwe 32–26 in round three to advance to the final round which they won after defeating Côte d'Ivoire 22-10, Morocco 17-8 and Zimbabwe again, this time by 39–14.
In 1999 Uruguay also made their first appearance at a Rugby World Cup. They advanced to the final round of Americas Qualification after defeating Paraguay 43-3 and Uruguay 20-14. In the final round Argentina, Canada and the USA all advanced to Rugby World Cup 1999 and Uruguay entered repercharge. Uruguay first faced off against Portugal in two matches and won them both by scores of 46–9 and 33-24. They then faced Morocco and after winning the first match 18-3 but losing the second 21–18 they advanced to Rugby World Cup 1999 as winners on aggregate. Los Teros faced Scotland, South Africa and Spain in Pool A and started with a 27-15 win vs Spain before losing 43–12 to Scotland and 39–3 to South Africa. Namibia, at the same tournament lost 67–18 to Fiji, 47–13 to France and 72–11 to Canada to be eliminated without winning a match, unlike Uruguay.
Despite both Argentina and Uruguay winning matches, South America were not allocated an automatic qualification place for its winner. Argentina qualified automatically as Quarter Finalists from 1999 and Uruguay, after defeating Canada, Chile and the USA in qualification qualified as Americas 2 behind the Canadians. The USA entered repercharge and won their way to Australia 2003. All American teams won matches with Argentina defeating Romania and Namibia by big scores, Canada defeating Tonga, the USA defeating Japan and Uruguay defeating Georgia 24-12. Namibia, in contrast, were a failure losing all their matches: 67-14 vs Argentina, 64-7 vs Ireland, 142-0 vs Australia and 37-7 vs Romania.
Uruguay´s win compared to Namibia´s uncompetitiveness should have raised concern at the status quo but it didn´t. Seemingly, Uruguay´s two Rugby World Cup wins count for little or nothing in the eyes of the IRB. For Rugby World Cup 2007 Namibia qualified again as winners of the African zone and Uruguay finished as the second best in South America behind Argentina who had to qualify after missing out on a Quarter Final by 1 point vs Ireland in 2003. Uruguay entered repercharge vs Portugal and lost the first match 12-5 in Lisbon but won the second 18-12 in Montevideo after playing 70 minutes with 14 men. The aggregate result meant Portugal won by 1 point (24-23) and qualified for its first ever Rugby World Cup. Portugal Competed in Pool B and lost all four matches - 56-10 vs Scotland, 108-13 vs New Zealand, 31-5 vs Italy and 14-10 vs Romania. Winless, but better than Namibia vs comparable opposition in the previous Rugby World Cup.
In their third Rugby World Cup in 2007, Namibia were winless again. They were defeated 32-17 by Ireland, 87-10 by France, 63-3 by Argentina and 30-0 by Georgia. The results were slightly inferior to those of Portugal who were Rugby World Cup debutants. Namibia have again guaranteed their participation at the next Rugby World Cup after winning the African zone of qualification. Uruguay as undefeated winners of South America did not advance. Instead they faced North America 2 - the USA and came off second best. To this day South America continues to be the only continent in the world which is not given an automatic place at a Rugby World Cup for the team who wins its qualification zone. Uruguay will battle it out with Romania in Bucharest this coming saturday with the winner advancing to New Zealand 2011.
Remarkably, there has only ever been won match between Namibia and Uruguay and Uruguay won 23-12 back in 2000. More matches are obviously required but the result alongside Uruguay and Namibia´s history at Rugby World Cup´s and Portugal´s win on Saturday all suggest strongly that the IRB have got the Rugby World Cup Qualification very wrong. South America is the victim.
Both hosts France and Argentina tried to play positive rugby in todays match in Montpellier but two factors had a bigger influence on the match. 1. rain in the days leading up to the game and 2. the referee. Both teams broke the opposition line only to turn over ball due to wet conditions as knockons were a theme of the contest throughout. South African referee, Johnathan Kaplan, however, prevented the match from being what it should have been. He made some bad calls as a referee as he showed both sides and everyone watching who was in charge of the game. Argentina were penalized in the 18th minute for having a player in front of the kicker. Replays, confirmed, however that no player was in front of the kicker. Such examples continued throughout the course of the game. When will the IRB learn that matches involving France and Argentina require a French speaking referee? Players from both teams were penalized with strange looks on their faces as they were not sure what exactly the problem was.
