The Ferrie Files: Day Eleven

Victory would set the Pacific Islanders up for what would effectively be a weekend decider with Argentina in the battle for the runners-up spot behind the All Blacks, particularly if they can pick up a bonus point.

However it is inconceivable that they will mount any sort of threat to the Pumas on a five-day turn-around if they are unable to produce a convincing victory against the Namibians, having had 10 days to recover physically

and, perhaps more importantly,

psychologically from their shock defeat to Georgia.

Sharing the leadership duties between two men after first choice captain Nili Latu succumbed to a hamstring injury, could be seen as an indication of on-going turmoil but Mana Otai, their head coach, sought to explain by saying he is looking at ways of ensuring both the pack and back-line are fully focused.

“Two heads are better than one,” he said. “I had a look at the connections between the backs and the forwards and decided that two vice-captains can step up to become co-captains.”

The forward given extra responsibility is known to Scottish supporters not so much for his short-lived spell at Glasgow Warriors, which ended mysteriously, but because Viliami Ma’afu was the outstanding player afield the day Andy Robinson’s tenure as Scotland head coach ended in Aberdeen three years ago.

He admits they have not enjoyed being on the receiving end of an upset, however and are keen to make amends, while acknowledging that they need to react better if their original gameplan is not getting the desired results.

“We’re hurting after the last game, what we learned from that game is that we need to make tactical decisions during the game more quickly,” said Ma’afu.

TALKING POINT

ONLY once in the seven previous World Cups has a European side claimed the Webb Ellis Trophy, but despite the fact they are hosts, the team in question, England, now face a struggle just to reach the knockout stages of the current one.

Given the level of interest so far, it would be bad for the tournament, as for any major competition, to see the home nation eliminated early.

It would also be a first, because no host World Cup has ever been without a host nation at the semi-final stage.

In 1987 both New Zealand and Australia got that far, with the All Blacks winning the tournament; in 1991 we had that Scotland-England semi-final; in 1995 the Springboks went the distance at their first attempt; in 1999, with the old five nations sharing the duties in their final year before becoming six, France got in among the Southern Hemisphere big three, shocking the All Blacks in the semis; in 2003 Australia lost the extra-time final to England; in 2007 France avoided the potential embarrassment of exiting their own tournament on foreign soil by shocking the All Blacks once more in a quarter-final in Cardiff; and in 2011 the All Blacks again prevailed in Auckland.

In fairness, even immediately after their defeat by Wales at the weekend, which meant they now face a do-or-die encounter with current Southern Hemisphere champions Australia, the bookies have not yet lost faith in England, continuing to make them second favourites. While it is a truism to say they are rarely wrong, however, that says more about betting patterns than it necessarily does about expert views and the prospect of so many loyal Englishmen having continued to back the team even after the mistakes made against Wales may do their team no favours when they return to Twickenham. Partisanship is one element, but the prospect of Englishmen losing their money to foreign visitors is quite another.

Which brings us to the question of immigration and just how beneficial it could prove to be for these World Cup organisers should England fail to get through. For all that there have been upsets, it looks like the traditional contenders will be there or thereabouts come the knockout stages, with the Southern Hemisphere big three and three of the Home Unions likely to fill three-quarters of the quarter-final slots, with France and Argentina also well positioned.

Even the most rabid of right wingers are unlikely to complain about the prospect of increased queues at Calais generated by free-spending French rugby supporters, while there is no shortage of Aussies, Kiwis, South Africans, Scots or Welsh in England.

However Sunday’s evidence was that if any team is positioned to take over as surrogate hosts it must be the once reviled Irish.

Many can still recall the objectionable signs “No dogs, no blacks, no Irish” on premises in London and the tension generated by ‘the troubles’ prolonged an uneasy relationship between Irish immigrants and English authorities. There was, though, not the slightest sign of anyone clad in green being the least bit unwelcome at the hostelries surrounding English sport’s most famous venue on Sunday.

The Wembley Arch was lit green in their honour as a record World Cup crowd assembled for one of the tournament’s least competitive matches. It was an impressive show of support by those with Irish connections and offered an indication of what might be expected if, having traditionally disappointed at World Cups, they can reach the semi-finals for the first time.

If England go out on Saturday, how curious it will be, then, in these referendum-dominated times, that the standard bearers for home hopes may become the European champions who normally play their home games in the capital of a country that opted out of being part of the UK a century ago.

AND ANOTHER THING . . .

IS the glass half empty or is it half full? Ireland and Scotland are the only two teams in the World Cup to have accrued full points from their opening matches, but Ireland and Scotland are the only two of international rugby’s original big eight to have played the bottom two seeds in their pools.

The way supporters react to the situation is almost like a social experiment in being Celtic. As Scots anxiously assess just how good the Samoans were in defeat to the Springboks and whether the two time champions are now anywhere close to getting back to their formidable best, in Ireland there is only confidence of progress and of topping Pool D as they prepare to take on Six Nations rivals France and Italy in their remaining games.

GOOD DAY

For Tom Wood, the England flanker who has been cleared to play against Australia after questions were raised about his role in the incident that resulted in Liam Williams, the Wales full-back, being carried from the pitch.

It is easy to be cynical about

how well players can disguise sinister behaviour, but for all the attention paid to the incident on social media across the weekend

it looked like a legitimate attempt

to kick an awkwardly bouncing

ball went wrong when his shin came into contact with Williams’ head.

At the very worst he was guilty

of nothing more than careless play if the conclusion is that he should have been more aware of Williams’ vulnerability, but the decision of

the citing commissioner not to

treat the incident as something

that would have merited a red

card had it been picked up the officials at the time, seemed the right one.

Wood, whose confession surely worked in his favour when he said he felt guilty about having injured his opponent in offering an apology, has consequently been given what is termed “a yellow card warning” which is the equivalent of a sin-binning. Any player sin-binned three times in the course of the tournament will face a judicial officer and is very likely to receive a ban.

BAD DAY

For Hallam Amos, Scott Williams and Billy Vunipola all of whom suffered even more serious injuries than Liam Williams and, like Scotland lock Grant Gilchrist, have all now been ruled out of the rest of the tournament.

Courteny Lawes, the England lock who suffered a knee injury and Ben Youngs, their scrum-half, who picked up an ankle knock, are both also struggling as a result of that bruising encounter at Twickenham that could ultimately wreck the ambitions of both teams.