Rugby World Cup
All Blacks Hit Namibia for Eleven
New Zealand have made it three wins from three with a resounding victory over Namibia in Pool B of the Rugby World Cup
The All Blacks have trounced Namibia 71-9 in another dominant display by the reigning back to back champions at the Rugby World Cup in Japan this morning.
Two tries a piece for Sevu Reece, Anton Leinert-Brown and Ben Smith, along with further tries from Angus Ta’avao, Joe Moody, Sam Whitelock, Jordie Barrett and TJ Perenara saw New Zealand claim a fantastic 11-try bonus-point victory in Pool B.
It was Namibia who got off to a brighter start and were ahead after three minutes when Damien Stevens slotted over a beautiful long-range penalty close the the left-hand touchline.
However, the All Blacks hit back and were in for their opening try of the day on seven minutes as Barrett sent over a lovely cross-field kick to the right-hand side near the Namibian line where Reece simply caught the ball and touched down. Barrett couldn’t add the extras with the conversion.
Namibia had a couple of good chances and held the All Blacks out until the 21st minute, but they couldn’t keep out Lienert-Brown, who broke through the opposition defence, raced toward the line, held off a couple of tackles to score their second five-pointer of the game. Barrett skewed the kick to the right of the posts leaving it at 10-3.
The minnows were refusing to give up and by the half hour mark they were back within a point of the back to back World Cup champions as Stevens kicked a further two penalties as they put some serious pressure on New Zealand.
On 31 minutes the All Blacks were reduced to 14-men as prop Nepo Laulala was handed a yellow-card for a dangerous tackle.
Despite being down a man it was the men in black that struck next as replacement front-rower Ta’avao finished of 12 phases beside the Namibian line by barrelling over near the posts. This time Barrett made no mistake with the conversion to stretch their advantage.
The All Blacks secured the bonus-point with the final play of the half as they finished off a set-play in the Namibian 22 by sending the ball out to Smith, who darted through a gap in the defensive line to score his side’s fourth try of the match. Barrett added the extras to leave it at 24-9 come the half-time whistle.
It took only two minutes of the second-half for New Zealand to register their fifth try with prop Moody powering over the line from a quick pick and go from a ruck. Barrett kicked the extra two to make it 31-9.
Five minutes later and Lienert-Brown was in for his second of the game after a brilliant break from Barrett inside his own half, where he raced forward before a one-two with Jack Goodhue, and then a simple pass to Lienert-Brown who scored in the corner. Barrett sent a fantastic conversion over from the right-touchline.
Another five minutes further and New Zealand sent the ball from the left hand side of the pitch to the right, with some great depth in the attacking line, with the ball eventually finding its way to Reece who charged forward before stepping inside and over the line for his second try. Barrett converted once more to give the All Blacks a 45-9 lead with just under 30 minutes remaining.
With 56 minutes on the clock captain Whitelock cleverly touched the ball down off the base of the post for his team’s eighth try with Barrett smashing over the easy kick as Namibia began to show signs of tiredness.
Eleven minutes later and Leinert-Brown was centre of another brilliant move in open-field, bursting through the defence, and while being tackled he offloaded beautifully to Smith, who got over for his brace in the left-corner. Barrett pinned the conversion to make it a 50-point margin.
New Zealand were reduced to 14-men once again when substitute prop Ofa Tuungafasi was shown a yellow card for a similar tackle to Laulala.
Despite being a man down the All Blacks got their tenth try with four minutes remaining through Barrett, as he made an unstoppable run close to the line to get over. He converted his own try to make it 66-9.
With little over a minute left in the game New Zealand showed some incredible skill as they broke down the left-wing, with replacement scrum-half Brad Weber producing an outrageous behind the back offload to fellow sub Perenara who finished superbly in the corner. Barrett failed to convert as the match ended 71-9.
New Zealand will now hope to end their pool stage campaign with a 100% record when they take on Italy next Saturday, while Namibia will be looking for a first win at the World Cup when they face Canada the following day.
