RWC - The A Games with Shaggy (France vs Canada)

[Getofmeland]

The A games with Shaggy – Canada V France, Sunday 18th September, Mclean Park, Napier

Wow!, it's nearly time for game five in pool A already, and Canada move from the far north of New Zealand, to the central east coast of the north island where the city of Napier will host their match against France. Canada have barely enough time to crouch, touch, and pause, before they engage, let alone had time for the win against Tonga to sink in, or for their key players to recover before they have to take the field again.

Canadian coach, Kieran Crowley doesn't seem that happy about this in this article (http://www.montrealgazette.com/sport...328/story.html ) in the Montreal gazette. He does point out that this is an issue that all of the tier two nations have to face in this tournanment, and they certainly got the benefit of it when they faced the Tongans. The same article reports that according to some of the Canadian players, Canada are targeting this game for a win, including TRF favourite, Ed Fairhurst, who says they are aiming for a quarter final spot. This is quite a surprise to me, as an earlier video article I saw, featuring Kieran Crowley stated that they are aiming for a top three finish to allow automatic qualification into the next tournament.

I thought that resting the players may have been a priority for this match, although they do have time between this match and the next to do this. If the quarter final spot is the aim though, this is great news for the current tournament, as it will probably mean that most of the team that played against Tonga will back up and play the French - what could have been an easy win for the french, will now be, at the very least, a competitive match.

The Tongan coach, Isitolo Maka, states in the Montreal Gazette article, that he doesn't rate the Canadian team's chances of victory very highly, as he believes that the french will exploit Canadian defensive weaknesses.

If I can put my Canadian supporters hat on for a moment, sadly, I have to agree with his rating of Canada's chances, but more as a consequence of the short turn around between matches, fatigue factors, and injury concerns, rather than defensive weaknesses.

A fully fit Canadian team, including injured open side flanker, Chauncey O' Toole, to compliment Adam Kleeberger, and Aaron Carpenter in the loose, and a smart use of the substitution bench to provide a much needed break for the hard working tight forwards, such as Jebb Sinclair and Jamie Cudmore, are a must if Canada is to have any possibility of winning this match. Maybe a change in the centres, with a new player in the number 12 jersey, to compliment the dangerous DTH van der Merwe, might also be an astute change.

The French named their side very early for this match, and coach Marc Lievremont making sweeping changes to the side that won against Japan. He has dropped captain Thierry Dusautoir from the match day 22, and retained only four players from that match – winger, Vincent Clerc, centre, Aurelien Rougerie, who moves to the left wing and takes over the captaincy, fly half, Francois Trinh-Duc, and long serving hooker William Servat.

You can see the full match day 22 here in this UK reuters article http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/09/13/rugby-world-france-idUKL3E7KC41T20110913

While the French have named by no means, a weak side, and they have a strong bench, featuring the likes of Maxim Meddard, Dimitri Yachvili, and Imanol Harinordoquy, in my opinion, this is definitely a weaker side than the one that faced Japan, and may also play a significant roll in the closeness of this match.

My prediction is that Canada will fight the good fight, but will probably wilt late in the match, and that a win for them will be a bridge too far.

Blog By Shaggy

 

[CDN_Rugby]

Unfortunately, you're probably right about Canada wilting late in the match. While they will no doubt be coming into the game on a high, I expect a similar result to the opening game of RWC 2007 against Wales. Canada keeps it close for 60, then fatigue sets in.

Hopefully I'm wrong!

Go Canada!

 

[Canucks]

Very well written. I agree with your assessment of dying down in the final quarter. Hopefully we make it that long.

I do think Canada is targetting as a game to win. No point in coming this far and not trying. Plus there's an awful lot of material from the media that can easily be used to motivate.

That being said in that article from Routers, you have the lines:
"Lievremont dispelled growing rumours that he would name a weakened side against the All Blacks in order to protect his players for what could be a decisive clash for a quarter-final spot against Tonga the following week. "

I guess that game is might be against Canada on Sunday, provided they beat Japan.

Maka sounds like he could use a little humility. What he says may be true but it just sounds petty coming from a losing coach.

 

[LittleGuy]

The Canadian lineup has been named and it will be the identical squad to the Tonga game, only a change in jersey numbers for Trainor and Hirayama, as they flip numbers on the bench.

 

[Shaggy]

Very well written. I agree with your assessment of dying down in the final quarter. Hopefully we make it that long.

I do think Canada is targetting as a game to win. No point in coming this far and not trying. Plus there's an awful lot of material from the media that can easily be used to motivate.

That being said in that article from Routers, you have the lines:
"Lievremont dispelled growing rumours that he would name a weakened side against the All Blacks in order to protect his players for what could be a decisive clash for a quarter-final spot against Tonga the following week. "

I guess that game is might be against Canada on Sunday, provided they beat Japan.

Maka sounds like he could use a little humility. What he says may be true but it just sounds petty coming from a losing coach.

Thanks, I really hope i'm wrong about team Canada wilting ... my wife can't believe how quickly I have adopted Canada as my second team, and how passionate I am about my support for them (i've managed to make her a rugby convert, and another friend also)

I agree with your comment about Maka ... the unfortunate thing is that he's probably hinting at what we all know already - the weakest defensive point is probably where number 12 is on the field, although putting our 10 to defend the midfield has undoubtedly strengthened the defense, and our 12 had a much better game against Tonga than what I expected.

