Only a couple of years ago it looked as though Canada had a chance at two wins in Pool D at the Rugby World Cup 2015 in England. The top teams in the pool, France and Ireland, had taken turns finishing last at the Six Nations. Italy looked stagnant despite their ongoing efforts to break into the top tier of world rugby and Romania continued to tread water.
Unfortunately, that was then and this is now. Ireland hasve bounced back in a big way, France has righted the ship and no longer look vulnerable, and while Italy and Romania haven’t obviously progressed, they are still formidable opponents.
It now appears that Canada will be in tough to stay competitive at RWC 2015, and while it’s a virtual certainty that they will be heading home after the pool stages, a third-place finish (and automatic qualification for RWC 2019) is still a reasonable goal.
With that in mind, “Pool Cues” will be an ongoing look at how Canada and their future Pool D opposition are progressing in the buildup to RWC 2015.
This week, the continuing Northern Tours.
Rugby World Cup 2015 Pool D: How Canada’s Opposition is Shaping Up
Ireland
In an unsurprising result, Ireland saw off Georgia with relative ease at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. An uninspiring first half which saw the men in green head to the sheds up 9-0 may lead some to say that this was a poor performance by Ireland. However, reading too much into such a slow start would be a mistake, since Joe Schmidt named what was essentially an ‘Ireland B’ squad in an effort to get a read on depth at all positions. He would have been pleased with what he saw in the second half, as his understandably disjointed squad ignited to hang 6 tries to take down the Georgians. The final scoreline was 49-7, an impressive showing no matter the opposition.
Next up for Ireland: A mouth-watering showdown with the mercurial Wallabies to close out 2014. In the last calendar year the Irish have defeated South Africa, and come agonizingly close to a first-ever victory against New Zealand; this match will be one last opportunity for Ireland to remind the Southern Hemisphere that they are for real.
France
France continue to look much improved, winning 29-26 over the Wallabies and thereby taking a measure of revenge after the June tests saw Les Bleus whitewashed in their three-test tour of Australia. The emergence of winger Teddy Thomas as an offensive force (4 tries on his first 2 international caps) makes France a frightening opponent for any team in the world right now.
Next up for France: Argentina pay a visit to the Stade de France, looking to build off their tight victory over Italy. The French have a well-earned reputation for uneven performances week-to-week, so it will be interesting to see if they can maintain momentum.
Italy
After registering their first victory in 2014 last weekend, Italy fell back into their losing ways, dropping to a 20-18 defeat to Argentina. It was the third time this year that the Azzuri have been on the wrong side of a result decided by three points or less.
Next up for Italy: A chance at history against South Africa, but not a terribly promising one; in eleven matches since 1995, Italy have never defeated the Springboks, and the narrowest margin during that time has been 16 points.
Canada
Canada registered yet another near-miss for a sizeable upset, dropping to a 23-13 defeat to Manu Samoa in Vannes, France. Surely the Canadians will be heartened by a strong performance in which they stood toe-to-toe with a markedly superior side; however, as always is always the case for a rugby nation searching for a famous victory, the Canadians needed to play an almost flawless game, but fell just short of that mark. Immediately after they had closed the scoreline to 16-13 with under ten minutes to play, Canada fell victim to poor ball-handling skills and gifted the Samoans a backbreaking try which essentially sealed the match. Precision will be the watchword for the Canucks moving forward.
Next up for Canada: The road doesn’t get any easier, as Canada wraps up their 2014 season with a test against the always-physical Romanians, who will be playing on their home ground in Bucharest.
Romania
Romania acquitted themselves very well, but fell short by 18-13 against Japan, a side which is looking more and more at home in the top 10 of the IRB world rankings. The Oaks did well to manage the only try of the match, unsurprisingly built on the strength of their forwards who forced a penalty try. Japan carried most of the play, however, and once again Romania would have been lamenting the lack of finishing power from their backlines.
Next up for Romania: A RWC 2015 Pool D showdown with a Canadian side which will be desperate to turn their progressively stronger play into a winning result.
After the weekend, it is still obvious that Ireland and France will be the two top dogs of Pool D in ten months’ time. Of course, that comes as no surprise and will not change in the months ahead. What will be fascinating to watch, however, is the evolution of Ireland’s depth – which is making them as much of a threat as they have ever been in the professional era – and the timely resurgence of France, who not long ago looked to be heading for an extended time in the rugby wilderness searching to rediscover that famous Gallic flair. Italy will surely be happy to see the end of a 2014 campaign which has produced only 1 victory from 10 matches – a respectable performance against the Boks must be their focus. Canada are a side with plenty of talent, but lack in big-game experience and cohesiveness. Both they and upcoming opponents Romania will see their upcoming showdown as an important measuring stick as they each plan ahead for the rematch which will come in the RWC pool stages.
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