Rugby World Cup Blog | Jonah Lomu | 2007

Jonah praises fantastic Georgia

Sun Sep 16 03:49PM

Another beautiful day in Paris, I had some work on in the morning and was running late to get back to the hotel to watch the All Blacks so my friend took us into a bar called American Dream that was full of rugby fans watching the game, it was a great little bar and the atmosphere was fantastic. It was a great day to watch rugby yesterday with some big surprises and close battles.

It was great to see such support for Portugal at a game which everyone knew they had no chance of winning. To see them fight they way they did was great, they didn't seem to be put off by the occasion. This is a team that is made up of amateur players, accountants lawyers etc and they showed the spirit of an amateur side but played some good pieces of rugby. To be rewarded with a try for all their hard work and a drop goal was fantastic to see. It showed great determination and courage to play like that against the All Blacks. You just had to look at their faces to see the satisfaction. For the All Blacks it was another win but at times they looked disjointed and lacked flow but led by Jerry Collins they posted the biggest score at this World Cup so far.

The second match of the day was set to be the game of the week. The Australians played very well in the first half, a young lookalike Stephen Larkham set the tone and the intentions of the Australian team. Wales on the other hand had the same intentions which made this a great clash between two very competitive teams. Stephen Jones was unlucky to drop such a crucial ball that was kicked and re-gathered by Chris Latham to score a decisive try that defined the final outcome. Wales didn't give up and kept coming at the Australian line with some great innovative moves and slight of hand. It just seemed like Wales found their rhythm and pattern just a little late.

The last match of the day was fantastic. I didn't think Georgia would get that close, leading 10-7 with 25 minutes to go. I think the Georgian side has been underestimated in this tournament, they have improved a lot since 2003, they are well drilled side with a big forward pack and some great runners in their backline. More and more in this competition we are seeing the minor sides challenging the top teams. The Georgian intercept try was amazing and set the tone for the game. Congratulations Georgia you've been fantastic to watch at this tournament.

LIKES: Shopping in Paris.

DISLIKES: That there is so much to see in France but not enough time to do it all!

PLAY OF THE WEEK: The try by Portugal.

p.s. : If you want to see the biggest tackles in rugby history, watch the game this afternoon. Samoa against Tonga, there will be hard hurting, hard running on the field.

Comments1 - 18 of 18

Spot on, Georgia were fantastic. Not only did they play with a lot of heart, but they had an intelligence which is often lacking with the smaller nations. When it came to lineouts in crucial positions, they shortened it, cutting down the chance of a turnover and more often than not they maintained possession this way. It's clear that the people behind the scenes with Georgia study the game intently, perhaps thinking that if they can't match the big sides in terms of talent, they will aim to match them mentally. I'll be at the Scotland game on Tuesday night, and if Romania play like Georgia did yesterday, we'll be in for a rough night.
From paulmullaney90 on Sun Sep 16 03:58PM
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BRAVO GEORGIA!
From surab_2000 on Sun Sep 16 04:29PM
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thenk you lomu for good koments about gorgia.
gorgia is best.
From dsmdz on Sun Sep 16 04:51PM
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mr lomu thenk you for good komentaris about gorgia
From dsmdz on Sun Sep 16 04:58PM
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Always like the underdog. When will there be a true upset though?
From nelson95 on Mon Sep 17 06:06AM
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That was real surprise Georgia's play against Ireland. I'm a fun of Georgia but after 1st half was thinkin that Ireland will break my team, but... 14-10 + great chance 2 win... Thats my team!!!
P.S. Lomu, great thx 4 warm words about Georgia.
From techno_tbilisi on Mon Sep 17 07:07AM
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Couldnt agree with your comments morre Jonah.Georgia and Portugal played excellent rugby and showed that all this talk about cutting tthe next World cup down to 16 teams should be consigned to the rubbish bin.Neither team seemed to be overawed by the occasion and when the Portugese player dropkicked to see his reaction was brilliant.Perhaps the IRB should be telling countries like NZ,Australia and South Africa that they need to send touring parties to these smaller countries.They need not be the top teams but maybe the Under 21s or something along those lines to help develop the game even further.
You can no doubt tell by my surname which team I was supporting in the Samoa v Tonga game.Well done to the Tongan team and their supporters.Like Portugal and Gergia they never gave up and at the end of the day fully deserved the win.
From mjtanuvasa on Mon Sep 17 07:12AM
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Viva Georgia
From n_kakiashvili on Mon Sep 17 09:33AM
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georgia played better than ireland.we have fantastic team.georgia is best of the best.thank you for that game.and jonah we love you
From lakushka on Mon Sep 17 12:16PM
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That was fantastic! GEORGIA was great! A little bit of luck and we could win. Thank to all players for this game. BRAVO!!!
From ramaziace on Mon Sep 17 01:24PM
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what IRB sey 16 times it not realiti. 20 times is minimum. gorgia is fantastik and IRB pleas @#$% up.
IRB stink.
From dsmdz on Mon Sep 17 01:32PM
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agree with some of the writers world cup should not be whittled down it gives the teams who are driven but dont have a chance something to look forward to, the bigs teams may not like it but its a world sport and deserves the whole world to see it and appreciate it and that means extending it further not to a smaller circle
From adventure2love on Mon Sep 17 09:48PM
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congrats to the Georgia team i hope that the players are rewarded with professional contracks because they have improved so much and the irish should have really lost ! sorry but i am 100% irish and i thought the Georgia team were brill i was very disappointed with the Irish team display i am starting to think they peaked at this years 6 nations but saying that a big well done to the georgia team!
From wynne_martina on Tue Sep 18 12:38PM
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Georgia, how thrilling was that game to watch? With their quick ball release, commitment to the hard hits and sheer ballsiness we could have been watching the 2003 England squad, even the kit made you look twice. Bravo to the emerging teams I say. And to pour scorn on the 'world champions', (and we should seriously stop reffering to them as such because they are not and never will be in this guise), who have England got that will put their body on the line in any of their games so far? Good OLD Jason Robinson (injured), Olly (injured), Wilkinson (to pick up another injury no doubt) and no TRUE successor to Martin Johnson. Everyones talks Corry up and he does lead....whilst the rest watch! Most of the team do not deserve to wear the shirt, let alone grace the team list, while the true 'scrapyard dogs' were left at home.
England, watch Georgia and see how you should be prepared to play everytime you put on that shirt.
From adlee61 on Tue Sep 18 04:23PM
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Thank you Jonah for interesting comments about Georgia. You are the best player, and Georgia is a fantastic team.
From surab_2000 on Tue Sep 18 08:20PM
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great praise to all the minnows also, they are playing better than most of the seeded teams including england.
From mickle52003 on Wed Sep 19 07:16PM
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Georgia played really fantastically.I think soon they will become one of the best country.I am happy that i am georgian.We will beat france
From murjo_dato on Fri Sep 28 11:56AM
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Georgia played fantastically.Soon they will become one of the best.now i am happy that i am georgian.We will beat france
From murjo_dato on Fri Sep 28 12:08PM
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