Eagles crash land

Wallabies return to winning ways with a demolition project on the USA Eagles.

The Australians didn't waste any playing time on squad members that they don't see as vital members of their starting squad and played an extremely strong side against the vastly under par United States side. Robbie Deans began with the forward pack of props James Slipper and Ben Alexander, hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau, second rows Rob Simmons and Nathan Sharpe, flankers Rocky Elsom and Ben McCalman and number 8 Wycliff Palu. And he kicked off with the flying backs of Scrum half and skipper Will Genia, Maussie fly half Quade Cooper, wingers Drew Mitchell and Adam Ashley-Cooper, centre's Rob Horne and Anthony Faingaa and fullback Kurtley Beale. He then utilized a subs bench consisting of Stephen Moore, Sekope Kepu, Dan Vickerman, Radike Samo, Luke Burgess, Berrick Barnes and regular starter Pat McCabe. The only obvious absentees are squad captain James Horwill, injured David Pocock and injured superback James O'Connor.

Although the scoreline of 67-5 will have undoubtedly pleased Australian coach Robbie Deans, the scoreline is still misleading. First for the positives, Australia's attacking presence was sublime against the minnows defence and the wallabies defence kept the Eagles at arms length pretty much the entire game.

The Australians put pressure on right from the kick off but the Eagles defence should be extremely proud of their effort within the first half as they contained the Australians fairly well and stopped them scoring even more tries than they actually did. However Quade Cooper cut deep into and through the Eagles defence with his illusive counter-attacking run which was ultimately finished off in the corner by Rob Horne after 8 minutes. Elsom then struck with with try No.2 after another 3 minutes when the Roo's stretched the Eagles defence which created a huge overlap for the flanker to go over the line

The Eagles then took the fight to the Aussies with scrum half Tim Usasz controlling every move like a puppet master, the Eagles looked dominant when they had a 20 phase move, but the move ultimately ended with the eagles trying to chip over the Roo's defence which Quade Cooper got his hands on. The move looked over at this point but when Cooper was stopped over his own line the Eagles forced a 5m scrum. The Eagles No. 8 JJ Gagiano struck down the blindside with a try straight from the scrum.

The Eagles continued to drive hard for a second try to spark a comeback but when Kevin Swiryn lost control of the ball inside the Australian 22 all hope was lost. Rocky Elsom got his hands on the fumble and launched his wallabies on a counterattack which resulted in Adam Ashley Cooper sprinting clear of the United States defence and passing the ball to Kurtley Beale for the score. Quade Cooper converted the resulting kick.

Australia were then searching for the bonus point try, Faingaa was the man who got them this glory. He got his first try before the half when he was on hand to finish off a superb move by Rob Horne.  Drew Mitchell then showed why he is an international when he finished with a powerful move, crashing through two tackles then diving over the line. Cooper again converted for 2 points. McCabe then made an immediate impact coming off the bench when he gathered a pass from Adam Ashley Cooper and then sidestepped the defence to score.

The Australian's seventh, eighth and ninth tries came through a mind blowing six minute spell by Adam Ashley Cooper who was amazing throughout the game. His first came when he burst clear with shear pace to score on the outside, the second came when he made the most out of turnover ball from the Eagles to waltz over the line and then finally scored his third via supporting a Roo breakaway.

The Americans disappeared in the second half of this game and it was never more obvious than when Faingaa added his second by sliding over in the corner. Things got even worse for the Eagles when winger Blaine Scully was sin-binned. With two minutes left the Aussies struck for the final time when Samo was put clear via the overlap.

Todays game showed how vast the difference is between the elite sides in world rugby and the minnow nations of world rugby is. This is why I still believe the Roos will win the world cup, because they have bounce-back ability and come out dominate after being humiliated by the Irish. And they have the outstanding man of the match Adam Ashley Cooper.

All I can say now is the star spangled banner is not flying high tonight.

Inspired Irish force Aussies to stop and stare in ore

Ireland run away with surprise win against outclassed Wallabies.

Well what can I say about that game of rugby, right from the get go the wallabies who I predicted to win the whole tournament were shut down and out played by a more supported and psyched up Ireland side. Declan Kidney picked an Irish side led by Brian O’Driscoll and Paul O’Connell who were perfectly matched to defeat and shut down the Roo’s attacking threat.

The unbelievable attacking force of Will Genia, Quade Cooper and James O’Connor were completely shut down and made countless mistakes. Every time a Wallaby got their hands on the ball they were immediately shut down and double teamed by the Irish defense. However although the Irish defense limited the amount of decent attacking position the Roo’s had, Will Genia and Adam Ashley-Cooper did cause a few nerves for the Irish defense through explosive and expansive rugby, but all the attacks ended abruptly through key Australian mistakes suck as knock ons, obstruction, turnovers, poor passes and a awful offload from Quade Cooper which led to Irish winger Tommy Bowe charging down the wing 90metres before being tackled and pushed out of touch by James O’Connor.

The scrum was the decisive factor in this stunning victory for the paddies, throughout the game the Irish pack locked horns with the wallabies and forced them to collapse time and time again. However I do not agree with some of the decisions of the referee at scrum time, as a number of collapses looked like the Irish front row giving way, still this does not take any thing away from the dominance the Irish pack showed. This was not the only time they out muscled the Roo’s, at almost every breakdown whether it be rucks or mauls the Irish forced their way through and caused the Aussie forwards to retreat.

