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Mon 12 Sep 2011 | 09:30
Rugby World Cup Daily - Heartbreak for the Welsh

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Yesterday three matches took place in the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, with the pick of them being Wales' great effort against the reigning champion Springboks. Here is the daily show with short recaps of what went down.

Australia 32 - 6 Italy

The Wallabies put in a strong second half performance, led by their forwards, as they took control of matters at North Harbour Stadium. They were tied at 6-6 after the first half, but four quickfire tries in the second half made it more than comfortable for the Tri Nations champions in the end. 

"Getting that result was key," said coach Robbie Deans. "I've got a lot of respect for the Italian side. They're a tough side. They defend very well and they'll create some grief for some teams."

Ireland 22 - 10 USA

Ireland got the result they would have expected after two Tommy Bowe tries set them on their way, but a late intercept try to the USA's Paul Emerick made the score look more respectable for the Americans. On the tenth anniversarry of the World Trade Center attacks, they atteneded a memorial earlier in the day.

"In the grand scheme of things, this is a game," said USA captain Todd Clever. "We're talking about thousands of lives. I'm so glad that we were able to pay our respects to them."

South Africa 17 - 16 Wales

The game of the day was always going to be the meeting of the Springboks and the Welsh in Wellington, and it didn't fail to disappoint as Wales, who have only ever beaten South Africa once, put them to the sword with controlled pick and go rugby, and good use of their midfield. They starved the Boks of possession for the most part, but the experienced champions took the little ball they had, and scored from it.

Heartbreaking for the Welsh, who missed a sitter of a dropgoal attempt late in the match, as well as a penalty that could have taken them into the lead. Job done for South Africa, but they need to lift their game and get over one or two injury and selection problems if they're too hang onto the trophy.

Also in this edition of RWC Daily, Buck Shelford talks about the best moment in his great career, and legendary New Zealand coach Sir Brian Lochore gives his thoughts on who can win the World Cup.

More clips will get posted soon, but for now you can view the match highlights on the official Rugby World Cup website. If you've having trouble viewing, make sure you have Silverlight installed.

Posted By: Grant Constable

9 Comments

  • ak-nz
    3:01 AM 13/09/2011

    I agree with D Dub regarding the refs getting in the way. While im pretty sure Hougaard would have scored that try, I couldn't help but notice Barnes standing directly in the path that he used to get to the line (he of course moved, but it did look a bit iffy). I know a number of Kiwis felt he did a similar thing during the Brisbane test a few weeks ago, although I thought it was marginal. You can't take away from the individual efforts, but it is something I have noticed, especially with Barnes. I also feel that he often stands unnecessarily close to the ruck/maul area which could also end up in a referee obstruction.

    Hard luck to Wales, I personally felt they played really well and fully deserved to put one over on the Boks. I'm going to the Samoa v. S.A game in a few weeks so hopefully they can cause an upset to rival the one against Australia. Come on Manu Samoa!

  • themull
    10:26 PM 12/09/2011

    Ireland look so uninspiring...There seems to be little to now confidence in attack..Players aren't hitting the line at speed and with power, particularly the backs, and they seem to play with a lack of direction...The leaders on the team needed to speak up on Sunday, and let the whole team know that they needed to play the pick and drive game in those conditions....

    it was not the day for complicated back moves, especially considering how wide the backs were standing....I hope to God we can improve come next weekend, with SOB and Healy coming back...And hopefully he plays Trimble or Bowe at centre...

    Wales' and SA's group could really be the group of death..I wouldn't be surprised if Samoa took points off of either SA or Wales or both...Fiji also capable of causing an upset perhaps too....

  • ultra404
    7:52 PM 12/09/2011

    @I love bacon: you'd better not rely on Italy defeats...

  • 6:08 PM 12/09/2011

    I normally cheer for Ireland 99% of the time, but being as they were playing the Eagles, I was hoping against hope for a miracle. Oh well, at least the boys in green got a win for once...

    But how awesome was the stats at the end? 101 tackles made by USA. Compared to the woeful defense that was shown in the warmup games, that's a remarkable improvement. Now if we could only learn how to compete at set pieces...

    And one other thing - I said it a few weeks ago as something of a joke, that if the Eagles were going to score a try, it'd be because of D'Arcy or Paddy Wallace at 12 - incidentally, that's how the only USA try was scored. :)

    Maybe we can pull something off against Russia? And maybe Italy will be more of a close match (though their scrum will mutilate the Eagles...)...or at least someone will hopefully put some huge hits in on Quade Cooper and make him see stars. That'd be pretty satisfying.

  • ultra404
    5:00 PM 12/09/2011

    Wallabies and All Blacks have a lot of work to do: aussie first half and AB second half weren't as good as Deans and Graham Henry hoped

  • eltigre
    4:32 PM 12/09/2011

    lol the taffs got robbed

  • colombes
    4:17 PM 12/09/2011

    Very sad for Wales. they accomplished a great performance durin the 2nd half. unfortunately, there is no victory for teams which can't be lethal.

    on a side note, despite the very doubtful hook penalty, the referring was not so bad durind the first matchs. but someone remarked the video refs problems? after the disallowed try for Toeiava vs Tonga which was IN, and Nallet who clearly touched down vs Japan, also refused... it's curious to see some video refs to do this type of mistakes. hope there won't be others during crucial matchs

  • 1:36 PM 12/09/2011

    Too bad Hook didn't convert that penalty. I was happy to see a hungry Welsh team, unlike in the recent 6N...

  • irishbob
    1:35 PM 12/09/2011

    Ireland seriously need to improve to have any chance against Australia. They played like strangers out there. The U.S. had no pack, scrum, maul or lineout so instead of pounding through they kept trying to play slick moves in terrible conditions. Ridiculous.

    Ireland suffering from Kidney Failure.

    And for god sake drop d'arcy. He is not competing at this level anymore.

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