WORLD CUP EXPERIENCE PART 2

  The second batch of matches brought consecutive nights at the Olympic Stadium at Stratford, both attracting over 50,000, before a trip to Kingsholm and a return to Wembley and four vastly differing experiences.  

Part One: France 38 - 11 Romania, Stadium, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Wednesday night had France vs Romania, and a supposedly easy win given the final scoreline, although it proved anything but. It was the first time I'd been inside the Olympic Stadium since the Paralympic Games opening ceremony just over three years ago, and to be honest, couldn't remember much about the venue, although it has radically changed in any case. With completion of conversion for use by West Ham United to take place immediately after the Bronze Final, it still seemed something of a work in progress in some ways. The walk from Westfield was longer than I expected, but when I got to the stadium, there were French and Romanian flags for everyone, and reaching my seat behind the posts, it seemed exceptional value for £20. Seats on the running track (where did they get that idea from) are generally accessed via footbridges which creates what is almost like a moat effect, and the distance from the action was not as far as I expected. A few minutes after I arrived, a fellow spectator endeared himself to (most of) the people around him by announcing his plans for a Mexican wave, but bailed out ten minutes before the end proclaiming "it's easier at the darts". 

Initial impressions is that, its role in history still assured, it is still well behind Wembley or even Twickenham in terms of the "experience", although offset by the more attractive surroundings which didn't really come to the fore for a pair of 2000 kick offs. It's not clear whether rugby, of both codes, will be regularly staged here post-World Cup, but, there will be at least one Rugby League match here in early November when England will face New Zealand, and Wigan had a Super League game at Millwall early this month which might move here. Otherwise, it seems unlikely that Sarries or Harlequins would decamp here, given that the successful "At Wembley" and "Big Game" brands have been respectively developed, and, in Saracens' case, have been trimmed back to one a season. By the same token, England probably wouldn't move a match from Twickenham, and the Saxons games are probably better suited to club rugby grounds. That said, there is a clearly a distinct catchment area here, and Essex Cricket have apparently considered playing T20 Blast matches here, which would be their first home game in Greater London since the abandonment of Ilford in 2002. My main quibble is how cramped the concourse areas are, and though there were plenty of bars selling Heineken, food options appeared unclear and limited. Again, as with Twickenham, Cardiff and Wembley, there was little overt encouragement to get involved in rugby post-tournament, other than an informative article in the programme.

On with the game, then. From a Saracens perspective, the main interest was Catalin Fercu, who started at full back and had a hand in some promising moves for a Romanian side who faced a French outfit who made 13 adjustments from the side selected in the opening win against Italy at HQ. Accordingly, the contest was branded as youth versus experience, with the latter very much with Romania, and indeed, their whole front row play in the French top flight. After Fercu had made an impressive forward roll in the pre-match warm up, the first points went to France as Morgan Parra converted a penalty for offside. Romania proved to be competitive in defence as the French failed to gain any rhythm, and indeed Fercu's side could have had the first try and an excellent chase saw France handle in the ruck five metres out. Kicking for the corner, they went through a series of drives and play was switched to the right, where a try was disallowed for not being grounded. However, with advantage being played, Romania levelled the scores with Vlaicu on target, and continued to contain their opponents well. They might even have led but Florin Vlaicu miscued a shot from distance. The match began to turn just before the half hour with Romania down to 14 men as former Premiership prop Paulica Ion saw red, and from the resultant penalty, Sofiane Guitoine stretched out to score in the right hand corner. A few minutes later, the Romanian defence was sucked in on the right again, and this time Yannick Nyanga scored, and with Parra converting both from the touchline, France were 17-3 in front, although Vlaicu claimed another penalty to narrow the gap ahead of the interval. 

The match continued after the break with France continuing to be disjointed, and missed a chance to go further ahead when their maul in the Romanian 22 was halted for obstruction. Their opponents were creating some positive moves but continued to lose the ball in promising positions. Romania's main shortcoming was the speed of their defence in covering the wings, as the 66th minute saw France get their third try through this source, as Guitoine crossed for the second time. And, three minutes later, they had the bonus point try, as following the best piece of flowing play all match, man of the match Wesley Fofana was able to burst straight through the middle for a 31-6 lead. Romania had the try their efforts deserved though on 74 minutes when Valentin Ursache crashed over from close range, but France had the last word when Gael Fickou broke through the centre and it finished 38-11.

