The All Blacks have had to make a late change to their starting team for Saturdays match against Romania. Dan Carter the star All Black flyhalf suffered a calf muscle strain at training.

The up and coming youngster Luke McAlister will be starting the game in the number 10 jersey this saturday as Carter’s replacement. Doug Howlet, the record holding try scorer for the All Backs will be filling in McAlister’s spot on the bench.

It is still unknown if Carter will be available for the quarter final. His condition will be re-assessed next week.

Carter’s strain is McAlister’s gain

Friday night we will see the Pool A death match when Tonga and England clash. Tonga has impressed many this tournament. They beat Samoa (for the first time in 7 years) and they also gave Pool A favorites the Springbok’s a major scare. England however has not had a great world cup so far. Their best game was against Samoa when we saw the return of Mr Johnny Wilkinson.

Tonga captain Nili Latu has said that his team see this a major moment in their countries sporting history and will be throwing everything that they have at the English. Hale T Pole will also be making his return after a suspension.

What if there is a draw? Well Tonga will go through over England due to the points difference.

England’s coach Brian Ashton has total confidence that his side will not have the worst Champion defenced campaign in World Cup history. The fact that Johnny will be playing is a definite plus for the English as he will punish any penalties that the Tongans hand out.

Who will meet Australia next, we will only know on Friday!

Judicial Officer Terry Willis had dismissed the charges that were brought up against the young Springbok player. Terry Willis head the explanations and watch the footage from the game. There was no evidence so the charges were dropped.

The citing commission has come under heavy fire due to their inconsistencies. For instance the Lima tackle on André Pretorius was never even mentioned and in my opinion was way worse than what Burger did. Lima was also involved in a dangerous tackle against England which resulted in a penalty. American player Paul Emerick was banned for 5 weeks for a spear tackle whilst Drew Mitchell was not cited for his dangerous spear tackle.  The rules should be consistent.

England started the game with a point to prove and managed to score in the first 6 mins of the game. England also welcomed back Johnny Wilkinson who played a major part of their victory, contributing 24 points with 2 drop goals. Captain Martin Corry manged to score 2 of England’s 4 tries.

The final score does not truly reflect the game in my opinion, at one stage in the second half the score board showed 26-22 to England. However England played the full 80 mins while Samoa faded towards the end. England will face Tonga in a do or die game next. England are looking better however there is still major issues that need to be worked on.

This has been the most exciting game of the World Cup so far and been another inspirational performance from the “underdog”.

Jake White started with his second string side on Saturday against Tonga. The half time score saw the South Africans only leading with 3 points. The second half saw Tonga take the lead which prompted Jake White to bring on the “A team” players. Habana, Smith, Matfield, Steyn and Montgomery took the field. South Africa scored 2 tries and took a big lead.

Tonga never gave up and fought their way back within 5 points of the Springboks. A great contest, well done Tonga! Jake White paid his respect to the Tongan team after their performance and also hailed his “big guns” for coming on and saving the day. The Tonga England clash will be a do or die affair for both to see who will go through from Pool A in second place.

Ireland’s quarter final hopes were seriously damaged after their loss to the French on Friday night. The French supporters must be feeling easier after watching their team totally destroy the men in green. France 25 Ireland 3.

The French managed to run in 2 tries and slotted 5 penalties. Ireland only managed a drop goal from O’Gara.
Ireland will have to beat the Argentina’s with a really massive score to go though into the quarter finals.

This Friday we will see France take on the Irish. The French had a shaky start when they went down against the Pumas. The Irish have also not had the best performances in the pool stages and have been seriously taken apart by the media.

All the past games will not matter on Friday night when these 2 great rugby nations clash in Paris. French captain Ibañez has told the media that he believes that the Irish will lift their game for Friday.
“Maybe they are suffering but that only makes them more dangerous. They still have world class players plus they have won their first two matches.” Ibañez told the press.

Ireland’s coach Eddie O’Sullivan has come forward and said that his players are ready to avenge their recent Six Nations defeat to the French.
“It’s a real motivation for us to know we had the beating of a French team in a big pressure situation, only to let it slip.” said O’Sullivan.

No doubt that Friday night will be a cracker of a game between these to great Rugby Nations. Looking forward to it!

Will Ireland handle Chabal?

Tonga today caused the biggest upset in the RWC. For seven years the Tongans have not been able to win against the Samoan rugby team. To be honest i never would have seen this coming, especially after the great first half that Samoa had against the Springboks. Tonga 19 Samoa 15

Taione was the only try scorer in this game. Tonga also finished the game with only thirteen men but still managed the win.
Well done Tonga. This comes as good news for England as many are saying that the Pool A runner up would be Samoa.

This Friday was the big Pool A contest between South Africa and England. The Springboks who are seen as second favorites for this years overall winner showed everyone just why they are seen as the team that could topple the might All Blacks. This has to be the drubbing of the tournament so far. South Africa 36 England 0.

South Africa dominated in almost every section of the game, however England owned the scrums. South Africa did really well with their kicks and any ground that England made they were sent straight back to their own 22 by Percy Montgomery.

One player really stood out from the rest, Fourie du Preez. He didn’t score a try however he created 3 tries. After that performance he is defiantly on his way to becoming player of the tournament. Juan Smith scored the opening try for South Africa while JP Pietersen, who also had a great game and scored 2 tries.

Tonight we will witness Percy Montgomery equal the most capped Springbok of all time record. The current record holder Joost van der Westhuizen played a total of 89 test matches for South Africa. Percy told reporters that he will play his usual game tonight and stand firm as the Springboks last line of defense.

Monty has been playing for the Springboks for roughly ten years now and has developed a reputation across the rugby globe. Montgomery will be moving to France after the RWC to play for the French Team Perpignan. We wish him all the best of luck.