The mess World Rugby got itself into by arranging its annual awards at the end of the men’s world cup in Paris is now made worse by the announcement of the women’s awards. Nobody representing her country at WXV1 in New Zealand could attend in Paris; the overlap amounted to four days. WR couldn’t expect
For anyone who is strictly neutral, it’s a pity that these two old warhorses are once more sparring for a top place. For them and their supporters it is another final match of a series devoutly to be wished. The selections are shown below. The Permutations Almost inevitably, given the condensed nature of the competition,
How things look It’s an indication of the tightness in the WXV structures that the Wallaroos have an outside chance of going home with the trophy. That’s less than probable, but the addition of the now familiar bonus points makes it possible. The Wallaroos are just one of several nations for whom the tournament has
October Rugby Diary – WXV, here we come! 24 countries referenced 1 October Giovanni Raineri publishes his Italy WXV squad; several other nations will follow suit 1 October Maggie Alphonsi’s autobiography ‘Winning the Fight’ is published 2 October Alison Miller to be inducted into Ireland Hall of Fame on Nov 10 2 October the 8
A Look ahead Fixtures (all at Go Media Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland) 3 November, KO 19.00 local time; 06.00 UK time Australia v Wales 4 November, KO 16.00 local time; 03.00 UK time France v Canada 4 November, KO 19.00 local time; 06.00 UK time England v New Zealand WXV1 is given the privilege of
The dilemma of cards in rugby deepens. The men’s final in Paris was disfigured by a first ever red card, shown to Sam Cane, the New Zealand captain, in the 29th minute. This is now the second RWC final in succession to be affected in this way. In both cases the team affected lost by
A glance at the fate of some WXV nations If you wanted extreme drama, you could view the men’s World Cup final in Paris or enjoy a trip around the world to take in the final rites of WXV2 and 3. USA v Italy The final minutes of WXV2 could not have been tenser. Italy
France v Australia, New Zealand v Wales The Wallaroos produced the shock of the tournament by outplaying France from start to finish. The two tries they scored in the first 20 minutes were a pointer to their form. Though Les Bleues showed more than mere flashes of brilliance, they were far too error-prone, losing line-outs
Scotland v Japan After the windless stadium in Dunedin, we were back to normal conditions in Cape Town. Scotland mastered the breeze better than the Sakura to ensure a convincing victory The agony is, they don’t know if they have scored enough points to finish ahead of Italy, who face USA tomorrow. What they did
Canada v England England had to work hard to wear down Canada’s defences, but by the end they had achieved their aims. It just remains to see the Black Ferns off. Not so easy. The teams played in the unaccustomed setting of a covered stadium. That raised the noise level, but couldn’t hide the paucity
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