- 91Èȱ¬ Sport Rugby
- 9 Sep 07, 09:19 PM
By Richard Hookham
Ireland lurched to an opening 32-17 victory over supposed tournament whipping boys Namibia in Bordeaux on Sunday.
Coach Eddie O'Sullivan's men at least top the pool after winning a bonus point for scoring four tries but there will be far greater tests to come and the battle is well and truly on with France and Argentina to escape the "group of death".
Let us know what you make of the ratings, and your views in general of the Ireland performance.
Continue reading "Ireland player ratings"
- James Standley
- 9 Sep 07, 06:52 PM
Scotland won their opening match of the 2007 World Cup by defeating tournament debutants Portugal 56-10.
The Iberian minnows, only two of whom are professionals, will claim a moral victory after making the Scots work for every score.
Let us know what you make of the ratings, and your views in general of the Scottish performance.
Continue reading "Scotland player ratings"
- Ben Dirs
- 9 Sep 07, 03:52 PM
Nantes
Wales recovered from a half-time deficit to record a at the Stade de la Beaujoire.
I was at the stadium to see the match, and here's how I rated each individual player's performance. Let me know what you make of my marks and add your own thoughts.
Continue reading "Wales player ratings"
- Alastair Eykyn
- 9 Sep 07, 01:32 PM
Bordeaux - There are plenty of people in France who've written off the Irish World Cup challenge already - and have yet to take the field.
I was lucky enough to witness that that broke French hearts.
Now the optimists are all waiting for "Le Backlash".
Continue reading "Cheers to the Irish"
- Ryan Jones
- 9 Sep 07, 11:35 AM
Swansea - So we're off and running and we've seen already that nothing comes easy at this level.
As I suggested in a previous blog, I thought the weight of expectation would be a huge burden for the French players to shoulder and the manner in which they stuttered through , lacking even a fraction of the attacking conviction evident in the warm-ups against and , proved this to be true.
Conversely, the purpose with which the Pumas went about their task was streets apart from the fairly lack-lustre attitude that they had shown in their pre-World Cup contests. But, hey, it's now that it counts!
Continue reading "French defeat gives hope to all"
