Rugby World Cup 2007: England Reaches at the Quarter Final

England rugby team at last could ensure their quarter final entrance defeating Tonga in the last group stage match today. The match was really very important for both England and Tonga. The situation was that the winner of the match would enter in to the quarter final of Rugby World Cup 2007. England projected an easy victory against Tonga. England won the important match by 36-20. With this defeat, Tonga failed to make it to the quarter final.

England is the defending champion. However, England’s performance in the tournament so far is poor and they could not impress with their performance. England suffered their worst defeat in this tournament as they lost to South Africa by 0-36. At one point, it was thought that England wound miss their quarter final appearance in this world cup. However, at last they could make it to the quarter final where they have to face Australia. England has to bring out a miracle to win the match against New Zealand.

Source:
Wikipedia

England vs South Africa Preview and Live Score: RWC 2007

To get the latest score of England vs South Africa, go to this link:

England vs South Africa Live Score and Updates

http://techblogbiz.blogspot.com/2007/09/england-vs-south-africa-live-score-and.html

England vs South Africa Preview and Live Score: RWC 2007

England and South Africa will face each other in their second pool stage match of Rugby world cup 2007. Both England and South Africa have won their first match in style. England won their first match against USA with a huge margin of 28-10. South Africa also projected an easy win against Samoa. They won the match by 59-7 points.

England is the defending champion and undoubtedly they are one of the best rugby playing countries in the world. However, after winning the Rugby world cup in 2003, their performance over the last four years their performance has gone backward. So, it is the time for England to prove their skill to the world once again.

On the other hand, though South Africa’s recent performance is not so bad, South Africa could not reach at the semi final of the 2003 Rugby world cup after losing to New Zealand in the quarter final. So, South Africa will definitely try to present with some impressive performance and they must be determined to bring out their success of 1995. South Africa won their only rugby world cup title in 1995 in their home soil. Fans of South Africa are also keen to repeat the success of 1995 world cup.

South Africa is one of the big powers in the Rugby world. So, definitely they have the ability to win the title. On the other hand, though England could hardly show any impressive performance over the last few years, they have some talented, experienced players who can change the game single handedly and they can dominate over the other teams.

Interestingly, South Africa and England were drawn in the same pool in the last world cup as well. South Africa could not show any resistant in the pool stage match against England. England won the match by 25-6. So, this is a chance for South Africa to take the revenge of such a crushing defeat to England in the last word cup. South Africa looks impressive this time and some of their key players are also in good form.

England has an injury problem. Their star player Jonny Wilkinson has fallen in injury just before the start of the tournament. He missed the first match against USA. Now, he is not sure yet if he will play against South Africa or not. This fly half played an important role behind the success of England in the last world cup. So, if Jonny Wilkinson misses the match against South Africa then it will definitely lessen the strength of England.

England has some star players who play a big part for England during the rugby world cup 2007. Full Back Jason Thorpe Robinson is now in good form. So, English supports must wish to see Robinson in his prime form in the upcoming match against South Africa. Moreover, star fly half Oliver Barkley is also in prime form and he is also expected to play a big role for England.

In the same way, South Africa also has some star players who can be vital for England. Flanker Schalk Burger is a talented flanker who has a lot of potential to lead his team. Full back Percy Montgomery has played very well in the first match against Samoa. IN addition, their star wing Bryan Habana was excellent in the last match. So, naturally, these players will be inspired to perform well against England. I think, South African players are young and they have the potential to win the title of this world cup.

English players are also hungry to prove themselves and their ability to the world. They had to face lots of criticism during the last few years. So, they will definitely try to give some back to their critics. I think, England team is balanced and they have chance to defend their title. What they need is to play their natural game and perform consistently. It is needless to say that their seventh position in the ranking can not go with a champion team. So, it is badly needed for England to come back with their full pace in the Rugby world cup 2007.

