Back to France!

Editor’s Note: Mat Brown’s blog will be moving to a new platform in 2008. Please bookmark the following url so that you can continue to enjoy his entries for MediaZone Rugby.
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The third weekend of the World Cup didn’t produce any surprises but it did make the quarterfinal qualification picture quite a bit clearer.  South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand clinched Pools A, B, and C with wins over their only remaining challengers Tonga, Fiji, and Scotland, but the Pool of Death is still up for grabs.  The real excitement in these groups revolves around who is going to finish second. 

In Pool A it will be Friday’s match between England and Tonga that decides who gets to face the Wallabies in Marseille.  The Ikale Tahi played tough against the Springboks which will give them plenty of confidence ahead of a winner-take-all affair in Paris.  I’d love to see Tonga – a team that I thought would be lucky to win one match at this tournament – beat the defending world champions and get into the knockout stage.  England is one of the proudest of rugby nations however, and they are not going to quietly step aside for the islanders so there will be a whole lot of intensity on the pitch at Parc des Princes and I can’t wait to watch the elimination battle unfold. 

In Pool B the determining clash is on Saturday between Wales and Fiji in Nantes. Originally this one wasn’t on our travel schedule but after Fiji beat Canada we made a last minute addition to the itinerary.  This match has the potential to be a wide open scorefest.  I’m guessing that won’t happen though because Wales will attempt to keep it even tighter than usual so as to avoid giving their opponents any extra touches of the ball.  Fiji can score from anywhere at any time so denying them possession is absolutely essential to beating them.  I’ll be pulling for Fiji to come out on top and make it two Pacific Island countries in the quarters.

In Pool C it all comes down to the match between Scotland and Italy in St. Etienne.  The winner gets to face either France or Argentina in Saint Denis in quarterfinal number four on October 7.  Neither nation has heaped glory on themselves so far at this tournament but all they have to do now is score more points than the other on the day and all will be forgiven.  Both sides will be well rested and ready to go –either onwards or home!  No, I don’t have anything particular against the home nations but I will be backing Italy to recover from three weak outings and get into the quarters for the first time. 

In Pool D it’s wide open.  Early on Sunday France will likely beat Georgia and get a bonus point, giving them 15 total.  Later that evening Argentina will take on Ireland for all the marbles.  If Argentina wins or draws they top the pool.  They could even lose and get a couple of bonus points and still win the pool.  Ireland can only get in if they win, score four tries, and deny the Pumas any bonuses.  Matches between these two are always close and exciting and I doubt this one will be any different but I can’t see the Pumas losing and would like to see them win the group outright.  

Edinburgh was fun but I’m anxious to get back to France.  Tomorrow is Canada vs. Japan in Bordeaux followed by USA vs. Samoa in St. Etienne on Wednesday. 

France Stays Alive!

Editor’s Note: Mat Brown’s blog will be moving to a new platform in 2008. Please bookmark the following url so that you can continue to enjoy his entries for MediaZone Rugby.
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On Friday night in St. Denis Rugby World Cup 2007 remained relevant to the vast majority of the inhabitants of the host nation. France played just well enough to overcome a lackluster Ireland team that looks headed for an early exit.

If France had somehow managed to lose and get eliminated from the competition before the knockout stage even began, I’m guessing that there would have been a massive outpouring of indifference for the rest of the tourney by the large numbers of casual fans who are watching primarily to see their countrymen against the world’s best. 

There were a couple of moments of brilliance from the Tricolors – most notably Frederic Michalak’s banana kick that led to the first try – but overall the French have yet to display the sort of form that everyone knows they’re capable of producing on any given day.  Maybe they’re saving it for their now more likely than ever Cardiff quarterfinal against the All Blacks!

Part of it can be attributed to good defense by France but in general Ireland never looked even remotely dangerous with ball in hand.  Even their normally solid kicking for territory gameplan was seriously lacking in precision.  I’m not sure exactly what’s wrong with Ronan O’Gara but he certainly doesn’t appear to be his normal, steady – if more than somewhat one-dimensional – self.