I really hope the media reports motivate the boys, and the french under estimate them ... even if they don't win, play to win, and show the rest of the world Canada are no easy beats

 

[LittleGuy]

I've managed to get a few people watching the games, if we can continue to win games there will be even more interest here in Canada. There will also be three home tests next year, Italy, USA and another Tier Two country will be visiting.

 

[Canucks]

Thanks, I really hope i'm wrong about team Canada wilting ... my wife can't believe how quickly I have adopted Canada as my second team, and how passionate I am about my support for them (i've managed to make her a rugby convert, and another friend also)

I agree with your comment about Maka ... the unfortunate thing is that he's probably hinting at what we all know already - the weakest defensive point is probably where number 12 is on the field, although putting our 10 to defend the midfield has undoubtedly strengthened the defense, and our 12 had a much better game against Tonga than what I expected.

I really hope the media reports motivate the boys, and the french under estimate them ... even if they don't win, play to win, and show the rest of the world Canada are no easy beats

I hope your wrong as well. I'm glad you've decided to adopt Canada and convert your wife to rugby. Now we just need to convert you to hockey and voila.

Smith looked so terrible on the 2nd viewing. Wears the most pads and appears to be the most shaky. I would love to see Trainor out there, I know from first hand experience that he can hit alright (not me, but my overly cocky friend who I hospital passed and was about 220 got rocked by Trainor when he was a skinny 15 year old.) Smith just seems to gun shy. Mackenzie missed a few but he had 2 turnovers and went back for more.

I'm glad Canada is playing to win, but I also think it's hilarious that the montreal gazette is trying to stir up Canada before we play the French. So makes me wish we had a Quebecois on our team.

 

[LittleGuy]

I hope your wrong as well. I'm glad you've decided to adopt Canada and convert your wife to rugby. Now we just need to convert you to hockey and voila.

Smith looked so terrible on the 2nd viewing. Wears the most pads and appears to be the most shaky. I would love to see Trainor out there, I know from first hand experience that he can hit alright (not me, but my overly cocky friend who I hospital passed and was about 220 got rocked by Trainor when he was a skinny 15 year old.) Smith just seems to gun shy. Mackenzie missed a few but he had 2 turnovers and went back for more.

I'm glad Canada is playing to win, but I also think it's hilarious that the montreal gazette is trying to stir up Canada before we play the French. So makes me wish we had a Quebecois on our team.

I have watched twice and I stand by my comment that Smith had a really good game, he was effective in attack especially on the first Canadian try where he sucked in two defenders and worked really hard on defence he did have a missed tackle that was pretty bad, but all in all a solid performanced he was also pulled out at the right time as he was starting to look tired and a spark was needed in the squad. As for his padding who cares I know he wears the scrum cap which isn't usual for a #12 but if he feels comfortable with it good for him.

I think the match commentators agreed that he was solid and many of the neutral fans in the Tonga vs. Canada thread had good things to say about him. I don't think Crowley would have started him if he thought he had a bad game, Trainor, Evans or even Scholz would have been inserted into the lineup instead. As well Smith used to play in France and probably has experience against some of the French veterans.

 

[Shaggy]

I hope your wrong as well. I'm glad you've decided to adopt Canada and convert your wife to rugby. Now we just need to convert you to hockey and voila.

Smith looked so terrible on the 2nd viewing. Wears the most pads and appears to be the most shaky. I would love to see Trainor out there, I know from first hand experience that he can hit alright (not me, but my overly cocky friend who I hospital passed and was about 220 got rocked by Trainor when he was a skinny 15 year old.) Smith just seems to gun shy. Mackenzie missed a few but he had 2 turnovers and went back for more.

I'm glad Canada is playing to win, but I also think it's hilarious that the montreal gazette is trying to stir up Canada before we play the French. So makes me wish we had a Quebecois on our team.

I guess because of the shortness of time between games, the likes of Trainor will get quite a bit of game time anyway.

I already support the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL, but don't know if I've got the patience to wait for the squad to mature, and actually win something ... anyway, I've enjoyed the live games I've gone to, because it's a fast moving game.

Perhaps the Montreal paper can stir up the bloc quebecois to partition the IRB for a separate team in the next RWC

 

[Canucks]

I guess because of the shortness of time between games, the likes of Trainor will get quite a bit of game time anyway.

I already support the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL, but don't know if I've got the patience to wait for the squad to mature, and actually win something ... anyway, I've enjoyed the live games I've gone to, because it's a fast moving game.

Perhaps the Montreal paper can stir up the bloc quebecois to partition the IRB for a separate team in the next RWC

Oh god don't give them any ideas.

Oilers fan hmmm? We might be born sworn enemies but I willing to get past that (Vancouver Canucks fan myself since I was a little boy.)

@Little Guy, I see what your doing there. Yes Smith missed a few tackles, especially 3 in a row during Tongas first try, but he was good on the attack.
We thought positively about smith last match and he did well so I feel Smith will have a solid all around game. I was referring to the shoulder and chest pads he wears, thin little foam vest. But like you said whatever is comfortable.

 

[M Two One]

Fatigue aside, the biggest factor in this match is always going to be experience. France's players are among the best in the world playing in what is quite possibly the best league in the world. Canada have some players that have the quality to player overseas, and some already do, but there isn't enough experience in playing with the big boys yet. The good news is that some of Canada's best players still playing at home will likely be looked at by European clubs to sign once the cup is over.