The weekend feedback

Monday September 01 2003
What the 'other' media said

The big news from the latest series of Rugby World Cup warm-up matches at the weekend saw France, Wales and Ireland recording wins, the latter was expected, but France and Wales provided the shocks. While we, the electronic media had our say, here's what the 'other' media reported.

FRANCE 17 ENGLAND 16

'A defeat to make Woodward smile'

"Clive Woodward could not have been deadly serious about extending England's sequence of 14 successive victories after handing the captaincy to a veteran hooker. In any case, the team led by Dorian West in the south of France did not look on paper as strong as the one that outplayed Wales in Cardiff last weekend. In the event, Les Rosbifs were quite magnificent: red in tooth and claw. While Bernard Laporte fielded pretty much his favourite squad, Woodward kept his crème de la crème in reserve, probably for the rematch at Twickenham on Saturday evening."
- Tim Glover, The Independent on Sunday

'England buckle'

"This was a magnificent night for rugby. All the talk going into the game was of a match that had no bearing on the World Cup, a match that was more about combinations and permutations than anything else. Utter nonsense. Just to see the reaction of the French replacements bench as they congratulated their team-mates tells you exactly how much it meant for France. All fired-up: Mike Tindall celebrates his try England's reaction was equally pertinent. They slumped off disconsolate and downcast but at least they had the knowledge that they had pushed France to the wire."
- Paul Ackford, The Sunday Telegraph

'Morale-boosting win'

"Beating England will give France a lot of confidence before the World Cup where both sides should meet each other in the semi-final stages."
- Le'Equippe

WALES 23 SCOTLAND 9

'Geech's Wales of woe'

"Scotland contrived to manage what eight different nations had failed signally to do in Cardiff yesterday - they lost to Wales. On current form that really does take some doing. Until the balm of the 54-8 midweek win over Romania, the woeful Welsh had been embedded in a run of 10 successive defeats over eight months, which in terms of sporting success rates puts them on a par with East Stirlingshire FC, or British 5,000-metre runners. They should have been dead meat, but Scotland, albeit a second string, chose this World Cup warm-up game to produce as dire a performance as we have seen in the past three seasons."
- Jeff Connor, Scotland on Sunday

'Wales shine, but still lots to do'

"Steve Hansen saw his Wales side beat a major rugby nation for the first time and, in the process, saved his job as coach. Be under no illusions that the New Zealander's head was on the block before yesterday's victory over Scotland. It was a make-or-break game for the Wales coach and he knew it. If Wales had lost, Hansen would have been heading back Down Under, but not to the World Cup. Thankfully, just when he needed it, his players stood up and were counted yesterday."
- Simon Roberts, Wales on Sunday

'Scotland fall'

"This was truly a woeful performance as a Scotland team containing at least seven first-choice players went down to what was a second-string Welsh side without even troubling the tryline. The only saving grace was that yesterday's abject effort happened now rather than during the World Cup. On the basis that a poor dress rehearsal makes for a great performance, then Scotland are a shoo-in for the Cup."
- Iain Morrison, The Sunday Herald (Scotland)

'Owen on hand for Wales'

"Wales gave their beleaguered fans and coach a ray of hope ahead of the World Cup with this well-earned victory over Scotland. With places for the World Cup squad still available, several fringe players put forward a strong case for inclusion. But in truth this victory will have also secured a ticket to Australia for under-fire coach Steve Hansen, who has faced mounting pressure in the wake of a record run of defeats. Nevertheless, just like the proverbial 57 bus, after waiting 284 days, 11 games and endless hours of soul-searching, a second Wales victory arrived in the space of a week after the big win over Romania last Wednesday."
- Matt Lloyd, The Observer

IRELAND 61 ITALY 6

'Victory expected but 'failings' a worry for O'Sullivan'

"Beating Italy should never have been a difficult task. Beating an under strength Azzurri should have been a walk in the park. The scoreboard registered the expected big win, but it masked some important failings by Ireland and underscored the fundamental reason why Italy will continue to struggle in the international arena. For almost the entire first half it was an even struggle with the visitors giving as good as they got, not just because of a following wind but because they retained the ball better and defended aggressively against Irish attacking that was one-dimensional. Even bad teams can make a tackle if the opponent runs straight at them."
- George Hook, The Sunday Independent

'Disastrous in Ireland'

"Another disaster for coach Kirwan. In this pre-World Cup game in Limerick, Italy did not take off, indeed it amplified all its doubts. After a time they finally broke. And then, the landslide. The defence melted. And is if taking 61 points was not bad enough, they did no better in only scoring six, in a crisis of ideas. The result increases the alarms."
- Il Mattino di Padova

'Hickie a hero as Irish rout Italy'

"Winger Denis Hickie booked his trip to Australia with a timely four-try feat as Ireland brushed aside Italy in their latest World Cup warm-up match in Limerick."
- Irish Examiner