On paper France were better in the backs and had a better backrow however they failed to dominate in these areas. Instead France had the better frontrow with their scrum impressing. Aurelien Rougerie had a memorable debut as an international centre making two clean linebreaks but his success in the backs was rare in this match. Argentina did better in the back three with the trio of Lucas González Amorisino, Gonzalo Camacho and Martín Rodriguez Gurruchaga proving to be superior to the French. With Rugby World Cup 2011 fast approaching it is fair to suggest that Los Pumas have found themselves a very dangerous back three.
French scrumhalf, Morgan Parra kicked a penalty goal after 11 minutes to put France 3-0 ahead but the scores were equalized five minutes latter with Felipe Contepomi slotting an easy penalty to even the scores. Parra kicked another in the 26th minute after France had their best attacking phase of the match as they camped on the Pumas try line but in the end France settled for a penalty. With a furth Parra penalty in the 30th minute France put themselves 6 points ahead and this is how the first half would remain.
The second half was all Argentina with the forwards opting for two or three phases pf forward play repeatedly before Vergallo released to the backs. The likes of Camacho, Rodriguez, Amorisino and Tiesi all did well at times against their larger opponents. The speed shown was a clear sign of the changes coach Sanitago Phelan has implemented following his arival in place of Marcelo Loffreda in 2008.
Los Pumas were advancing upfield into France´s 22 and were awarded a penalty in the 46th minute which Contepomi goaled. France, clearly feeling the game falling into Argentina´s hands kicked the ball long from the restart and after Rougerie did well again in combination with Yoann Huget, flyhalf Damien Traille slotted a drop goal to put France 6 points ahead again at 12-6. Both Parra and Contepomi then kicked a penalty goal each as France led 15-9 after 61 minutes as the wet conditions continued to let both teams down with simple handling errors. No further points would be scored by either side but Pumas winger, Camacho came close as he got passed the favored French speedster, Marc Andreu to race up the touchline but Parra managed to tackle him into touch.
Credit should be given to the FFR for securing the services of former Argentine prop Omar Hasan to perform his country´s national anthem.
The top European qualifier for New Zealand 2011, Georgia defeated Canada 22-15 today in Tblissi. It was Canada´s third international match in as many weeks and their first loss. The defeat ends Canada´s chances of a European Grand Slam tour but underlines the growth of Georgian rugby as a team for the future. The locals showed up in support of their team at the Boris Paichadze National Stadium. They would not be disappointed as the they hosted their highest profile match of all time as a former Rugby World Cup Quarter Finalist - Canada.Both teams are in tough groups in next years Rugby World Cup but both have opponents that they should defeat.
Canada were behind from the start of the match as they conceeded a penalty and then a penalty try to the Lelos who took a 10-0 lead. The North Americans responded, however, with Glasgow Warriors DTH van der Merwe recovering a kick and running to within 15 metres of the Georgian line before being tackled and offloading to tighthead prop Jason Marshall who scored Canada´s first try but James Pritchard´s conversion missed the mark. The tension of this match was clear and Georgia soon hit back with their second try following a well worked maul which gave the Lelos a 15-8 lead. Pritchard closed the scores at 15-8 at half time following a penalty.
The second half was a similar with the Lelos continuing to pile the presure on the Canadians. The pressure worked to their advantage as Georgia took a 22-8 lead in the final 20 minutes following a kick. Canada were the better side in the final quarter but it came too late as the home side secured an historical victory - surely the first of many international matches between the sides in Tblissi. Backrower, Aaron Carpender did manage to close the gap with a try late in the match which meant Canada would lose by seven points to the tem ranked three places below them in the IRB World Rankings.
Canada now travel to Lisbon to face Portugal next weekend while Georgia host the USA Eagles.
