World Cup Quarter-Finals overview- Which teams stepped up to the mark?

England vs. France

England disappoint the nation with a lacklustre display as France hold on to victory in the second half

‘Le crunch’ is the name matches between England and France are known; however, this game did not live up to expectation. Unfortunately, the English failed to turn up in the first half and gave away simple penalties, England’s penalty count had been a constant concern in every match in this year’s tournament. First of all Toby Flood gave away a penalty for failing to release a player after a tackle which gave Yachvilli a chance to open the scoring for France. Matt Stephens once again struggled in the scrum against a strong French pack and was penalised, Yachvilli knocked over his second penalty and England were down by six points after just 15 minutes. England’s poor start got worse as Vincent Clerc went over following missed tackles from Jonny Wilkinson and Ben Foden. Shortly afterwards, pundits suggested that England might as well book their tickets home after  gifting the French 16 points in only half an hour as full-back Maxim Medard went over for France’s 2^nd try.  At half-time, Martin Johnson must have given his team a stern talking to as the men led out by Lewis Moody for the 2^nd half were ready to attempt the impossible in coming back from a 16 point deficit.  Ben Foden managed to find the try line and Jonny Wilkinson added the extras, English fans worldwide started to believe there was a small chance. Francois Trinh-Duc seemed to have booked the French a place in the Semi-Finals but, there was another slight twist as Mark Cueto managed to score a scrappy try that was confirmed by the TMO with just minutes remaining on the clock.  Toby Flood could not add the extras and give England more of a chance of winning the game. The clock ran down and England crashed out of the tournament. Martin Johnson’s future is in the balance and Jonny Wilkinson may have played his last game in an England shirt.

Full time: France 16 England 12

Man of the Match: Dimitri Yachvilli. Yachvilli’s control of the game was fantastic, he kicked to the corners when France had gone into the lead and he took his chances at goal. Wales will have to make sure they do not give away penalties in their own half as they will be punished by the Biarritz scrum-half.

Ireland vs. Wales

Warren Gatland’s men on the form of their lives manage to knock over Ireland

A home nations game between Ireland and Wales was an exciting prospect, the young Welsh backs had been playing some excellent rugby and Ireland impressed the rugby world by beating the Tri-Nations Champions Australia. The match started with a bang, the first try came after Jamie Roberts chased Rhys Priestland’s up and under and beat Rob Kearney to the ball. Wales’ forwards recycled and Shane Williams was put over in the corner. Priestland slotted the conversion from the right touchline giving Wales a dream start. Ronan O’Gara, one of Test rugby’s greatest goal kickers turned down two kicks at goal in order to kick to the corner from penalties, this was a bizarre game plan from the Irish and it failed to pay off. When Ireland was awarded a penalty straight in front of the posts, O’Gara opted for the kick as he put the men in green on the scoreboard. After 25 minutes the score was Ireland 3 Wales 7.  Before half-time, Leigh Halfpenny smashed a huge kick into the wind that just about had enough to make it over the posts giving the Welsh a 7 point lead at the break. The Irish half-time team talk must have been pretty convincing as Ireland came storming out of the blocks with Tommy Bowe leading the way. Bowe made a searing break and the ball was recycled quickly and spread to Keith Earls. Earls dived over in the corner and the TMO declared that the try could be given. It was clear that there was plenty of life left in the game yet. O’Gara added the conversion to level the scores. Mike Phillips was playing well and being abrasive around the fringes; the scrum-half managed to spot a gap and barged his way over into the corner. The TMO was once again needed and the try was given. Priestland could not land the conversion. The Irish started to make some errors and Wales capitalised as Jonathan Davies beat several defenders to score the decisive try. Ten minutes remained and it was up to Wales to grind out the victory. Ireland managed to get to just metres short of the line, however, the veteran captain Brian O’Driscoll knocked on just before the line making sure Wales did not have to play a nervy last few minutes. Priestland hit the post with a penalty attempt, however, it did not matter as the final whistle blew Wales had won by 12 points.

Full time: Ireland 10 Wales 22:

Man of the Match: Jamie Roberts: Roberts was a commanding presence throughout the game, he was a brick wall in defence and provided the spark to set up Wales’ second minute try after fielding a high kick from Rhys Priestland.

Australia vs. South Africa

The Wallabies scrap their way to the Semi-Finals

South Africa went into this game as slight favourites; they had topped the toughest pool in the competition after a hard fought win over Wales and strong performances against Fiji, Samoa and Namibia. South Africa had plenty of territory and possession in the early stages of the match, however, a delightful break from Kurtley Beale gave Australia excellent field position. From a line-out, South Africa went off the top in an aggressive move; however, it backfired when Shalk Berger was turned over. The ball was thrown quickly from the turnover and the Wallabies’ captain James Horwill crashed over to open the scoring. South Africa was clearly missing the cannon-like boot of Francois Steyn as Morne Steyn had two long range efforts drop disappointingly short. The trouble was that territory and possession was not getting South Africa on the scoreboard. In the second half, Quade Cooper started to make simple errors and looked to be feeling the pressure; however, South Africa could still not capitalise on the mistakes. In the whole game, Morne Steyn only managed to add two penalties and a drop goal in the final quarter that looked to have put his side into the quarter finals.  However, his lack of distance off the tee proved costly for the Springboks.  With less than ten minutes before the end of the match, referee Roman Poite ruled that Dannie Rossouw took out Radike Samo in the line-out. Adam Ashley Cooper was successful with the fairly long penalty attempt and Australia ran the clock down to book themselves a place in the Semi-Finals. The defending Champions crashed out, provoking their head coach: Peter De Villiers to announce his resignation.

Full time: South Africa 9- Australia 11

Man of the Match: James Horwill, the Australian Captain was all over the pitch throughout the game and tackled his heart out. He crashed over for the decisive try and epitomised what a team effort is all about.

New Zealand vs. Argentina

The All Blacks stroll into the Semi-Finals without Dan Carter or Colin Slade for the majority of the match

The first half was a tense affair with neither team really dominating; the All Blacks will be disappointed with Colin Slade’s injury as they are down to the bare bones of natural fly-halves in their squad. However, Aaron Cruden showed he was up to the challenge of taking the No. 10 jersey from his injured teammates. New Zealand took an early 6-0 lead with two Piri Weepu penalties; however, New Zealand were shocked when Julio Farias Cabello crashed over in the corner for Argentina and Felipe Contepomi added the extras. The All Blacks needed composure before half time and Weepu gave them that with two successful shots at goal before the break.  The kickers traded penalties after half time and then Nicolás Vergallo was yellow carded for not releasing a tackled player on his own line. New Zealand added a further penalty and then after some sustained pressure Kieran Read got himself over the try-line to settle some Kiwi nerves. Weepu then added another penalty to stretch the lead and prevent the Pumas from coming back into the game. Cory Jane then helped finish off the game with a slick move resulting in Brad Thorn finishing the try to guide the All Blacks in to the Semi-Finals. Cruden slotted the conversion to the approval of Weepu who was sitting on the bench in the final stages. The Argentinians were driven into touch and the final whistle went.

Full time: New Zealand 33 – Argentina 10. 

Man of the Match: Piri Weepu, the stocky scrum-half was in fine form with the boot as he stepped up to fulfil the kicking duties left by an injured Dan Carter. Weepu did not let the pressure of an entire