The way they’re playing now I can’t see Ireland rebounding against Argentina next Sunday at Parc des Princes and it wouldn’t really matter anyway because all they can do now is play spoiler and determine whether the Pumas or Les Bleus win the pool.  That’s assuming, of course, that Argentina gets a bonus point against Namibia and France does the same against Georgia, both of which are fairly safe bets.  I wonder if the IRFU is trying to figure out a way to buy out the new four year deal they inked with Eddie O’Sullivan right before the start of the tourney!

If you haven’t yet checked out Brownie’s Rugby Bunker on World Cup Tour then be sure to watch the one titled FRA v IRE to see the interview I did with Irish rugby personality George Hook outside of Stade de France before the match.  Hook is the rare breed of commentator who pulls no punches and definitely wasn’t shy about highlighting the deficiencies in the Ireland team.

There are a bunch of good matches on tap this weekend but since I’m going to be traveling much of the time I’m going to miss England v Samoa and South Africa v Tonga.  Fortunately though, I’ve got a RWC Plus pass so when I get to Edinburgh I’ll just download them from www.rugbyworldcupvideo.com and check them out at my leisure. 

If you haven’t had a chance to sample the RWC matches yet from the site I suggest you do so at the earliest opportunity.  The quality is amazing and the chance to see games that you would otherwise miss because of time constraints is convenience at its best.

My next dispatch will be from Edinburgh where the All Blacks face a decidedly under strength Scotland.  I don’t blame Frank Hadden for throwing his second-stringers out against New Zealand – if I were the coach I’d do exactly the same thing – because there’s only one important match in this pool for Scotland and that’s the one against Italy next week!

Rethinking the Minnows

Editor’s Note: Mat Brown’s blog will be moving to a new platform in 2008. Please bookmark the following url so that you can continue to enjoy his entries for MediaZone Rugby.
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I’ve long been a proponent of making the World Cup more competitive by getting rid of the bottom quartet of teams and playing four pools of four with the goal of eliminating the biggest mismatches and increasing the overall attractiveness of every tournament fixture.  Results at the 2007 RWC and an experience last night at Parc des Princes have caused me to rethink that position slightly so I’ll share with you an original alternative.

Like an idiot I forgot my media badge for the Portugal versus Italy match.  By the time I realized I didn’t have it we were just getting off the Metro and going back and getting it would have been impossible because we had to shoot the opening part of Brownie’s Rugby Bunker on World Cup Tour before kickoff.  Instead I had to scalp a ticket and ended up buying one for about half of face value.  The guy who sold it to me said that his wife was supposed to come to the match but that she had been unable to make it.  Since we spoke in English while conducting the transaction I didn’t have any inkling of what awaited me when I took my assigned seat.

I went into the stadium, navigated to my section and sat down right at the edge of a group of about a hundred Portugal supporters and settled in for the national anthems.  When the Portuguese anthem was played every one of the fans near me sang it at full volume as if trying to let their team down on the field feel their enthusiasm.  And it didn’t stop there.  They chanted POR-TU-GAL, sang, applauded, and generally enjoyed their national team’s brave effort against a disappointing Italy.
 
Okay, so I really do get the fact that seeing their countrymen compete at this level is immensely important and probably does help the development of the game back home by raising awareness about the sport, but does it actually make for good rugby?  The answer is, unfortunately, a resounding no.  Sure, the atmosphere was wonderful but the match itself was a snorer, filled more with mistakes and penalties than skill and tryscoring.

A different example is Georgia.  I haven’t been to any of their matches live but watching their effort against Ireland opened my eyes.  If you haven’t seen it yet I suggest that you go to www.rugbyworldcupvideo.com and check it out.  They played a forwards only style that flustered the Irish and came literally within a few meters of victory in the final minutes.  After getting crushed mercilessly in Australia in 2003, rebounding with that kind of performance in 2007 makes it impossible for me to say that the Lelos don’t belong in France.

