Page 24 - Irish Examiner USA

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24

2019 Ritchie Hoping To Few Mistakes For England
As They Dominate The Eagles
2nd, England’s progress through the group phase gathered

October Keep The Good Times momentum as they overpowered the United States 45-7 in a
match marred by a savage challenge on Owen Farrell that pro-
duced the first red card of the tournament.
Farrell, a second-half replacement at the Kobe Misaki
| Rolling For Scotland Stadium, was attempting to pick the ball up off the ground in
EXAMINER the 70th minute when he was struck by a shoulder-led charge

by flanker John Quill that caught him on the jaw.
The England captain crashed to the floor but was quickly

IRISH back on his feet as a brawl erupted with Mark Wilson leading
the shoving before being joined by a large group of his out-
raged team-mates.
Referee Nic Berry reviewed the footage and dismissed Quill,
who could have no complaints at being severely punished for
such a thuggish tackle.
Eddie Jones predicted that playing the USA would be like
facing “15 Donald Trumps – aggressive, brash, ready to take on
the world”, but the biggest challenge was dealing with the suf-
focating humidity in Kobe.
With the roof to the ground closed, the stifling conditions
made for an energy-sapping encounter for which England had
prepared with two ‘heat camps’ in Treviso in the build-up to
the tournament.
Wing Joe Cokanasiga plundered two tries and it was a more
accomplished display than the underwhelming victory over
Tonga that opened Pool C, producing a second successive
bonus-point win ahead of the key battles with Argentina and
amie Ritchie says it is been key to getting us instead going for the tries. France. C
only right Scotland sing through the last week. “We looked like scoring
Jwhen they are winning There’s been a lot of outside more than we actually did so Italy Get Second Bonus Point
after getting their World noise coming in but there has it bodes well going forward.
Cup campaign back on also been a few honest con- “We knew we needed to In Dominant Win Over Canada
track. versations inside the camp. perform this week. We all Italy made it two bonus-point wins from as many Rugby
The Dark Blues players “For us to keep each other had belief that we could so World Cup Pool B games as they beat Canada 48-7 in Fukuoka.
could be heard belting out a going has been great and the getting the job done feels The Azzurri raced into a 17-0 lead in the opening 13 min-
number of songs from inside celebrations after games like good. utes, with Braam Steyn and captain Dean Budd registering
their dressing room as they Monday’s shows just how col- “We talked about the tries.
celebrated hitting all the right lected we are.” Ireland game in the first cou- Further efforts from Sebastian Negri and Mattia Bellini,
notes during Monday’s 34-0 Scotland faced a humiliat- ple of days after the game and either side of a penalty try, boosted the advantage before the
triumph over Samoa. ing early exit after their tried to put it behind us. spirited Canadians, playing their tournament opener, pulled a
It was a moment when the shocking display against the “Obviously it got brought try back through Andrew Coe.
tension that has threatened to Irish was compounded by up a couple of times as we Federico Zani and Matteo Minozzi added two more tries for
strangle the squad in the Japan’s stunning upset win needed to react in a few areas the Italians late on as they wrapped up a comprehensive victo-
wake of their disastrous over Joe Schmidt’s men. but I think we did that on ry to which Tommaso Allan contributed three conversions and
defeat to Ireland was released. Gregor Townsend’s were Monday night. a penalty. C
And flanker Ritchie faced with requiring three “I think that’s a truer
believes those moments of bonus point wins to rescue reflection of what the team is Montoya Scores Hat-Trick As
team harmony are crucial if qualification for the last eight about than Yokohama. If we Argentina Pick Up First RWC Win
Scotland are to remain on but their display against the can back it up it will be. We
song during the rest of the Samoans at the Misaki can’t afford to flit in and out Argentina bounced back from their opening-round defeat to
tournament. Stadium has delivered the of form like we have done. France with a 28-12 victory over Tonga in Osaka.
He said: “Every time we first of those extras. “We played reasonably Two early tries from hooker Julian Montoya, both convert-
get a win we sing a couple of And Ritchie believes well in the warm-up games ed by Benjamin Urdapilleta, put the Pumas 14-0 in front after
songs just as a group to con- Scotland are profiting from but then didn’t perform at all 18 minutes of the Pool C clash.
nect afterwards and to cele- their refusal to panic in the against Ireland. We need to Argentina were gifted a third try shortly afterwards as
brate. face of that daunting chal- back this win over Samoa up Tonga failed to pick up a loose ball and center Santiago
“I think it’s important we lenge. with another good perform- Carreras raced clear for his first try for his country. Urdapilleta
do that. We talk about being “Before we went out to ance against Russia. had a simple conversion underneath the posts.
a really tight-knit group and face Samoa, we spoke about “To nil Samoa, the first The TMO ruled Urdapilleta came up short of the line after
that’s part of that. winning the game first and time they haven’t scored a 24 minutes, but Montoya plowed over to complete his hat-trick
“It was good to get the win then if the opportunity was point in a World Cup match, moments later, earning Argentina a bonus point as they made
and it was good to have that there we’d go for the four is a huge stat for us to have. it 28-0.
chance to enjoy it, especially tries,” said the back-rower, Defence is going to be a huge Tonga got on the board before the break as Leicester Tigers
in a tournament like this whose side face Russia a week part of our game going for- winger Telusa Veainu broke through following some patient
when you spend a lot of time on Wednesday and then ward, especially against Japan build-up play and Sonatane Takulua converted.
together preparing for match- Japan four days later. in the final game. David Halaifonua was denied a second try by the TMO
es. “We went in at half-time “You saw what they did to before the break as Tonga went in 28-7 down.
“When these good times 20-0 up and the bonus point Ireland so if we can defend The second half was a much tighter affair, Tonga scoring the
come around you have to got mentioned in the shed. like we did on Monday then only try of the second half, with Veainu going over again after
make the most of them. “We talked about not hopefully that will be a great great strength from Cooper Vuna. Takulua’s conversion made
“I think that team spirit has going for points so much and game.” C it 28-12, and that was how it stayed. C