Rugby World Cup: Wales, Scotland, Japan post warm-up wins
WALES posted an impressive victory away to Ireland, Samoa slumped to defeat against the Barbarians, Scotland thrashed Italy and Japan thumped Uruguay.
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IRELAND
Dublin win bolsters Wales’ World Cup morale
WALES gave themselves a timely reminder they can win on the road against major opposition with an impressive 16-10 victory away to Ireland in a Rugby World Cup warm-up match at Dublin’s Lansdowne Road.
Justin Tipuric’s first-half try and the kicking of Leigh Halfpenny saw Wales end a nine-game unbeaten run at home for Six Nations champions Ireland, now ranked as the world’s second-best team.
And with Wales facing two potentially decisive pool ties in the World Cup against Australia and England at Twickenham, the significance of Sunday’s display (AEST) was not lost on coach Warren Gatland.
“Our focus was to win a big game away from home because that’s what we will have to do at Twickenham in the World Cup,” said Gatland, with the issue of whether Wales get out of a tough group set to be determined by how they perform in their two crunch fixtures in London.
“To beat the second-best side in the world was very pleasing and potentially it could have been more comfortable,” the New Zealander added.
“It was a good performance and one we knew we were capable of. It was heart-stopping stuff at times. With three minutes to go, I turned to the guys and said ‘this next three minutes is going to be hell,’ and they were,” the former Ireland coach recalled.
“But it would have been heartbreaking if Ireland had won at the end.”
Sean Cronin came desperately close to handing Jonathan Sexton a conversion in front of the posts to win the match for Ireland but was held up over the line by three Wales defenders in the final seconds of the game.
Defeat, however, would have been tough on a Wales side who dominated the match.
Ireland play their final World Cup warm-up match against England at Twickenham next Sunday (AEST) and will clearly require an improved display if they are to live up to their billing as genuine contenders for the Webb Ellis trophy.
“There are a certain amount of things we wanted to improve on from and we didn’t do that,” said Ireland captain Paul O’Connell.
“From our point of view, that is disappointing.
“There are certain things we pride ourselves on and we didn’t do a whole lot of those very well, with discipline being one of them.
“The penalty count is a big thing. Wales are a big side, and we gave them a few good cracks at us on five-metre drives, and we gave Leigh Halfpenny a lot of kicks at goal.”
Former British and Irish Lions captain O’Connell, making his last Test appearance in Dublin before he retires from international rugby after the World Cup, was left “embarrassed” by his team’s display.
“It’s very hard to play as well as you would like in your first start of the season. I really appreciated the reception I got from the crowd. I was embarrassed that we lost the game.”
Wales led 10-0 inside 26 minutes after two kicks from Halfpenny either side of a pushover try by the combined weight of the Welsh forwards and backs, finished by man-of-the-match Justin Tipuric.
Ireland levelled on the stroke of halftime through Jonathan Sexton and a powerful score from lock Iain Henderson.
But two Halfpenny penalties capped a fine Welsh performance that will go some way to deciding the make-up of Gatland’s final 31-man squad, to be named on Monday, local time.
Wales then welcome Italy to Cardiff next weekend for their last warm-up fixture.
“We had about 25 or 26 players nailed-down and now we will sit down as a group and make those tough last few decisions,” said Gatland.
“Apart from Tom Francis, who was winning his first cap, there was a lot of experience in that team. If they hadn’t performed that well, you would start to worry, but to win away from home will give us a lot of confidence.”
ENGLAND
Thompson red card a worry for Samoa in Barbarians defeat
KANE Thompson has put his availability in doubt for Samoa’s opening World Cup match against the United States in Brighton next month after he was sent off in the Pacific Islanders 27-24 warm-up defeat by the Barbarians at London’s Olympic Stadium on Sunday (AEST).
Samoa had to play most the match a man down after lock forward Thompson was shown a red card for punching Australia hooker Saia Fainga’a in the 16th minute.
The Barbarians scored tries through Adam Thomson (two), Liam Gill, and Ben Tapuai (two) with Samoa responding through Anthony Perenise, Ken Pisi and Jack Lam.
Former All Blacks flanker Thomson powered over for an early try as the Barbarians, rugby union’s most celebrated invitational side, made a strong start although Christian Lealiifano — left out of the Wallabies’ World Cup squad — missed the conversion.