Gerogia’s effort aside, the problem remains that most of the lesser nations are getting hammered by unattractive scorelines, so what can be done to fix it?  I initially was in favor of another sixteen team tourney to run at the same time as the World Cup with teams ranked 17 to 32 playing each other on the off days of the regular schedule.  I’d still like to see that happen but perhaps a more productive exercise would be to do away with the last rounds of qualifying for the final four spots and invite twelve teams to play in a RWC qualifying tournament instead. 

It could be held in the country that has been awarded the next World Cup – sort of a trial run – in smaller venues about a year before the RWC kicks off.  The four top sides that emerge from the process would then be given berths in the big show and the IRB development officers would have ample time to prepare the four qualifiers for the task ahead.  I think that a twelve months of intensive coaching and preparation would have a significant impact on these nations’ prospects and make the World Cup a more balanced and thus marketable commodity worldwide.

The tourney would take place in one of the two normal test windows – assuming that the global schedule isn’t in place by then – and would serve to bolster interest in the game in each of the countries that attend.  It’s one thing to try to generate enthusiasm for a qualifying match in some far corner of the world; it’s another entirely to highlight a tourney where they prize at the end is a slot in the next World Cup!

Let me know what you think about this idea by emailing me at mbrown@mediazone.com 

 

A Welsh Sojourn

Editor’s Note: Mat Brown’s blog will be moving to a new platform in 2008. Please bookmark the following url so that you can continue to enjoy his entries for MediaZone Rugby.
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We almost didn’t make it to Cardiff but once we did it was worth all the frustration encountered while trying to get there. 

The first major difficulty was that we missed our train to London.  Actually we were at the station well before it left but long lines at the ticketing counter and a heretofore unknown early check-in requirement meant that even though we had confirmed seats and were ready to go, we weren’t allowed to board.

So our next step was to head to the airport where we were waitlisted on a flight to Cardiff.  After several hours of waiting we were told that if we ran to the gate we might make it because another flight into Charles de Gaulle was delayed and it contained two passengers whose seats we could have.  It’s been a long time since I ran through an airport – I don’t think you’re even allowed to do it anymore in America – but we covered the seemingly endless distance quickly and somehow made the plane.

We both – me and my videographer/producer – thought that our troubles were over only to discover after we had landed in Wales and cleared passport control that there were no cabs available into the city, which is about a half an hour trip.  It was desperation time so we starting asking for rides from anybody who happened to be in the parking lot and eventually found a taxi with a passenger who was heading to the game.  We hopped in and thirty minutes later we were outside Millennium Stadium!

I hadn’t been to Cardiff since the 1999 Maggot Rugby World Cup Tour but I was immediately reminded what a great vibe the city has on a rugby day when the national team is playing.  The immediate streets around the stadium were all closed to vehicular traffic and packed with Australia and Wales supporters. 

We set up by the river Taff and started doing some interviews and generally chatting with fans.  I forgot to mention that since every hotel room within about a thirty mile radius of Cardiff was fully booked we had no idea where we were going to sleep that night but it wasn’t really a pressing concern that early in the day.  After about fifteen minutes of predictions and boasts from red and gold clad fans who should appear by a former Oxy Olde Boys teammate who just happens to be Welsh and who was in town for the match as well.

His unexpected presence solved our lodging problem – we could crash on his friend’s couches – and provided us with evening plans – a visit to The Swan pub in Caerphilly!

The match between Wales and Australia went about as expected.  The Wallabies had to much skill and discipline, the Welsh fell behind and then finally started throwing the ball around and scored some entertaining tries, but it was too little too late.  Chris Latham had a blinder for Australia and proved the difference maker in the contest.

Sunday’s fixture pitted Canada and Fiji in a clash of styles that the islanders won.  There were 50,000 fewer fans in attendance but there was still plenty of passion in the stands and on the pitch as the Canadians stage a fantastic comeback only to lose the ball near the goalline as they were driving for the winning try.  Suddenly the Fiji vs. Wales match on September 29 is looking enormous and we may have to juggle the schedule in order to see it in person.

I’m off to hook up with the Maggots tomorrow and hopefully get some game time on Tuesday night outside of Uzes.

