England is going to start their Rugby world cup 2007 campaign against USA on 8 September. England vs USA match will be the opening match of Pool A. It is worthless to say that defending champion England is favorite against USA. It is not because that England is the reigning champion. Rather, England is much more strong both in technically and tactically. So, USA is clearly underdog in the match.
It is also true that England’s performance in the last few years is not satisfactory. Their current rank is 7 in the world ranking. For the reigning champion, it does not look so impressive. So, to many, England will not be able to defend their title in Rugby world cup 2007. England is definitely one of the big teams in the rugby world. They became runner up in 1991 rugby world cup.
On the other hand, USA does not have any impressive track record in the history of rugby world cup. USA got only two wins in their previous four world cup appearances. So, you can easily understand that England should win the match easily whereas USA can try to decrease the difference against mighty England.
As I said earlier England is one of the best rugby playing nations. So, England will definitely try to defend their title in Rugby world cup 2007. So, no doubt, England will wish to start their world cup in style defeating the USA with a large margin. On the other hand, rugby is not so popular in USA. Even the squad members could not practice much before the world cup. So, it will be little difficult for them to confront against England.
Ahead of the first match, England has an injury problem. Talented Fly half Jonny Wilkinson will miss the first match against USA. Jonny Wilkinson has fallen in an ankle injury while practicing. It has been reported that Jonny will miss the opening match against USA but if he can not become fit by the next week and miss the next match then England will be in trouble because England will play their second match against another big team South Africa. So, English fans now should pray for Jonny Wilkinson so that he becomes fit before the South Africa match.
To tell truth, in Pool A, it is expected that the main battle will be between England and South Africa and other three teams are though to be underdog in the pool. So, USA fans should not hold any big hope in the match against England. Rather they should be realistic and can hope some impressive performances from USA players. It has been reported that USA is aiming at the next world cup in 2011 where they want to reach at the quarter final. It is nice that, USA have taken a long term planning to improve their performance. I think, USA can take Rugby world cup 2007 as an experience increasing competition. They will then be bale to use this experience in next world cup.
England has to go a long in Rugby world cup 2007. So, England should not take any team lightly. Rather, England players should give enough concentration on all the teams. I think, England will try to attack from the very beginning against USA. England coach Brian Ashton has declared a strong line up for the opening match against USA. So, it seems that England takes USA seriously. I think, England should have a positive attitude to win their second consecutive Rugby world cup titles. England side looks balanced but what they need is to play positively and try to be consistent throughout the tournament. It is natural that they have to face strong challenge from New Zealand, Australia, France and South Africa However, they have to have the mentality to take and challenge and confront it. In contrast, USA players should play all out and should try to keep the ball as much as possible. Thus England players will be under pressure and then the chances of doing mistake will increase. The most important thing for USA is to play with a plan from the beginning and try to follow the plan throughout the match. Still, I think, USA has little chance to cause any upset but if they can come up with some impressive performance then it will not be less than a win to them. I hope to see some good performance s from USA.
Actually, it does not need to predict anything when a defending champion plays against an underdog. However, the word upset exists in every sport. So, it is better not to predict anything beforehand. It is also true that for USA, causing an upset against England is near impossible.
Source:
Guardian
Canadian Press
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