Rugby World Cup 2011

[Corzza]

Well guys its under way.

The opening game of the world cup taken by New Zealand.

New Zealand 41 - 10 Tonga

Today so far it has be a close contest between Romania and Scotland.

Full Time

Scotland 34 - 24 Romania.

Scotland lucky! They got 2 quick tries in the last 9 mins

[Corzza]

Half Time

Fiji 32 - 15 Namibia

[Corzza]

Full Time

Fiji 49 - 25 Namibia

[Corzza]

France vs Japan next.

Will be interesting

[Corzza]

Half Time

France 25 - 11 Japan

[Corzza]

Full Time

France 47 - 21 Japan

What an entertaining game this was. Big up to Japan for sticking it out

[Corzza]

France come through Japan test

France survived a second-half scare to get their World Cup campaign underway with a 47-21 win over a spirited Japan at the North Harbour Stadium on Saturday.

The French paid the price for some sloppy rugby and poor decision-making after halftime as Japan's "Brave Blossoms" took the game to them and at one stage closed to within four points.

In the end, though, tries from Julien Pierre, Francois Trinh-Duc, Vincent Clerc, Lionel Nallet, Pascal Pape and Morgan Parra secured them a bonus point win in Pool A, which also includes hosts New Zealand, Tonga and Canada.

Asian and Pacific champions Japan, overwhelmed and heavily penalised at the scrum, played some superb rugby with ball in hand and raised the biggest cheers of the evening for the two tries from flyhalf James Arlidge, who scored all of his team's points.

The Japanese fightback had looked unlikely at the start of the match when it looked like they would be blown away by French firepower.

Centre Fabrice Estebanez set the tone as early as the third minute when he burst through the Japanese midfield defence only to be denied a try by a last-ditch tackle.

The Tricolore-waving French fans did not have to wait long for the first score, however, with lock Pierre storming over the line two minutes later after a bulldozing charge from No 8 Raphael Lakafia.

When flyhalf Trinh-Duc raced 50 metres to score France's second after an interception with just 12 minutes on the clock, it looked like the Japanese, who had only won one previous World Cup match, would be routed before halftime.

New Zealand-born Arlidge scored his team's first points with a penalty, however, and the Japanese restricted France to only two Dimitri Yachvili penalties to leave the score at 20-3 with 25 minutes gone.

Just after the half hour mark, a penalty kicked to touch in the corner was rewarded when Arlidge cut inside the defence to score his first try and, although winger Clerc grabbed one back for France four minutes later, Japan got another penalty to go into the break 25-11 down.

The French, playing in white, opened the second half with renewed purpose and power and were denied two tries by television reviews.

But, having weathered that storm, Arlidge opened 20 minutes of Japanese dominance when he skipped over the line to score his second try.

He added the extra points himself and, with France in disarray, kicked another penalty to cut the deficit to 25-21.

Another Yachvili penalty calmed the French nerves a little but Japan were throwing everything at their opponents now and it was only when lock Nallet stormed over with 10 minutes to go that order was properly restored.

Replacements Pape and Parra put a gloss on the scoreline with two more tries before the end but the French performance will not have main group rivals New Zealand quaking in their boots.

Scorers:

France - Tries: Julien Pierre, Francois Trinh-Duc, Vincent Clerc, Lionel Nallet, Pascal Pape, Morgan Parra. Conversions: Dimitri Yachvilli (4). Penalties: Yachvilli (2)

Japan - Tries: James Arlidge (2). Conversion: Arlidge. Penalties: Arlidge (3).

[Corzza]

England 13 - 9 Argentina

Youngs try gives Eng win over Pumas

Scrumhalf Ben Youngs scored a 66th-minute try to break Argentinean hearts and give England a tough 13-9 victory in their Rugby World Cup Group B opener in Dunedin Saturday.

In a match where Argentina will be kicking themselves for the loss, the English finished stronger after looking in serious danger of starting their World Cup on a massive low point.

Youngs broke from the ruck on England attack, and had enough speed and power to move past the Argentinean defender to score and put England into the lead for the first time. It was a telling blow that broke the Pumas’ resistance and sent England to the victory.

While there has been some debate about the Springboks this week, it was interesting to note that England’s try was their first in 225 minutes of World Cup rugby and, given their form on the night, they won’t be topping the try-scoring stakes soon.

Make no mistake, this Argentinean side is nowhere near as dangerous as their 2007 counterparts, but certain parts of their game still hold true. Their passion, presence and strong tackling gave England so many problems that they looked ordinary for most of the game.

After so many good advertisements for the game earlier in the day through free-flowing rugby, the main game of the evening disintegrated into a forward tussle that England never quite knew how to handle.

They played Argentina in a manner that suited the South Americans, slowing the game down and showing a good disregard for the rules of the manor.

Because of this England were penalised badly by referee Bryce Lawrence and found themselves 9-3 down early in the second half. However, had Argentina had a better kicker earlier on, they would have been further ahead.

NIGHT OF MISSED KICKS

The same happened with England in the second half, as Jonny Wilkinson looked a poor shadow of the 2003 genius that won the World Cup in Australia.

Wilkinson and Argentina's fullback Martin Rodriguez both missed five kicks in the game in total, and if you add Felipe Contepomi’s miss in the first half, it shows just how costly the kicking on the night was.

Contepomi may have more troubles, as he left the field early with a rib injury and Argentina lost two more players during the match, giving them loads to think about when they do their game review.

But for England, as soon as Youngs had scored, they looked a different team. Their scrum stood up, with prop Dan Cole leading the way as they demolished the Argentinean scrum in the latter part of the game.

In essence England’s fitness probably was the factor that carried them through, as the aging Argentinean team faded badly in the last quarter.

England will learn a lot from this victory and as past World Cups have shown, close victories like this have done a lot for the English. They may still be a factor in this World Cup yet.

But on tonight’s evidence in Dunedin, there will be few that will wager them going all the way.

Scorers:

England - Try: Ben Youngs. Conversion: Youngs. Penalties: Jonny Wilkinson (2)

Argentina - Penalties: Felipe Contemponi, Martin Rodriguez Gurruchaga (2).

[sexual harrassment panda]

bloody channel 9 secures the righs and then does Fu@k all with the games.

[Corzza]

Ya im watching all the games at my fols place as they have foxtel