The Big Three still look… big (Rugby World Cup updates)

New Zealand, South Africa & Australia are performing as expected, and nothing seen has changed any predictions of the All Blacks, Springboks & Wallabies making the semis of the Rugby World Cup in France.

France defeated Namibia 87-10

But finally a Northern Hemisphere team has looked like a team that’s come here to play. France’s defeat of Namibia at a hefty total of 87-10 puts the Irish performance in dire perspective. Ireland managed eke out a win against Namibia 32-17.
But they haven’t been alone.
Thus far we’ve had England only just managing to put away the US 28-10 then getting a thrashing to the tune of 36-0 from South Africa.
Wales struggled against Canada, then was soundly beaten by Australia – despite a home ground advantage & quite a few dubious decisions in their favour.
Ireland had to be licking their lips post France’s opening day loss to Argentina, but their performance against the two ‘minnow’ teams in Namibia & Georgia has been anything but encouraging. Verily, they were damn lucky to walk away with a win against a courageous Georgia.

France looked well under-done against Argentina, but this win against Namibia exhibits just a little of what was expected from the Northern powers, but up to this point, has not been forthcoming.

A good win, but only what was expected.

The great divide widens – huge gap between NH & SH in Rugby World Cup

Last night there were 3 games:

• New Zealand 108 defeated Portugal 13
• Australia 32 defeated Wales 20
• Ireland 14 defeated Georgia 10

The All Black dismantling of Portugal is no surprise. Verily, the only surprise in that match was that the Portuguese managed to get a try.
The Welsh losing to Australia doesn’t surprise either – was expected, and although a spirited second half saw the Dragons narrow the gap, on current form no amount of local-crowd advantage was going to help.

But that the Irish only just managing to beat a huge-hearted effort by Georgia is astounding. Ireland came into this World Cup with aspirations of making the semi-finals, perhaps even the final. The performance thus far of Ireland has left a lot to be desired. Eking a win out against Namibia (winning 32-17), and last night’s performance against Georgia could not have them feeling good about upcoming matches against France and Argentina.

Awful North – Rugby World Cup updates…

I don’t think anything’s happened that will make the Southern Hemisphere powers of New Zealand, South Africa and Australia quake. Verily, we could possibly see an all-Southern Hemisphere semi-finals for the first time ever with Argentina throwing down the gauntlet in Pool D.
Reigning World Cup holder England? Laughable thus far…
France? Already down 1-0 in a tight pool…
Ireland? Barely managed to beat Rugby minnow Namibia…
Wales? Not bad, but certainly their performance inspired no fear in the top nations…

So, September 9th’s games brought us the following:

Wales 42 def Canada 17 – A solid victory by the Welsh, but unless they pick up their game considerably I don’t believe they’ll be a match for the Wallabies in their clash this weekend. The Canadians took it right to them – the halftime scoreline was unbelievable: 12-9 to Canada. The Welsh looked underdone for all but 20 minutes of this game, but that was enough. 5 tries in that time span had Canada gone. Still, it will be interesting to see what Fiji can run against Wales…

The Ankle Tap: First weekend of Rugby World Cup matches!

So the Rugby World Cup is merely 11 odd hours away from beginning… excited as all hell here. And despite the IRB’s bone-headedness over media (latest update on that can be found over at Epic Carnival here!), it is shaping up to be one helluvan event…

First round of matches – let’s have a look at the first weekend’s matches: generally speaking this weekend promises to be a fairly one-sided affair. Every match other than the opener looks cut & dried.

1. September 7th – First game, the hosts France take on Argentina, in Saint-Denis. The Argies have been in fine fettle recently, but France-on-French-soil won’t be dissuaded. I’ll tip the Les Bleus to take it, but in relatively tight contest: less than 10 points in the margin.
2. September 8th – Italy face the might of the All Blacks in Marseille. The Italians will be glad to get this one behind them, so they can focus on the possibility of qualifying for the quarters. I look for the ABs to put their stamp on this tournament & beat a much-improved Azzurri side by 24+.

Understanding Rugby: Other War Dances

I’m posting this after getting a request as to what other war dances exist that are performed at the beginning of Rugby… after doing my piece on the All Black haka, Understanding Rugby: The Haka.

