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 No major upsets Nine teams pack bags to head home
Posted: Sunday October 17, 1999 05:19 PM
By Leora Blumberg, CNN/SI ATLANTA -- The first phase of the Rugby World Cup is over. Points have been tallied. Some countries are looking ahead to prepare for the remainder of the tournament. Nine others are packing their bags for the trip home. The most important matches of the weekend occurred in Group D. Although Western Samoa beat Wales in Cardiff in a reminder of their 1991 World Cup match, the Samoans finished behind the hosts on points. So it fell to Argentina and Japan to determine who would face whom in the second round and the quarterfinals. Although the Pumas beat Japan it finished third in the pool on points. The end result is that Wales automatically advances to the quarterfinals, Western Samoa will play Scotland, and Argentina, which qualified as the best third-place team will face Ireland in the second round. For some the tournament was a dismal disappointment. Most notable among these is Italy, as the media back home has denigrated the team and questioned its abilities entering next year's new and supposedly improved Six Nations. The United States, which lost all of its matches could also be disappointed. However, it can take heart the Eagles only lost the match to Romania after losing their best player Dan "Captain America" Lyle. Also, the Americans succeeded in scoring the only try that Australia has conceded thus far in the tournament. For Romania and Uruguay, both debutantes at the World Cup, the pill of defeat has been sweetened by the knowledge that both countries gave good accountings of themselves, forcing top-tier teams to take them seriously. Tonga, may find its World Cup tag difficult to get rid of. The team was branded as thugs at the World Cup, especially following the incident in its 101-10 loss to England when fullback Matt Perry was hit in the air by substitute Isi Tapueluelu and a fight broke out. England prop Phil Vickery threw a punch and Tongan prop Ngalu Taufo'ou ran into the melee, in the process decking Richard Hill, for which he was ejected. The madness continued when Referee Wayne Erickson gave yellow cards to Vickery, Tapueluelu and minutes later to Tongan flanker David Edwards. Of the favorites South Africa has failed to look anything like the defending World Cup champion. After beating Scotland in the first pool play game, it failed to gel against either Uruguay or Spain. The Springboks are also missing one of their key players, flyhalf Henry Honiball, with a hamstring injury. New Zealand on the other hand, has looked like the undisputed favorite it is. Jonah Lomu has once more come into his own, and now holds the record for tries in World Cup history. Aside from Lomu, two other players who have put forth fantastic performances are Gareth Rees of Canada and Gonzalo Quesada of Argentina. Rees, playing in his fourth and last World Cup, didn't miss a single kick at goal during Canada's three games and has a 100 percent record from 19. Quesada is the leading scorer of the tournament with 66 of his countries 83 points. Without a standout performance from any of the players over the weekend, I would have to give Tonga's Taufo'ou the award for the worst sporting incident. And the quote of the weekend will have to go to South Africa's flyhalf at the 1995 World Cup, Joel Stransky, who said in his column in Britain's Sunday Telegraph when referring to the Springbok performance thus far: "There is such a thin line between a fearful team and a fearless team. Confidence is a fickle friend." The champions will have to regain their confidence if they are to have any hope of defending their title.
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