Rugby World Cup Blog | Jonah Lomu | 2007

Upset to end all upsets ?

Mon Oct 08 10:46AM

2007 Rugby World Cup England v Australia

It's been the first week without rugby for the last month but it hasn't meant it's been quiet. I've been doing a lot of media, working with Eurosport and Yahoo and I did a store signing for adidas at Galeries Lafayette in Paris this week where they had a big turnout of fans from all around the world. I enjoyed some more great Parisian restaurants, one night taking in the views at Café de l'homme. I'm a big sushi and sashimi fan and I would recommend Lo Sushi for a quick lunch. I also managed to squeeze in a quick session at the driving range at the hippodrome. It was great to be able to do thanks to the guys out there.

The first game up this weekend in the quarters was Australia v England. I was always expecting this game to be tight battle. England were far superior in the forward pack which is where rugby is often won. They were dominant from the get go even though Australia scored the only try of the match. Although there were numerous opportunities neither side were able to turn them into points.

All of points coming from Johnny's boot and taking him to the position of all time points scorer in a world cup. England can thank Johnny and his boot and Paul Sackey for his tremendous defence in stopping a sure try from Australia. The 12-10 score line says it all.

It was a disappointing end to the World Cup for Australia especially for players like George Gregan, Stephen Larkham to name a few who leave the Australia ranks this year. George has been an amazing ambassador for Australia reaching the world record 139 caps and a dominant force in the squad and an integral part of so many Australian wins. George I salute your career enjoy Toulon, France is a great place to be.

After what people might say was the first upset of the day then came along New Zealand v France. I travelled to Cardiff yesterday for the game on a chartered flight full of French most of who were convinced of their impending loss. How wrong they were.

I went into this match with reservations, concerned about the build up we'd had in the cup and statistics - outside of Paris the All Blacks do not play well against France and it's something that's dwelled on my mind. I said from the start if there was one team in this tournament that could beat the All Blacks it was France. Don't get me wrong, I am one of the most loyal and passionate supporters of the All Blacks but this is what I thought.

The All Black's patience and composure that they had at the beginning of the tournament seemed to be gone. They had all the heart and passion but not the composure. For periods in the first half I felt it was one of their better performances in this World Cup but the second half things changed and is was dominated by individual efforts with the All Blacks reverting to pick and go's rather than utilising the speed and space on the outsides.

Today was a testament to the French resilience pride and passion. There were times in that stadium that I swear I was in Stade de France. The noise and support from the French supporters was deafening and all consuming. There are a couple of pictures of me with some fans at the stadium and with the mascot for France.

New Zealand leaves this world cup the earliest they have ever been knocked out, at the quarter final phase. It will be a horrible shock to New Zealand and having received many texts and calls from home it is clear that this will take some time for New Zealand to get over. There was so much expectation, as there always is, but more in particular for this World Cup, this time was different because this was the most well prepared All Black team ever.

I travelled back to the airport in Cardiff on a bus full of French supporters, wonderful people who clapped me onto the bus I was really blown away by the reception and a little embarrassed. When they stopped I raised my hands and clapped back calling out congratulations to all of them. They were gracious winners.

England now faces France in the semi final next Saturday, two teams with very different styles. It will however be a battle of the forward packs and whoever wins that battle will take the match in my opinion. The winner taking their place in the final to be played on October 20.

