Today produced another hectic schedule of Rugby World Cup action with one of the three results crucially going Ireland's way
Pool A: Australia 65-3 Uruguay
There was movement in Pools A, B and D today with the action kicking off between Australia and Uruguay in Villa Park. Japan offered hope to the more underrated teams of this tournament with their historic win over South Africa last weekend. But Michael Cheika's side ensured that such a humiliation would not befall their side as they terrorised Uruguay with an 11 try nightmare.
Not only did Australia come away with a vital win, they also unearthed some individual accolades along the way. Man of the match Sean McMahon bagged two tries for himself while Drew Mitchell crawled over the line to become Australia's number one try scorer.
But their performance was not without flaws.Quade Cooper's navigation was substantially off-target today. The Wallaby fly-half landed a five from 11 success rate with his kicks which Cheika will be surely be fuming with when he assess this game with the team.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AUS?src=hash">#AUS</a> hand <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/URU?src=hash">#URU</a> a heavy defeat, but Cooper's kicking will be a worry for Cheika at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RWC2015?src=hash">#RWC2015</a> <a href="http://t.co/q0cWo3uF81">http://t.co/q0cWo3uF81</a> <a href="http://t.co/HnTY1Y7Z9H">pic.twitter.com/HnTY1Y7Z9H</a></p>— Newstalk Sport (@NewstalkSport) <a href="https://twitter.com/NewstalkSport/status/648159864737398784">September 27, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Pool B: Scotland 39-16 USA
After stuttering through the first half, Scotland managed to rediscover their form in the second half to overturn a seven point half-time deficit and bury the Americans in the second half with a succession of tries inside the opening 13 minutes.
Maybe it was the nine pre-match changes in personnel or maybe it was complacency, but one thing is for sure, the Scots will find it very difficult to overcome South Africa in the next round if they can't shake off their first half jitters.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Scotland brush USA aside with rousing second half performance <a href="http://t.co/H8ZLpPYiyr">http://t.co/H8ZLpPYiyr</a> <a href="http://t.co/n3VYCDh9n7">pic.twitter.com/n3VYCDh9n7</a></p>— Newstalk Sport (@NewstalkSport) <a href="https://twitter.com/NewstalkSport/status/648164214910132224">September 27, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Pool D: Ireland 44-10 Romania
Joe Schmidt's side maintained their favorable start to the Rugby World Cup with a six try feast against a hapless Romanian side. Tommy Bowe was first to draw blood, but Simon Zebo was millimeters away from inheriting that honour.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IRE?src=hash">#IRE</a> put <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ROM?src=hash">#ROM</a> to the sword with commanding bonus point victory <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RWC2015?src=hash">#RWC2015</a> <a href="http://t.co/rjWHNzr6x5">http://t.co/rjWHNzr6x5</a> <a href="http://t.co/lbufWVxSY9">pic.twitter.com/lbufWVxSY9</a></p>— Newstalk Sport (@NewstalkSport) <a href="https://twitter.com/NewstalkSport/status/648205742927925248">September 27, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
He implemented those delicious soccer skills of his to slip the ball past a Romanian opponent and collected it along the side before leaping over the line. But a consultation with TMO declared Zebo's feet were over the line while in possession which dampened the Irish roar for just a few moments.
Zebo dusted off that minor disappointment to launch himself back into the action, helping himself to two assists for the tries from Bowe and Keith Earls in the first half. Rob Kearney and Chris Henry were the other try suppliers for Ireland
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
