1) Wales’s Tipuric gives Gatland food for thought
Justin Tipuric’s man-of-the-match performance at the Aviva Stadium reignited the debate about Wales’s most effective combination. The Osprey flanker was playing on the open-side because of an injury to Sam Warburton, the national captain for the last four years. Tipuric has the misfortune to be shadowing a player who not only wears the armband but who is one of the leading players in his position in the game. The Wales head coach Warren Gatland knows how he feels having understudied Sean Fitzpatrick on the New Zealand bench during his playing days, never once leaving it to win his cap. Wales have the option of moving Warburton to the blind-side to accommodate Tipuric, but that would mean omitting Dan Lydiate, whose 25 tackles in Dublin helped Wales to victory four years after he played a pivotal role in the World Cup quarter-final success against Ireland.
Taulupe Faletau’s ball-carrying means he will not be shifted at No8 and with Wales playing England and Australia at Twickenham in the World Cup, Saturday’s tactics were instructive: it was an away performance, risk minimised in the mission for territory. Tipuric eschewed his desire to widen the point of attacks and maintain continuity as Wales built a defensive wall the Irish struggled to breach, and was Warburtonesque in his timing and strength over the ball. It was a mature performance, and while it will likely be followed by a return to the bench, he has given Gatland something to mull over, especially if Australia opt for David Pocock and Michael Hooper in their back row. Paul Rees
2) Canada could upset the order in Pool D
Pool D may be, ostensibly, the tightest of the pools, but – just like all the others bar A – the established order is expected to prevail: imposing Ireland, questionable France, Italy, then the minnows Romania and Canada. Canada’s first win of the summer, after a miserable Pacific Nations Cup campaign that they ended winless, gives them hope of beating not just Romania, but also the flaky looking Italians. OK, the Glasgow Warriors team that went down 19-12 to Canada in Halifax on Saturday bore only a faint resemblance to the one that stunned everyone by winning the Pro12 last season. But they still put out a strong side. Tim Swinson, Kieran Low, Mike Blair and Rory Hughes are all capped internationals, as is the flanker Simone Favaro, who narrowly missed out on the Italian World Cup squad. The veteran Jamie Cudmore, who captained the side against Glasgow, led from the front in scoring their opening try and showed that his experience will be crucial among a side featuring 18 World Cup debutants, as will that of London Welsh’s former London Irish and Leicester flanker Richard Thorpe. Though the goal-kicking of Nathan Hirayama is a concern, don’t be too surprised if they pick up a first full international win of 2015 this autumn. Dan Lucas
3) Off-field turmoil could help Japan bloody some noses
It’s not been a good couple of weeks for Japan. Eddie Jones has announced that he’ll be stepping down at the end of the World Cup, prompting criticism from some quarters that this will disrupt the team. There have been questions over whether or not the proposed Japanese Super Rugby franchise, of whom Jones is due to be appointed director, will be able to participate in next year’s competition, and there have been fresh doubts over the country’s suitability to host the 2019 World Cup, with Australia emerging as a potential replacement.
The result of all this turmoil? Back-to-back cohesive, impressive wins over Uruguay: 30-8 in Fukuoka, and now 40-0 in Tokyo. The talk from the Brave Blossoms’ camp is of drawing strength from the off-field chaos and getting a win at the World Cup, with their game with the USA presumably the one they are targeting. “It probably makes the team stronger if anything, because in reality it’s up to the players to make a difference,” the captain, Michael Leitch, told the Japan Times. “The only thing that can make a difference as players in Japan is if we win at the World Cup. It doesn’t increase the pressure. It makes you work harder.” Japan won’t get out of Pool B, but they are capable of making life difficult for their opponents. DL
4) Scotland bely regimented reputation by leaving it late
Vern Cotter, the coach who seemed to have most things pinned down, said he won’t finalise his squad of 31 until the 31 August deadline and isn’t even sure of the split between backs and forwards. There is also the issue of how many “imports” he dare name. Mike Averis
5) Uruguay show that the draw needs reform
Uruguay’s opponents in Pool A: the confident hosts England, the physically domineering Welsh, Australia – the team that beat New Zealand to Rugby Championship glory – and the in-form Pacific Nations Cup winners, Fiji.
Uruguay’s warm-up results: a 70-8 aggregate loss over two matches against Japan, whose main strength is off-field chaos. Pablo Lemoine’s team, the second-lowest ranked at this World Cup, are back at the tournament for the first time in 12 years, but to say the odds are stacked against them picking up a third win is like saying that Ellen Ripley would have some difficulty getting the Nostromo spaceship home. They play with all the underdog cliches – spirit, passion, a never-say-die attitude – but in truth they are woefully ill-equipped to prevent an embarrassing rout in probably all four of their matches. There is very little for the minnows to gain from this and it calls into question the wisdom of the seeding system and the earliness of the draw. Oh, and what of the one team ranked below them at the tournament? Namibia, the perennial whipping boys (the Wikipedia page for their record at the World Cup is a desperately sad read), get to play the All Blacks. Some of these matches should be cancelled on humanitarian grounds. DL
6) Italy in abject disarray
Three weeks out and on the evidence of Saturday in Edinburgh, Italy are close to being a shambles. “I don’t know what happened today,” said coach Jacques Brunel, who has already decided against signing on for more time in Italy. “We need to get our confidence otherwise the Rugby World Cup will be tough.” MA
7) Samoa have a lot of work to do
Samoa are coming to the World Cup confident that they can build on a July performance in Apia when they gave the All Blacks a run for their money. But their warm-up against the Barbarians highlighted their deficiencies. The dismissal of Kane Thompson could be a serious blow if the lock is banned for the start of the season, and they were wobbly at the set-piece. One bright spot at the Olympic Stadium was the performance of the full-back Tim Nanai-Williams, who looks a terrific prospect from broken play. But Scotland will not lose too much sleep if they look at a video from the weekend in east London and compare it to their bravura display against Italy. Ian Malin
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