But Samoa were soon back on level terms with prop forward Perenise, who plays club rugby for English side Bristol, going over for a try converted by Tusi Pisi.
Thompson then saw red for his punch on Fainga’a, with the Wallaby front-rower being shown a yellow card for his part in the incident Tusi Pisi’s penalty extended Samoa’s lead to five points before Queensland flanker Gill capped a driving maul with a well-worked try to bring the Barbarians back into the match.
An embarrassing break in the match followed when water sprinklers at the ground came on for no apparent reason, drenching several Samoa players.
This was the Olympic Stadium’s debut as a rugby ground and officials will be desperate to avoid a repeat performance during the World Cup, with five matches due to be held at the venue after the showpiece tournament starts next month.
When play resumed, the Barbarians scored their third try in the 29th minute when centre Tapuai went over after a break from scrum-half and fellow Wallaby Luke Burgess.
But Samoa tried the game up at 17-17 when wing Ken Pisi was first to Northampton teammate Kahn Fotuali’i’s grubber kick for a try in the corner again converted by Tusi Pisi.
Soon after the break, Thomson went over from a ruck to score his second try before the impressive Lam again levelled the scores with a try under the posts following his own quicky-taken tap penalty.
Tapuai then grabbed his second try of a seesaw match in the 63rd minute, with the 14-strong Samoans unable to fashion a winning score.
SCOTLAND
Brunel slams Italy after Scotland loss
ITALY coach Jacques Brunel has questioned his side’s commitment as they slumped to their heaviest-ever defeat against Scotland in their penultimate World Cup warm-up match at Murrayfield on Sunday (AEST).
Scotland thumped the Italians 48-7 and Brunel was at a loss to explain the performance on a ground where they beat the Scots 22-19 in last season’s Six Nations Championship.
But the Frenchman promised to correct the worrying deficiencies as the Azzurri prepare to face Wales in Cardiff on September 6 (AEST), a fortnight ahead of their World Cup opener against France at Twickenham.
The heavy defeat surpassed a 47-15 loss in a 2003 World Cup warm up at Murrayfield as Italy’s record reverse against Scotland.
It came just seven days after they had been beaten just 16-12 by Vern Cotter’s side on home ground in Turin and Brunel said: “I really don’t understand what happened today. You should probably ask the players because today they joined the field with low physicality.
“We will need to go into the next week with a positive approach, otherwise the Rugby World Cup will be tough.”
Scotland controlled the match from the start in front of a record crowd for a World Cup warm-up at Murrayfield of 43,831.
Winger Sean Lamont and Tim Visser each scored two tries, the others coming from flanker John Barclay, who was making his first international start for two years, and centre Mark Bennett.
However, Scotland coach Cotter was reluctant to shower praise on his side.
“We’re improving but there’s certainly a lot more to be done. We need to step it up again,” said the New Zealander.
Scotland play their final warm-up match against France in Paris next Sunday (AEST) and open their World Cup campaign against Japan at Kingsholm in Gloucester on September 23.
JAPAN
Japan thrash Uruguay 40-0 in World Cup warm-up
JAPAN knocked out Uruguay 40-0 on Saturday, bagging two straight warm-up victories as they prepare for the World Cup in England.
The Brave Blossoms remained in control throughout the match at the Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, managing six tries in all.
Fullback Ayumu Goromaru put Japan ahead with the first try in the 12th minute.
Three minutes later, the team showed off their speedy passing to dash pass the Uruguay defence, sending Kosei Ono to score another try to extend the lead.
In the 25th minute, flanker Michael Broadhurst sprinted deep into the left for the third try.
In the second half, Japan added three more tries by Kotaro Matsushima in the 4th minute, Hendrik Tui in the 10th minute and Kenki Fukuoka in the 26th minute.
The victory followed a 30-8 win against Uruguay last Sunday, and gave the team a much needed morale boost as they prepare to challenge two-time champions South Africa in their Rugby World Cup opener.
Japan have long dominated Asian rugby but they will have to ditch their emotional baggage if they are to achieve their bold target of reaching the World Cup quarter-finals.
Head coach Eddie Jones will take the Brave Blossoms to the Rugby World Cup in England next month, where Japan will tackle South Africa, Samoa, Scotland and the United States in a tough Pool B.
Japan have consistently fallen short on the big stage, their only World Cup win coming against Zimbabwe in 1991.
Originally published as Rugby World Cup: Wales, Scotland, Japan post warm-up wins
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