Rugby Mad Blog

After their opening game humiliation, there was always going to be a French backlash. Unfortunately for Namibia, they were the next opponents, and the mismatch was obvious.

The French made a good start, but Namibia weren’t afraid of putting in some big hits. The first try wasn’t long coming – 7 minutes in, winger Cédric Heymans [left] crossed over in the corner, his 10th in French colours, but Elissalde failed to convert. Just a few minutes later, Namibia’s Emile Wessels struck a penalty. France attacked immediately from the restart, going through two phases, for David Marty to score again in the opposite corner to Heymans. This time Elissalde’s boot was true.

But there were still some handling errors from the French. And big hits from the Africans – Sebastian Chabal took a huge tackle from the Namibian No. 8 Jacques Nieuwenhuis who was red carded for the offence. Seabass wasn’t too phased by the event, and after the break, Jean-Baptiste Elissalde made a great cross-kick for Chabal to bounce over the line and take the score to 54-3. Five minutes later, Chabal broke and ran 55m up the pitch to score a second. Elissalide converted again and the score marched on to 61-3.

France kept turning the screw – Elissalde [left] scored a try of his own a minute after Chabal’s; Vincent Clerc bagged another two and Raphael Ibanez added one too – taking the French tally to 13.

There was a small consolation right at the death for Namibia, when their Centre, Bratley Langenhoven touched down in the 79th minute. Fullback Tertius Losper took the extras, to bring up ten points for the underdogs. The final whistle blew, and the result was confirmed at 87-10.

Pool B’s game of Fiji against Canada proved to be quite compelling. For much of the game, Fiji looked the most inventive, while Canada proved more disciplined at the set piece. Despite their wayward lineouts, Fiji went in at half time 15-6 up.

Sarries Boys

As well as supplying Andy Farrell for England, Saracens current and former players in World Cup action included three Fijians. Centre Kameli Ratouvu [left] scored a try in each half of the game. His second was from a blistering run the length of the field, which left Canadians clutching at air in his wake.

Fly Half Nicky Little [left] is a former Saracen, who left the club in 2004. Against Canada, he kicked one penalty and three conversions, while Scrum Half Mosese Rauluni [right] is in the current Sarries squad and has been playing well for the Men In Black.

Canada almost scored a try in the 53rd minute, after a catch and drive manoeuvre in the Fijian half inched towards the line. Unfortunately for the Canucks, it was held up and Fiji turned over the resulting 5m scrum. A few minutes later, Candian Fly Half Ryan Smith [left] managed to do the deed, following another drive by the forwards. Winger James Pritchard converted to take the score to 22-13 to Fiji.

In the 71st minute, Pritchard [right] went over the line but it was judged to have been a double movement, after the TMO had a long look at the angles.

The last few minutes were nailbiting, with penalties, missed drop goals and forward drives, before Ratouvu finally broke free for the Fijian’s bonus-scoring 4th try. Nicky Little converted to leave the final score at 29-16.