01-12-14 rugby blog

ENGLAND 26-17 AUSTRALIA

FORD BEATS AUSTRALIANS WITH IMPRESSIVE TALLY

 

England overpowered a weary Australia to end their disappointing autumn campaign on a high and ease the pressure on head coach, Stuart Lancaster.
 

Two tries from Ben Morgan and 16 points from the boot of George Ford were the reward for overwhelming scrum supremacy and a far more pragmatic display.
 

It was the visitors with the invention and quick ball, Foley spurning two kickable penalties to go for touch, but England's defence again stood firm.
 

And their traditional scrum dominance in this fixture paid rich dividends again half-an-hour in, the Australia set-piece going backwards.  Barritt crashing through the first tackle and Morgan thundering onto Tom Wood's short pass to twist and turn over the line for his second try of the month.
 

Ford's conversion extended the lead to 13-3 and it was nearly more as a canny.  Ben Young's kick into the deserted Wallaby 22 off turnover ball was almost gathered by Mike Brown before Anthony Watson knocked on with the cover desperately scrambling back.
 

Within five minutes the old stadium was silenced. Israel Folau made a half-break, Foley fed Horne with a cute inside pass and as the winger drew full-back Brown, the fly-half galloped on to take the return pass and run under the posts.
 

His conversion made it 13-10 and, although he then hobbled off.  Cooper took up the reins with alacrity, sending Ashley-Cooper away before Brown held him up.
 

England were increasingly predictable with ball in hand, repeatedly using Barritt to bash the ball up the middle with the pace of Watson and Jonny May unused on the flanks.
 

But after Cooper had dithered over a clearing kick to be dragged behind his own line, their scrum made a mess of their retreating opposition again and Morgan picked the ball up from the base to plop over.
 

With a 10-point lead and 20 minutes left, England seemed to have the match by the neck, yet within three minutes the Wallabies were back in it.
 

A series of rapid drives set up possession a few metres from the posts and the giant replacement, Will Skelton, powered over Cooper adding the extras for 20-17.
 

Ford, again impressive on his second Test start, made it a six-point game with his third penalty as Lancaster emptied his bench.
 

Still the pressure came. Australia kicked for the corner and battered at the white-shirted line, working space down the left only for Folau to put his final pass beyond Horne with the overlap beckoning.

My Analysis

England will now come out of the Autumn Internationals with a rather impressive win over Australia and with the impressive display by Tom Ford.  We can see that England will be a force both in the 6 Nations and when they play Australia in the World Cup.  This result shows that England are still a major force and can beat anyone but need to get a few things fixed .
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/30236644

WALES 12-6  SOUTH AFRICA

HALFPENNY'S BOOT IS DIFFERENCE IN THIS MATCH
 

Wales claimed only their second ever win over South Africa with a display of guts and cool control in Cardiff.
 

Leigh Halfpenny kicked all of Wales' points, converting four of his five penalty kicks before going off injured.
 

South Africa was limited to two Pat Lambie penalties as Wales largely contained the Springboks attacking threat.
 

The tourists had a late five-metre scrum but the Wales' pack disrupted the set-piece to seal a famous win.

My Analysis

The Wales coach now believes that they can win the World Cup.  If you are basing this on this match, I am not that sure as the way that I see it there was no sense of excitement and wonder from this match.  It was just that the Welsh were more level headed than  the South Africans.  If you had the same result against New Zealand I might agree but South Africa have disappointed in this year’s Autumn Internationals.  
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/30183266


Here is the pro 12 table before this week's matches:

		Played	Won	Tries	Lost	TP	Points
1.	Ospreys	8	7	0	1	225:120	30
2.	Ulster	8	6	1	1	204:98	30
3.	Munster	8	6	0	2	196:113	28
4.	Glasgow Warriors	8	6	0	2	202:146	27
5.	Leinster	8	4	1	3	208:136	24
6.	Connacht	8	5	1	2	148:131	23
7.	Llanelli Scarlets	8	4	2	2	186:146	22
8.	Edinburgh	8	3	1	4	120:195	15
9.	Cardiff Blues	8	1	1	6	161:228	8
10.	Dragons	8	1	0	7	113:192	7
11.	Zebre	9	1	0	7	90:217	5
12.	Treviso	8	0	1	7	100:231	4

MUNSTER 21-20 ULSTER

NOTHING BUT MISERY FOR JACKSON
 

Ulster fly-half, Ian Humphreys, missed a last-minute conversion as Munster edged a one-point victory in the Pro12 derby.
 

