Tonga V US Eagles

Tonga 25 USA 15
When Tonga plays we can all expect a bit of crunch. And The Eagles didn’t disappoint either. It was a competitive match and even though Tonga started strongly, the Eagles matched them for possession and territory as the game wore in. The Tongans didn’t help themselves by some wayward kicking but managed to stay ahead of the spirited US who did well to pick themselves up so soon after their game against England in the weekend.

Fiji 35 Japan 31
I wish I could have managed to stay up for this one. It sounded like a stunner. Both teams can play that attractive running style of rugby and it would have been a nail biter for the Cherry Blossom and Fijian supporters. Poor old JK.

Italy 24 Romania 18
This was another unexpectedly close match, with the Romanians taking the Azzurri to the wire. Good on those Romanians god damn it. What has happened to Italy though? They showed so much promise in the Six Nations (ok, they didn’t win the wooden spoon for a change but that’s promising, surely?) I only saw the last twenty of this match and definitely the worst feature of this was some geriatric British commentator who moaned continually about the standard of the match and how boring it was. A lot like the sound of his voice, I thought.

Rugby World Cup Blogwatch: 3 Days To Go

The quiet before the storm. As office workers world wide start rolling out their Rugby World Cup sweepstakes, the traditional pre-match rugby reports start trawling out with the same old mundane rugby ‘news’ when there isn’t any rugby to watch:

Robinson and Wilkinson injured … again. Who will be the centre All Black pairing? The All Blacks resort to astrology and technology to end their twenty year curse. The English, Scottish and Azzurri are all hopeful. The French even more so; and the Portuguese not at all. The Cherry Blossoms (a most unrugby name for a team if ever there was one) are quaking in their boots about their first match with the Wallabies. The Tongan rugby team have shocked Bournemouth locals with the amount of food consumed during a gentle pub lunch. Steven Larkham doesn’t have a home to go now that Edinburgh has been bought out (and is rather worried). Plus, the Springboks are threatening to unleash a haka of their own (the mind truly boggles).

In the blogosphere, MiramarMike continues with a great blogwatch round up (which I have shamelessly drawn inspiration from). Total Flanker surmises that the Canterbury rugby brand is a lucky one and the Irish, Wallabies, Scottish and Springboks should have it over the lycra clad pretty boys with their scientifically enhanced shirts, sweaty ions and all (even if the Canterbury brand does mean those hardened Aussies and South Africans are wearing kiwis on their chests). Allez les Noir – my pals in the action have a good list of World Cup songs (particularly if you’re an All Black supporter) to get everyone in the spirit.

Roll on Saturday.