Part Two: New Zealand 58 - 14 Namibia, The Stadium, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Back 24 hours later, and this time alongside the pitch for New Zealand vs Namibia. Billed by some as the biggest mismatch of the tournament, and, tucked away in the programme was a list of largest ever winning margins in the tournaments. In practice, though, this list wasn't even close to being breached. Rather than the food at the venue, for the sizeable number of Saracens fans in the ground, it was all about Burger, as Jacques captained the side in the same whole-hearted way we have been accustomed to, playing at 6 rather than 7. New Zealand made a second string selection, but when that XV still includes players of the calibre of Sonny Bill Williams, it remains a daunting challenge. Unsurprisingly, the All Blacks gained early forward dominance and opted to open the scoring from the tee in the fourth minute, and they had their first try two minutes later when Victor Vito surged through on the left following a purposeful move, and it was two before the ten minute mark when Nehe Milner-Skudder broke through a series of tackles on the right to go in at the corner. The biggest cheer of the night so far came when referee Romain Poite penalised New Zealand for holding on, and Namabia took the three points through Theuns Kotze. There was some good defence from Namibia at times, with good line speed disrupting the All Blacks play, although they struggled to hold onto possession when they had it. However, the Kiwis eased further ahead when a smart offload by Sonny Bill Williams allowed Malakai Fekitoa to go in beneath the posts, only for Burger's side to narrow the arrears when the All Blacks strayed offside and Kotze got his second kick from 25 metres. The bonus point duly arrived in the 31st minute, when, from a lineout on the edge of the 22, play switched to the centre and fly half Bauden Barrett was allowed to run straight through the middle, and the half came to a close as, following a sniff of an interception try by Namibia, Milner-Skudder was able to squeeze in at the right hand corner.

After the interval, the first points were Namibia's as Kotze made it three from three for 34-9. It wasn't long before try number 6, though, as Julian Savea was able to smash through the middle and ground at the foot of the posts, but the moment most of the crowd had been waiting for came on 50 minutes. Namibia had a lineout on the left after a penalty and neat play switched the ball out to the right and into the centre where a neat turn and spin saw Johan Deysel score a fine try, and it was 41-14 with half an hour to go. With Jaco Engels, the Namibian prop, in the sin bin, New Zealand patiently went through the phases and worked the ball out wide for Ben Smith to score in the right hand corner. Burger left the action on 65 minutes after requiring treatment for a cut above the eyes, and had led by example in a performance of pride. After the All Blacks had a late try disallowed for a knock on, they added two in the closing five minutes, as Savea claimed his second try and Milner-Skudder set up supporting hooker Codie Taylor for 58-14.

Part Three: Argentina 54-9 Georgia, Kingsholm, Gloucester

Travelling further afield on Friday, to Kingsholm for Argentina against Georgia and a packed morning train out of Paddington. Lots of people taking a late morning nap, so it was very much a case of letting sleeping Pumas lie. Much was said about the lack of "traditional" club rugby grounds in the tournament, with Exeter the only other one, and these are the only two RWC2015 venues with terracing.  Hence, "I'm Still Standing" was an appropriate selection in the pre-match music. Certainly the three games here seem to have been enthusiastically supported by Gloucester fans, providing a ready-made knowledgeable audience, and definitely no Mexican waves. 14256 watched this, which I don't think was a sell out, although it seemed pretty full. Oddly perhaps, the Fanzone was sited some distance away at Gloucester Docks. With a huge Argentinian contingent, turning the Shed blue and white, alongside a fair smattering of Georgian and native red and white, there was a great atmosphere as I took my place in the packed western terrace. In the battle of the Irish stouts, Munster beat Leinster as Murphy's was on sale but no Guinness (whisper it quietly, but I preferred it). 

Georgia were hoping to add to their win against Tonga at the same venue, billed as one of the biggest results in their history, whilst Argentina wanted to bounce back from an unlucky defeat to the All Blacks. Argentina made three changes from the Wembley defeat with Marcelo Bosch keeping his place at centre against the most experienced Georgian line up ever. A very tight first half got underway and the Pumas were first on the scoreboard as Sanchez sent a drop goal over, which almost seemed miscued, and they duly collected the game's first try when the ball was worked through the hands to Tomas Lavnini on the right hand side for an unconverted score. However, two quickfire Georgian penalties took it back to 8-6 by the 19th minute, only for Argentina to restore the five point advantage almost immediately. Georgia, though, were keeping well in touch in the set piece and largely blunting the Pumas attacking threat with some strong defence. They were within two again on the half hour mark, but their opponents stretched further ahead as Georgia were guilty of a high tackle. However, they finished the game on the attack, with good handling and footwork switching the play one way and then another, only for the half to be ended by a knock-on.

