Australia is one of the most favorite team in Rugby world cup 2007. Australia will play their first match against Japan on 8 September. So, you can see that Australia is going to start their world cup campaign with an easy match whereas Japanese side will face the strongest side of the pool in their first match. Australia vs Japan is now the center of attraction for both Australian and Japanese fans.
Australia is the most successful rugby playing country in the rugby world cup history. Wallabies (Australia) won the rugby world cup twice in the history being the only team to have such record. Australia is the second ranked team in the ranking of IRB. In contrast, Japan is not a big name in the rugby world. They do not have any impressive track record in rugby world cup. Japan participated in all five rugby world cup tournaments. However, Japan has not appeared in quarter final stage in any previous world cup tournament. The bet ever performance of Japan in rugby world cup was in 1991 Rugby world cup where they won a pool stage match for the first time. So, it is clearly seen that Australia is favorite in the match against Japan.
Japan lost all of the four pool stage matches of 2003 Rugby world cup. On other hand, Australia was the defending champion of last world cup but they could not defend their title as they lost to England in the final. Japan is now the 18th ranked rugby playing country in the world.
There was a time when Japan was an impressive side in the rugby world. Especially in the 60’s and 70’s, Japan’s performance was not as ordinary as its looks now. Actually, after the start of Rugby world cup in 1987, Japan started losing its pace. Japan’s defeat to New Zealand by 145-17 in 1995 was another blow for them. From then on, Japan’s performance in the rugby world has started going down. On other hand, Australia’s recent performance is really very impressive. Australia played in the world cup final thrice out of five rugby world cup tournaments. Australia missed their semi final appearance in rugby world cup only once in 1995 Rugby world cup. So, you can see how much consistency Australia showed in rugby world cup competitions.
Australian coach John Connolly has already unveiled his 22 men line for the first match against Japan. Surprisingly, Connolly did not include vice Captain Phil Waugh in the first match line up. George Smith will play as flanker. There is another surprise inclusion in the team. Berrick Barnes will his debut match against Japan. So, it is undouted something special for this 21 year old back. I do not know why Connolly ruled out Phil Waugh and include debutant Berrick Barnes in their world cup opener. I guess, Australia coach wants to give a chance to Berrick Barnes because it is much safer against Japan. Coach said that he wanted to build a strong squad ahead of their hard match against Wales. There is not any surprise in the squad and Australia’s first match line up really looks very strong against the minnow Japan. So, it shows that Australia takes Japan seriously and they want to win the match with a big margin.
Japan coach John Kirwan is a legendary figure in world rugby. He also participated in rugby world cup for New Zealand. So, it is expected that Japan will be able to use Kirwan’s experience in Rugby world cup 2007. Ahead of the important match against Australia, John Kirwan recently talked about his plan. He said that if Japan could finish the match with a good score it will be similar to win against Australia. All know that Japanese players are typically short. So, sometimes it becomes an advantage for the opponent teams. That is why, Japanese players in almost all team sport, try to follow some plan so that opponent teams can not get extra advantage of their height. However, John Kirwan wants to see his boys showing the Japanese style of Rugby in the upcoming rugby world cup. Regarding the match against Australia, Kirwan said Japan will try to keep the ball as much as possible. It is nice that Japan has some plan before they take on Australia.
Well, I admit that Australia is much stronger than Japan. So, Australia should not have any problem to win their opening match against Japan. Rather, I think, Australia will try to play out from the very beginning to get a big win against Japan. However, I always believe that nothing is impossible in sport because upset exist in any sort of sport. Some upsets become more than upsets but it is always possible to experience an upset in the sports world. Japan coach has earlier said that they Japan wanted to show the Japanese style of rugby in Rugby world cup 2007. It indicates that Japan has made some plans ahead of the Rugby world cup 2007. Anyway, Still I believe that Japan has to do something unbelievable against two times champion Australia in order to cause an upset.
It is not possible to predict anything regarding the result of the match. It is clear that Australia is favorite and Japan is underdog. It is hardly possible for Japan to cause any upset against the Wallabies (Australia). However, anything can happen. Japan represents Asia in rugby world cup. Asian fans including the Japanese will be happy to see some impressive performance from Japan. So, Japan has nothing to lose against Australia. It can be an advantage for the Japan. Japan will not have any pressure in the match. So, it will be helpful for them to play their best. On other hand, Australia is the tournament favorite. So, they will try to have a big win against Japan. So, I think, Australian players will have some pressure in the match. Anyway, I hope to see an exciting match between Australia and Japan. I think, all rugby fans around the world wish the same.
Here I am giving the first match line up of Australia:
Australia - 15-Chris Latham, 14-Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13-Stirling Mortlock (captain), 12-Matt Giteau, 11-Lote Tuqiri, 10-Stephen Larkham, 9-George Gregan, 8-Wycliff Palu, 7-George Smith, 6-Rocky Elsom, 5-Dan Vickerman, 4-Nathan Sharpe, 3-Al Baxter, 2-Stephen Moore, 1-Matt Dunning.
Replacements: 16-Adam Freier, 17-Guy Shepherdson, 18-Hugh McMeniman, 19-Stephen Hoiles, 20-Berrick Barnes, 21-Drew Mitchell, 22-Mark Gerrard.
Source:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/rugbyNews/idUKSYD11120120070905?pageNumber=1
http://www.myrugbynews.com/Rugby_World_Cup_2007/world-rugby-rankings/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_World_Cup
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Rugby_World_Cup
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,22356543-5013519,00.html
http://www.setantasports.com/en/Sport/News/Other-sports/2007/09/04/Rugby-Pool-B-Japan-preview-/?facets/sport-space/rugby/north-america-locale/
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