Previous Irish classics
So, with the second weekend of Rugby World Cup action a thing of the past, all the talk is still about Ireland’s shock 15-6 Pool C win over the Wallabies – a result which has, well and truly, thrown the cat amongst the pigeons.
Not many gave the Irish a chance of upsetting the reigning Tri-Nations champions – although it was always going to be a close match given the World Cup history between these two countries.
In 2003, in Australia, the Wallabies eeked out a 16-15 pool win over the luckless Irish and, of course, their 1991 quarterfinal clash will always go down in the annals of Rugby World Cup history as one of the greatest ever matches. (In 1999, Australia beat Ireland 23-3 in pool action and in 1987 the Wallabies beat the Irish 33-15 in the quarterfinals.)
Whilst Saturday’s match in Auckland will not go down as the most exciting match of RWC 2011 – certainly not when compared to their meetings in 2003 and 1991 – but it certainly was dramatic.
An all-penalty affair, Tommy Bowe very nearly put the match beyond doubt at the end when he intercepted a wild Quade Cooper flick pass on his own line – eventually getting dragged down metres short of Australia’s goalline by a well-timed James O’Connor tackle.
O’Connor’s tackle brought back memories of Ireland flanker Gordon Hamilton’s stunning try at Lansdowne Road in 1991 when he beat David Campese to the goalline to score what looked like the match-winning try.
In our minds, all that was missing from Saturday’s Eden Park battle was a Hamilton-esque score…
Do you agree?
See for yourself:
Nosing about:
What happens when you give a Springbok captain access to his cell phone (and, later, Twitter!), your kicking coach walks around with a piece of rolled up paper and a few Bok hardmen are fast asleep on the aeroplane?
Have a look HERE as Percy Montgomery takes his life into his own hands… all in the name of fun.
(Thanks to captain Smittie here – we grabbed this video off his Twitter feed!)
Don’t you forget about me!
The Rugby World Cup, as one would expect, is dominating all column inches in the rugby world at present.
However, in England (Aviva Premiership), France (Top 14), other parts of Europe (RaboDirect Pro12 – in Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales) and South Africa (Absa Currie Cup), their respective local competitions are still going at full steam.
And, as one would expect, a few new faces are announcing themselves in the absence of the various World Cup players in those various leagues/tournaments.
In England last weekend (September 9-11), for instance, Leicester’s Billy Twelvetrees – who has already played for the England Saxons – scored all 29 of Leicester’s points as they went down 29-35 to London Wasps.
In South Africa, this past weekend, however; a 19-year-old flyhalf by the name of Johan Goosen announced himself to the local rugby fraternity as he dropped, placed and scored the Cheetahs to a memorable 53-32 win over the Sharks in Bloemfontein.
This kid has it all; he can run, he can pass, he can kick (can he?!) and he can tackle – as he showed en route to collecting 29 of his team’s points against the defending Currie Cup champions.
Of course, those from Bloemfontein will tell you all along that they always knew about Goosen.
Don’t believe them?
Well, check out this video of him last year – when, at schoolboy level (for Grey Bloem… who else?), he coolly knocked over a 60-odd metre penalty… with change to spare:
Will the real Bakkies Botha please stand up?
South African fans, Marius and Neels Botha, have been carting around a cut-out version of their hero (namesake, but no relation), Bakkies Botha.
Marius and Neels are touring New Zealand, along with many fellow Springbok fans, and have schlepped their cardboard Bakkies from South Africa to Bangkok, to Auckland and then into their campervan… via hand luggage, of course.
And, yes; they have taken precaution – ‘Bakkies’ has a fragile sticker on his troublesome ankle…
Read the full Botha(s) story HERE on rugbyworldcup.com!
Born in the USA:
USA Eagles loose forward JJ Gagiano has been writing a weekly, exclusive Rugby World Cup diary for rugby365.com.
Gagiano, of course, is a born and bred South African but has qualified to play for America through his mother.
He is not the only South African playing for another country at the World Cup. In fact, some 13 ‘Bokke’ are playing for their adopted countries in New Zealand at present.
See the FULL LIST of RWC players playing abroad… or check out JJ’s latest diary entry, HERE.
JJ Gagiano relaxing pitch-side ahead of the USA-Russia match
A game by numbers:
There are always some interesting number-related tidbits on the official Rugby World Cup website, rugbyworldcup.com.
Today, for instance, they ran with two interesting numbers – statistics which, during the course of the weekend, changed significanctly.
22: Wales star Shane Williams has now scored 22 international tries since the end of RWC 2007, the most by any player in the world ahead of Japan’s Takashi Kikutani (21).
13,000: Jonny Sexton’s drop-goal that put Ireland in front 6-3 against Australia broke the RWC 13,000-point barrier. The tally was 12,993 at the start of the match.