The second half would produce the most complete 40 minutes from a side I'd seen so far in any of the matches I'd been at, as Georgia failed to recover from the 45th minute sin binning of Number 8 Mauka Gorgodze, with the Pumas racking up 21 points during his absence, and 40 unanswered points in the half as a whol.e  . From the initial pressure, referee and TMO couldn't detect the grounding. but from the ensuing scrum, scrum half Tomas Cubelli edged away on the right hand side to go over in the corner. They eased further ahead with 49 minutes played through a superb team try as the ball went through hands at pace from right to left from deep and worked an overlap for Juan Imhoff to finish wide on the left. With a performance raised several notches from a subdued first half, Argentina collected another fine try as Santiago Cardero broke straight through the centre for the bonus point. However, they were far from finished, though. Following an uncapitalised spell of Georgian pressure, the Pumas added a real gloss to the scoreline as they collected three more tries in the closing nine minutes, as Bosch went close but then Martin Landajo went over from close range, with Bosch getting the conversion from a shorter distance than we are used to. He was soon in kicking action again thanks to a superb individual try from Cardero, who broke from halfway, and Imhoff had the last word when he capped a flowing move to run in at an angle to the right of the posts.

Part Four: Ireland 44-10 Romania, Wembley Stadium

Completing the quartet of games, having missed out on an England vs Wales ticket, was a Sunday appointment at Wembley as a sea of green enveloped HA9 in blistering sunshine. A brass band outside the Club Wembley entrance was playing numbers as incongrous as Uptown Funk, Thriller and even Toxic by Britney Spears, though no Stand Up for the Saracens today. Having stood there for longer than perhaps I'd like to admit, it was time to take my place behind the posts, and, again, not a bad view for £50. Good job I brought the baseball cap, though, as the sun was shining straight at me. Underlying the huge Irish contingent in London, it arguably makes London Irish perservering with the Reading outpost even more questionable. Whether any of the fans here today will gravitate to Allianz Park or Wembley next season is a moot point, though. The new Rugby World Cup record crowd was set with 89267 in attendance, breaking the long-standing record established - this time last week.

Ireland had enjoyed a comprehensive opening win against Canada with a full-strength line up, but made twelve changes from that match, whilst Romania made eight adjustments from the unduly harsh loss to France at Stratford on Wednesday, but Fercu retained his place at full back. Ireland went straight on the attack as they dominated early territory and possession, although some stray passes saw moves break down. They earnt the breakthrough on six minutes when Ian Madigan converted a penalty as Romania were penalised for holding on. However, an untidy restart saw Ireland fail to roll away in the ensuing play and their opponents levelled through Valentin Calafetuanu. They had a couple of half-chances to go in front, but failed to capitalise. A smooth counter attack where Simon Zebo collected his own chip forward saw the try disallowed as he had stepped into touch. However, Ireland edged back in front from the next phase of play as Romania were guilty of a high tackle. Ireland's kicking game was impressive throughout, and led to their opening try, as a short kick instigated a flowing left to right move which culminated in Tommy Bowe going over in the right hand corner  Romania were defending reasonably well, especially against the maul, and facing a side who were better organised than France, but failed to sustain possession when they had it. That said, they paid yet again for a failing seen in that game at Stratford, as they failed to mark Keith Earls on the left, who easily collected Zebo's pass and advanced to the line, for a half time score of 18-3

After the break, try number three took just four minutes to arrive. Loosehead prop Cian Healy hacked the ball forward forcing Romania to frantically clear for a lineout in their own 22. From this, Eoin Reddan put in a perfectly-weighted kick to the left for Earls to run on and score his second. However, despite being pinned back in their own half, the Romania defence held firm, and it was only on the hour, when they were down to 14 men with the sin-binning of Csaba Gal, that the fourth try was conceded, just after the hour mark, when a long pass out wide found Bowe for his second. Ireland made a strong finish with two more tries, as a flowing move ended with Zebo breaking clear and then slipping the pass to Rob Kearney in his inside for 37-3, whilst Chris Henry finished off a rolling maul for their sixth try. However, the last word was with Romania who forced two successive lineouts and Ovidiu Tonita bundled over at the base of the posts. To their credit, they held Ireland out as they pressured the line in the last play of the match.