South Africa Smashes England!

The stage was set for a great contest between two proud rugby nations on Friday night as nearly eighty thousand spectators jammed into Stade de France.  The stands looked like an enormous irregular patchwork as multitudes of green and white clad supporters grouped themselves together to cheer on their heroes.  The anthems were stirring and everything pointed to an epic encounter – except for the unfortunate fact that that one team was a whole lot better than the other one.
  
There were no surprises in Saint Denis as South Africa hammered England by a score of 36 – 0.  And it could have been even worse if Percy Montgomery had been as on with his drop goals as he was with his place kicks.

England never really threatened the Springboks and when they went down 10-0 in the early going it was pretty much over.  Even the preponderance of England fans in the stadium couldn’t inspire their team as the singing of Sweet Chariot was kept to a bare minimum.

It’s a certainty now that South Africa will win the pool and move on to face either Wales or Australia in the quarterfinal with that determination probably coming tomorrow based on the outcome of the their match in Cardiff. 

What was most disappointing about England’s performance was that they looked like they had absolutely no fire in them at all.  They went through the motions of playing rugby but never seemed to be enjoying it and once they fell behind defeat was inevitable.

The big problem for England now is that it looks like they’ve lost Jason Robinson and maybe Jamie Noon as well which means that what seemed like an easy fixture with Samoa is suddenly shaping up to be a battle royale for second place in the pool.  A defending champion not making it to the knock out stage would be beyond embarrassing but it could actually happen.

South Africa was without Jean de Villiers – who is injured and done for the tourney – and Schalk Burger – who’ll return from suspension in time for the final pool match – and didn’t seem to miss them too terribly much.  Francois Steyn slotted in effortlessly at inside center and provided an extra kicking option that the man he replaced doesn’t really possess.

Burger’s presence at the breakdown will be a necessity against better teams but Wikus van Heerden is a quality player and a more than sufficient stand-in against their next two opponents.

The player who made the biggest difference for the Boks was Fourie du Preez.  His offensive work around the rucks was superb and he repeatedly sliced through England’s defense, setting up a couple of tries through fantastic individual effort and a clinical reading of the defense in front of him.

There’s still plenty of room for improvement by the Springboks but they are definitely on the right track and building their confidence level.  Eventually they’ll face a team that will test them but I doubt that’ll really happen until the semifinals!

Off to Cardiff for the weekend and will report from there after the Canada v Fiji match on Sunday.  
 

Citings and Suspensions

If you haven’t seen the latest episodes from Brownie’s Rugby Bunker on World Cup Tour click here to watch them. 

After just twelve matches, five players at the Rugby World Cup have been cited and suspended for foul play on the pitch.  The quintet of offenders includes a couple of the game’s highest -profile stars and a few who are significantly less well known.  Schalk Burger of South Africa, England Captain Phil Vickery, Portugal’s Severino Somoza, Samoa’s Alfie Vaeluaga, and the USA’s Paul Emerick will all be missing upcoming fixtures because they transgressed the Laws of the Game at a time when the IRB is trying to showcase the sport for a worldwide audience.

You can watch all of these incidents by going to www.rugbyworldcupvideo.com

Let’s look at them individually, going from the least serious to the most.

Alfie Vaeluaga – Basically the Manu Samoa replacement went high on Percy Montgomery and smacked him in the head.  He actually hits him first at shoulder level and then slides up to the noggin, helped by the twisting action of another Samoan defender.  My attitude on this one is that it’s a physical game and sometimes guys are going to get whacked in the head.  A yellow would have sufficed.

Schalk Burger – I thought that Paul Honiss dealt with this a little lightly on the field and Burger should have gotten a yellow and maybe a one game suspension but anything beyond that is overkill.  Four games was ridiculous, even the two he received on appeal seems excessive.  Essentially Burger was going to go up and contest for the ball, saw he wasn’t going to get there in time, and decided to make a tackle instead.  In doing so he caught Junior Polu across the face while he was still in the air.  It didn’t seem to have any malice behind it, just mistimed aggression.

