G'damnit, it's the Rugby World Cup!

by Don, With Malice...

So the first weekend of the Rugby World Cup has come to a close, and it was a pretty damn interesting time. Upsets, close games, thrashings, and teams playing way above their weight - and doing well. We had it all.

In review:

1. Argentina 17 defeated France 12 (Sept 7) - France beaten at home? Who'da thunk? The Pumas came at Les Bleus with everything, and gave better than they got. Not once did the French get over the try-line. Seems to me the French were more worried about developing a uniform* to clash with the All Blacks than they were developing a 'game'.

2. New Zealand 76 defeated Italy 14 (Sept 8) - Absolutely POUNDED. The All Blacks came out with aggression and smashed Italy. Despite a few undisciplined plays, and a bit of show-boating, the All Blacks showed exactly why they are the team to beat.

3. Australia 91 defeated Japan 3 (Sept 8) - Although this was an expected thrashing, the Wallabies didn't really get going until the second half, going into the dressing rooms at the break only up 23-3. The flood gates opened in the second, and there was little Japan could do to stop the tide of tries that followed.

4. England 28 defeated USA 10 (Sept 8) - A defeat, but getting this close to the reigning World Champions was a feat of itself. However, this needs to be tempered by how abysmal England looked. There's a real chance that Samoa could beat this English unit, and the Islanders will be chomping at the bit ahead of the September 22nd clash. Awful.

Still - excellent work from the American Eagles, who showed poise in this encounter.

5. Wales 42 defeated Canada 17 (Sept 9) - Yet another Northern Hemisphere team that failed to come up with anything overly impressive against a team of semi-pros & amateurs. Canada actually had the better of the Welsh unit, but 5 tries in 20 odd minutes spelt doom for the Canadians. A valiant effort.

6. South Africa 59 defeated Samoa 7 (Sept 9) - A very good start to the Samoans, and an undisciplined one to the Springboks meant that at the very beginning, this looked like being a ripper of a match - at one stage it was 9-7. The 'Boks asserted themselves, and totally dominated the Islanders, and ran all over them.

7. Scotland 56 defeated Portugal 10 (Sept 9) - no surprises here. Simply put the Scots were too good for RWC debutante Portugal. Scotland performed as they should, in what's basically a battle for 2nd place in the pool that holds New Zealand. They will look forward to the game on the 29th of September against the Italian side that was destroyed by the All Blacks.

8. Ireland 32 defeated Namibia 17 (Sept 9) - If Ireland had a chance to really throw down the gauntlet to both France & Argentina, they didn't do it in this match. Insipid. Against one of the true minnows of this world cup, Ireland managed to eke out a 15 point win. Argentina have got to be licking their lips at this point - they look like the probable pool winners.

* The French team intentionally made their playing strips a blue SO dark, that it will clash with the All Blacks if they play them... given that the French are the home side, the ABs would be forced to wear their 'away' strip - white. Petty, huh?