Shaggy
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The 2011 Rugby World Cup has ended and unfortunately for the rugby faithful, this means that we’ll have to wait four years once again, but don’t be disappointed, this was a special tournament. New Zealand hosted this time around, and with that, we realize that we may not see the rugby mad country host again for a very long time.
We hope that you all savoured every moment and every match, no matter what the outcomes were, the disappointments or heartache. What impressed us the most is how well second tier nations developed over the past four years, which is great news for the sport on a worldwide scale.
Development is the key to this game, as any, and this world cup has opened the door to a large number of new fans.
As we take a look back, Shaggy, psychic duck and M Two One review the twenty participants from worst to first over the next week. The rankings were put together through several opinions based on performances.
Feel free to debate and discuss. The 2011 Rugby World Cup may have ended, but rugby lives on 24/7.
Defending world cup champions, South Africa, went into this tournament with a squad full of veteran players after basically forfeiting any chance of winning this years tri-nations by deciding to allow many of their players to recover from ****ling injuries, rather than play in the away games against Australia and New Zealand. They did secure a home win against the All Blacks when their veteran players returned, but there was always conjecture from people outside of the squad and management team as to whether coach Peter de Villiers was doing the right thing by holding on to some of their older players.
South Africa were placed in Pool D with fellow quarterfinals contenders Fiji, Manu Samoa, and Wales, as well as Africa's second world cup qualifier, Namibia. It was always going to be one of the tougher pools to advance from, but South Africa were the top seed and were expected to finish there.
The draw saw that the Springboks played against Wales in the opening match, one that would possibly determine which nation would qualify through the first and second positions. Wales proved to be a team on the rise and went on to be one of the better teams of the tournament, but the Springboks won the match by a single point in controversial circumstances, with a Welsh penalty kick that appeared to go over the cross bar that was not awarded by the referee. The end result was pivotal, not just because of the controversy, but because of the injuries incurred before and during the match. Veteran lock, Bakkies Botha was ruled out days before the match, meaning that another veteran, Danie Rossouw, started in his place. Frans Steyn was moved into the 12 jersey for the remaining pool matches due to an injury to Jean De Villiers.
The Springboks went on to beat Fiji, Namibia and then Samoa in their final pool match. It was probably the Samoan match that proved to have the most effect on the flow of South Africa in the quarterfinals. Frans Steyn was in great form with the boot and was taking the ball to the line to provide much of the forward momentum in the back line, but was invalided out of the tournament after this match. Open side flanker Heinrich Brüssow also incurred cracked ribs which prevented him from playing much of a part against Australia.
The quarterfinal against the Wallabies was probably not expected, but the Wallabies loss to Ireland in pool play meant that both of these teams ended up facing each other sooner than either side probably would have wished for. This match was a tight tussle with the Springboks dominating both possession and territory, but it was the Wallabies that prevailed by two points after a silly penalty was given away for taking out a Wallaby jumper in the lineout in a dangerous fashion. This meant that the Springboks exited at a much earlier stage than most would have expected pre-tournament. Many have suggested that the Springboks didn't get the rub of the green with the refereeing decisions in the quarterfinal match, but you've got to maintain discipline, take your scoring opportunities and remove all poor refereeing decisions out of the equation.
The combination of pre-tournament injuries and those incurred during the tournament, combined with the decision to hang on to some players too long, really torpedoed South Africa's chances. The Springboks now enter an interesting rebuilding phase for the next world cup with the retirement of several senior players. - S