When two inform opponents play each other, it becomes hard to predict anything. So, I am not interested to predict anything. Rather, I wish that England vs South Africa match will be a classic match and fans of both side will enjoy it. Now, let us see who will win the match.

Online Live Score

I know that many of you will not be bale to stick to the television because of personal and professional work. Many of you do no have access to TV pay channels. So, I have arranged some links of websites for those passionate rugby fans who will not be able to watch the matches. So, you can visit the following website links to get the live scores of England vs South Africa match:

Rugbyworldcup

Fox Sports

BBC

Planet-rugby

Sky Sports

Nine MSN

Sportinglife

Yahoo Sports

International Rugby Board (IRB)

Way2bet

Rugby World Cup 2007: Jason Leonard Focuses on Unity in the England Squad

Jason Leonard was one of the key member of England Rugby world cup winning team of 2003 Rugby world cup. He took retirement soon after the last world cup. Recently Jason Leonard has said that England has a good chance of they can win against South Africa in the pool match. His logic is that if England can win against the South Africans then, England will qualify for the quarter final round as the champion of Pool A. Thus, England will face Wales in the quarter final and will be able to avoid New Zealand till the final match.

It is a good idea. However, I admit that if England can become the pool champion then they will easily reach at the final. However, what will happen in the final then? If England wants to defend their title then they must have to go through some challenges from the other favorite teams. However, I agree with Jason Leonard that the England world cup squad have a strong unity among the players if England wants to defend the title. Coach Brian Ashton should inspire unity in the team.

To tell the truth, I am really very disappointed for the continuous failures of England rugby team in the last four years. No doubt, England players have to play something special to defend the title. There are some strong sides in the tournament who have more chances than England to win the Rugby world cup 2007 title. I think, the current England squad has lot of potential and they are capable of winning Rugby world cup 2007 but the pre requisite is unitary and consistent performance.

Read More:

Times Online

England vs USA Preview: Rugby World Cup 2007

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

Rugby World Cup 2007: Schedule of England

Rugby world cup 2007 is now knocking at the door. The sixth rugby world cup competition is now less than two weeks away. France will host the rugby world cup 2007. Ahead of the most prestigious tournament of the rugby world fans are eagerly waiting to see their star players in the field. Participating teams are playing warm up matches with each other. Some teams are playing against the club teams of different countries in order to find out the problems. All of the 20 teams have already declared their squad for the world cup 2007. Playing in the world cup is definitely a dream of all players. So, the players who could not make it to the world cup squad are now in distress.

Anyway, defending champion England will try to defend their title in Rugby world cup 2007. England won their first rugby world cup in 2003. England is considered as one of the best rugby playing countries of the world. In rugby world cup 2007 England will play in Pool A where they have to play against 1995 champion South Africa, USA, Samoa and Tonga. So, you can easily understand that the main competition of this pool will be between England and South Africa. Both England and South Africa are most likely to get the ticket of quarter final stage. In the quarter final, England may face Australia. Here, I am giving the schedule of pool stage matches of England rugby team:

Pool A

Date	Competing Teams	Venue	Referee
8-9-2007	England vs USA	Lens	Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
14-9-2007	England vs South Africa	Saint-Denis	Joël Jutge (France)
22-9-2007	England vs Samoa	Nantes	Alan Lewis (Ireland)
28-9-2007	England vs Tonga	Paris	Alain Rolland (Ireland)

England will start their world cup campaign on 8 September though the match against USA. England has formed an experienced squad for Rugby World Cup 2007. Mike Catt will be playing his fourth world cup for his country. Besides, there are five veterans in the squad who will appear in their third world cup in the coming Rugby world cup 2007. Moreover, Coach Brian Ashton also included 8 players who were in 2003 world cup wining team. I think, England will face a strong challenge from Australia, France and New Zealand to defend their title in 2007 rugby world cup.

If you are interested to get the England squad of Rugby World Cup 2007 then click here.