Test Rugby 2015 Rugby World Cup Match Discussion Thread

Yip. Truly incredible. Miracle on Ice? But this is incredible.

 

Yep definitely bigger. I don't think this will effect South Africa getting through, but Japan are a chance now.

 

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Yeah pretty weak pool really and this is a massive boost. Probably only need 2 more wins to take at least 2nd.

 

I was screaming. Deadset amazing.

 

Forza Italia!!

 

I don't even follow rugby, I only watch the finals, but I started watching (had a look) when RSA led 19-13 and had the strangest feeling that Japan would go close so kept watching.
What a good way to win over a fan.

 

Good to see an Aussie at the heart of it all as well. Although the boks could be in real trouble now. Such a terrible lead in for them

 

Replay of game is on now.

 

It's a pity Eddie Jones couldn't beat South Africa when he coached Aus...

 

the only thing i know about Japan and South Africa (other then rugby) is that they both have had interesting history (mostly in the 20th century).

 

Will also mean that 4 of the 5 sides in that pool will probably qualify for 2019 as well (assuming Japan take 3rd spot)

 

Miracle on grass?

 

Amazing upset. Just an incredible finish. That's a coming of age match for rugby. Perhaps the one people will look back on and say that's when rugby became a truly global sport. I just hope Japan can back it up now and make it to the quarter finals. It'll still be very tough against Scotland and Samoa. And even the USA, who they lost to the last time they played. What a great pool it's shaping up to be.

I knew Japan were a decent team - around the same level as the likes of Fiji and Samoa. I've seen them beat Wales (minus their Lions players) and Italy in the last couple of years. I thought they'd have a chance against Scotland, but at best I thought they might get within 20 points of South Africa.

 

Also, it's been completely overshadowed by the Japan result, but Georgia also pulled off a pretty impressive upset over Tonga last night. Georgia made over 200 tackles in the match, many of them defending their own line in the 2nd half as Tonga threw wave after wave at them. They are unbelievably strong people and kept hitting them hard and driving them back. They're now odds on to qualify automatically for the next world cup (by finishing at least 3rd in the pool) and will have a chance against Argentina to all but qualify for the quarter finals. Argentina will certainly be the favourites but Georgia winning wouldn't be anywhere near as surprising as Japan beating the Boks!

 

Fantastic result for rugby! Can't think of a greater upset in world cup sport.
Unlike some lesser sports a weak team can't simply park the bus and hope for a lucky goal - japan took the game on and the guts shown in refusing a certain draw twice in the last minutes was unbelievable. Well done Japan! They'll be cheering in heaven after this.

 

Will be interesting to see if Japan can follow it up. I usually find there's a massive let down after a massive win such as this.

 

Samoa v USA (Brighton Stadium) @ 9:00pm
Samoa:15 Tim Nanai-Williams, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 Paul Perez, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Kahn Fotuali’i, 8 Ofisa Treviranus (c), 7 Jack Lam, 6 Maurie Fa’asavalu, 5 Joe Tekori, 4 Teofilo Paulo, 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Ole Avei, 1 Zak Taulafo
Replacements: 16 Viliami Afatia, 17 Motu Matu’u, 18 Census Johnston, 19 Faifili Levave, 20 Alafoti Faosiliva, 21 Vavao Afemai, 22 Mike Stanley, 23 Fa’atoina Autagavaia

USA:15 Blaine Scully, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Seamus Kelly, 12 Thretton Palamo, 11 Chris Wyles (c), 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Mike Petri, 8 Samu Manoa, 7 Andrew Durutalo, 6 Al McFarland, 5 Greg Peterson, 4 Hayden Smith, 3 Titi Lamositele, 2 Zach Fenoglio, 1 Eric Fry
Replacements: 16 Phil Thiel, 17 Oli Kilifi, 18 Chris Baumann, 19 Cam Dolan, 20 Danny Barrett, 21 Shalom Suniula, 22 Folau Niua, 23 Brett Thompson

Referee:George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Federico Anselmi (Uruguay)
TMO:Graham Hughes (England)

Wales v Uruguay (Millennium Stadium) @ 11:30pm
Wales:15 Liam Williams, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 James King, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Sam Warburton (c), 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Aaron Jarvis, 18 Tom Francis, 19 Dominic Day, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Ross Moriarty, 22 Lloyd Williams, 23 Matthew Morgan

Uruguay:15 Gaston Mieres, 14 Santiago Gibernau, 13 Joaquin Prada, 12 Andres Vilaseca, 11 Rodrigo Silva, 10 Felipe Berchesi, 9 Agustin Ormaechea, 8 Alejandro Nieto, 7 Matias Beer, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara, 5 Jorge Zerbino, 4 Santiago Vilaseca, 3 Mario Sagario, 2 Carlos Arboleya, 1 Alejo Corral.
Replacements: 16 German Kessler, 17 Oscar Duran, 18 Mateo Sanguinetti, 19 Franco Lamanna, 20 Agustin Alonso, 21 Juan De Freitas, 22 Alejo Duran, 23 Francisco Bulanti.

Referee:Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees: Pascal Gauzère (France), Mathieu Raynal (France)
TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Monday 21 September
New Zealand v Argentina (Wembley Stadium) @ 1:45am (AEST)
New Zealand:New Zealand: 15 Ben Smith, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Tony Woodcock
Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Sam Cane, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Sonny Bill Williams

Argentina:15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Juan Martin Hernandez, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Agustin Creevy (c), 1 Marcos Ayerza
Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Ramiro Herrera, 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 23 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino

Referee:Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees:JP Doyle (England), Angus Gardner (South Africa)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)

 

They have it tough as they play Scotland (who will be fresh) on Wednesday. Backing up just 4 days later is pretty hard in rugby. On the other hand Eddie Jones has been thrashing them for months so they should be in the best condition of their lives, and they may well get some advantage from being in the groove of playing. It'll be an interesting match to watch before the Wallabies take on Fiji!

 

Union n00b here. Long time since I watched a game. Was watching highlights of the Boks/Blossoms match, and there were a few times where a scrum would be formed and then keep going until a team scored a try. I don't ever remember seeing this back when I watched occasionally, so is this the result of a rule change, strategy change or my poor memory?

 

Yea its an incredible achievement but South Africa has beyond woeful in the past 6 months leading up to this tournament, I can actually see them not getting out of the group stage.

 

Was it a scrum, where the referee calls in the forwards of the two teams to pack together at a set-piece, and the scrum-half rolls the ball in? Or was it a maul, where the players carrying the ball clump together as a unit and surge together during open play or more commonly after a line-out throw-in? Three of the seven (!) tries scored in the game were from the maul.

Hope that made some sense of our crazy convoluted game!

 

Sorry, yes, the maul was what I was thinking of.

 

Doubt they go out in the group stage, their group is very weak, they would still have to lose to one of Scotland, Samoa or USA to not make it which I don't think they will.