Today we have the second round of the quarters, Fiji take on South Africa first and it will be a game that promises to be very fast and physical. I will be heading along to Stade de France for the second match Argentina v Scotland tonight and look forward to a hard fought contest to two teams that deserve their places in the top eight. Jonah

Comments1 - 11 of 11

Why can't this guy respect the amazing turn around and impressive performance of the English team.... 5 lines about the game in this whole blog!!!!
From chris9181 on Mon Oct 08 12:58PM
Report abuse
Yes, everything ok except your last sentence.
Argentina has been in the top six for the last year. It is like saying that NZ deserves to be in the top 5.
From a_galeazzi on Mon Oct 08 07:33PM
Report abuse
Don't be dumb, a_galeazzi, please understand the nuances of the Queen's language. Lomu (the Great) said in his comment "a hard fought contest to two teams that deserve their places in the top eight". Key phrase: "deserve their places in the top eight", as in deserve their respective places in the top eight, as in Argentina deserves its number 4 position and Scotland deserves its number 8 position. New Zealand deserves to be in the top 5, but based on Lomu's construction, "they (hardly) deserve to be in their place (1) in the top 5". Hope you can digest my rhetoric.
From vommwa on Tue Oct 09 04:48AM
Report abuse
chris9181, Lomu pointed out all there is to point out about England: a crappy England team played their hearts out and their forwards owned/dominated Austrailia's pack, but then again the Convicts (wallabies) were very uninspiring game. England justtook advantage of that, and that's all there is to say about it. Probably deserves less than the five lines it got.
From vommwa on Tue Oct 09 04:51AM
Report abuse
Possibly people are getting caught up in the emotion of the World Cup. England have left their emergence as contenders to the knock-out stages. Graham Henry was justified in thinking that the All Blacks would struggle without a competitive game in the group stages - France came along and justly beat them. However, to bleat on about the referee afterwards does the All Blacks no credit, because at the end of the day the ref actually got savvy to some of the dubious plays of the NZ team.
From merv9992005 on Tue Oct 09 12:57PM
Report abuse
Nice to see that the spirit of competition is alive and well, even in the blogs. Unfortunate that we won't see two very good teams in the finals NZ and Australia but as we've seen in this and other sporting competitions having a team of talented individuals doesn't guarantee a win. Only time will tell whether England will develop into a good team playing consistently well and if France really can hold their nerve in the big competitions. I watched England in the friendlies against France before the World Cup started and it was disappointing, they had opportunities to beat France but they didn't play as a team, were uninventive and lacked passion. If England play like they did against Australia then France could lose their nerve and bottle it, I just hope that it wasn't a one off! Argentina are talented and enjoyable to watch but will have to assess the risks they're prepared to take against South Africa more closely or they'll get punished. Here's looking forward to this weekend guys.
From philipwhewell@btinternet.com on Wed Oct 10 08:58AM
Report abuse
I am very sorry, but what does a English side have to do to get some respect. Yes they have not been playing very well, but they have improved and beat one of the best teams in the world. Ok Australia did not play very well. Why? Because England did not let them. I would love England to go all the way, but if they don't, England, well done for getting so far, where others have failed.
Oh and one last thing, if vommwa reads this. Ha ha.
From paul_ford2005 on Wed Oct 10 01:17PM
Report abuse
Totally agree with you paul_ford2005. England have not been given the respect they deserve!
From chris9181 on Wed Oct 10 10:12PM
Report abuse
Do you forget that Lomu is a former AB??? Isn'it logical and or human that Lomu give more importance and so more place to the AB defeat in his blog???
From rlaganier on Thu Oct 11 10:32AM
Report abuse
Jono Wrote Australia v England. I was always expecting this game to be tight battle. England were far superior in the forward pack which is where rugby is won.
Then Jono Wrote dominated by individual efforts with the All Blacks reverting to pick and go's rather than
utilising the speed and space on the outsides. "Confused"is it Forwards or Outsiders that win Matches
You are correct Jono individual efforts seldom triumph over team work
?????Sushi for Lunch In Paris???????
From garth.cargin on Sat Oct 13 06:18AM
Report abuse
Finally, it's Saturday. Was it me or was that the longest 7 days ever? France won't be caught cold like Australia......this is going to be tough. Come on England, I've got the whole family coming over, in fact I think it's half the village that's coming!
From philipwhewell@btinternet.com on Sat Oct 13 09:14AM
Report abuse