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Article from Robert Kitson of the UK Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog...world-cup-2011
Rugby World Cup 2011: Seven could be a lucky number in New Zealand
Last weekend's matches have posed some interesting questions days before the start of the World Cup
This has been a World Cup buildup like no other. There were raucous cheers and much table-thumping as Radike Samo blasted his way through the New Zealand defence on Saturday and that was only in a Dublin hotel foyer 12,000 miles away. Later the same evening the sound of Irish groaning was almost as loud. Never have so many put two and two together on the basis of warm-up form and arrived at a bigger number.
We will soon find out the truth. If the All Blacks really have peaked a month or so too soon, we are in, as Martin Johnson suggested this week, for a "very, very interesting" tournament. If you are casting around for certainties, nevertheless, there are two ingredients which no proper contender can afford to lack. Show me a coach lacking a top-quality openside and an accurate goalkicker and I'll show you a worried man.
Because if there is one conclusion to be drawn from the August "phoney war" period it is that class No7s are back in vogue. David Pocock, Richie McCaw, Heinrich Brussow, Sam Warburton, John Barclay ... no wonder the loss of the estimable David Wallace has hit the Irish so hard. For the brief amount of time Hendre Fourie was on the field at the Aviva Stadium at the weekend, England looked at their most fluent. Anyone who arrives at the World Cup hoping to make do and mend at seven is going to receive a hurry-up.
The reason is simple enough. At every tackle situation, referees at this World Cup – more than ever – are simply not going to tolerate bodies lying around the ball, tacklers not rolling away or players not supporting their own body weight as they contest for the ball on the floor. The International Rugby Board still have the 2007 World Cup final in mind when, according to several influential figures, nothing much happened. By coincidence I watched that game again yesterday and found I enjoyed it rather more than I did at the time. Matthew Tait's scorching break, Mark Cueto's touchline heartbreak, John Smit's post-match emotion ... the human drama and levels of commitment were absolutely worthy of the occasion, even if the heights of attacking ambition were not.
But times move on and in 2011 the IRB wants to have its cake as well as eat it. Johnson remembers being told two days before the 1999 tournament that the lineout lifting interpretations were being tweaked. You suspect there will shortly be another directive aimed at speeding up the delivery of the ball at the breakdown. This will not bother Pocock in the slightest but it could complicate England's life when they run into opposition with a dynamic No7 who knows what he is doing and can get around the field sufficiently quickly to do it. Of course power is essential in the modern game but so is craft and technique.
Watching the Wallabies deservedly win the Tri Nations title was also to appreciate how dangerous teams can be when they have a smart cookie – Will Genia – pulling the strings for richly talented colleagues like Quade Cooper and Kurtley Beale. Before a ball is kicked at this World Cup, though, it should be remembered that kicking itself is not an optional accessory. Remember James O'Connor's pinpoint accuracy from the sidelines to beat New Zealand in Hong Kong, not to mention Matt Giteau's misses to concede defeat against England and Scotland? If this Wallaby team is to maximise its considerable potential, it needs O'Connor, Cooper and Berrick Barnes to transport their kicking boots across the Tasman. If they do not, even the magnificent Pocock is destined to fall short.
Fleece is the word
Those of you familiar with Paul the psychic octopus – who enjoyed some success predicting results at the last football World Cup – will be glad to hear we could soon have a rugby equivalent. Secret tests have been carried out involving a sheep which, apparently, has shown an aptitude for forecasting the results of recent internationals. I was sceptical, clearly, and made a point of checking last Friday whether the woolly genius reckoned Ireland or England would win in Dublin. Sure enough, the animal went for England. Shortly, though, its alleged special powers are really going to be tested, with a bookmaker standing by to shower it with publicity. Welcome to the 2011 World Cup, where even the sheep are nervous.
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