Some thoughts on the Rugby World Cup so far and magnificent Japan.

The Rugby World Cup perhaps finally came to life yesterday? Not in a good way for myself as a Scotland fan, but for the neutral and the Japanese nation is was quite a spectacle. By knocking out Scotland and topping the group that Ireland were red hot favourites to win, Japan have announced themselves on the world stage. As the hosts, obviously they’ve been visible, but to play in the way they have, with panache and skill, has been quite something. There hasn’t been that much to light things up so far, Japan aside and a couple of other matches. Tricky conditions and weather culminating in the tragic typhoon of Saturday have dominated more than the rugby and overly officious and attention-seeking TMO’s (Television Match Officials) have slowed games down to a trickle at times. Until yesterday that is. Seven tries, minimal TMO and fast, furious rugby. My feeling prior to the game wasn’t one of optimism. Scotland were up against more than a rugby team. Rather like in 1995, when South Africa, the host nation, beat New Zealand against the odds, Scotland were up against an entire nation. A wounded nation too, with the horror of the typhoon so close. Better teams than Scotland may have struggled. Japan scored 4 tries and were electric during those thirty or so minutes when they obliterated Scottish hopes. Scotland threatened a brief come-back, but their lack of composure and the ferocity of the Japanese put an end to that. I would have preferred to have lost and played well. No disrespect to Japan who were excellent but Scotland yet again only turned up for half the game and even when they did play, it was often rushed and experimental. Either kicking the ball back to the Japanese who thrive on possession or trying to play like the Barbarians. Playing against a team as enthusiastic and skilful as the Japanese in front of seventy thousand home fans, required a stricter game plan. Scotland don’t seem to have that particularly. That said, they did play with a huge effort and passion.  But it was Japan’s day. The hand of fate decided to give the majority of the rugby world the result it wanted. Again, taking nothing away from the Japanese. They would have beaten most teams yesterday, I suspect. 

                Can they beat South Africa in the quarters? It’s a tasty match, especially given their defeat of the Springboks at the last world cup. Impossible to say. If they play with the same pace and precision as yesterday it will be close, but the Springboks will surely try and tie them in to an arm wrestle and in that scenario, there can be only one winner. Indeed, the only match that appears to have a clear favourite would be the All Blacks against Ireland. The Irish have not been particularly inspiring, but they have class and good defence. Is that and their fairly predictable though effective game enough to beat the All Blacks? I doubt it. Logic would dictate that Wales will beat France. Wales have been pretty convincing, whereas the French don’t look convinced about anything, but knock-out rugby is hard to predict. The French may decide to turn up and play with the cohesion that their talent merits, but I’m not convinced they will. And England versus Australia is mouth-watering too. The English - based on recent victories over the Wallabies - start as favourites, but they haven’t been tested so far and will potentially be rusty with their two-week rest period. Australia are more battle hardened so far in this world cup and have a great and proud record. Also, it’s hard to know how good England are? On paper, they’re world class. Rampaging forwards and skill and pace in the backs. But rugby matches are not played on paper, they’re played on a pitch, perhaps a slippery pitch, with a slippery ball. Let’s see. England have failed to convince at times this year, but I still think they’ll get through. Based on that, the semis would be England-New Zealand and Wales-South Africa. My instinct would tell me that Wales maybe have more of a chance than England of making the final. Wales know how to win. Then again as far as England are concerned, I don’t know how good New Zealand are, I haven’t seen them play yet. But they are New Zealand. Anyway, let’s wait for the quarterfinals to manifest before we get ahead of ourselves. I suspect the bookies will give you short odds on an all-Southern Hemisphere final regardless of the quarter results, but I’d argue that any neutral and true rugby fan’s ideal would be one Northern and one Southern Hemisphere representative in the final. And no offence to the Kiwis but someone different would be nice. Maybe the Welsh, they've never won it, but that type of romanticism won't be enough. England won in 2003 and South Africa in 2007 so they'll both be hungry to get their hands on the trophy again. Exciting stuff.