1. Kevin Tkachuk (Glasgow Warriors) 2. Pat Riordan (BC Bears) 3. Jason Marshall (BC Bears) 4. Josh Jackson (Stade Montois) 5. Jebb Sinclair (The Rock) 6. Chauncey O'Toole (The Rock) 7. Adam Kleeberger (Unattached) 8. Aaron Carpenter (Plymouth Albion) 9. Sean White (BC Bears) 10. Connor Braid (BC Bears) 11. James Pritchard (Bedford Blues) 12. Phillip Mackenzie (Esher RFC) 13. DTH van der Merwe (Glasgow Warriors) 14. Justin Mensah-Coker (Unattached) 15. Ciaran Hearn(The Rock)
Replacements: 16. Tom Dolezel (Prairie Wolf Pack) 17. Andrew Tiedemann (Prairie Wolf Pack) 18. Jon Phelan (The Rock) 19. Tyler Hotson (Plymouth Albion) 20. Sean Michael Stephen (Plymouth Albion) 21. Jamie Mackenzie (Ontario Blues) 22. Nick Blevins (Prairie Wolf Pack)
Tommorrow history will be made in Tblissi, Georgia when the former Soviet Republic hosts Canada for the first time ever in a match putting the top Rugby World Cup qualifying teams from Europe and The Americas head-to-head in what will be a very competitive game of rugby between number 14 and 17 in the world at present. It is to take place at the national stadium in Tblissi which hosts 60,000 people and looks like attracting thousands of people for this match. Going off internet sources there is indeed a buzz in the country with a strong crowd expected. The match can be watched live on line on the following source: http://1tv.ge/Live.aspx?LanguageID=1
Following Canada´s big win in Madrid vs Spain last weekend, coach Kieran Crowley has opted for some changes as his side lines up the toughest match of their four test European tour. Georgia are famous for their forward power. Teams unable to defeat the Georgians upfront often have difficulties in winning regardless of how good their backs are. The Lelos famously demonstated this in Bordeaux vs Ireland during France 2007 in what was almost the biggest upset of all time.
Canada have selected Glasgow Warriors prop Kevin Tkachuk for his first start this year in what will be his 54th test appearance for his country. The other change in the forwards sees Jebb Sinclair, normally a backrower, start in the secondrow. 20 year old Conor Braid earns will be on debut for Canada and play flyhalf. The impressive youngster was a breakthrough player for the Canadians in last months Americas Rugby Championship in Argentina. In the backthree changes see James Pritchard move from fullback to the left wing with Ciaran Hearn taking over at fullback and Justin Mensah Coker starting at right wing.
The match kicks off at 14:00 local time (5 AM EST – 2 AM PST) on Saturday.
Prediction
The winner of this is rugby. A groundbreaking match for both sides. A massive forward battle awaits in Tblissi. The only way to win this match is to control the breakdown. The North Americans have selected a team with this in mind. Their backrow will need to arrive ahead of the Georgians or else be force to defend for most of the match. Canada, though, should be the better side with more experience as a national team and an impressive history of playing at every Rugby World Cup. They will look to their star centre, van der Merwe to break the Lelos defence. Canada to win by 10 points.
Georgia
To be named
Canada
1. Kevin Tkachuk (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland)
2. Pat Riordan (BC Bears)
3. Jason Marshall (BC Bears)
4. Josh Jackson (Stade Montois, France)
5. Jebb Sinclair (The Rock)
6. Chauncey O'Toole (The Rock)
7. Adam Kleeberger (Auckland, New Zealand)
8. Aaron Carpenter (Plymouth Albion, England)
9. Sean White (BC Bears)
10. Connor Braid (BC Bears)
11. James Pritchard (Bedford Blues, England)
12. Phillip Mackenzie (Esher RFC, England)
13. DTH van der Merwe (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland)
14. Justin Mensah-Coker (Unattached)
15. Ciaran Hearn (The Rock)
Reserves
16. Tom Dolezel (Prairie Wolf Pack)
17. Andrew Tiedemann (Prairie Wolf Pack)
18. Jon Phelan (The Rock)
19. Tyler Hotson (Plymouth Albion, England)
20. Sean Michael Stephen (Plymouth Albion, England)
21. Jamie Mackenzie (Ontario Blues)
22. Nick Blevins (Prairie Wolf Pack)
Perhaps the most mouthwatering match of all of the november internationals is tommorrows clash between France and Argentina in Montpellier. It is to be the first ever clash between the third and fourth played sides from France 2007 in Montpellier but the venue is no stranger to international rugby having hosted four matches at Rugby World Cup 2007. It hosted Tonga vs USA, Samoa vs Tonga, Australia vs Fiji and South Africa vs USA. The clash was originally scheduled for Lyon but was latter moved due to complications between the FFR and soccer authorities.
