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Sunday, October 07, 2007

England forge ahead Aussie

Due to crappy Internet speed (throttled, huhu), I decided to watch England vs Australia rugby World Cup 2007 quarter-final match on Channel 10 rather than watching EPL match of Man Utd vs Wigan. I'm in indecisive position in this match whether to support Aussie or England.
I like the way Aussie play from the start of the tourney but on the way to this match, they start being somewhat arrogant, emphasizing on their revenge due to the loss in 2003 World Cup and England stand no chance; while England is, well, as many have predicted, won't score many tries and relies on Wilkinson drop kicks. Playing near home ground, England surely have more supports than Aussie at the stadium.

It's a hard-fought match for both sides, exchanging passes and tackles. Aussie dominates the first few minutes with some chances for free kicks, until Mortlock score a penalty for Aussie to lead 3-0. But then England seems to dominate the match, winning possession/territory as well as scrums/line outs/rucks. However, Aussie still proceed at halftime leading with 10-6 thanks to Tuqiri try.
2nd half, England seems to be the better side with more prowess in forward and excellent counter attacking. Errors in handling/rucks sure cost Aussie as England come with 2 more penalties to lead 12-10. And that's the final score line, Aussie is defeated twice in a row to England, unable to avenge their previous loss.

Nevertheless, as many have expect, all 4 England penalties come from Wilkinson. England almost had a try in 2nd half but Aussie manage to defend well to force only free kicks. Overall it's not the day for Wilkinson, he has so many chances on penalties but also missed that many. That's quite rare for him to miss penalty from easy spots, but I see that he's somewhat weaker in right-side free kicks. So England will met either France or New Zealand in the next round. I'm looking forward to see the All Blacks advanced =)

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