Phil Vickery – Tripping is always bad, especially when it is in the open and caught clearly on videotape.  I’ll bet that Vickery actually does regret doing it as he expressed at his hearing and feels it was beneath a player of his standard.  That being said, tripping is at the lower end of the evilness scale and two matches seems about right for the offense.  An action like Vickery’s is usually done without thinking by an athlete who is doing everything he can to stop the opposition and instinctually reaches out with the boot as a last resort.

Severino Somoza – This wasn’t a horrific headbutt but it certainly was intentional no matter what Somoza’s representative said at his hearing.  Even though I have to admit I delivered a few of these as a young player I now know that there’s no place in the game for this kind of unnecessary nonsense.  Somoza is also young and hopefully will be sufficiently embarrassed by his actions to not do this again.  Two games seems about right because the impact on Nathan Hines was minimal.  

Paul Emerick – The Eagle’s spear tackle on Olly Barkley happened right in front of where I was sitting in Lens and it looked even worse in real time than it did on replays.  I’m surprised he got off as lightly as he did with five games.  This sort of tackle has to be eliminated from the sport entirely.  This is not a heat of the moment type thing.  The tackler can claim it’s a reflex action but I don’t buy it because just by getting the ballcarrier off the ground the battle has been won; continuing with the spearing is a conscious choice.  So did Emerick intend to hurt Barkley?  Not in a million years but he did carry on with something he must have known was dangerous and thus deserves to finish out the tourney on the sidelines, or more likely, back home.

Tonight is South Africa v England at Stade de France and not too long after the final whistle I’ll have more from the Pool A decider.

Maggots and Eagles

I’ve been a Maggot since 1994 and consider them to be my home club even though I live in Los Angeles and they’re based in Missoula, Montana.  I get up to Maggotfest every year and usually try to make the Maggot Formal in early February as well.  I also follow their Spring and Fall campaigns via their email distribution list and phone calls so I’m fairly in tune with how the club is going most of the time.  I toured with the Maggots to the 1999 and 2003 World Cups and fully intended to do so again in 2007 – I even paid my touring fees – but the job of hosting Brownie’s Rugby Bunker on World Cup Tour took precedence so I was forced to miss out on being part of the group for the sixteen day extravaganza in France.

I missed the Maggots in Paris when they started their tour but was lucky enough to catch up with them on Tuesday in Carcassone.  I took the train down there, met most of the touring party at an Irish pub and watched the Argentina vs. Georgia match.  I will spare you the gory details but will suffice to say a good time was had by all.  Working as a commentator at the World Cup is a fantastic experience but it cannot compare to the fun on offer being part of a team traveling, partying,  and playing rugby together in a new land.   The Maggots have also been joined this year by a large group of current and former Bettersiders – the women’s rugby team in Missoula – which has added even more liveliness and loveliness than usual!

The plan on Wednesday was to get up early, leave Carcassone in a bunch of rented vans and cars, check in at the hotel in Agde, and then drive up to the match in Montpellier.  It all seemed simple and straightforward but there were some directional problems that messed with the timing a bit, leading to some worried moments for me as I wondered if I would make kickoff at Stade de la Mosson.  Fortunately Maggot ingenuity prevailed, as usual, as Tex Gillette – with a little help from his GPS – led the way across the backroads of the south of France in one of the best shortcuts ever, directly to my appointed duties at the United States vs. Tonga match.

Being back with the Maggots was wonderful as always and I’m going to make another connection next week in Uzes and hope to actually get a chance to play some rugby with them on Tuesday night.  To get a feel for what the Maggots are like on tour, go to the MediaZone Rugby at RWC page and click on Brownie’s Rugby Bunker on World Cup Tour to check out the episode about them which should be posted on the website in the very near future.

The only way the day with the Maggots could have been any better would have been if the Eagles had lived up to expectations against the Ikale Tahi.  After the performance against England even I was getting excited about their chances to record their third RWC victory.  But as has happened so many times over the last twenty years or so, they followed up a good outing with a poor one.  They made lots of simple concentration errors right from the opening kickoff and for some reason the backs couldn’t seem to keep their hands on the ball.  The forwards played decently but were unable to cover the mistakes of a deficient backline.