Montpellier has a team in the Top 14 (Montpellier Herault) who have three Argentine players and one USA international player in addition to two current French internationals. Of the three Argentine players one will be in the starting XV - Santiago Fernández. France's two Montpellier players will miss the clash however with flyhalf François Trinh-Duc injured and backrower Fulgence Ouedraogo left out of the side for the contest.
History
The lasting memory for many people from Rugby World Cup 2007 are the two Pumas victories vs hosts France that changed the shape of the pool matches and underlined the importance of the Bronze Final. Argentina won the two matches despite experts predicting French victories. The fact is that France eliminated Argentina from Rugby World Cup 1999 with a quarter final victory but since this time Argentina have won seven of the nine matches played between the two countries. France's two victories were tight - in 2006 France won 27-26 in Paris and in 2008 France won a tryless match 12-6 in Marseilles. In comparison, France have played World Champions South Africa ten times during this period and have defeated the Springboks in six of these matches and drawn another. In other words, Argentina are a very difficult opponent for France - more difficult than South Africa.
Form
Both France and Argentina won last weekend. France defeated Fiji in Nantes in a game ruined by rain. The Europeans scored three tries without conceeding one to win by 22 points. The French forwards were content to keep ball in hand without trying to score as many tries as possible. Argentina, on the other hand defeated Italy in Verona and won 22-16 with captain Felipe Contepomi scoring 17 points. The match was tied 6-6 at half time in a forward dominated contest. Despite this, the best Puma was winger Gonzalo Camacho. The hosts came close to scoring a try to Argentine born captain - Sergio Parisse but came up short. Parisse, however, had a fantastic match and in a collission with his opposite number - Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe the Puma ended up leaving the field hurt. The South Americans were already without two of their first choice backrowers in Alejandro Campos and Juan Leguizamon. After the interval, secondrower, Manuel Carizza was badly hurt and broke his arm. The victory, should therefore be viewed as a tough but important one.
France have made 14 changes to their side for this match. All forwards are different and Damien Traille is the only back to keep his place in the starting XV. Clermont captain, Aurelien Rougerie will play 13 for the first time ever for his country and interestingly France will only have 2 starters from Toulouse rather than the norm of 6 or more. Bayonne speedster, Yoann Huget will make his debut for France.
Argentina, on the other hand have made one change with secondrower, Patricio Albacete returning. The bench, however, sees substantial changes. Coach Santiago Phelan retains 5 forwards and 2 backs but he has opted for Marcelo Bosch to wear the 22 shirt in what will be his first appearance fro Argentina since June 2008 following shoulder and knee reconstruction. In the forwards Juan Figallo falls out as Argentina look to have only one prop on the bench but have gone for two secondrowers in Esteban Lozada and the newcomer - Julio Farias Carbello.
Key Matchup
Without question this match will have a number of vastly important individual matchups. Overall, Argentina have a better front and secondrow but France have a superior backrow. In the backs, both teams will be without their flyhalf as Trinh-Duc and Juan Martín Hernández are both injured. In place of these two there will be an important clash in Damien Traille vs Felipe Contepomi who are two inside centres. Contepomi is the more creative and Argentina will look to him throughout the match. At the back, the battle of Alexis Pallison vs Martin Rodriguez Gurruchaga will be crucial as two probable stars at next years Rugby World Cup go head to head. On form the Puma is carrying an important advantage which could be very important to his side. Marc Andreu vs Gonzalo Camacho is sure to merit attention as the speedy Frenchman looms as a vital player for his country. Up front Nicolas Mas vs Rodrigo Roncero looms as being huge for determining the outcome of scrums and a lot around the field. Sebastian Chabal vs Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe will simply be massive. But the most important clash may well be between two players who are to retire after New Zealand 2011. William Servat vs Mario Ledesma are two of the worlds best hookers and two veterans. Both are excellent in defence and around the field. The player that comes out on top of this battle will contribute greatly to his teams chances of success.
Prediction
France is out for revenge after being embarrassed in losing 41-13 to Argentina in Buenos Aires in June. Argentina are looking to continue their progress this year and nothing other than a victory will be an acceptable result. Many French players selected are not the best players in the Top 14. It would appear that players such as Bonnaire, Chabal, Pallison and Traille have been selected on reputation rather than form. The South Americans, in contrast, have selected a group of players who are performing well in France and Europe in general and it is fair to suggest that although they will need to play very well to win, it is Argentina´s game to lose. Argentina to win by 7 points.