The forward play was a key to the victory for the irish because it gave them chance to put points on the board via the boot. Jonathan Sexton was disappointing with the boot, as he missed a couple of manageable chances although one that struck the post almost resulted in a O’Driscoll try. However he did notch up 9 points for the Irish, 3 of those points where via a drop goal. Ronan O’Gara also added 6 points, via 2 from 2 kicks after being handed the kicking duties by Paul O’Connell when Brian O’Driscoll was off the pitch via the blood bin. To counteract this James O’Connor posted 6 points on the board for the Roo’s although he missed a couple of kicks to.

Towards the end of the game Australia began to fight back and cause problems for the Irish but again the Roo’s made mistakes which cost them dearly. But Ireland shut down any hopes when they attacked and had a try disallowed when sub Conor Murray went over in the corner only to be called offside. However Ireland then got a penalty and ended the game by Ronan O’Gara kicking the ball in the Auckland night sky.

Although this is a roadblock in the Qantas Wallabies path to world cup victory, I still feel that they have to much strength and elite players in their squad to move past this loss and win the world cup. However they now will have most likely made this task harder and will now have to play New Zealand in the semi finals rather than the final if both teams get that far. This has no doubt sparked a fire underneath the Australians and I expect them to come back next week and every game after that stronger.

Rugby World cup prediction

After watching the first round of games from the group stages of the world cup, I feel it is now the perfect time for me to state my prediction for each group in the competition.

Pool A- winner

New Zealand

The All Blacks are in my opinion easily the best side in the world, and believe me with the love of Australia that I have it is extremely hard for me to say. They have a group of forwards emotionally and passionately led by Richie McCaw, he is the heart and soul of the All Blacks side. He fills the crowd and team with passion whenever he steps foot onto the field. But  McCaw is not the only forward that can strike fear into the hearts of the opposition, behind his leadership elite performers such as Kieran Reed, vice captain Keven Mealamu, Brad Thorn and the Franks brother. This is an extremely and unbelievably talented group of forwards who will run through and over a brick wall for their countries success.

If the forwards don’t destroy a team by themselves the Kiwi SUPERBACKS can and will strike at any time from anywhere on the pitch, I use the term superbacks purposely, this is because not only are the Kiwi starters outstanding and phenomenal talents, they are supported by players such as scrum half Piri Weepu, fly half Colin Slade, centres Richard Kahui and Sonny Bill Williams and full back Mils Muliaina, this group of ‘substitutes’ are better than most of the starters in every other international side. However I can also see the Kiwis following their history of the tournament by entering the tournament as favorites and then choking against a side they should easily beat.

Group B- Winner

England

I feel that although this England side is very talented, Martin Johnson has made a number of selection mistakes. Hooker Steve Thompson should never have been in the squad, in mean this with the upmost respect because he was once a great talent, he is now to old and to lazy to succeed in an international shirt, his performance against the Pumas was embarrassing, I cannot remember an English hooker doing the lack of work he did. Captain and flanker Lewis moody should have also been left out because he has struggled with injury and fitness for the past year and should be replaced with Leicester Aussie convert Thomas Waldrom who could have also offered the Red rose with another (and better) option to Nick Easter at number 8. Fly half Jonny Wilkinson should have also been dropped and his appalling performance at the weekend signified why he should be dropped, not only has he long past his prime, his kicking ability has now seemly dropped to a level which is not good enough for World cup rugby, I feel he should have been replaced by Saracens fly half and rugby league convert Owen Farrell who showed extreme maturity for a young lad in last seasons premiership final. He could have also offered more expansive rugby than both Wilko and Flood. I also feel Mark Cueto should be dropped and replaced in the squad with Saracens fullback Alex Goode, because he is to old to be in the quad and although he offers experience he has not got the skill of Alex Goode. The final poor selection I feel is Mike Tindall, although I feel he should still be in the squad as he is a vital member of the squad for experiences, I believe Riki Flutey should have replaced him as a starter because he is a more expansive player, Martin Johnson now has the chance to make this call if he calls up Riki Flutey. I feel these selections may have cost England the world cup and that they will lose to Australia in the semi finals because of Johnson being set in his ways and picking his ‘mates’.

Pool C- Winner

Australia

I feel this Australian team has the youth and ability in its squad to become the greatest Wallabies side in history. Led by captain James Horwill, scrummy Will Genia, fly half Quade Cooper and fullback Kurtley Beale may well be able to destroy every team in the competition until they meet New Zealand in the final where it will be an extreme challenge but if Quade and Genia show the maturity and command that they showed during their super 15’s campaign with the Queensland reds they will be able to fight their way to victory over their arch rival. As well as these key players, australia have lock Nathan Sharpe, number 8 Wycliff Palu and centre Adam Ashley-Cooper who are the foundation of the side and are outstanding players in their own right. This gives the Wallabies a huge advantage over any opponents because of the wide amount of attacking options as well as youth and experience they have to offer. As well as this they have an outstanding young player in James O'Connor who is one of the best players in the world and will be a vital part of them beating New Zealand. This will lead the Qantas Wallabies to becoming the second side in history to win the rugby world cup twice.

Pool D- Winner

Samoa

This may come as a surprise to most people because of the fact that South Africa led by Morne Steyn are also in this group, but the fact is South Africa got firmly beaten in the tri nations and even if they did get into the knockout rounds they would immediately be eliminated. Therefore I am pledging my support to the underdogs Samoa who are a very talented and improving side. Led by captain Mahonri Schwalger and supported by lock Filippo Levi, number 8 George Stowers, centre Seilala Mapusua and wings David Lemie, Sailosi Tagicakibau and Alesana Tuilagi Samoa have the attacking force to pose a threat to any team in the world. Although they don’t have the most frightening of forwards, in the wide areas the have wingers who can demolish any team in the world. With this if Samoa can keep the ball in wide areas so their elite wingers can attack the ball at pace they can threaten any team in the world even the likes of the all blacks.

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