RWC latest – Gatland sounds Bok warning
22 Aug 2011
Keo.co.za brings you news related to the World Cup.
Gatland sounds Bok warning - Wales coach Warren Gatland is confident Wales can topple the Springboks when the sides meet in the pool phase of the World Cup.
Speaking about Wales’ prospects, Gatland said: ‘We want to win the group. I think we are in great shape physically. We shouldn’t go there with any fears.’
Gatland’s charges were ordinary against England three weeks ago at Twickenham, but rebounded with a victory in the return match in Cardiff, as well as against Argentina at the weekend.
‘I really put the players under pressure the week of the second England game this month to beat England at home and to perform,’ he said. ‘In the past, sometimes they have shied away from that responsibility. You could see the heads go down, but they fronted up to what was a big challenge.
‘And last weekend, we didn’t play that well, but to beat Argentina comfortably was a sign there is something in this squad that is hopefully going to show something at the World Cup. It has been a really good August for us. The hardest thing about coaching an international side is limited preparation time, and the fact we have had these guys together for a couple of months has made a massive difference to us.
‘I would like to think that people think we are not in bad shape going to this World Cup.’
England name Cup warriors - England have named a 30-man World Cup squad featuring a blend of youth and experience.
The squad, made up of 17 forwards and 13 backs, with the oldest player Simon Shaw (37) and Manu Tuilagi, at 20, the youngest. There are also five previous winners in the squad, including Jonny Wilkinson who is pushing for the starting berth at flyhalf.
‘The composition of the squad is very important and we think we have the right mix in this group,’ coach Martin Johnson said. ‘There were some very tough phone calls made last week; everybody came into this camp and worked extremely hard and some players have just missed out.
‘We have a number of leaders and experienced players and have named Lewis Moody as squad captain, we are confident he will play a pivotal role for us in New Zealand.’
England squad:
Forwards: Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Alex Corbisiero (London Irish), Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers), Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers), Nick Easter (Harlequins), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), James Haskell (Ricoh Black Rams), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Lee Mears (Bath), Lewis Moody (Bath), Tom Palmer (Stade Francais), Simon Shaw (Unattached), Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks), Matt Stevens (Saracens), Steve Thompson (London Wasps), David Wilson (Bath), Tom Wood (Northampton Saints).
Backs: Delon Armitage (London Irish), Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints), Matt Banahan (Bath), Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks), Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers), Ben Foden (Northampton Saints), Shontayne Hape (London Irish), Joe Simpson (London Wasps), Mike Tindall (Gloucester), Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers), Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens), Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers).
Ireland cut Fitzgerald - There was no place in Ireland’s World Cup squad for British & Irish Lions wing Luke Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald is the biggest name to be omitted from Ireland’s squad, a loss of form at a crucial time costing him his ticket to New Zealand
The squad, split 16-14 between forwards and backs, is led by Brian O’Driscoll
Ireland squad:
Forwards: Rory Best (Ulster), Tony Buckley (Sale Sharks), Tom Court (Ulster), Sean Cronin (Leinster), Leo Cullen (Leinster), Stephen Ferris (Ulster), Jerry Flannery (Munster), Cian Healy (Leinster), Jamie Heaslip (Leinster), Denis Leamy (Munster), Sean O’Brien (Leinster), Donncha O’Callaghan (Munster), Paul O’Connell (Munster), Michael Ross (Leinster), Donnacha Ryan (Munster), David Wallace (Munster).
Backs: Isaac Boss (Leinster), Tommy Bowe (Ospreys), Gordon D’Arcy (Leinster), Keith Earls (Munster), Robert Kearney (Leinster), Fergus McFadden (Leinster), Geordan Murphy (Leicester), Conor Murray (Munster), Brian O’Driscoll (captain, Leinster), Ronan O’Gara (Munster), Eoin Reddan (Leinster), Jonathan Sexton (Leinster), Andrew Trimble (Ulster), Paddy Wallace (Ulster).
Scots lose Walker – Wing Nikki Walker has been ruled out of the World Cup after suffering a knee injury in Scotland’s 23-12 win over Italy. A medial ligament injury will keep the 29-year-old out of action for the duration of the tournament.
Scotland squad:
Backs: Joe Ansbro (London Irish), Mike Blair (Edinburgh), Chris Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors), Simon Danielli (Ulster), Nick De Luca (Edinburgh), Max Evans (Castres), Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors), Rory Lamont (Toulon), Sean Lamont (Scarlets), Rory Lawson (Gloucester), Graeme Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), Dan Parks (Cardiff Blues), Chris Paterson (Edinburgh).
