Week 1
The Rugby World Cup started on Friday 9th September 2011 with breath taking performances at the Auckland Stadium in New Zealand! We saw the Rugby Hall of Fame station and rugby legend Jonah Lomu taking part in the opening ceremony. Speeches from Rugby Official and the Prime minister of New Zealand.
The opening match was between the New Zealand All blacks and the Tongan team where the All blacks whooped the Tongans a heart breaking 41 points to 10 for the Tongans at Auckland stadium and the man of the match was Richard Kahui from New Zealand. More action came on Saturday 10th September where we had four matches. In Pool A, the weather beaten French men faced the Japanese team beating them 47 – 21 at Auckland and the man of the match was James Arlidge from Japan. We saw a lot of pressure and strong stoppage by the French men led by their captain Thierry Dusautoir who earned a lot of respect after playing dynamic rugby. We had two matches being played in Pool B. The first was between Scotland and Romania at Invercargill stadium and the other between Argentina and England at Dunedin stadium. At Invercargill, the match ended 34 – 24 in favour of Scotland and at Dunedin it ended 9 – 13 in favour of England. However, in the match between Argentina and England, the Argentine team exhibited a lot of pressure and defense though they never managed to get any try. Man of the match was Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe from Argentina. In Pool C, no match was played. In Pool D, there was a beat down between Fiji and Namibia as the Fijian team showed prowess and won both the war and the battle ending the match 49 -25 in their favour. Man of the match was Vereniki Goneva.
Several matches were played to crown the week as below;
The Australian Wallabies vs. Italy at Auckland and Ireland vs. USA at New Plymouth in Pool C. Then in Pool D the South African Springboks vs. Wales at Wellington. However the Wales team put up quite a fight against the Springboks who narrowly won the match. The matches ended as follows;
Australia 32 – 6 Italy
Ireland 22 – 10 USA
South Africa 17 – 16 Wales
Week 2
With very limited time for practice, the Tonga team faced Canadian Canucks on Wednesday 14th September at Whangarei stadium losing 20 to 25 in favour of Canada. It was the first match for the Canucks and they managed to make 3 tries, 2 conversions and 2 penalties. In Pool B Scotland maintain their supremacy with a 15 – 6 victory over Georgia at Invercargill and finally in Pool D, Samoa thumped Namibia a whopping 49 – 12 win as this was the second loss for Namibia in the two matches it has played.
The following day, Thursday 15th September, only one match was played where we saw USA making a brilliant come back at New Plymouth stadium in Pool C. They left heads turned and no stone unturned as they beat Russia 13 – 6.
16th September, the indefatigable hosts (All blacks) maintained their lead as they orientated Japan to a 83 -7 beat down. Fans were speechless as the all blacks showed the Japanese how it is done. The All blacks boys were on rampage with amazing performance by Ma’a Nonu who also doubled as man of the match! This is the best win in the world cup so far and the record to beat at the moment.By the end of the first half, the All Blacks were leading 38-0 with tries from Richard Kahui, Jerome Kaino, Mealamu, Conrad Smith, Andy Ellis and Colin Slade, who added four conversions. Japan managed to make only one try in the second half. This was also their only try in the game.
Saturday 17th September, three matches played
In Pool B, Argentina 43 – Romania 8
In Pool C, Australia 6 – Ireland 15
In Pool D, South Africa 43 – Fiji 3
Sunday, 18th September, three matches played
In Pool A, France 46 – Canada 19
In Pool B, England 41 – Georgia 10
In Pool D, Wales 17 – Samoa 10
Week 3
The Italians made an amazing comeback in their second match of the world cup. They had an excellent play with seniority in the territorial control and shared the possession 50-50 but they put up quite a game! This was the only game played on Tuesday 20th September.
Just when all hope for the Tongan fans was lost, the Tonga team made and excellent comeback for their first victory in the three games played.
On Tuesday 20th September,
In Pool C, Italy 53 – Russia 17
Wednesday, 21st September
In Pool A, Tonga 31 – Japan 18
And on 22nd September in Pool D, more and more amusement as Wing Bryan Habana becomes South Africa’s all-time leading try scorer as the Springboks defeated Namibia 87-0 in their Pool D match at North Harbour Stadium. the 28 year old player made wonders as the Springboks made a new record this world cup after they broke the 83-7 legacy by the All Blacks. It was like the Springboks were just on training as they faced minimum resistance as they dominated both the possession and the territorial control scooping 12 tries, 12 conversions and 1 penalty all successful! This is a match to remember and the crowned man of the match was Willem Alberts from South Africa.
Bravo Springboks, Viva Rugby World Cup 2011!