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I want Australia to win but I can see Fiji beating them – Adam Jones
This Rugby World Cup is brilliant. You don’t realise how big these tournaments are when you play in them. You’re in your own bubble and don’t really appreciate what is going on. It’s only after you finish playing that you become more aware, and France are doing it well. They have got some fantastic stadiums, great weather and a massive rugby fanbase. It’s brilliant, but I just hope the refereeing and the interpretation of the rules don’t cause too much of a stink.
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Let’s not beat around the bush regarding Wales, who kick off on Saturday in Nice at just around the same time Harlequins finish the Premiership Rugby Cup match at home to Coventry. Wales should beat Portugal and should beat them handily. There is a lot of talent in there. Look at the centres with Johnny Williams and young Mason Grady, young kids but big, big Warren Gatland sort of players.
It’s a chance for these boys to get on the field, get some minutes and show they are ready if they are needed later in the tournament as even if they put 60 or 70 points on Portugal, I imagine Gatland is going to revert to the first-choice team next weekend against Australia.
Still, you have got to out and put your best foot forward and not perform like France did. In fairness, Uruguay were brilliant on Thursday night. They did incredibly well but you would still have backed France to have won a little more comfortably with the squad they have got, so the onus now will be on these Wales boys putting as much pressure on the coaches as the guys who are usually starting.
Wales were comfy last weekend against Fiji for 65 minutes. There were no issues, they were way ahead, and I don’t really know what happened. Fiji got back into it through the sort of things you don’t associate with them, the scrum and pick-and-go stuff they were doing. They were good but when that last ball went over to Semi Radradra on the wing and he knocked it on, I was very glad.
They would still have needed a kick to win. In fairness, I’m not a kicking expert but the kickers weren’t kicking great on the night. I imagine that Gatland will have gone hard on Wales around game management and whatnot, but that was the best I have seen the Welsh play in a long time.
They knew how Fiji defend and they picked holes, which was great to see, and then there was the driving maul try as well. It was a pretty good performance bar that last 10 minutes. Wales didn’t fall away so much around the fitness but certainly that last 10 minutes will need a bit of looking at.
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Going into the Six Nations, Wales weren’t confident coming off the back of a different regime but what Gatland does well is he galvanises the boys well, makes them believe in themselves, certainly the younger boys coming through. I’d imagine some of the older boys have seen it all before but what they all do is work hard.
Welsh boys traditionally empty themselves, put every ounce of effort into it and they will back themselves. They know they have got the confidence of Gatland and a big part of his DNA at Wasps or Wales when he first came in 2008, it was all about the fitness. The boys now know how fit they are after Fiji and they will take great confidence.
When you back yourself that much even if you are not playing well, you know you can grind and can stick in games. The impressive thing from the last World Cup was how Wales stuck in there with South Africa in the semi-finals because they were fit, because they kept going at them, and it won’t be any different this time.
It wasn’t a fitness issue when they played Fiji. It was hot but there was enough said about how hot Turkey was when they were training there. It was just how are they going to close the game out and the big challenge will be the Australia game next weekend in Lyon and how they deal with that.
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There is a big game this weekend, Fiji versus Australia, and that is massive for the pool. If Fiji win, it’s all back on again and all a bit open. As a Welshman, I would like Australia to win so it gives Wales a little more breathing space, but I can see Fiji beating them.
They must win it and don’t forget they have two bonus points from the Welsh game. They are in the mix, but they have to win. How Australia can strangle them, that could be a massive thing if they can. How you deal with some of the Fijian attack is a pretty hard thing to deal with, but I’d imagine the Aussie coaches have seen some holes in the defence and will try to exploit that.
England versus Japan is the late game on Sunday in Nice and you’d like to think the English will beat them quite well. I can’t see it being that tight. You feel for Japan. Without having that Super Rugby club team, they are not the same Test team they were four years ago.
Although England didn’t score a try in their win over Argentina last weekend and their attack wasn’t functioning as well as they wanted, they were impressive and it was what you expect from an England team, dogged and difficult to attack against and a 10-man game with the 10 dropping drop goals.
It was a bit like England from years gone by when they were so successful. Rob Andrew would be kicking drop goals from everywhere behind that sort of lardy pack of forwards. Last week was kind of like that, to be fair.
Any time you have the nine or 10 putting the ball in front of you, making the opposition turn, was always great in my day as a big front rower. Getting three points off a drop goal was even better… it’s an old-fashioned thing you were taught as a kid, keep the ball in front of your forwards and they will keep working for you.
I thought George Ford was phenomenal and the English pack looked like what you would expect. Dan Cole did really well. Jamie George, (Ellis) Genge, they all put a shift in. (Courtney) Lawes, (Ben) Earl all these guys. It’s probably not the biggest English pack but when they get into that ‘us against them’ attitude and there was a lot of pressure on them, they came out well out of it and you have got to tip your hat off to the coaches.
Looking at the World Cup in my specialist area, I do like how the Fijian scrum has come on. South Africa, that bomb squad is pretty formidable, pretty hard to deal with, but Malcolm Marx being out now is a massive blow for them. They were phenomenal, especially that second-half scrum performance against Scotland.
A lot has been talked about the Aussie scrum with Angus Bell and Taniela Tupou and you have got some hefty slabs of meat in behind them. They will be a massive challenge for Wales; how they deal with that size and power is going to be huge next weekend.
But what I do like is how Fiji, Tonga and Samoa now all have a good scrum. It’s not like before when you were struggling against some of these teams you could go back to that sort of game.
Everyone has got a really efficient scrum at least and a lot of teams are pretty good attacking it. Certainly, all these South Sea island boys playing in France and around the world are adept in the dark arts.
From a scrum purist’s point of view, it’s a competitive set-piece and even seeing Uruguay getting a bit of change out of the French, there are sort of no massive gaps I can see. What I have seen as well is the refs wanting a contest and when the ball is ready to play away, they let it play away.
The South African traffic lights thing in Marseille was a weird one. All that fuss before with Rassie Erasmus being on the pitch and carrying the water, he gets a message on. But these are World Cup-winning Test match players, there is only so much information you can get on and if they want to kick for goal and whatever, the coach can radio down to someone.
“I’m sure it’s seen as innovative but it’s a bit whatever for me. It’s not as if they have reinvented the wheel, it’s not as if they have found electricity or whatever. Okay, fine, they hold some lights up. Brilliant. Good on them. You see certain teams doing different things, doing different warm-ups in the Premiership… but if you want to get a message on you can get a message on. It’s not exactly the hardest thing in the world to do.
- This Rugby World Cup guest column is brought to you in association with the renewed partnership between Harlequins and official trading partner Saxo, a global leader in online investing, for the 2023/2024 Gallagher Premiership season;
- Aside from Wales legend and Harlequins coach Adam Jones, ex-Ireland hooker-turned-coach Jerry Flannery and England lock Joe Launchbury will also be writing columns over the course of the tournament.
Comments on RugbyPass
Just what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
7 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
7 Go to commentsGood riddance
1 Go to commentswel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
6 Go to commentsHard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
6 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
6 Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
7 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
7 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
7 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
7 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
5 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
5 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to comments