Samoa vs USA - Rugby World Cup 2007

St. Etienne was the setting for the Pool A match at Rugby World Cup 2007 between the United States of America and Samoa. The North Americans were playing for the third time in the tournament and were going in after playing very well vs England to prevent the reigning World Champions from scoring a bonus point. The same same not true if the USA Eagles´second match as the team was left to contemplate on what might have been as the team lost to Tonga four days later. Samoa, in contrast, had failed to live up to its reputation as being a giant-killer. The South Pacific Island nation had been badly defeated by South Africa first up and then lost to both Tonga and England. The loss to Tonga was a massive upset while Samoa were unable to challenge England despite the team having been humiliated 36-0 by South Africa on the previous weekend.

The teams were therefore viewing this match as a must win and a last-chance saloon. The USA still had to face the Pool leaders, South Africa but that match was not considered one which the Eagles could win. At Rugby World Cup 2003 the USA had lost to Fiji by a single point in Brisbane and were unlucky as flyhalf Mike Hercus missed a conversion on full time to let Fiji off the hook as the Pacific Island nation won 19-18. Four years on and it was a similar scenario despite the USA fielding a very different team. Such was the extent of the changes to the USA Eagels lineup in the years between Australia 2003 and France 2007 that Mike Hercus was one of only four surviors from the one point loss vs Fiji. The USA had lost some of the biggest names in the history of American rugby to retirement including backrowers Dave Hodges and Dan Lyle. The team was also missing its most decorated back of the time, Paul Emerick to suspension. It was therefore talked about as a certain Samoan victory and the USA were not predicted to do so well.

Scripts were not so correct at France 2007 as Argentina made clear in the first match of the tournament and the USA, indeed, came close to completing would would have been a major comeback victory vs Samoa. The favorites had been the better side in the frist half with the USA, as against Tonga, playing below par in the first 40 minutes and then having to mount a secondhalf fight back. Samoa held a 22-3 halftime lead with the USA really not playing well at all but the tide turned after the interval and the USA scored two superb secondhalf tries with the now established USA stars, Taku Ngwenya and Lou Stanfill dotting down. Unfortunately for the North Americans the comeback came too late and Samoa were able to hold on to claim a four point victory.

While Ngwenya´s try vs South Africa four days latter was officially the try of the World Cup, his try vs Samoa also showed his pace and stepping abilities and was his first international try. Remarkably, Ngwenya made the USA World Cup squad and played all four matches despite being uncapped before the tournament. Todd Clever was also an amateur player at the time but had an outstanding World Cup which attracted offers to play abroad and he signed a two year deal to play Super Rugby for the Lions in South Africa. 

Rugby World Cup 2007 - Canada vs Japan

Canadian legends Rod Snow, Mike James and Morgan Williams together for the last time

One of the most exciting matches of Rugby World Cup 2007 was the tournaments only draw. It was a pool match between Canada and Japan at the Stade Chaban Delmas in the Southern-west of France in the wine Mecca of Bordeaux. The city hosted four matches with Canada being involved in two of them. Canada played its third and fourth matches in Bordeaux after having taken on Wales in Nantes and Fiji in Cardiff. the Canadians had put in good performances but incomplete ones as they had blown opportunities in both matches for a victory. Canada had put in a solid first half vs Wales which had given the favorites a massive scare which, no doubt, brought back memories from the 1993 clash between the two teams in Cardiff. On that day the North Americans left their mark forever on global rugby.

But in 2007 Canadian rugby was in need of a boost and the boost that Canadian rugby authorities and followers had been seeking for from France 2007 had not yet occured, despite 80 good minutes of rugby in the first 160 minutes at the tournament. Coach Ric Sluggo Suggitt had summed up the situation perfectly in a pre-match interview before the Japanese match in saying that Canada had played two good halves - the first vs Wales and the second vs Fiji. Canada now needed to put it together and defeat Japan. The match was built up as an interesting one due to not only both sides eeding a win but due to how both had played. The Japanese fielded a B team in its match vs Australia and were well beaten. They then fielded a team packed with the best Japanese rugby has to offer for the teams clash with Fiji in Toulouse four days latter. The match between Japan and Fiji was a back-and-forward game with Japan pushing Fiji to the limit in a highly entertaining try-scoring feast of a contest. Fiji held on to win the match 35-31. 

Canada fielded a team with more to offer in the forwards than the backs. Despite not having the services of Clermont´s Jamie Cudmore the team was nonetheless strong in the forwards with secondrower Colin Yukes playing in the backrow. Canada had five forwards and onyl two backs on the bench and of the forwards three were props. Suggitt had selected Aaron Carpenter at 8 for the match. He was considered Canada´s back up hooker to Pat Riordan. The backs featured a running flyhalf with Ryan Smith playing 10 rather than 12. It was an indication of Canada´s intentions but the match failed to be as highscoring as it could have been. The match also saw secondrower Mike James play for his country for the final time before retirement. James had been a key player for Canada for a long time and had won the French Championship with Stade Français earlier in the year.

