Global tournaments should not be dumping fixtures because of inclement weather – the game and its supporters deserve betterLet’s be kind to Jefferson Poirot and say his comments were lost in translation. But it was the France prop’s quote that his team were in the quarter-finals and that was all he cared about that really made me see red as I stared at the wad of 38,000 yen that was to be my spending money in Japan this weekend. Related: Italy’s Parisse hits out at ‘ridiculous’ All Blacks cancellation at Rugby World Cup Related: England’s fallow weekend is not the ideal preparation it may seem Continue reading...
We do need to keep games of rugby in perspective but if Sunday’s Pool A decider goes the way of England v France then the knockout stage will be underminedFirstly, some perspective. There are people living in the suburbs of Tokyo who still do not have electricity due to the typhoon that hit a month ago. Lives were lost and houses were destroyed. Hagibis, which has caused so much disruption to the World Cup schedule, is more than three times the size of the last one.Let’s put rugby to one side for a second. We’re all here living in this micro-bubble of the Rugby World Cup but in three or four weeks we pack our bags and go home. There...
England sapped the life out of Argentina and their clinical performance bodes well for the rest of the tournamentFull marks to England for a clinical performance against Argentina. It is never easy playing against a team down to 14 men and I thought that England were patient and ruthless in equal measure. I’ve heard a lot of talk about how it wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t, but it was effective and being pretty does not win you World Cups. Related: France survive Tonga scare and set up England game to decide Pool C winner Related: Owen Farrell puts his head where it hurts but the pain is all Argentina’s | Andy Bull Continue reading...
Pumas will feed off emotion of occasion and will enjoy being underdogs so it is important for England to keep their controlThere is no doubt in my mind that the midfield trio of George Ford, Owen Farrell and Manu Tuilagi is the best available to England if they have front-foot ball. That is going to be a big if in the latter stages of the tournament and I would urge caution against taking as read that this is now England’s first-choice combination.It is a midfield who can carry out a gameplan very well and if they click it will be a good day at the office for England against Argentina. But would Eddie Jones really opt for those three against...
New Zealand dare, England wear down – Eddie Jones is playing patience as counterpoint to the All Blacks’ artistrySteve Hansen reflected this week on how much European teams had improved since the 2015 World Cup when, for the first time, they failed to provide a semi-finalist. In Japan this time around there should be at least one semi-finalist from the north, more likely two. The group match between Wales and Australia on Sunday will reveal more but, at a World Cup in which the team with the best defence has tended to prevail, the deliberation with which they have started the tournament – no nonsense and fewer frills – has not been lost on Hansen. Related: Cokanasiga helps England crush...