France
15 Alexis Pallison (Brive)
14 Yoann Huget (Bayonne)
13 Aurelien Rougerie (Clermont)
12 Yannick Jauzion (Toulouse)
11 Marc Andreu (Castres)
10 Damien Traille (Biarritz)
9 Morgan Parra (Clermont)
8 Sebastien Chabal (Racing Metro)
7 Julien Bonnaire (Clermont)
6 Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse)
5 Julien Pierre (Clermont)
4 Lionel Nallet (Racing Metro)
3 Nicolas Mas (Perpignan)
2 William Servat (Toulouse)
1 Thomas Domingo (Clermont)
Scotland A will host the USA Eagles tommorrow evening in Galshiells in what is the third matches of four for the North Americans this month. EaglesXV spoke to USA National coach Eddie O’Sullivan this week with Dallen Stanford of http://www.eaglesxv.com/ . He commented on last week’s 22-17 win over Portugal: “I was happy with the way we kept our intensity and closed out the game even though Portugal kept coming back at us for the whole 80 minutes. Scotland ‘A’ will be an entirely different type of challenge: “We have to become more accurate in executing our systems this week and retain our intensity.”
O'Sullivan confirmed injury woes for the Unites States : ”John van der Giessen has left camp and returned to bath with a fracture to his cheekbone. He will require surgery and will be out for 4-6 weeks. Samu Manoa is making good progress rehabbing his thigh strain and is expected to be available for Friday's game. All other players have been passed fit.” said the National coach.
Scotland have named a strong team for the match which among other notable players includes Al Kellock who captained Scotland on thier tour of Argentina this year. The USA side includes 13 changes from the side that defeated Portugal as O'Sullivan looks to experiment as Rugby World Cup 2011 looms. The side will be led by Mike Petri at scrumhalf as he looks to lead a backline featuring only one other professional player. Despite so many changes eleven players were in the starting side that faced Saracens earlier in the tour. Some interesting selections include Paul Emerick at centre which further suggests that Seta Tuilevuka has over taken him to become the first choice Eagles 13.
Prediction: Scotland will field a strong team that on paper should be too strong for the USA Eagles who are entering the game with a side far from being ther countries best team. The Scots look the better side in the forwards but have a back three who are struggling to get game time this season in the Magners League. The USA should match the Scots in the centres and could well have a better 9-10 combination. If the visitors are able to capitalize on this potential advantage they should be victorious. Scotland, though, will have a huge advantage at scrumtime with a great front five. Scotland to win by 5 points or less.
Scotland
15 Jim Thompson
14 Joe Ansbro
13 Ben Cairns
12 Alex Grove
11 Lee Jones
10 David Blair
9 Mark McMillan
8 Stuart McInally
7 Roddy Grant
6 Rob Harley
5 Al Kellock *Captain
4 Fraser McKenzie
3 Geoff Cross
2 Scott Lawson
1 Jon Welsh
Reserves
16 Steven Lawrie
17 Kyle Traynor
18 Tom Ryder
19 David Denton
20 Henry Pyrgos
21 Duncan Weir
22 Jack Cuthbert
USA Eagles
1. Eric Fry (Unattached)
2. Chris Biller (San Francisco Golden Gate)
3. Mike MacDonald (Leeds Carnegie, England)
4. Samu Manoa (San Francisco Golden Gate)
5. Hayden Smith (Saracens, England)
6. Scott LaValla (Dublin University, Ireland)
7. Pat Danahy (Life University)
8. JJ Gagiano (Eastern Province Kings, South Africa)
9. Mike Petri (Sale, England) *Captain
10. Tai Enosa (Belmont Shore)
11. Zack Test (Loughborough University)
12. Andrew Suniula (Chicago Griffins)
13. Paul Emerick (Ulster, Ireland)
14. Alipate Tuilevuka (Old Puget Sound Beach)
15. Colin Hawley (Unattached)
Reserves
16. Mate Moeakiola (Bobigny 93, France)
17. Phil Thiel (Life University)
18. Louis Stanfill (Mogliano, Italy)
19. TBD
20. Tim Usasz (Nottingham, England)
21. Nese Malifa (Glendale Raptors)
22. Chris Wyles (Saracens, England)
The national rugby team of Uruguay, Los Teros, is hopeing to be able to count on the services of the country's best player Rodrigo Capó Ortega for the away match vs Romania on November 27. After drawing the first of two matches this past weekend 21-21, the match latter this month will determine whether Romania or Uruguay advances to Rugby World Cup 2011 as the twentieth and final participant. The winner will join Argentina, England, Georgia and Scotland in Pool B of Rugby World Cup 2011.