The most important thing to come out of the game was not the result, but, rather the importance of having 20 teams at World Cup´s. A number of Tier One sides were pushing for the World Cup to be reduced to 16 teams and the idea appearwed to have the backing of the IRB. France 2007 destroyed the idea however as Argentina got the tournament off to the perfect start with a win over France in Paris. Canada vs Japan acted as a reminder that great games do not require Tier One teams and that both Canada and Japan are vital participants of World Cup´s. 

USA vs Tonga - Rugby World Cup 2007

Four days after facing England and giving the 2003 World Champions a good match, the United States of America was playing its second match of the tournament. The opponent was the Pacific Island nation of Tonga and it was the first match for the men in red. The USA had given England a good match in preventing a strong team from scoring four tries which meant the Tier One side missed out on earning a bonus point. England had no such issues vs its two other Tier Two opponents - Samoa and Tonga.

The clash in Montpellier between the USA and Tonga was to be a tournament defining match for both sides. Leading into the tournament the only team considered capable of giving either England or South Africa a good match was Samoa. What transpired proved that the predictions of many to be off the mark. Tonga were the biggest surprize in giving both Tier One nations hard matches. Tonga came very close to defeating South Africa and in the first half vs England were indeed looking strong. Samoa was thrashed by the Springboks in its first match, conceeding over 50 points and, despite improvement vs England, the men in blue were well beaten. Tonga, before facing England and South Africa, had already defeated Samoa and the USA.

The win over the USA was well documented by USA rugby officials as being a hard pill to swallow. The North Americans, to this day, believe it should have been a USA victory. The major reason why it was not is the start of the match with the USA letting in a try, something that proved fatal. Had the 2011 team been together and had the same experience the liklihood is that the Eagles would have been victorious over Tonga. The match was a strong learning curve and proved very useful for the USA in its preperation for Rugby World Cup 2011. The teams leaking of tries would not repeat itself in 2011 and the USA was a much better team as Ireland failed to score four tries and Italy´s bonus point came from a penalty try. The win over Russia was a defining moment in showing the maturity of the North Americans. It underlined the progress that had been made as a team and, especially in terms of preperation.

Four years earlier, the end of the match between England and the USA was ruined by a dangerous tackle by USA center, Paul Emerick. The tackle on Olly Barclay ended his World Cup as he was suspended. At the time Emerick was the USA´s most decorated player. He was a professional based in Europe and had been for several years. He was surrounded by USA based players, many have since gone to to pick up long term professional contracts for leading teams. The young fullback Chris Wyles, for instance, won the Aviva Premiership with Saracens in 2011 and Todd Clever is a Japanese Champion with Suntory Sungoliath. Other names to emerge include Lou Stanfill and Taku Ngwenya.

Despite the result not bing in the favor of the North Americans, the 2007 clash vs Tonga in Montpellier was nonetheless a great game of rugby. It came at a time when Tier One sides were pushing for a reduction in World Cup participants from 20 teams to 16. France 2007 showed that this argument was a weak one as Tier Two games not only gave Tier One teams good games but also had great games amongst themselves and did so with strong crowds. Curiously the only two matches which were not either sold outor close to it were Tonga´s matches vs the USA and Samoa in Montpellier. 

England vs USA - Rugby World Cup 2007

Lens, France before the match

When the reigning champions from Rugby World Cup 2003, England, were made aware that they would be starting their title defence agaisnt the United States of America in the French city of Lens rugby fans and journalists alike were suer that not only would it be a safe warm-up match before facing South Africa the following weekend, but also a simple victory. England were expected to knock over the USA Eagles and pick up a bonus point, and likely do so before the half time interval. The USA, however, made sure England had to work as hard as possible to collect the victory. When the final whistle blew, the USA left the park having accomplished its mission. England, in contrast, tried its best to avoid being torn apart from the global rugby media as the Europeans failed to secure a bonus point and the 29-10 victory was hardly what had been predicted in the lead up to the World Cup. 

Jason Robinson scores vs the USA

Such is the differing goals of teams from the First Tier to that of the Second that generally speaking, matches such as England vs the USA are used for motives other than achieving victory for the weaker side. This does not mean that the USA did not go out to win the match but, rather, that the desire of competiting well against an elite side, in this case World Champions, and doing so for 80 minutes was ultimately what coach Peter Thorburn was looking for from his players. He was not let down as a young American team featuring players who have gone on to be key players really performed well. The likes of Todd Clever, Lou Stanfill, Taku Ngwenya and Chris Wyles were all inexperienced players in the starting XV. All of them were playing in the USA or in the lower divisions of professional rugby in 2007 but have since moved on to bigger things and have become names known to the global rugby audience. Just three weeks latter Ngwenya showed how good he is as the USA took on South Africa and he scored the try of the World Cup. The players are a strong indication of what is possible if a country´s leading players can be exposed to professional rugby. Should the USA go ahead and create a professional league in part, or across the country, possibly with Canada then its development will continue and it could be a World Cup Quarter Finalist in quick time. 

