The A-to-Z of the World Cup
IT’S unthinkable that New Zealand could finish the pool phase of the World Cup anywhere other than at the top of Pool C, which also houses Argentina, Tonga, Georgia and Namibia.
The All Blacks, defending champions, are the top-ranked team in the world. They have only lost three of 47 matches since beating France in the 2011 World Cup final.
The eighth-placed Pumas are New Zealand’s only Pool C rivals who rank in the top 10 and, in seven matches between these two nations since 2012, the All Blacks conceded an average of 12 points while scoring four tries per game in seven consecutive wins.
Argentina have never beaten New Zealand, but then they don’t need to in order to advance to the quarter-finals. In fact, it’s debatable whether it will be in Argentina’s best interests to win Pool C given that such an achievement could potentially pit them up against Ireland, a team they haven’t beaten in five attempts since the last World Cup.
By finishing second in Pool C, Argentina could advance to a quarter-final showdown with France, a familiar opponent given that the majority of the Pumas ply their trade in France’s Top 14.
Argentina have beaten France three times in seven matches since 2008.
The three remaining teams in the group do not have a realistic chance of advancing beyond the pool stage of the competition.
Tonga have appeared in every World Cup competition with the exception of the 1991 event, never winning more than two matches at a single tournament.
In 15 World Cup matches played during the course of the past three tournaments Georgia’s two victories came against Namibia in 2007 and Romania in 2011.
In March, the former Soviet republic beat Romania and Russia and they will arrive with a record of seven wins in their 10 most recent Tests.
Namibia haven’t missed the World Cup since making their debut appearance in 1999, and the Welwitschias will deem their attendance at the 2015 edition to have been a roaring success if they head home having banked a win.
Unfortunately for Namibia, a run of 15 consecutive World Cup losses is all but guaranteed to be extended by at least one more defeat as they kick off their quest with a showdown against the mighty All Blacks. Captain Jacques Burger has labelled the match as the “toughest game of my life”. KEY GAMES New Zealand and Argentina’s first shots at the tournament are expected to be decisive in determining who finishes first and second in Pool C, as the All Blacks are set to square up against the Pumas at Wembley Stadium on 20 September.
Three wins at one tournament will set a new World Cup benchmark for Tonga. The clash with Argentina in Leicester on 4 October will not only present the islanders with the chance to achieve this standard, but could also catapult them into the playoffs for the first time.
Namibia will target their penultimate pool match, against Georgia in Exeter, as a golden opportunity to avenge the corresponding 2007 defeat at the hands of the Lelos and celebrate their first World Cup victory. A IS FOR AERIAL Rugby used to be played at ground level, largely between two heaving bodily masses known as the rival packs. Now, it is increasingly played in the heavens: the masters of the “contestable kick” – New Zealand, Australia, Ireland - see it as a prime attacking weapon. If you’re no good in the air, you’re in trouble. B IS FOR BURGER Or maybe for “bravery”, but as Jacques Burger is raw courage made flesh, it amounts to the same thing. Namibia will be battered at every turn, but their captain, broken in body but undaunted in spirit, will return fire. Watch him play, wince… and pay homage. C IS FOR CONCUSSION The union game’s big issue. Smacks on the head are inevitable and it was ever thus – if you were never on the wrong end of one, you never played - but in this litigious age of rampant health-and-safetyism, rugby cannot afford not to care. Expect a row over player welfare. D IS FOR DEFENCE Defence wins World Cups. Or does it? Since 1999, when the Wallabies conceded only one try all tournament, the most parsimonious sides have not necessarily been the most successful. Rugby without the ball is important, but not the be-all and end-all. E IS FOR ETZEBETH It seems a little previous to be nominating candidates for “player of the tournament”, but the Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth is something else. If South Africa had 14 others as good as him, they’d walk it. F IS FOR FORD Or perhaps Farrell. If England’s outside-half contenders, George and Owen, are old friends from the same neck of the woods, geographically and educationally as well as rugbywise, they could not be more different, stylistically speaking. Who gets the gig? The artist or the street-fighter? Fascinating. G IS FOR GUARANTEE The Rugby Football Union coughed up £80m in financial assurances just to win the hosting rights, so every penny will count. Happily, the tournament is expected to add £982m to national GDP – more than enough to keep the Twickenham hierarchy on Bollinger Boulevard. H IS FOR HALFPENNY The Wales full-back Leigh Halfpenny is