All Blacks Player Ratings
Starting XV:
Joe Moody (7), Codie Taylor (7), Nepo Laulala (5), Brodie Retallick (6), Samuel Whitelock (7), Shannon Frizell (7), Sam Cane (7), Ardie Savea (8), Aaron Smith (8), Jordie Barrett (9), George Bridge (6), Anton Lienert-Brown (9), Jack Goodhue (7), Sevu Reece (8), Ben Smith (8)
Replacements (8)
Head Coach Andy Farrell has named his Ireland Match Day Squad to face Scotland in Saturday’s final Rugby World Cup Pool B clash in Paris (Kick-off 9pm local time/8pm Irish time).
Following wins over Romania, Tonga and South Africa, Ireland conclude their Pool campaign against Gregor Townsend‘s side at Stade de France on Saturday night.
Peter O’Mahony is set to win his 100th cap for Ireland as he starts in the back row, with the 34-year-old in line to become just the 10th Irish player to reach the landmark.
Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen and James Lowe start in an unchanged Ireland back three, with Garry Ringrose and Bundee Aki continuing in the midfield. Captain Johnny Sexton partners Jamison Gibson-Park once again in the half-backs.
Up front, Andrew Porter and Tadhg Furlong pack down either side of Dan Sheehan, with Tadhg Beirne and Iain Henderson named in the second row. O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris complete the starting XV.
The fit-again Jack Conan is in line for his first appearance of Rugby World Cup 2023 as he’s named on the replacements bench, joining forwards Ronan Kelleher, David Kilcoyne, Finlay Bealham and James Ryan, while Conor Murray, Jack Crowley and Stuart McCloskey provide the backline reinforcements.
Robbie Henshaw has been sidelined with a hamstring injury and a further assessment will be made early next week.
Saturday’s match is live on Virgin Media One in the Republic of Ireland and ITV1 in the United Kingdom.
Ireland Team & Replacements (v Scotland, Rugby World Cup, Pool B, Saturday October 7, Stade de France, 8pm Irish time)
15. Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD)(34)
14. Mack Hansen (Connacht/Corinthians)(19)
13. Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD)(55)
12. Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians)(50)
11. James Lowe (Leinster)(24)
10. Johnny Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College) (captain) (116)
9. Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster)(28)
1. Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD)(57)
2. Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne)(19)
3. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf)(70)
4. Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne)(44)
5. Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy)(77)
6. Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution)(99)
7. Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD)(55)
8. Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College)(34)
Replacements:
16. Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne)(24)
17. David Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians)(54)
18. Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers)(34)
19. James Ryan (Leinster/UCD)(58)
20. Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere)(39)
21. Conor Murray Munster/Garryowen)(110)
22. Jack Crowley (Munster/Cork Constitution)(8)
23. Stuart McCloskey (Ulster/Bangor)(14).
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Entering match week four of the Rugby World Cup, Robbie Henshaw is feeling fully charged and refreshed after a ‘nice and chilled’ few days in Paris during the Ireland’s squad down time.
The picture has changed in Pool B since Ireland’s 13-10 win over reigning champions South Africa. The Springboks are top of the table on 15 points following their 49-18 defeat of Tonga, with Scotland, as expected, coming right back into contention with back-to-back bonus point victories.
Unbeaten Ireland still have their destiny very much in their own hands, sitting on 14 points with the Scots on 10, but it does mean that Saturday night’s Celtic derby at the Stade de France is effectively a shootout for the quarter-finals.
Ireland have dominated this fixture in recent seasons with eight straight wins, and have won twelve of the last 13 meetings. However, you write off a Scottish team at your peril, and Henshaw knows exactly the type of challenge they will pose.
“Every time we play Scotland we know they’re going to come for us,” he said, speaking at the team base in Tours. “Now we can see what it means to them and what they want to chase, and what we want to chase as well in terms of getting those four (pool) wins.
“They’re going to come and have a go like they always do, through Finn Russell and getting the ball to the width. They’ll have a plan and we’ll just need to make sure we’re rock solid and we attack it.”