The importance of the match, the most important game for Uruguay in four years, has led to Los Teros coach Gonzalo Camardón, trying to break the ice and get Capó Ortega back playing in Uruguayan colors. The Castres second row / backrow has been out of the national team for one year because of differences between the URU and his former club - Carrasco Polo of Montevideo. The club contributed 12 of Uruguays 30 players who represented the country at Rugby World Cup 2003 in Australia.
If Camardón is successful in getting Capó Ortega back for the test in Bucharest it will be his first match since September as he was injured playing in the Top 14 playing for Castres and has been out for two months.
Los Pumas 22-16 victory over Italy in Verona on Saturday has seen Argentina rise one place in the IRB World Rankings from eighth to seventh to trade places with Scotland. Los Pumas lost to Scotland earlier in the year which resulted in Argentina dropping down the ladder but now Argentina have closed the gap to less than one point behind Ireland who are in sixth place and defeated Samoa on the weekend. France, after defeating Fiji in Nantes, have 82.75 ranking points and are in fifth place. France host Argentina in Montpellier this coming weekend and if Argentina win the match they will overtake both France and Ireland (unless New Zealand lose to Ireland) to sit in fifth place.
Following the tremendous success of Rugby World Cup 2007, Argentina were in third place in the IRB World Rankings and one year latter were in fourth. Argentina dropped in the rankings due to playing test matches without their top players avaliable due to the European club season. Injuries in November 2009 left Argentina without half of its first chioce players which meant Los Pumas toured Europe with a weakened side and consequently dropped in the World Rankings.
Elsewhere, the Americas continue to have three teams ranked in the world´s top 15 following Canada and the United States winning their matches over Spain and Portugal respectively. Victories ensured that both teams gained points but the difference in the rankings between them and Spain and Portugal was too great for either side to move ahead of Japan who sit in thirteenth place. They could both strengthen their positions if they continue to win as both will face Georgia - ranked 17th this month.
Uruguay are the fourth highest ranked team from the Americas and after drawing their Rugby World Cup Final Place Playoff match vs higher ranked Romania on saturday, Los Teros achieved a slight gain but remain in 21st position. Should Uruguay succeed in defeating Romania and thus qualify for Rugby World Cup 2007 they would overtake Namibia to reclaim twentieth position in the world. Namibia, currently in twentieth are the second highest ranked team from Africa behind South Africa. The next best is Morocco in twenty-sixth position. South America, in contrast have Uruguay, Chile and Brazil all ranked in the top thirty.
Despite this, South America continue to be the only continent in world rugby whose winner of the Rugby World Cup qualifiers does not directly advance to the Rugby World Cup. Rather the winner faces North America 2 in a playoff which is unfair to South America. Uruguay were defeated by the USA and entered the race to win the final place playoff. Namibia, in contrast, qualified for New Zealand 2011 after defeating Senegal, Zimbabwe, Cote d´Ivoire and Tunisia but successful qualification included a 13-13 draw vs Cote d´Ivoire and narrow victories of 13-10 over Senegal and 18-13 over Tunisia. Uruguay, in contrast were undefeated in the CONSUR (South American) qualification zone which included higher ranked opponents than those Namibia faced in Africa. Uruguay were very impressive and scored big wins vs Brazil and Chile - much bigger than those achieved by Namibia.
Namibia being the winner of the African section of Rugby World Cup Qualification every time since 1999 has never gone on to win matches at a Rugby World Cup. In fact, Namibia has the worst record in the history of all teams at Rugby World Cups having played in three tournaments but never having won a match. No other team has done this. All teams with three or more Rugby World Cup appearances has won matches. Of those who have competed at the Rugby World Cup on two occasions the worst team is also from Africa - Zimbabwe who competed at Rugby World Cup 1987 and 1991 and were winless. Cote d´Ivoire competed at Rugby World Cup 1995 and were winless while Namibia lost all matches by big scores to Canada, Fiji and France at Rugby World Cup 1999 and then again to Argentina, Australia, Ireland and Romania at Rugby World Cup 2003 and to Argentina, France, Georgia and Ireland at Rugby World Cup 2007. Namibia also hold the record for losing by the biggest margin in a Rugby World Cup match - 145 vs Australia in 2003 in which they conceeded 22 tries which is another record. Despite facing Georgia in 2007 their best result was a 32-17 loss vs Ireland in Bordeaux in France 2007. Georgia defeated Namibia 30-0 in France 2007 but lost 24-12 to Uruguay in Australia 2003. Uruguay also defeated Spain 27-15 at Rugby World Cup 1999.
