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 1/10/07
AFTER giving England a scare for the first
30 minutes of their enthralling
"elimination" match, Tonga got tired and
careless and gifted "Les Rosbifs" a victory
that looked more impressive on the points
tally than it was.
The World Cup is a cruel event. Tonga, who
played the match of the tournament against
South Africa and led England for 30 minutes,
are now out of France.
England fancy their chances against the
Wallabies because they believe their front
five can out-muscle their Wallabies
counterparts in the scrums and mauls.
Certainly this was the game plan (if this
negative, plodding system can be called a
plan) against Tonga. Virtually every lineout
ball and every scrum was driven forward,
while nearly every maul was rumbled ahead.
While Tonga's fitness held, this game plan
seemed to be backfiring. Tonga's scrum
generally held up well. If Tonga's scrum was
competitive against England, you'd hope that
the improved Wallabies model will be
competitive, too. It is important for the
Wallabies that the referee adjudicates on
what is happening on the field now, and not
what happened several years ago with the
Wallabies front row.
Tonga were clever, too, in defusing the
rolling mauls by contesting fiercely at
times and every now and again disengaging
completely. Unfortunately, the excellent
referee Alain Rolland, allowed the England
hooker to disengage and then engage into a
driving maul, which resulted in England
winning a penalty and Jonny Wilkinson
kicking the penalty to equalise the score at
3-3.
I thought Rolland and the touch judges, too,
were lenient at the beginning of the game
with Lewis Moody, who threw himself late at
the legs of the Tongan fullback. There
appeared to be no real attempt at a
charge-down. The tackle, for that was what
it was, was designed to injure the ankles
and shins of the kicker. This should not be
allowed.
England had two match-winners on the field,
Wilkinson, who is worth about 20 points for
England with his kicking and general play,
and Paul Sackey, a big, fast winger with
good rugby nous. He picked up Wilkinson's
intention to give away a kick at goal and
positioned himself cleverly for the pinpoint
kick from the five-eighth to score England's
first try. Then he capitalised on a
breakdown in a Tongan attack to scorch away
for a try that took England to a 19-10 lead,
against the run of play, at half-time.
This brings us to Lote Tuqiri. Some
Wallabies tragics in Montpellier grabbed me
a few days ago to insist that I write down
this joke: "Lote Tuqiri couldn't run around
a statute." And the reply: "He couldn't
tackle one, either."
This is, of course, unfair to Tuqiri. The
statistics show that he makes more metres
with the ball and more tackles than just
about anyone else in the side. But there is
the curious fact that he hasn't scored a try
in the tournament. And this is the player
who in the 2003 final scored a brilliant,
leaping try. He hasn't shown this
brilliance, or the speed of 2003, for a
couple of seasons. So I'd expect Wilkinson
to test Tuqiri's speed against that of
Sackey with chip kicks and long, raking
kicks to the corners.
During the early part of the match, when the
Tongan centres found holes in the England
defence relatively easily, I wrote in my
notebook: "If the Tongans can make breaks
like this in the centres, what will Stirling
Mortlock do to England?"
One thing not working in favour of the
Wallabies will be Stephen Larkham's absence.
Before the World Cup began, the Herald ran
an interesting set of statistics showing
that the Gregan-Larkham-Giteau-Mortlock
combination had won 10 of its past 16 Tests.
Berrick Barnes clearly has a big challenge
in front of him at Marseilles on Saturday.
England have got the quarter-final they
think they can win. But so have Australia.
The hard, fast pitch at the Velodrome at
Marseilles will suit the quicker, faster and
more skilful Wallabies.
This is, of course, unfair to Tuqiri. The
statistics show that he makes more metres
with the ball and more tackles than just
about anyone else in the side. But there is
the curious fact that he hasn't scored a try
in the tournament. And this is the player
who in the 2003 final scored a brilliant,
leaping try. He hasn't shown this
brilliance, or the speed of 2003, for a
couple of seasons. So I'd expect Wilkinson
to test Tuqiri's speed against that of
Sackey with chip kicks and long, raking
kicks to the corners.
During the early part of the match, when the
Tongan centres found holes in the England
defence relatively easily, I wrote in my
notebook: "If the Tongans can make breaks
like this in the centres, what will Stirling
Mortlock do to England?"
One thing not working in favour of the
Wallabies will be Stephen Larkham's absence.
Before the World Cup began, the Herald ran
an interesting set of statistics showing
that the Gregan-Larkham-Giteau-Mortlock
combination had won 10 of its past 16 Tests.
Berrick Barnes clearly has a big challenge
in front of him at Marseilles on Saturday.
England have got the quarter-final they
think they can win. But so have Australia.
The hard, fast pitch at the Velodrome at
Marseilles will suit the quicker, faster and
more skilful Wallabies.
SPIRO ZAVOS -
Sydney
Morning Herald | Monday, 1 October
2007 |
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