The most anticipated match of Pool A (nicknamed the “pool of death”), perhaps even in pool play in general, saw the two Six Nations (an annual tournament between England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy, and France) rivals vie for a what was certainly seen as an all-but-certain berth into the knockout stages. Every opportunity we get, just keep that scoreboard ticking over.
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“I’ve said to the players, if we leave here with three wins and we do make the quarter-finals it’s been a fantastic achievement”, said Jones. “But win this group and potentially the route through to the quarters, semis and finals is easier than the other side”, Wales coach Warren Gatland said.
It all started on the first weekend of the tournament, on a sunny afternoon on the English south coast, when Japan stunned two-time champion South Africa with a 34-32 win in Brighton.
South Africa played like the welcoming committee in Cape Town would be armed with tomatoes to throw at them if they failed, but that has not been the reason the Scots have struggled to get the pace of the last two games in particular early on.
Nothing has changed for Scotland because win this game and the first objective of the World Cup will have been achieved with qualification for the quarter-finals. We know how hard the challenge is. This is due to a brilliant medical team but it’s also down to plain and simple luck.
“Last week was a minor blip”, full-back Stuart Hogg said.
And it’s brilliant news that Finn Russell and John Hardie are back after picking up injuries in the first couple of games because both are hugely important players. The islanders believe they have not lived up to expectations and Scotland offer a last chance to show how good they can be. The winners of the League Leader’s Shield have four out of the thirteen players in the Super League Dream Team, and two out of the three nominees for Man of Steel. Despite troubles at the line-out (a set piece play used to restart the game when the ball has gone out of bounds), the USA Eagles’ forwards were aggressive at the scrums and rucks, while the backs were elusive and looked to outpace their Scottish adversaries. This is probably the best and most attack-minded backline we’ve had since 1999 and they should go out there and express themselves.
“The Rugby World Cup 2015 in England is predicted to generate up to £2.2 billion of output into the economy with 2.3 million spectators traveling, sightseeing and exploring the country”, VisitEngland Chief Executive James Berresford told CNBC via email. The confidence is oozing out of them and it’s so good to see.
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Stat of the day: Bryan Habana’s hat-trick against the US took him level with Jonah Lomu’s all-time record of 15 World Cup tries. “We should have stuck to our original game plan, which was to try and move their big pack around and keep the ball when we were kicking”. A quarter-final place is the absolute minimum this team should be achieving.
