Thursday’s rugby news has some scrum trash talk, Moore supporting Robshaw’s call, the threat of the English backline and a new Springbok captain.
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Wallabies scrum under pressure
Ben Morgan insists England hold a match-winning advantage over Australia in the set-piece. England, threatened with a humiliating exit from their own tournament, see the scrum as the battlefield on which Saturday’s fight for World Cup survival will be decided.
“They have certainly improved but we are confident going into it. Our setpiece is good and I believe Australia will definitely be concerned after reviewing our game against Wales,” said Morgan. Meanwhile, former coach Bob Dwyer has emphasised the dubious scrum tactics of Joe Marler, argued to consistently come in on an illegal angle.
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Moore supports English captain
With the distinct risk of being knocked out of the World Cup group stage, England skipper Chris Robshaw’s controversial decision to push for a win against Wales has been trashed by the English media. But Wallaby skipper Stephen Moore and predecessor James Horwill have said that they would have made the same call.
“Whether it comes off or not – there’s all sorts of things involved in that. But you make a call and you go for it,” Moore said. The Wallabies captain said that he had been empowered by Michael Cheika to make those sorts of 50-50 calls, previously turning down a penalty in a Test win against South Africa in July.
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Genia wary of English backs
Will Genia has warned his Wallabies team-mates not to underestimate England’s potent backline in Sunday’s crucial Rugby World Cup clash at Twickenham. “Their backline is very, very classy,” Genia said.”They’re all players who can beat you one on one.”
England has generally built its success on a dominant forward pack and recent wins over the Wallabies, including four of their past five clashes, have been remembered for knock-out victories in the scrum. But especially in full-back Mike Brown and electric wingers Anthony Watson and Jonny May, England have a number of concerning attacking threats.
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Du Preez named captain
South Africa head coach Heyneke Meyer has named his team for the Pool B match against Scotland on Saturday. In a surprise move, scrum-half Fourie du Preez will captain the Springboks for the first time in his 73-test career as he is preferred to Schalk Burger, Duane Vermeulen and Francois Louw to lead the side
Du Preez, 33, takes the role vacated by centre Jean de Villiers, who retired from international rugby after suffering a second broken jaw in six weeks against Samoa last Saturday. “Fourie has been one of the best scrumhalves in world rugby for a long time, but he also understands the game better than most players and is a tactical genius,” coach Heyneke Meye said.
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