It was a hot day in Montpellier and they had played a bruising encounter against England just four days before but coach Peter Thorburn was correct in dismissing that as a factor.   No excuses, they just played badly and have only themselves to blame.  A win now seems almost out of the question as Samoa are a far more talented team than Tonga and there’s no chance at all of beating South Africa. 

Tomorrow I’ll deal with the raft of suspensions handed down in the last few days and determine which were deserved and which were inappropriate.   
 
 

South Africa Thrashes Samoa!

The Springboks got off to a great start in RWC 2007 by convincingly beating Manu Samoa 59-7 at Parc des Princes.  The match was pretty close until the very end of the first half when the Boks demonstrated their dominance in the tight phases and scored a five pointer to go up two tries heading into the break.  Denying the Samoans the feeling that they were still in touch was a huge factor in how the second forty went.

I know that there is still a long way to go in the tourney and plenty of upsets are looming out there on the horizon but after watching the first weekend of play I can’t help but feel like it’s going to be a New Zealand v South Africa final.  Sure, Australia looked equally clinical in their demolition of Japan but the All Blacks and Springboks faced legitimate opposition in their opening matches and both proved exactly how much differential there is between the best teams and the good teams in world rugby.

Here’s one thing I can’t figure out.  How in the world do you score four fantastic tries and still not be named Man of the Match?  I’m not sure how the process of awarding this accolade works at the world cup – it varies by country and tournament – but I’m going to try to find out over the next few weeks because to give that honor to Percy Montgomery instead of Bryan Habana was a travesty!

And just in case you thought that the World Cup was the only rugby on offer this week here’s a reminder that the Air New Zealand Cup and the Currie are still going full speed.  Click here to watch highlights from all ten matches. 

Laws of the Game, Tries of the Week, and Play of the Week will all continue to be updated every Monday morning so I encourage you to check them out and put your opinions in the comment section.

Laws of the Game
Watch this play and then listen to the commentators before reading what follows.  I couldn’t agree more wholeheartedly with their comments.  It is exactly this type of play that points up the limitations of the TMO.  It was clear that neither the referee nor the TMO could see the ball being grounded but the touch judge did.  If he hadn’t spoken up the Stags would have been denied a crucial try.  Great job TJ!

Tries of the Week  
Four choices this week from the more than fifty tries scored in the Air New Zealand Cup and the Currie Cup.

1. Paul Williams – When is the last time you’ve seen a lock with that kind of skill?  Victor Matfield comes to mind.

2. Robbie Malneek – I’m surprised that Tasman hasn’t won more matches because they certainly have some talented offensive players.

3. Thomas Waldrom – The kick pass/crosskick is becoming an ever more popular weapon to beat tight defenses.

4. Odwa Ndungane – Maybe Jake White did take the wrong twin to France!

Play of the Week
What a fantastic finish to a pulsating match.  One minute Donnelly was set up to be the goat by aimlessly kicking the ball right back to the Turbos and the next he saved the day with an awesome tackle in the corner.  A loss to Manawatu would have been catastrophic for Otago; a draw isn’t nearly so bad and now they’re still in the hunt.
 

Eagles Hang Tough Against Defending World Champs!

It is not often when one of my match predictions is proven almost completely wrong that I am happy about it or want to highlight it but in this case I will make an exception.  The USA played one of its best matches ever on Saturday against England and even though it was still a loss, it has got to boost the confidence of every Eagles fan that their team is getting better and will have a real shot at a win when they face Tonga on Wednesday in Montpellier.

I thought that the Eagles would be doing well if they kept England under fifty points.  As it turned out, there weren’t even fifty points scored in the whole match and the differential was a measly eighteen points!

So how did they do it?

Basically they tackled their hearts out, held their own in the tight phases, stayed calm and organized in cover defense whenever England broke their line, and varied their attacking pattern to keep England off balance. 

