Out go the ANZACs, defeated by Poms and Frogs ... aaaggh!

This morning (or should I call it afternoon? Given I got up for the second time at 1.30pm today after watching both quarter-finals, it feels like morning to me) I am both frustrated and speechless: frustrated by the Wallabies and rendered speechless by the All Blacks. What an event is this Rugby World Cup!

The English deserved to win their match against Australia (there, I've said it): the Wallabies were ill-disciplined and flabby against an urgent and attacking English side. The scrums were a travesty on both sides (how many scrum re-sets did we have to endure, huh? Set the bloody thing and don't collapse it, bozos!) and the Australians' ball-handling skills were flawed and careless. So many dropped balls out wide. Lote's try was a thrill; however, too many penalties allowed JW to put the points on the board and Sterling's missed kicks at goal sealed the deal. The Australians lost the match because of poor play and that's really really annoying!

Full credit to the English - they obviously wanted it more and played like a team out to show their critics they were up to defending their crown. They lifted over the last week and played like a well-drilled machine. I still can't stand Jonny Wilkinson though - lay the egg and get on with it!

The All Blacks' match against the French is another story: why do the New Zealanders choke in the World Cup?? They don't choke in the Bledisloe or the Tri Nations ... why in this competition? Why? Why?

This was their event for the winning. The best team in the world and a flawless run through the pool rounds. Their first half was immaculate. They played tight, disciplined, fearsome rugby and made several attacks on the French line. Their ball-handling was perfect and they moved the ball around quickly and precisely. At half-time they seemed unbeatable at 13 - 3.

In the second half it was if the two teams had swapped jerseys. The French regrouped and ground down the All Blacks' resolve. McAlister was sent off for ten minutes for blocking, and the beginnings of what could be called rot set in. A try set up by late ring-in Michalak (passing it on to Jauzion to score) came of what appeared to be a forward pass but it did its job - the French could see the door was open. Dan and Byron came off injured in the second half and the panic set in. Despite a determined effort by the men in black to drive the ball over (the forwards would be knackered - they made several attempts at scrummaging the ball over the line, and did in fact score another try) our little ANZAC brothers couldn't keep the Frogs out. A last minute penalty from the French and Les Bleus secured a spot against England in the Semis.

So my tipping for the Semis is now 50% wrong and we're left with the Frogs and the Poms to fight it out next week - I'm practising my 2nd language even harder now - Vivent Les Bleus! I cannot bear the thought of the English winning the RWC for a 2nd time as they'll bloody beatify them and then eract statues and rename the English counties after each of the players. Yuck. The spectacle of the French side playing in Paris to contest the Final is much more attractive.

Who will they play? God knows! If the next two quarters play out like the first two the Fijians will win by 30 and the Scots by 50! Every Australian should be made to barrack for Fiji this evening - not hard, they're a super team and deserving of their large fan base. Plus, the team I absolutely hate the most are the South Africans. The Argentinians will make it a cinderella story if they make it through to the Finals ... imagine the Falkland Wars II should the English be their foe .....

Bah! Go Fiji! Go Argentina! Go France!

The pool rounds are over ... and now the real fun begins!

Eight teams are through to the Quarter Finals and the real fun of the RWC begins ... the knockout rounds.

Australia have their chance to avenge their loss to England in 2003, the French face the All Black juggernaut, the Fijians have caused the upset of the tournament (to face the Springboks), and Argentina lines up against the Scots.

I'm excited for Fiji; they'll be thrilled with their Quarter Final spot even though they face a seemingly ascendant South Africa. Let's hope they give the 'Boks the same drubbing they gave Wales ;-) [Good luck Greg :-)]

Argentina have presented a very strong case for inclusion in an expanded Tri Nations by finishing top of their pool. I predict a Semi Final spot for them.

After a few weeks of reading the rugby results rather than staying up all night to watch the matches, now I start the alarm-clock setting and sleeping in. Thank goodness I'm on 2 weeks holidays. I have a hen's day to attend on the 6th - perfect reason to stay up even later to watch the Wallabies play the English :-) I'll be at the chic Loft Bar in Sydney, in a posh frock - Chic Rugby to the max :-)

England defeat Tonga and line themselves up against a Wallaby team ready for revenge :-)

The Tongans played very well against the English to go down 36 - 20. The Poms secured their place in the Quarter-Finals with some room to spare, but the Tongans were not disgraced and were praised by their opposition for their strong play and natural ability.

The Australians now have the chance to avenge their defeat against the English in the 2003 World Cup Final. It will be a close game, especially with Jonny "I'm a pain' Wilkinson finding kicking form. Zut alors!