Henshaw got another half-an-hour of game-time under his belt against South Africa, coming on during Garry Ringrose’s first half HIA and then as a permanent replacement just past the hour mark.
The Athlone man has played in four of Ireland’s last five matches, including starts against Italy and Samoa in the lead up to the World Cup. If he gets an opportunity to feature this weekend, he readily accepts that he has to make the most of it given the form of the other centres.
Bundee (Aki) has been brilliant. His body is in great shape, he is flying fit, as has Garry. The lads’ performances have been consistent.
“Bundee has been flying in terms of getting tries. He’s been letting us know he’s near the top of the try scorers’ list (with four tries so far), which we’ve been having a laugh about!
“They’ve been outstanding. Whenever I get a chance to come in, it’s making sure I put my best foot forward and whenever I come off the bench, put in a good performance.”
As well as Henshaw, Ulster’s Stuart McCloskey, who is in buoyant mood after the birth of his second son, is pressing to be involved and make his World Cup debut, as is the versatile Jimmy O’Brien, who played at centre against the ‘Boks last November.
Ireland’s strength in depth in midfield – and clean bill of health – is a huge asset at this stage of the tournament, especially if the starting pair for Saturday continue to produce the sort of form that Aki and Ringrose have across the opening three rounds.
“There’s always in the past – Six Nations, Novembers – there’s always been one of us (centres) in or out due to injury or whatever,” acknowledged Henshaw, who scored his eighth Test try against Scotland in March 2021.
“Hopefully we can keep us all fit. But the quality we have, we’ve great strength in depth in those positions, even the likes of ‘Earlsie’ (Keith Earls) being able to come in at 13 and Jimmy, the depth we have here is key for playing in a World Cup because anything can happen.”
The 30-year-old Leinster star admitted it was ‘all hands on deck’ when he was initially sprung from the bench against South Africa. It was his chop tackle on Pieter-Steph du Toit that allowed James Lowe to get in for a turnover at a crucial stage.
Keeping Jacques Nienaber’s men to just one try – and eight points in all – was a huge factor in the overall outcome. That was also the case when Ireland beat Scotland in the 2022 and 2023 Six Nations, winning 26-5 in Dublin and 22-7 in Edinburgh respectively.
As things stand, Ireland have the third best defensive record across the pools, conceding 32 points so far compared to host nation France’s 25 and England’s 22. Maintaining those standards will be vital against Scotland in such a high-stakes encounter.
“We had a good look at what we did against South Africa. I think our defence, we showed some great pictures in defence but we know we can go (up) another level,” insisted Henshaw.
“Definitely in attack, we took some steps forward but we left some opportunities out there as well. Looking at everything from our set-piece lineout, how can we get better there? In the first few moments we missed a few lineouts and that let South Africa off the hook a bit.
“Definitely we’ll break down bits like that and make sure we learn from it and we grow.”
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Head coach Andy Farrell said it was ‘so fitting’ that Jonathan Sexton broke Ronan O’Gara’s record with a memorable try under the posts to become Ireland’s all-time top points scorer.
O’Gara (1083 points) leapfrogged David Humphreys (560) at the top of the scoring charts back in February 2006, and now the mantle has passed to another talismanic number 10. Sexton’s try and 11 points from the tee against Tonga took his career haul for Ireland to 1090.
Adding in his 2013 try for the British & Irish Lions against Australia, he has moved above Welsh legend Neil Jenkins into fourth place on the list of highest scorers in international rugby history.
Sexton claimed the Irish record in style with a cleverly-worked 37th-minute score that secured Ireland’s second bonus point of this Rugby World Cup. The rush of his team-mates to congratulate and engulf him behind the posts spoke volumes.
“I was just happy to score the try,” admitted the Ireland captain, modest as ever. “I think one of the lads said it to me (about breaking the record) under the posts. I actually thought I might have got it on the kick before.
Look, it’s something when you retire you can look back on and be very proud of. I think my little boy (Luca) will be over the moon. He was talking about it during the week.