not the only top-quality player missing the fun through injury, but his absence is particularly upsetting. A new Jonny Wilkinson for the post-Wilkinson age, the glorious goal-kicker from Gorseinon would have been a grand thing to see. I IS FOR ISLANDERS They may be playing for their own nations, starved of training time as well as cash; they may be tripping the light fantastic with the All Blacks or the Wallabies, with England or with France. Wherever they are to be found, there is no denying the impact of the Fijians, the Samoans and the Tongans on the union game. If they were on a level playing field financially, one South Seas team would be champions. J IS FOR JAPAN The next World Cup hosts – for the moment, at least. Money is tight in the land of the Brave Blossoms, hence the abandonment of a new stadium in Tokyo that would have staged the 2019 final. Will their interest in running that tournament be as short-lived as their playing interest in this one? K IS FOR KILTED As in “Kilted Kiwi”. The Scots have close ancestral links with New Zealand – and even closer rugby ones when it comes to picking a World Cup squad. The Southland flanker John Hardie has never played for a Scottish team, apart from Scotland, and while his presence in this tournament meets the letter of the law, does it really meet the spirit? L IS FOR LELOS Georgia’s nickname harks back to a Caucasian sport from pagan times - a game so bloodthirsty, it was adopted as a military exercise. Entirely appropriate, given that the astonishing back-rower Mamuka Gorgodze is a oneman army. M IS FOR MCCAW Saint Richie, the All Black captain, can do no wrong. Even the referees are dazzled by his celestial presence. The word is horribly overused, but he will go down as one of the “greats” irrespective of whether he becomes the first captain to win consecutive World Cups. N IS FOR NO-HOPERS Rugby is a horrible game when you know you can’t win, so spare a thought for the oncepromising Romanians and the ever-willing Canadians when they face France and Ireland. Not to mention the Namibians and Uruguayans when they play anyone at all. O IS FOR OVERSEAS As in “overseas selection”. Many countries, including South Africa at the top end, are happy to pick from abroad. Conversely, New Zealand have no truck with it and neither do England. Hence the continuing row over the marginalisation of the Toulon flanker Steffon Armitage. P IS FOR POOL OF DEATH Australia, England, Wales, Fiji: all ranked in the top nine, all in the same group. Ouch. Q IS FOR QUOTA South African history being what it is – or rather, was - there are pressures on the Springboks way beyond anything faced elsewhere: only this month, they saw court action over the racial make-up of the World Cup squad. That case went nowhere, but it was a reminder of the political combustibility surrounding the national team. R IS FOR ROBSHAW Talking of pressure, the England captain, Chris Robshaw, finds himself under a whole heap of the stuff. Leading a host nation is tough enough, without having your credentials questioned by every Tom, Dick and Harriet. This correspondent wishes him the very best of British. S IS FOR SQUAD As in the shape of it. England have taken the traditional route, picking three specialist hookers. Others have cut corners and there will be no end of controversy if a shortage of No 2s leads to uncontested scrums. T IS FOR TWICKENHAM Aka the old cabbage patch. The 82,000-seater stadium will stage most of the games that really matter and looks the part. England need it to sound the part, too. U IS FOR UNITED STATES How the money men would love to see the American market open up. Transatlantic links are being forged all the time, but only when the Eagles make a serious challenge for a knockout place will the zillions of gridiron and baseball obsessives sit up and take notice. V IS FOR VIDEO We’ll see a lot of it, more’s the pity. The day a referee trusts his own judgement on a tight call instead of consulting the “television match official”, hell will freeze over. Expect delays. Long ones. W IS FOR WOW FACTOR John Kirwan in 1987, David Campese in ‘91, some bloke called Lomu in ‘95, Rupeni Caucaunibuca in 2003… World Cups usually produce at least one stellar back-line performer. The favourite here? Step forward Israel Folau, the Wallaby fullback. X IS FOR X-RATED Once upon a time, rugby provided a Pow factor as well as a Wow one. The age of the mass punch-up is gone forever, thanks to television, but every World Cup has its frank and forthright moments. The Argentina-Tonga game in Leicester on 4 October has fun and games written all over it. Y IS FOR YIPS Gavin Hastings suffered from the condition in 1991: his fluffed penalty from in front of the sticks may well have cost Scotland a place in the final. Jonny Wilkinson was as shaky as you like in 2003, not that anyone remembers. Even the best goalkickers fall apart in World Cup conditions. Z IS FOR ZACH As in Zachary Test, the US back with a reputation as the best high-ball specialist in the sport. Which takes us neatly back to “A”. – The Independent