Tuesday’s rugby news has Giteau’s worries, the Wallabies arriving low key, ticket sales records and positive reports from a Welsh law change.
[one_half last=”no”]
Giteau wary of England
Matt Giteau has labelled England as “favourites” to win Pool A in this year’s Rugby World Cup. Billed as the tournament’s “group of death” given that England and Australia are joined by Wales, Giteau spoke in detail about the threats each side will pose the Wallabies.
“They’ve got a good record against Wales and Australia at Twickenham,” Giteau said of the English side, before adding, “The styles they showed in the Six Nations, both England and Wales, there was variety to their game that no one expected.” Australia will travel to Cardiff but only to face Fiji, while the match against Wales will take place at Twickenham. [/one_half] [one_half last=”yes”]
Wallabies keeping it low key
The Wallabies have arrived in London and face a barrage of media attention by way of being pitted against pool A hosts England. The Wallabies start the pool stage with two games in five days against Fiji and Uruguay before facing Wales and England.
Wallabies lock Dean Mumm said that the team’s trip to the US was a good chance to escape the media distractions which have plagued England and Wales, with the high expectations and injuries reported daily. “The chance to get away from some of the hype and hoopla that rightly goes with a World Cup has given us a great chance to focus on ourselves,” Mumm said. [/one_half] [one_half last=”no”]
Six Point try lauded
The semi-professional Welsh Principality League is reporting successful results of new trial laws this season, with six points awarded for a try and two points for a penalty and a drop goal. “We are all positive about it,” said WRU officials manager Nigel Whitehouse, who sits on World Rugby’s laws panel.
Whitehouse said that while it was quite early in the game, it was noticeable that teams were not kicking for goal as much, preferring instead to be positive and kick for territory, creating a more attacking spectacle. The current five-point try was introduced in 1992, an increase from the four-point try put in place in 1973.
[/one_half] [one_half last=”yes”]
RWC to break spending records
World Cup organisers have revealed that they have now broken ticket sale records at the tournament, surpassing the 2.25 million tickets bought for the 2007 RWC in France, four days before the event kicks off. 94 per cent of the tournament’s 2.45 million tickets have now been sold, with most of the tickets left being in the higher-price categories.
But amidst all the excitement, there is a fear that tickets for the tournament are significantly overpriced. The tournament will be the most expensive major sports tournament in history, with the average price of a normal ticket more than £104. The average ticket price is roughly £10 more than the cost of watching a match at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
[/one_half]
