3 wins out of 3 but Wales still worried
WALES still has its Rugby World Cup destiny firmly in its own hands but there is a nagging fear that despite its heroics so far it could yet be denied a quarterfinal berth.
After surviving a second-half Fijian onslaught to register a third consecutive win in the tournament and top Pool A on Thursday, the injury-plagued Welsh should already be looking forward to the knockout stages.
But the nature of the so-called “Pool of Death” means it could still all come down to their final match against Australia at Twickenham next Saturday — a scenario coach Warren Gatland knows is highly probable.
“To think you can lose one game in this pool and miss out on a quarterfinal berth — that’s how tough it is,” Gatland said after the fraught 23-13 victory over Fiji in Cardiff.
No team has ever gone out of the World Cup having won three matches since five-team pools were introduced in 2003 but after Wales failed to earn a bonus point against Fiji that is the worry in the rugby-mad nation. Only once have bonus points decided the outcome of a pool — in 2011 when France edged out Tonga and went on to reach the final — but should England beat Australia today it could come down to such slender margins again.
That is why Gatland, despite being a proud New Zealander, will be urging on Australia at Twickenham today when victory for the Wallabies will spare Wales a nerve-jangling all-or-nothing clash the following week.
“To be honest, (Australia) would do us a big favor wouldn’t they?” Gatland, whose side beat England in such gutsy fashion last week.
“It means we make the quarter-finals so it’s hard not to. If we’re being entirely selfish about our own destiny, Australia can do us a big favor on Saturday.
“It’s a bit hard for a Kiwi to be jumping up and cheering for Aussies as well. I’ll be quite neutral this weekend.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
- RSS
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证:沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证:31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证:0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证:沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证:沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.