The All Blacks line up against the Romanians shortly, with the Australians versus the Canadians a couple of hours later. By tomorrow morning the 8 teams to play the Quarters will be decided and then the really tough stuff begins :-)

Go Australia!

A mixed bag of results ... and Chic Rugby is coming 2nd in her tipping group - still.

Who'd have thought the Canadians would tie with the Japanese?

Not Chic Rugby and hence her performance in her Facebook tipping competition isn't so hot this week. I'm 6 points behind my pal Reece, because I didn't pick a 12-all tie between the Canucks and the Cherry Blossoms. Grrr.

In other games the Samoans beat the USA for their first win of the RWC, the Georgians thrashed Namibia 30 nil and the Romanians just beat the Portuguese (picked that one - phew!).

The next match of interest will be the Poms against the Tongans. I've picked the English to win but not by much (less than 12 points). We'll see.

Not much longer now - 7 matches - til the knock-out rounds begin. Australia will most likely play England in the Quarters, unless the Tongans beat them, and then we'll play the Tongans instead!

Go Tonga!

The ANZACs clean up, and the Tongans give South Africa a scare.

Australia and New Zealand have virtually secured their berths in the RWC quarterfinals with good wins over Fiji and Scotland.

The All Blacks (wearing a nice grey jersey this match – the All Greys doesn’t have the same ring though) held the Scots to a scoreless result for the boys in blue, beating them 40 nil. The Wallabies met more resistance from the Fijians, who always play with heart and flair, but held on to win 55 – 12.

The Fijians meet Wales in their final pool match – let’s barrack for them so they come second in our group. Then they can play the South Africans and scare them like the Tongans did in their 30 – 25 game in Lens. There’s a lesson to be learnt here for coaches – resting star players is great for preventing injuries leading into the knockout rounds; however, you risk losing your pool game and finishing second in your group! The South Africans held on to win; however, the Tongans revealed some chinks in the Springboks armour. Don’t expect them to make that mistake again

As for Chic Rugby’s tipping results … she’s back to coming second in her group of fellow tipsters. Her friend Reece is pipping her by three points, and he’s a soccer player! Some score-lines are easier to pick than others.

Oh, and the English beat the Samoans, but only because JW is a girly kicker of the rugby ball - 2 drop goals ... huh, I ask you! Score a try, Jonny! I dare you :-) Eng 44 - Sam 22

Go the Wallabies/Fijians/Cherry Blossoms!

Australia wins, the French find form again, and the English look like their days are numbered ...

Lots has happened at the RWC since ChicRugby's last post. Apologies to readers but CR's been busy at work.

The Australians defeated the Welsh in a spirited game. Alas, I only caught the highlights (I fell asleep ... damn this time difference), but from what I saw the Australians played well with scope for further improvement. Stephen Larkham thinks he'll be fit to play in the semis, so let's hope the quarters are kind to the Wallabies so we can enjoy him back on the pitch. Berrick Barnes, the baby of the Australians, played a fantastic game, with a lightening fast pass to Matt Giteau to score under the goal-posts. He also nicely emulated Jonny Wilkinson by kicking a field-goal. I'd love it if we met them in the quarters and he did the same thing to win. Karma can be sweet!

Australia 32 - Wales 20

The English met the Springboks and quivered in their presence. By some accounts, even though JW looks set to return for their match against Samoa, the English are all over the place. It will be a tough game for the English as the Samoans are very physical players. Expect to see more Poms taken off on stretchers.

Other results in games are:

Fiji 29 - Can 16 in Cardiff
Samoa 15 - Tonga 19 in Montpellier
France 87 - Namibia 10 in Toulouse (thanks for coming Namibia - ouch!)
Scotland 42 - Romania 0 in Edinburgh (another poor little minnow)

The French seem to have found form again, this time against Namibia. Easy beats but very physical. The French next play Ireland in what will be a fantastic game. The Irish played very well in the 6 Nations - however, they have been known to bottle when they play away from Lansdowne Road in Dublin. Nevertheless, I'm barracking for the men in green.

So much rugby! So little time to read and watch and report on it all.

Gotta do some work now.

South Africa dominate the English ... and Australia really needs to beat Wales!

The Springboks have kept the English from scoring in a match that saw the World Cup champions lose several key players through injury. I've not seen the 'Boks play as well in quite a while; their defences were rock solid and their attack formidable.

The English were without Mr 'I can kick field goals' Wilkinson as he is still injured. It's unlikely we'll see him now until the quarters, as they're unlikely to play him in the matches against the Tongans or the Samoans. Those islander bros are very physical players and the last thing he needs is to get belted and taken off!