Clearly, the IRB cannot justify giving Africa an automatic qualifying place and not giving South America one. The record is unquestionable. No country from the Americas - north or south has a winless record at Rugby World Cup´s. Europe has two in Portugal and Spain and Africa has three in Cote d´Ivoire, Nambia and Zimbabwe. There are two sensible solutions - expand the Rugby World Cup to include more teams or remove Africa´s direct qualification and make it a playoff between the top African vs South American qualifiers.
Current Top 21 Ranked Teams in the World
1 NEW ZEALAND 93.04
2 SOUTH AFRICA 86.70
3 AUSTRALIA 85.90
4 ENGLAND 83.61
5 FRANCE 82.75
6 IRELAND 81.05
7 ARGENTINA 80.33
8 SCOTLAND 79.81
9 WALES 77.67
10 FIJI 74.39
11 SAMOA 74.02
12 ITALY 72.35
13 JAPAN 71.45
14 CANADA 69.62
15 USA 68.50
16 TONGA 67.35
17 GEORGIA 66.38
18 RUSSIA 65.56
19 ROMANIA 65.03
20 NAMIBIA 62.69
21 URUGUAY 61.45
On Saturday afternoon Canada made it two wins from two international matches in their current four match tour of Europe in defeating Rugby World Cup 1999 participants, Spain 60-22 in Madrid scoring eight tries to two. In what was the first ever match between the two countries, a crowd of over 8,000 attented the match at the Madrid’s Complutense University Stadium.
Canada, playing in red, picked up where they left off vs Belgium one week earlier by playing a mixture of running rugby with lots os work from the forwards. The backrow showed once again why they are Canada´s biggest weapon by dominating the Europeans at the breakdown. The Canadian forwards all played very well however with the front row doing the business at scrum time and the second row controlling the lineouts. For this game vs Spain´s Lions, however, Canada had a much stronger team as their professional players all returned for international action. Ciaran Hearn was listed to play at wing but changed to flyhalf following injury problems to Ander Monro before the match.
Canada were on top shortly after kick off as captain and hooker Pat Riordan scored scored his third try of the tour after he dived over from the base of a ruck close to the Spanish try line. The second try was scored by the impressive Taylor Paris who aged only 18 again had a superb match for his country. Paris scored the try after Glasgow Warriors centre DTH Van der Merwe broke the line and offloaded to James Pritchard, who attracted the last defender to hand Paris a simple try. Canadian backrowers Aaron Carpenter and Chauncey O´Toole also scored first half tries for the visitors and with fullback Pritchard kicking a penalty and converting all four tries, Canada went into the break with a 31-12 lead. All of Spain´s points came from Lions scrumhalf Santiago Fernández, not to be confused with the Argentine centre with the same name, who slotted four penalties.
Canada scored the first points of the second half with van der Merwe continuing his incredible form in Scotland by scoring for his country. Both O’Toole and Paris scored a second try each and replacement backrower, Sean Michael Stephen also crossed for a try to give the Canadians an impressive win featuring four tries in each half. Pritchard had a similar time with the boot in the second half as in the first as he kicked one penalty and converted three of Canada´s four tries. Spain had a better second half, however, as they scored two tries firstly to Anthony Pradalie in the seventh monute after the interval and then to Pierre Belzunce on full time.
The win underlines Canada as a potential third placed side in Pool A of Rugby World Cup 2011 which also includes France, Japan, New Zealand and Tonga. The win in Madrid is a reminder of what the Canadians are capable of and further suggests that future tours should indeed look to involve different countries rather than simply the Six Nations and Japan.
Canada will face their toughest test of their European tour next saturday when they face European Nations Cup Champions, Georgia in Tblissi in what is to be the first ever match between the two countries in Georgia.
