How the papers saw the weekend

Monday September 08 2003
French press unhappy

The three weekend Tests provided ample opportunity for the scribes to sharpen their pens ahead of the Rugby World Cup, with wins for England, Ireland and Italy as France, Scotland and Georgia fell respectively. We round up how the newspapers saw it.

ENGLAND 45 FRANCE 15

'England's sweet revenge'

"Any little dent in England's World Cup preparations was healed in the finest possible style in the final send-off before departure for Australia. Defeat by a single point in Marseille last week for the England back-up squad was avenged by the big guns with complete authority. The entire squad must be happy, the home crowd must be happy and now the big trip begins."
- Eddie Butler, The Observer

'French fail to accommodate the changes'

"The conclusion is essential. Terrible. While going down heavily at Twickenham, 45-14, the French team was unable to take the changes made to it, depriving the annoyed coach Laporte of replacement solutions ... Clément Poitrenaud for six months has failed to produce in blue the form he has shown at Toulouse. Xavier Garbajosa missed six tackles, but his knee held out after an operation. Dimitri Yachvili was afflicted by slowness ... The list of disillusions is long. The list of things to rejoice is much shorter."
- David Reyrat, Le Figaro

'Woodward's men scale new heights'

"'All systems go', as they say in the space industry. Martin Johnson's squad are on the launch pad and ready to shoot for the moon. Once the summer rust was burnt off against France, England rocketed away from what was admittedly not the full French Test team, but still one with half the personnel aspiring to their first XV. The manner of the performance from the 20th minute to half-time was emphatic enough to convince English fans that the World Cup is theirs for the taking. It is. Only the dismantling of the English line-out [as France in Marseilles and New Zealand in Wellington managed] will stop England becoming the first northern hemisphere team to win the World Cup."
- Stuart Barnes, The Daily Telegraph

'Beaten in England, France misses reserves'

"The heavy 45-14 defeat on Saturday at Twickenham stigmatised French rugby with a lack of reserves, which could prove crucial in the World Cup ... Forgotten were the promises made in the Marseille night, the conquering pack, the astounding defence and the desire pinned with the body. They were transfigured. Beaten to every inpact, pierced in defence and stammering in attack. The French team were orphans to their framework, but must put it to rest and calibrate the other members of the group of 30 for the World Cup."
- Le Monde

SCOTLAND 10 IRELAND 19

'One step forward, two steps back'

"Some dignity was restored by Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday, but the suspect confidence remained to ensure there would be no triumphal World Cup send-off. The airing of Deacon Blue's rousing hit Dignity at half time was appropriate, however, as this appeared to have been cast into the River Taff in Cardiff the previous week by an inept display and, in the minds of supporters, had to be restored in the last of the three warm-up matches for hopes of any kind of World Cup success to be rekindled."
- David Ferguson, The Scotsman

'Success in Scotland comes at huge cost as loss of Murphy overshadows result'

"Everything comes at a price these days, and for Ireland the cost of a September weekend in Edinburgh was the loss of one of their best attackers. It has been a traumatic time on the injury front and when Geordan Murphy was carted off with a broken leg, Ireland's happy day clouded over. All very well to put together back-to-back wins at this venue for the first time in over 30 years, but the statistic was blighted by the circumstances."
- The Sunday Independent (Ireland)

'Lack of firepower proves costly for McGeechan's men'

"After almost 40 years' association with the national side as player, coach and manager, Jim Telfer deserved better than this from Scotland in his last match at Murrayfield. Scotland at home used to be an Irish bogey; now they cash in their chips like a Vegas punter, scoring four tries yesterday to add to the three they plundered back in February ... Scotland can claim that four first-choice forwards were missing but Ireland were down almost as many, and the Scottish stand-ins did themselves no harm what-soever. Alan Jacobsen scrummaged extremely well and Ross Beattie looked like the big ball-carrying forward that Scotland has been missing for years. Both will be firmly in the frame when the final 30 for the World Cup are debated."
- Iain Morrison, The Sunday Herald (Scotland)

'Tragedy as Murphy robbed of chance to star as wizard of Oz'

"Tragedy is a sorely-abused word in the sporting lexicon and in the week of the anniversary of New Yorks 9/11 we should hesitate to apply it to an injury sustained in a mere game of rugby. But Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan's instant reaction to the broken leg that will keep Geordan Murphy out of the World Cup, and away from the game for up to six months, did seem apposite in the context of Saturday's final warm-up match against Scotland at Murrayfield."
- Jeff Connor, The Examiner (Ireland)

ITALY 31 GEORGIA 22

'Lelos could be satistied with Italian workout'

"The game was played at Asti Racecourse, near Turin, in perfect conditions and was shown delayed on a new, free-to-air Georgian TV channel, IMEDI (hope) which will carry the World Cup to the whole region as well. The Lelos who had started their RWC preps as late as 18th August, lost their influential captain and main ball-carrier Ilo Zedguinidze midway through the opening quarter. By that time the Azzurri had already scored from a rolling maul. The hosts benefited from this ploy two more times, the fact that surely would raise some eyebrows back here, in Georgia ... All in all, the Lelos could be satistied with their current form. As for Italy, one would only wonder what they have learned from the big boys during their four year-long involvement with sacred Five Nations teams."
- Olimpi (Georgia)

'Winning, but uncertain'

"Italy won, but its game has not convinced in the last match before the World Cup. The Azzurri exceeded Georgia, but not the problems which have marred their last games. A month away from the World Cup, the doubts remain many ... The three-quarters were extinguished and deprived of initiative ... Georgia, honest but not irresistible adversaries, were left in the game until three quarters of the way through and gave the impression of being able to win as Italy only led 20-19 with 20 minutes left. Then, a pair of yellow cards, and John Kirwan's men were able to blow windward, without arousing a great impression. Compliments go to the scrum, and the front row in particular, but this was a day to forget."
- Andrea Buongiovanni, La Gazzetta Dello Sport (Italy)