So, there are a few other pre-match dances that occur… the Fijians perform the Cibi, the Samoans the Siva Tau, and Tonga have the Kailao.

Without a doubt, the Haka of the All Blacks is more renowned, but others are definitely more war-oriented. The Haka is a dance of celebration, of life-over-death. Each of the others is an actual war-dance.

The Cibi
The Cibi has origins in the warring between other pacific island nations, and was used first in the Fijian national team’s pre-match warm-ups during a tour of New Zealand in 1939. They went on to become the only nation ever to tour New Zealand, and remain undefeated.

Ai tei vovo, tei vovo Make ready, make ready,
E ya, e ya, e ya, e ya; Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Tei vovo, tei vovo Make ready, make ready
E ya, e ya, e ya, e ya Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Rai tu mai, rai tu mai Look here, look here,
Oi au a virviri kemu bai I build a war fence for you,
Rai tu mai, rai ti mai Look here, look here,
Oi au a virviri kemu bai I build a war fence for you,

Toa yalewa, toa yalewa A rooster and a hen
Veico, veico, veico They attack, attack, attack
Au tabu moce koi au It is forbidden for me to slumber
Au moce ga ki domo ni biau Except to the sound of breaking waves

E luvu koto ki ra nomu waqa Your ship is sunk below,
O kaya beka au sa luvu sara Don’t think I’m drowned too?
Nomu bai e wawa mere Your defence is just waiting
Au tokia ga ka tasere To crumble when I attack

A short, of-average-quality clip of the Cibi…

Understanding Rugby: The Haka

With the Rugby World Cup just around the corner, With Malice… will explore some of the history of the game. Today, the haka.

So, the Haka. Why? Why do the All Blacks do the Haka at the beginning of rugby matches? What’s it’s purpose?

The Haka is simply a traditional dance native to New Zealand’s Māori people, and there are many different kinds of haka. But for all intents & purposes, we’ll be looking at the ones performed by the New Zealand national rugby team: The All Blacks.

The All Blacks perform two haka – the ‘Ka Mate’ and the ‘Kapa O Pango’. The Ka Mate is the traditional haka, and it was first performed as part of the pre-match ritual for the All Blacks in 1906, and is basically a celebration of ‘life over death’.

Here are the words to the Ka Mate, with translation…
Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora! I die! I die! I live! I live!
Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora! I die! I die! I live! I live!
Tenei te tangata puhuru huru This is the hairy man
Nana nei i tiki mai Who fetched the Sun
Whakawhiti te ra And caused it to shine again
A upa … ne! ka upa … ne! One upward step! Another upward step!
A upane kaupane whiti te ra! An upward step, another.. the Sun shines!!
Hii…

And as performed by the All Blacks…

Riddle me this: Rugby World Cup reviews – pool A

So… I know this guy who is perhaps the most one-eyed All Black fan ever. I swear, he cannot see to his left, he’s so one-eyed. Guy does know his rugby tho’, and that’s no joke. So, I asked him to write some stuff for the site – in my attempt to provide an *extensive coverage* of the Rugby World Cup – and he said sure.

So, from the pen of a one-eyed New Zealand fan, here ’tis (be warned tho’: this guy does not pull his punches! And we wouldn’t want it any other way)…

by The Riddler…

World Cup Pool A Rundown

England
Seeded top side of this pool is the defending World Cup champions England. Although they were world beaters in 2003, they have been beaten by the world since then, losing to no fewer than 8 different nations. Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa & Argentina have all claimed the English scalp – many on multiple occasions. Going into the last world cup they had an imposing record winning 31 of 34 games in the lead-up to it. This time around they go in with a 15 of 37 record.

Is this a cunning English ploy of lulling their opponents into a sense of false security?

Not bloody likely. They are as terrible as their record suggests and to compound their woes their coach has one of the worst international records going around, doing poorly as an Irish coach and not much better as English Coach. The small glimmer of hope for them is Johnny Wilkinson, but he will not have the support he had back in 2003. Given their form away from England (where they have only managed just 3 wins – against Italy & Scotland) from 17 they might find it tough on the road, even though it is only a short swim across the English Channel. They will likely qualify for the quarter finals although they are no certainties of this. The quarters look like their limit and they will be easy fodder for the more in-form sides at that stage.