Forwards: Alastair Kellock, John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors), Kelly Brown (Saracens), Geoff Cross (Edinburgh), Alasdair Dickinson (Sale Sharks), Ross Ford (Edinburgh), Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors), Dougie Hall (Glasgow Warriors), Jim Hamilton (Gloucester), Nathan Hines (Clermont Ferrand), Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh), Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors, captain), Scott Lawson (Gloucester), Moray Low (Glasgow Warriors), Euan Murray (Newcastle Falcons), Ross Rennie (Edinburgh), Alasdair Strokosch (Gloucester), Richie Vernon (Sale Sharks)
Chabal misses French cut – Sebastien Chabal has been omitted from France’s 30-man World Cup squad.
While the Racing Metro forward is the best paid club player in Europe, he has failed to make the group that will travel to New Zealand. Coach Marc Lievremont has also left Sylvain Marconnet and Thomas Domingo out of the squad.
Thierry Dusautoir will lead the side.
France World Cup squad:
Forwards: Fabien Barcella (Biarritz), Jean-Baptiste Poux (Toulouse), Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), Luc Ducalcon (Castres), William Servat (Toulouse), Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Francais), Guilhem Guirado (Perpignan), Pascal Pape (Stade Francais), Julien Pierre (Clermont), Romain Millo-Chluski (Toulouse), Lionel Nallet (Racing-Metro), Julien Bonnaire (Clermont), Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz), Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse, capt), Fulgence Ouedraogo (Montpellier), Raphal Lakafia (Biarritz), Louis Picamoles (Toulouse)
Backs: Morgan Parra (Clermont), Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz), David Skrela (Clermont), Francois Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Fabrice Estebanez (Brive), Maxime Mermoz (Perpignan), David Marty (Perpignan), Aurlien Rougerie (Clermont), Maxime Medard (Toulouse), Alexis Palisson (Brive), Vincent Clerc (Toulouse), Cedric Heymans (Bayonne), Damien Traille (Biarritz)
Japan down USA – Japan beat USA 20-14 on Sunday in the last of their warm-up matches before the World Cup.
It was a closely contested game with USA leading 14-8 at half-time. Japan outplayed the Eagles in the second stanza, scoring 12 unanswered points.
‘It was a so-and-so game, but we won,” said Japan coach John Kirwan. ‘We defended very well. We couldn’t play well in set-pieces in the first half, but we were able to level up in the second half. We played fast, we kept the ball.’
16 Comments
21 Aug 2011, 16:44 pm
coaches with balls….
leave plod at home
21 Aug 2011, 16:44 pm
marconnet is a surprise
21 Aug 2011, 17:02 pm
Marconnet and Domingo – most, most surprising; piuty about Chabal – he’s great value to watch
21 Aug 2011, 17:25 pm
@grant10(grant10)-1: Or sheer stupidity leaving one of the best French players behind.
Smit played well when he came on. Not as good as Bismark but very very good off the bench.
21 Aug 2011, 19:37 pm
Chabal was never going to go, he was dropped during the 6N and had a controversy over his book where he accused Top 14 referees of being biased.
21 Aug 2011, 21:41 pm
Picamoles is huge!
21 Aug 2011, 23:48 pm
@grant10(grant10)-1:
Give it a break stuck irritating record!
22 Aug 2011, 00:05 am
PdV has no balls to drop smit and no skills whatsoever as a coach either.
22 Aug 2011, 01:12 am
No more soup-drinking for Ali Williams.
22 Aug 2011, 01:54 am
Chabal not such a big surprise, he’s been playing on Reputation for a while now and Lievremont had tired of him a while back. Too much confusion over what his best position is as well.
Marconnet is a shock tho, thats 1 tough hombre.
22 Aug 2011, 05:16 am
Idiot leaving Michalak out. He’s been sublime for Sharks.
22 Aug 2011, 21:25 pm
RATEL to be a real menace to the Welsh !
23 Aug 2011, 02:57 am
Beat Argentina comfortably- yes on the scoreboard only save for two quick tries 1 of which was a fluke and sh
@t goalkicking from the Pumas they would have lost or won only narrowly, lets not forget this was Argentinas first game.
23 Aug 2011, 06:30 am
Welsh can bring there show pony’s, all these northern hemisphere sides are nothing to worry about
23 Aug 2011, 06:39 am
@seabiscuit(seabiscuit)-14:
Thats what NZ said about the French
23 Aug 2011, 06:47 am
Thank you Gatland for the free Bok motivation , a la Jake White, give us some more pearls of wisdom
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