“It probably means more to him! He’ll chase it down now, and so will the other 10s. It’s there to be broken now and I’m sure some young guys will be eyeing it up.
“I’m very proud to do it, but tonight it was more important getting the win and moving on to what is such a massive game (against South Africa) this coming week.”
Sexton has started France 2023 in impressive form despite his lack of recent game-time. He has racked up three tries and 40 points in all across the first two rounds, with only England’s George Ford (41) ahead of him.
The St. Mary’s College clubman has already topped his tallies from previous World Cups – 21 points in 2011, 31 points in 2015, and 26 points in 2019 – but is acutely aware that scoring opportunities will be much more difficult to come by against the Springboks.
Asked about the minutes he had gotten under his belt and the drive to get back to peak form, he admitted: “The proof will be next Saturday if I’m in good form. You’ve got to go do it in the games. There’s no point saying you’re feeling good or whatever.
“I just take it day by day, make sure I recover well, turn up to training Monday, Tuesday, and try and help put the plan in place to take on South Africa.
“They’ve hit a great vein of form and it’s going to be a huge challenge for us, but one that we are really excited about. Hopefully we’ll be ready for it.”
The fine-tuning of the Irish lineout had the desired effect with 21 wins and just two losses on their own throw. They also stole two of their opponents’ throws, while the scrum was also rock solid against a mammoth Tongan front row.
The pack put in a big collective shift, particularly Tadhg Beirne and Josh van der Flier, who both played the full 80 minutes, and Peter O’Mahony (75) and Tadhg Furlong (71) were not far behind. Having been replaced, tighthead Furlong had to return to the pitch due to Finlay Bealham’s HIA.
Sexton played the first half in Nantes before Ross Byrne came on at out-half for his first World Cup appearance. The Ireland skipper praised the forwards for ensuring that ‘the lineout was excellent, the scrum as well’.
“We got a lot of territory and field position from the set piece. The forwards laid the platform and we got a couple of nice tries in both halves off first or second phase. Very pleased with that.”
It has been a real positive to see the Irish attack put away a good chunk of their chances, whether it is through Mack Hansen’s brilliant sidestep and burst of pace, or that lung-busting support run from Beirne that saw him score right at the death against Romania.
Bundee Aki (4 tries), Beirne and Sexton (3 each) have been regular try scorers, with the latter saying: “We’ve trained incredibly hard all summer, so we’re fit enough and able to get ourselves into positions to score tries and to put the opposition under pressure.
“We’ve done that well at times over the first two weeks. There was plenty of stuff that we’ll look back on early in the game where we’re going to need to be more accurate and clinical next week.”
Meanwhile, Farrell (pictured above with Tonga’s Chris Boyd) was pleased with how his side turned their pressure into points on a humid night. They went past the half-century mark with four tries during the closing 22 minutes.
They also got four more World Cup debutants (Byrne, Bealham, Ryan Baird and Craig Casey) on the pitch, and Dave Kilcoyne and Robbie Henshaw both returned from injury.
Farrell says they are ‘building nicely’ on the back of their eight-try display in Nantes, benefitting from ‘getting a little bit of continuity, getting more game-time, getting the job done and getting people off at the right time’.
He was delighted to see Sexton add another milestone achievement to his collection. Apart from his scoring prowess, he says the thing that stands out about his captain is ‘how he makes people feel and how he leads the team, and he’s one of the best in the world at that’.
Speaking about the try which saw the Dubliner break O’Gara’s longstanding record, the Wigan man commented: “He’d nine points and equalled the record before he scored the try, hadn’t he? You just knew when we got held up, and we were set to play that play. It’s something that we’d obviously practised during the week.
“He knows which ones to follow! He followed Conor (Murray) really well, and it’s so fitting that he broke the record with a try like that.
“The record’s fantastic but he’d say that’s his job. But it takes some doing. To us, as a leader and as a player, he’s a lot more than a points-scoring machine.
“How he prepares his team and gets them up for absolutely every game selflessly is more important to, I would think, him and certainly to us.”
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