New Zealand 29 defeat Wales 9
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New Zealand defeated Wales 29-9 but the score indicates a much different game to the one that took place as Wales stuck it to the All Blacks.
Wales led a spirited first half and took the lead 9-6 at halftime.
But it was the brilliance and boot of Dan Carter and two tries in the second half that saw the All Blacks home in a tough encounter that the All Blacks will be happy to escape from in the end.
South Africa 20 defeat Wales 15
South Africa were too good for Wales winning 20-15 but Wales showed they were far from easybeats and will prove a challenge to defeat.
South Africa scored two tries to nil with Adrian Jacobs and Jean De Villiers scoring for the Boks.
South Africa lead 13-3 at half-time before Wales mounted a comeback through the boot of James Hook but were unable to score a try that would have got them over the line.
IRB Awards - Top 5 Rugby Stars of 2008
The International Rugby Board (IRB) player of the year award will be awarded on 23 November where five players will all compete for the biggest honour in the game.
Four players from the northern and one from the southern hemisphere were shortlisted by the panel after watching almost 50 hours of rugby and 35 tests.
The shortlisted players were Dan Carter (New Zealand), Shane Williams and Ryan Jones (Wales), Mike Blair (Scotland) and Sergio Parisse (Italy).
THe players stood out after the panel went through each match and selected the three best players from each match. The panel consists of Tana Umaga, Raphael Ibanez, Will Greenwood, Francois Pienaar, Agustin Pichot, Gavin Hastings, Scott Quinnell, Paul Wallace and is chaired by John Eales.
If Dan Carter was to win he would be the first player to win two IRB player of the year awards.
Who do you think was the best player of the year?
Could Rugby have a World Series?
Reports from the Daily Mail in the UK have claimed the IRB are looking at organsing a Rugby World Series that would occur every two years.
The World Series would start as a round robin as part of the Six Nations and the current Tri-Nations teams including Argentina with results counting towards the World Series. Tests between the hemisphere’s rugby teams would continue to take place between June and November.
The top two teams would play-off every two years, most likely at the new Wembley Stadium in front of 90,000 people where the winner could take over in excess of AUD $20 million.
Chances are any plans of getting this up and running before the next World Cup would be unlikely but if the IRB can get all the Union’s on board then it could start by 2010.
IRB World Rankings
South Africa have reclaimed the second spot on the IRB World Rankings after their win over Australia 53-8 in Johannesburg. Australia can reclaim second spot with a win against New Zealand in Brisbane.
No other changes occured in the Top 10 due to a lack of international rugby matches.
The list of the top 10 are below;
New Zealand
Australia
South Africa
Argentina
England
Wales
France
Ireland
Scotland
Italy
IRB World Rugby Rankings
The IRB latest world ranking’s have been a major blow to the South African Springboks as they have dropped from No 1. at ths start of the year to No 3. behind the New Zealand All Blacks and Australian Wallabies.
South Africa have had a horror Rugby Tri-Nations series while Australia have improved dramatically after being fourth at the start of the Rugby Tri-Nations series.
The list of the top 10 are below;
New Zealand
Australia
South Africa
Argentina
England
Wales
France
Ireland
Scotland
Italy
IRB World Cup bids confirmed
The IRB have confirmed bids for the Rugby World Cup in 2015 and 2019. 10 unions have expressed an interest and including exotic Rugby nations like Russia and Jamaica alongside stalwarts such as Australia, England, South Africa and Ireland.
Australia, England, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales have submitted an interest in 2015.
While Australia, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Russia, Scotland, South Africa and Wales are looking towards 2019.
The next Rugby World Cup will be held in New Zealand in 2011. The 2015 and 2019 World Cup’s will be announced in July 2009.
If the IRB is serious about expanding the game which I believe they are then they need to award at least one of the World Cup’s to a developing Rugby nation like Italy or Japan. Japan was overlooked for the 2011 World Cup after getting pipped by New Zealand for hosting rights. In July 2009 the IRB will be able to undo the mistake of not selecting them for 2007.
Who do you think should be awarded the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cup?
ELVs Divide Hemisphere’s
The new Experimental Law Variations (ELVs) due to be incorporated in world rugby has experienced major changes even before introduced. The Northern Hemisphere heavyweights of England, Ireland and Wales have gone against the IRB rule changes to introduce the ELVs on a trial basis for one year by rejecting them totally. The three countries will continue to play under the existing rules which has ignited a heated war of words from Southern Hemisphere nations that have been playing under the ELVs through the Super 14 and the Tri-Nations series.
This is a potentially damaging move as it will also cause conflict unless resolved soon with the Six Nations tourament to be played early in 2009 as other nations such as Scotland, France and Italy have not shown any discourse towards the proposed IRB changes. In my opinion the introduction of the ELVs have been an outstanding success and have made a huge difference to the game with the Super 14 rewarding more aggressive play at the breakdown and team fitness. The days of slow drawn out matches dominated by kicking and penalties was a distant memory and for teams like England, Wales and Ireland refusing to move forward I fear they are voting with an outdated logic and one that is not about improving the game we love but stopping it’s natural progression.
Do you have an opinion on ELVs? Share your thoughts in the comments section.
IRB World Rankings - All Blacks No. 1
The IRB have updated the latest rankings for all Rugby nations. After the win by the All Blacks against the Springboks the All Blacks have stolen the top spot followed by South Africa. Australia have also replaced Argentina in third place after the recent poor performance of the Pumas against Scotland and the shock loss to Italy.
The top 10 teams are;
1. New Zealand
2. South Africa
3. Australia
4. Argentina
5. England
6. Wales
7. France
8. Ireland
9. Scotland
10. Italy
Click here to see a complete list of all rankings.
IRB World Rankings
The International Rugby Board (IRB) announced the latest rankings of all Rugby playing nations on 16 June 2008.
The only movement within the top 10 from last week is Scotland moving up one place after their surprise victory against Argentina and Fiji dropping back one spot as a result of the Scottish win. Among other major top 20 nations Samoa has moved from 13th to 12th spot and Japan from 16th to 15th after recent performances in the Pacific Nations Cup.
The top 10 are;
South Africa
New Zealand
Argentina
Australia
England
Wales
France
Ireland
Scotland
Fiji
A full list can be viewed at the Official IRB Rugby site.