A recent presentation by French rugby is most revealing. It is entitled ‘Future under Construction’. So it confirms the management’s policy of taking the strategic view. Their eyes are set firmly on the next World Cup and are willing to accept bumps in the road ahead. The first big bump was the loss to Australia.
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
World Rugby has confirmed the Emirates Match Official appointments for the final round of WXV 1 that will take place this weekend in Auckland, New Zealand Following the dramatic conclusion of WXV 2 and WXV 3 which saw Scotland and Ireland claim the respective titles by the narrowest of margins, all eyes are now on
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
Sally Horrox, in charge of women’s rugby at World Rugby, was on the back foot as she tried to explain the tiny crowds at WXV matches thus far. The closest we got to an attendance figure for the first round of WXV1 was a combined 8,200 at the Sky Stadium, Wellington. But Horrox didn’t give
The Squads revealed Ioan Cunningham has made seven changes to the side that faced Canada in the first round. In that respect he follows the pattern of other head coaches in ensuring that as many players as possible have the opportunity to see action on the field of play. In the background lurks a secondary
Social Networks