The pressure is now on the Australians and the Welsh as neither will want to play South Africa in the quarters. The Welsh will have the hometown advantage in Cardiff; all those locals singing their hearts out in one of the most atmospheric stadiums rugby can provide.

With uncertainty now surrounding Stephen Larkham and his knee, our boys have a job ahead of them.

Oh, go Australia!

RSA 36 - Eng 0

Big wins to the Wallabies and the All Blacks!

ChicRugby and ChicRugby's friend Cat stayed up last night to watch the Wallabies v Japanese and the All Blacks v Italians.

Actually we drank champagne and chatted during the All Blacks game. I could see Dan kicking away, with my peripheral vision, but we had other things to talk about and we got distracted ...

No matter. The upshot is that this morning both the Australians and the All Blacks are sitting nicely at the tops of their pools with cricket scores against their names - excellent. I pity the poor Cherry Blossoms; they got hammered. They continued attacking as best they could but tiredness and the superior fitness of the Wallabies wore them down in the second half. Rocky Elsom played very well and scored the fastest hat-trick by a forward in the Cup's history. The Wallabies scored 13 tries!

The All Black match just seemed to feature Dan kicking a lot. The New Zealanders scored 11 tries.

Very tired this morning (I fell asleep on Cat's sofa) and am thinking that coffee will be my best friend until the 20 October.

Oh, and the English won as well - but we don't care about them.

Wallabies in France

So the Wallabies have arrived in Montpellier, after a day-trip to Villers Bretonneux and the WWI cemetery containing the graves of several hundred young Australian soldiers.

The Wallabies play their first match against the Japanese in Lyon on the 8th. It should be a nice warm-up match for them; however, the Japanese are a spirited team and will give the men in green and gold an entertaining, if not overtaxing, game.

Eddie Jones - the former Wallabies' coach - has criticised the Australian forward pack, just in time for the first match. We remember what his coaching record was like with the Wallabies. Let's hope he takes the same approach in his job with the South Africans.

Gosh he annoys me.

The All Blacks are firming as favourites to win the Cup. It's usual for the All Blacks to head into the RWC as favourites - they've done so every Cup - but history has shown that the New Zealanders reach a peak, and then crash just when it matters most. They lost to the Wallabies in the 1991 semi-final, choked in the 1995 final against South Africa, went out to France in '99 semi-final and to Australia in the 2003 semi-final. To win the All Blacks will need to keep their form until late in the competition if they're to stand on the winners' podium (rugby trivia: the All Blacks have won the World Cup once - the first one in 1987 - whilst we've won it twice and been in the finals three times).

I'd like to think the Wallabies could rise above recent poor form and slog it out to win for a third time. With inspiration from those young men buried in the fields of France, they can take it to their opposition and get the job done.

Time, and the sometimes unpredictable game of rugby, will tell. Roll on the Rugby World Cup!

Farewell Bledisloe and Tri Nations Cups

Now, it's been a few days between posts at Chic Rugby.

That's because I didn't watch 3/4 of the game between Australia and the All Blacks.

I was at my hairdresser's.

Needless to say the result was disappointing for the men in green and gold.

And Dan the Man Carter was responsible for a goodly part of the carnage. We love Dan, but not as much when he's playing Australia. See him kicking another penalty goal in the picture above. 21 points to his name.

Ouch.

Where to now for the Wallabies? The World Cup Final, that's where! The boys will need to get it together to overcome the mental challenge of losing two prestigious competitions against the World Cup favourites, in order to regroup and retake the prettiest cup on offer in world rugby. They can do it, they have the potential.

On another note, former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has scored a job with the Springboks as they too prepare for the World Cup. John O'Neill, the recently reappointed head of Australian Rugby has made the jokey comment that Jones' appointment will actually help the Wallabies as he wasn't that great a coach during his tenure and the Australians lost lots of matches!

Hope he gives them the same match tips he gave the Wallabies. Maybe he could go coach the All Blacks as well?!

Oh dear ... some mucking around sees Julian out of the Bledisloe Cup this weekend.

A tackle at an after-party has forced Julian Huxley out of this weekend's game against the All Blacks. Silly boy! He suffered a corked thigh.

Takes me back to prowling the day and boarding houses of the school he went to; it was a school tradition to 'pile on' and crash tackle at random.

It seems he hasn't grown up!

Enjoy watching the game on the bench, if you can, Julian :-(

Nice bit of hardwear for the trophy cabinet :-)

Australia retained the Mandela Plate by defeating the Springboks on Saturday night.