A few players that stood out in my mind were flyhalf Mike Hercus, fullback Chris Wyles, and lock Mike Mangan.  Hercus ran the show with aplomb, kept the English guessing with his offensive option taking, and delivered when it counted with the boot.  Wyles was consistently in the right place to negate England’s kicking game, didn’t get flustered under extreme pressure, and was steady when he got his hands on the ball.  Mangan played a big part in the Eagles’ lineout success, was a force in tight defensively, and generally held his own against two very good locks in Ben Kay and Simon Shaw.

A huge part of the USA’s solid performance was their improved fitness.  They looked fresh even in the late going and were still springing up from tackles and running to the next breakdown when the English were looking sluggish.  Plus, their discipline – other than a couple of silly plays by Esikia and Emerick that drew yellow cards – was pretty  good overall.  The penalties they did commit were generally caused by aggression rather than frustration or lack of self-control – which is so much more acceptable from a fan’s point of view.  

In other action on Saturday New Zealand trounced Italy and Australia hammered Japan so the Eagles narrow loss has to be seen as the best minnow outing so far.  I didn’t get a chance to watch either of the other two matches – I was traveling and working at the time – and I can’t figure out the French TV replay schedule so I’m going to catch them tomorrow when they become available on RWC Plus and I suggest you do the same by clicking here!

I’m off to see South Africa vs. Samoa tomorrow and will give you all the details once I return to the Paris version of Brownie’s Rugby Bunker.
 

Argentina over France!

Argentina got everyone thinking last night.  If the Pumas could upset the Tricolors then what other shock results were possible?  A surprise outcome in the opener is good for the tournament as a whole, obviously bad for France, and will create lots more discussion before each match that features a seemingly clear favorite.

But let’s not get carried away by what was essentially a very good team beating another one.  The Pumas did some things that will be hard for other underdogs to replicate.

First off, their overall tackling was superb and their cover defense was excellent, stifling France on numerous occasions when it looked like they had broken through.  The Pumas backline put in a phenomenal performance on the defensive side and that comes from having a high fitness level, experience playing professional rugby against outstanding athletes, good coaching and organization, and smooth communication amongst defenders on the pitch.  They forced France into lots of errors by keeping the pressure on throughout the match.

Other teams facing rough encounters can show the same commitment but if they don’t have that same base to draw from their likelihood of success is remote.

Argentina also had a gameplan that was unexpected and effective.  They decided to kick up and unders as a way of beating France’s tight defensive screen.  The tactic worked because more often than not there were no serious opposition challenges for the ball in the air.  Eventually the French caught on but by then it was too late.

The Pumas didn’t get the better of France in the set pieces – in fact their scrum got embarrassingly pushed around at times – but they did turn the ball over at the breakdown a sufficient number of times to create havoc and ruin the host’s plans of using their back division to run the Pumas ragged.

The Pumas also got a bit lucky.  How often are David Skrela and Frederic Michalak going to both miss easy penalties that they could normally kick with their eyes closed?

Argentina’s win sets up Pool D to be the most watched and entertaining in the tournament.  It makes the France v Ireland match on September 21 into an elimination contest and turns the Ireland v Argentina battle on September 30 into a virtual quarterfinal.  It also means that the minnows in this pool are going to get a bit more than they bargained for because depending upon the results of the clashed between the leaders, points differential determining who moves on and who goes home is a distinct possibility so there won’t be any letting up against Namibia and Georgia.

One final observation on last night’s opener.  Why wasn’t there a hooter at the end?  Or if there was, did the Argentinean players not hear it as well?  I ask because it seemed more than foolish for Contepomi to line up a penalty kick with no time left on the clock when he could just have easily booted it into touch and ended the game.  As it was, he missed and France had one last chance to come out on top.  Fortunately for Argentina their defense held firm yet again but it seemed to me at the time like an unnecessary risk and I was just wondering if the players thought there was more time available or if they knew that was the final act of the contest.

I’m headed off to Lens to see England play the USA later this evening and while I’m sure there are many Eagles fans buoyed by last night’s upset, I’d caution them against getting their hopes up too high!