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Springboks into quarters after narrow scrape, England shines
Updated: 2007-09-24 07:07
PARIS: South Africa emerged unscathed after being given a real fright by
Tonga to become the first team into the World Cup quarterfinals on
Saturday.
The Springboks held on for a 30-25 victory in Lens which guarantees top
spot in Pool A, securing a probable last eight meeting with Wales or Fiji.
England at last had reason to smile after its torrid defeat by South
Africa, a 44-22 win against Samoa in Nantes going some way to restoring
confidence.
The world champion will join the Springboks in progressing from Pool A if
it beats Tonga in its final match on September 28.
Argentina has not looked back since surprising France in the tournament
opener and the Pumas made it three wins from three in facile fashion,
running nine tries past Namibia in a 63-3 romp in Marseille.
The win left Argentina top of Pool D on 14 points, four ahead of host
France and five in front of Ireland.
The Pumas need only earn a defensive bonus point in their final game
against Ireland to guarantee top spot and avoid a quarterfinal against
New Zealand.
"Of course, we have a lot of confidence and there's a chance we can win
this pool but don't forget Ireland are a tough team and can fight back,"
said Argentina coach Marcelo Loffreda.
South Africa coach Jake White's decision to field a second-string side
against Tonga almost backfired as the Pacific Islanders threatened a
major upset.
White was forced to bring his heavy brigade off the bench after the
Springboks had fallen 10-7 behind after an early second-half try by prop
Kisi Pulu.
On came John Smit, Bryan Habana, Victor Matfield and Francois Steyn and
the move appeared to pay off as tries from Juan Smith, Bobby Skinstad and
fullback Ruan Pienaar, his second of the match, put daylight on the
scoreboard.
But Tonga had shown resolve in shocking Samoa 19-15 in its previous match
and back they came with tries from centre Sukanaivalu Hufanga and flanker
Viliami Vaki, setting up a tense finale.
White said his starting side had not let him down and paid tribute to
battling Tonga.
"I'm not going to shoot them all at dawn. If they didn't play well they
can learn from their experience," White said.
"It's unfair of me to say it was disappointing. They haven't played
together much and full credit to Tonga."
"This is a World Cup and I can't underplay it. We got tested and we
probably didn't get the marks we wanted but I think they passed with 50
percent."
Relieved ashton
England coach Brian Ashton also breathed a sigh of relief as his team
mixed resolute defence with some attacking flair in a bruising encounter
with Samoa.
Captain Martin Corry and wing Paul Sackey scored two tries apiece and
flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson kicked 24 points on his first start of the
tournament after shrugging off an ankle injury.
Samoa was no pushover though and having trailed 23-12 at the break,
Junior Polu's try kickstarted a period of sustained pressure that England
withstood before pulling away for the win.
"Today was a step in the right direction, hopefully it will give the
whole squad that little boost in confidence that we have been looking
for," said Ashton.
"We've started down the road to achieving more balance to our game but
there is still a hell of a lot more work to do."
Looking ahead to the Tonga clash, Ashton added: "Next week is another
knockout game, a fight to the death, and we will need to be substantially
better."
In yesterday's early match, center Matt Giteau celebrated his 50th cap by
steering Australia to a 55-12 bonus-point defeat of Fiji that earned the
double world champion a place in the last eight as winner of Pool B.
Giteau scored two first-half tries and added another 17 points with the
boot as his side racked up a comfortable but scrappy win that ensures
they will meet either England or Tonga in a quarterfinal in Marseille on
October 6.
Winger Drew Mitchell crossed the line three times, while centre Adam
Ashley-Cooper and replacement Stephen Hoiles weighed in with tries to
take the tally to seven.
But the Wallabies did not have it all their own way and Fiji, who meets
Wales on Saturday to decide second place in the pool, scored two tries
either side of halftime, winger Isoa Neivua battering his way over before
the break and flanker Aca Ratuva racing clear after a lineout.
Agencies
(China Daily 09/24/2007 page11)
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