'Twill look nice on the sideboard.

Shame about poor Stirling's head ....

Yay - we won!

The Wallabies wrapped up the game against the Springboks, 25 v 17. A great pathway into the next round of the Tri Nations (against the All Blacks again).

I did get distracted reading my friend's blog though ... the last 20 minutes of the game were not as attention-grabbing as the first 60.

Hooray for the boys in gold :-)

Wrapping up:

Matt Giteau scored a superb try for Australia! Stirling Mortlock failed to convert it but he did successfully kick a penalty goal a few minutes earlier. RSA 17 v Aus 25

Whilst I was back watching Harry Potter the Wallabies scored another converted try to equalise with the Springboks. Not sure who scored it :-) RSA 17 v Aus 17

RSA 17 v Aus 25

Julian Huxley - my Wallaby connection

Julian is having a much better game this evening than he did against the All Blacks last week. Julian was a Year 12 student at the boys' school I taught at 10 years ago. He used to help my U13Es full-back with his goal-kicking practice. Julian was a 1st XV player as well as a 1st VIII rower. He was also a good school student and went on to study Law at ANU.

He joins other old boys from his school in the Wallabies squad, including Stirling Mortlock (I taught Stirling's younger brother Stewart). There's also lots of them in the Waratahs squad. The boys from this historic school have become outstanding athletes. I remember them as totally gorgeous :-)

Incidentally, Stirling has just put another 3 points on the Wallabies score with a nice penalty conversion.

Half time: RSA 17 v Aus 10

Try!

Hooray! Mark Gerrard scored a try for Australia, almost under the goal posts! Nice conversion Stirling :-)

RSA 17 v Aus 7

Good Lord! 17 minutes in and the 'Boks are 17 zip ahead!

I'm sitting here flicking between Harry Potter on Nine and the match on Seven. The Springboks are pinning the Wallabies in their half and there's a bit of kicking going on ... not a usual tactic for Southern Hemisphere teams but useful for gaining ground and territory if you can win the subsequent line-out.

The Wallabies are trying to take it over the 22 but the South Africans are lethal tacklers. Adam Freier, the hooker (number 2) for Australian has just been taken out in a dangerous tackle.

Oh dear :-(

Fashion blunder: what is it with the Wallabies' new jersey?

Hmmm, I'm not sure about the new Wallabies' jersey.

For some time other teams have worn slimfit jerseys (the All Blacks, French, the Springboks and English teams are all fans) whilst the Australians have stayed with the more traditional cut and fabric of rugby shirts.

Canterbury, the NZ company best known for rugby attire, has designed a jersey for the Wallabies to bring them into functional (and fashionable) line with these other premier teams. It stays with the predominantly gold theme of the national jersey (although this has changed over the years) with flashes of green about the neck.

But what's with the green line on the front of the jersey? The one that is meant to create the illusion of a six-pack (hey, these guys don't need the illusion - they all have them under those jerseys)?

It makes them look like they have breasts!

Oh well, they can bring on hell as they charge about the field, Gladiator-style (thanks Russ). Must have been designed by a guy.

Tonight: Australia v South Africa

In the 4th game of Tri Nations series Australia will take on South Africa. To date each of the 3 teams in the competition has won a game against another Tri Nations foe, so tonight's game will be very important to the victor.

A psychological advantage cannot be underestimated in the game of rugby (yes, these men can think).

In the previous meeting between the Wallabies and the Springboks the 'Boks were victorious but it was close - 3 points (equal to one penalty goal or one field goal). The Wallabies are coming off the back of a vital win against the All Blacks and their confidence will be higher than apparent to date. They will also have a hometown advantage playing in Sydney at the Telstra Stadium. However, the Springboks are fearsome when they get going (they also have a reputation for dirty play ... grrr) so the Australians will not underestimate the challenge ahead of them tonight. The Wallabies will need to play in an attacking fashion whilst taking care to defend their line for all their might, as the Springboks like to open up the game and run with the ball at the line.

Our guys will have their work cut out for them.

A note to those who've not watched the Australians play against the Springboks before tonight - yes, they do wear the same colours, but in reverse. You'll see green, gold and white all over the field.

The yellow ones are the ones you're barracking for.

So, who to watch out for (that is, names to say loudly at various times during the game)?

For the Wallabies: Stirling Mortlock (wears 13 on his back and is bald - he's also the captain); Stephen Larkham (wears number 10 and straps his arms); Adam Ashley-Cooper (wears 11).

No-one is the Springboks is ever worth watching out for (they play dirty remember ... grrr).

Go the Wallabies!