Four Humphreys' penalties put Ulster 12-0 up before Robin Copeland's try helped cut the margin to four at the break.
 

Duncan Williams's try left Munster 13-12 ahead at Thomond Park before Ian Keatley added eight further points.
 

But Stephen Archer's sin-binning led to another Humphrey’s penalty and Nick Williams barged over for a last-minute try before the missed conversion.
 

After kicking impeccably with five goal kicks out of five, Humphreys would have been expected to land the conversion from a reasonably central position but the Ulster fly-half pushed his effort wide, to his own obvious consternation.

My Analysis

A relatively simple conversion was the difference between winning and losing this match.  With minutes to go Ulster needed a try and they got it but Paddy Jackson could not put over a relatively easy conversion.  This result will be a very important one for both teams as wins are vital.  Nevertheless, Ulster did get the losing bonus point which keeps them on track for the play offs.  We will not know how important that was until the end of the season.
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/30209383kick

CONNACHT 14-8 SCARLETS

HARRY ROBINSON'S TRY GIVES CONNACHT SHOCK WIN OVER SCARLETS
 

Connacht defeated the Scarlets for the first time since 2011 thanks to an impressive second-half display in the Pro12 encounter at the Sportsground.

Steve Shingler's penalty and an unconverted Harry Robinson try put the Scarlets 8-0 ahead after three minutes.
 

A Jack Carty penalty left Connacht trailing 8-3 at the break and he added another penalty before Matt Healty's try edged the hosts in front.
 

Carty's third penalty sealed a comeback victory for the Irish side.
 

Connacht failed to gather the kick-off and the Scarlets quickly set up a lineout maul, with George Naoupu's infringement punished by Shingler's only three-pointer of the night.
 

Worse followed for the westerners as Carty allowed a kick to bounce in front of him and his opposite number, Shingler, swooped on it to send winger Robinson over to the left of the posts. However, the fly-half missed the conversion and a subsequent penalty, while Carty slotted over a penalty before Shingler failed with a drop-goal attempt.

A couple of noteworthy carries from Denis Buckley brought Connacht into scoring range early in the second period, and Carty clawed back another three points following a strong scrum. Connacht conjured up a smashing try just moments later.

The Scarlets lost ruck possession over halfway; Michael Kearney fed Dave McSharry and his well-timed pass released Healy, who showed excellent pace to win the race to his own kick through. Carty was unable to convert from the left touchline but Connacht continued to earn penalties at scrum time and they gained 15 metres from a monster maul towards the right corner.

As the rain came down. Jacobie Adriaanse infringed a five-metre scrum, allowing Carty to make it 14-8 and man-of-the-match Aki hurtled into tackles to keep the Scarlets contained.

My Analysis

Connacht is doing very well this season and a win like this can only help their cause.  A quality try from Healy gave Connacht a win that keeps them at the top end of the table this season.  I feel that Connacht is now learning how it is to get an important win.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/30238276

LEINSTER 18-12 OSPREYS

PERFECTION FROM MADAGAN AND GOPPERTH PUTS LEINSTER BACK IN WITH THE BIG GUNS

 

Three penalties apiece from Ian Madigan and Jimmy Gopperth helped Leinster see off Ospreys in the Pro12 in Dublin.  Madigan's shots at goal came before he left the fray at the break.

Gopperth took over the kicking duties and also won his duel with Ospreys' fly-half Sam Davies.

The latter kicked three first half penalties and a fourth in the second period, but with 19 players either injured or on Wales duty, Ospreys earned a losing bonus point. Davies scored 4 from the boot to give the Ospreys a bonus point

My Analysis

Leinster got the best of the boot in this match... a match with no tries in it. Leinster was better with the boot in this very defensive and tense match. The losing bonus point does help the Ospreys but this is a good win in a bad match for Leinster.
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/30247934