Rugby World Cup 2007 - Canada vs Fiji

Host venues for France 2007

The best Rugby World Cup ever was not Rugby World Cup 2011 but rather 2007. Both tournaments delivered quality matches with upsets taking place and were well organzed. The crowds were larger at France 2007 not only because the venues are larger but because there were some matches that were not well attended in New Zealand 2011. The crunch Pool 3 match of Argentina vs Scotland in Wellington had a crowd of under 30,000 at a venue of 40,000. The empty seats painted a negative image. The same did not happen four years earlier as France delivered big crowds with crowds packing matches throughout the country. The one weakness of the tournament was the allocation of two matches to Edinburgh and three to Cardiff. These British cities hosted matches in exchange for voting on France rather than England as the host nation for Rugby World Cup 2007. Ireland had been set to all host but missed out due to the reconstruction of the former Lansdown Road in Dublin. Curiously, Wales will host yet again in 2015 as England looks to utilize the Millenium Stadium, a venue which failed to deliver for two of its three matches in 2007. 

Should Argentina host Rugby World Cup 2023 it can do so on its own and has absolutely no need to have a subhost involved. The stated requirements of a minimum of ten venues can be more than catered for by the Republic of Argentina. The South American country´s home matches in 2012 are a strong indication that the country has the capability with six different cities confirmed to host Los Pumas´ six home matches. The UAR had given cities throughout Argentina the opportunity of officially bidding to host internationals this year and delivered on its promise with Córdoba, La Plata, Mendoza, Rosario, San Juan and Tucumán confirmed to host matches. All meet the requirements as cities to host World Cup matches and, with the exception of Tucumán, all are modern stadiums. In awarding these cities matches, there were other´s interested in hosting  who missed out. Buenos Aires, Resistencia, Salta and Santa Fé had all applied for matches too and all have appropriate stadiums. This would give Argentina with ten venues, one less than what Australia used in hosting Rugby World Cup 2003 and the same number of French venues in 2007.

Morgan Williams passes from a ruck

On the second weekend of France 2007 Canada vs Fiji took place in Cardiff. It was the second match for both teams with Canada having pushed Wales hard before at a packed Nantes being overwhelmed  and Fiji having played one of the best matches of the tournament to hold off Japan for a 35-31 victory in front of a packed Toulouse. It was a match that neither Fiji nor Canada could afford to lose as both were chasing the dream of a Quarters Finals appearance, with Canada having made the final eight in 1991 and Fiji in 1987. Whoever lost this match would see its chances of advancing evaporate. With a highly visible large quantity of unsold seats, Fiji held off a Canadian team that was determined to get the job done but missed ou on scoring tries at crucial times. Having been leading 15-6 at the interval, Fiji were able to complete a 29-16 win but it was Canada playing all the rugby in the second half. Had Mike Pike´s 70th minute try been awarded by the video referee then Canada could well have won the match. Fiji´s spontaneity, however, proved to be match winning.  

The tournament was the end of an era for Canadian rugby with legendary internationals and former Stade Français players Morgan Williams and Mike James playing international rugby for the final time. The strength of Canada in certain positions meant Jamie Cudmore was playing in the backrow and Ed Fairhurst was on the bench. Curiously, Canada´s 2011 no. 8 was also on the bench but as hooker. Another play to change position was Ryan Smith who in New Zealand 2011 played inside centre but was the teams flyhalf vs Fiji in 2007. He replaced Ander Monro for the match and had a good performance, scoring Canada´s only try. At the time he was based in France with the then Top 14 Orange side, Montauban. 

Canada vs Wales - Rugby World Cup 2007

RWC 2007 captain, Morgan Williams

Canada produced some of the biggest shocks in the 1990´s with wins over elite opposition including Ireland, Italy and Wales. The North Americans also made the Quarter Finals of Rugby World Cup 1991 and for a large period were the best teams from the Americas. With the advent of professionalism, things were never the same for Canada but this has not stopped the country´s team performing well at subsequent World Cups. While the team has not been able to repeat the Quarter Finals appearnace, Canada has, nonetheless, scored some good wins over Namibia, Romania and Tonga and two draws with Japan. 

Canada´s debut match at Rugby World Cup 2007 was against Wales, the team who had surprized everybody in the 2005 Six Nations with a Grand Slam victory. Wales entered the World Cup as the second seed from its pool which also included Australia, Canada, Fiji and Japan. The Europeans were keen on putting up their hand to show they were the real thing. Canada had other ideas, however, and Wales were pushed very far. It took the introduction of Stephen Jones and Gareth Thomas int the secondhalf to change he shape of the match. Wales had been ahead 9-0 but Canada had turned the first half around to be ahead 17-9 to the delight of the Nantes crowd. Wales´s second half come back was too good for the Canadians but the match was another reminder of the power of rugby in the Americas.