Darry Worthington takes a look at the major Rugby World Cup 2019 news that has come out this past week.
Below, we take a look at the latest World Cup news for the week of the 9th of September.
Photo Copyright Steve Haag – Hollywoodbets
All Blacks Fire Warning Shot
New Zealand fired a massive warning shot this past Saturday as they hammered Tonga 92-7 in their final warm-up fixture.
The All Blacks were at their silky best during the encounter and ran in 14 tries with Crusaders winger George Bridge bagging four tries.
So dominant were the Kiwis, that coach Steve Hansen elected to play the final 15 minutes of the game with just 14 men.
Wallabies Big Losers Despite Beating Samoa
While their neighbours were routing Pacific opposition, Australia struggled their way to a 34-15 victory over Samoa.
While they didn’t suffer any serious injuries – which would have been the main worry for coach Micahel Cheika headed into this clash – Australia did have their egos slightly dented as they limped home to a 19-point victory over a Samoan side who are not particularly good.
The biggest concern of the clash would have been the errant goal-kicking of Bernard Foley. The former Waratahs pivot has dropped down the national pecking order with Christian Lealiifano now the preferred first-choice pivot. Neither ten has covered themselves with glory when it comes to the boot this term with Foley on landing two of his six shots at goal last weekend and Lealiifano struggling against New Zealand during the second Bledisloe Cup clash.
South Africa Get Chip off their Shoulder
South Africa managed to put the ghosts of 2015 to bed as they beat Japan for the first time in history this past Friday.
The ‘Boks looked rather good during the clash with wingers Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe stealing the show. There are a few areas where Rassie Eramsus’ charges will need to improve, particularly their handling skills which were not up to scratch.
European Sides Close Out Their Preparations
Six Nations heavyweights Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales closed out their World Cup warm-up programs with the Irish beating Wales 19-10, Scotland claiming a 36-9 victory over Georgia and England routing Italy 37-0.
Typhoon Could Derail Global Showpiece
The biggest news to come out this week was that a typhoon has hit Japan. The megastorm, dubbed Faxai, could cause absolute havoc at the World Cup as it could well lead to games being called off or major delays occurring.
While knock-out fixtures will be reschedule should the organisers be forced to cancel a game, the same won’t happen with pool phase matches. Should a pool game be called off due to poor weather then it will result in the game being called as a 0-0 draw. So if New Zealand and Namibia’s fixture is called off, the All Blacks would only pick up two points.
The Japanese weather service’s website is likely to see a massive influx in overseas searches as fans and punters around the globe wait with bated breath to see if their teams’ campaigns will be influenced by the weather.
Written by Darry Worthington for Hollywoodbets
