The moment “referees” came to mind as an answer to the “What will (pleasantly) surprise?” question of the Rugby World Cup buildup, an alarm bell should have rung. It goes to show that speculation has its limits and it was high time the tournament began.
And so it has. And Jaco Peyper awarded Nikola Matawalu a try without reference to the Television Match Official and the television replays began to run in celebration of Fiji’s try against England, only for the third – an arty one from the corner – to reveal that the scrum-half had dropped the ball in the act of touching down. Officials are given discretion to use any technology available until the conversion is taken, but it does seem strange – and most unfortunate for Fiji – that they were denied by the artistic whim of the director rather than by original doubt in the mind of the referee.
The danger now is that even more will be referred upstairs. Professional rugby prides itself on stretching the ball-in-play minutes out of the 20s, into the 30s and heading for the 40s. This requires a healthy increase in the aerobic capacity of the players, but long minutes spent watching the big screen reduce the test of fitness. Rugby union is in danger of filling an entire afternoon. Gridiron by duration; gridlock in the television schedules.
Fortunately for Peyper’s standing on the islands of Fiji, Nemani Nadolo, wonderfully lachrymose at the anthems and equally inspired in mid-air, scored soon afterwards and if justice was not exactly done, then at least the imperfection in the system was nullified.
The non-try and the try elevated Fiji’s challenge from the predictably lively into the pressing and menacing, and England had to respond, never easy when the scrummage remained obstinately inefficient until the arrival of the bench. In an ideal world the replacements arrive to save exiting legs for tasks ahead and to steer the team home. Here, the bench – the Bros Vunipola and Kieran Brookes, Richard Wigglesworth, Owen Farrell and Sam Burgess – had to raise the level of the performance and Stuart Lancaster will have been greatly reassured by their ability to do just that.
The coach will, however, be left with questions about the misfiring collective strengths of his starting 15. By way of contrast, Warren Gatland – injuries from Sunday’s encounter with Uruguay permitting – knows his Wales team for Saturday’s game. With three specialist centres in the squad, Scott Williams plays on Sunday and will partner Jamie Roberts against England. Samson Lee, Sam Warburton, Luke Charteris and Liam Williams play against Uruguay because they are short on playing minutes, but will also play on Saturday. Alex Cuthbert and Hallam Amos are in a sort of trial for one place on the wing – with George North on the other.
Remarkably, Sunday’s starting scrum-half, Gareth Davies, hasn’t been in such a position for 11 months, either for his region, the Llanelli Scarlets, or his country. Injury and suspension – he was sent off against Edinburgh – have kept him off the team sheet, but he needs a game to readjust to going through the routines of a starter, not a replacement. Nobody will be watching his performance more closely than Mike Phillips, restored to the Wales squad after the injury to Rhys Webb. The return of the scrum-half, who still has his eye on going from 94 caps to 100 at this World Cup, will not have diluted the competition for the No9 shirt.
Those are the overlap players, involved in their side’s opening match and on Saturday. Everybody else – Gethin Jenkins, Ken Owens, Alun Wyn Jones, Dan Lydiate, Taulupe Faletau, Dan Biggar, Roberts and North are given a rare day of shelter. From Wales-Uruguay to Wales-England is six days; to Wales-Fiji after that, five days. Given that “uninjured” players sometimes cannot train for five days after a game, this schedule is a severe test of manpower. Before the last pool game, Wales have a decent stretch of nine days to prepare for Australia.
Are England so sure of their starting team for the Wales game? Does it matter that there is competition for places? Surely not – starters should feel under constant threat from their replacements. And one sticky performance in the tournament opener is almost inevitable. It is a pit to be avoided without mishap rather than overleapt with panache. The bonus-point fourth try was exactly that – a real bonus, a reward for the finishing 15 delivering thrust to the very end.
So, onward we must look again. That one team should know who starts and the other should be not quite so certain is simply another element to savour. Choosing referees as a pleasant surprise reveals – I do apologise – a rather alarming lack of clairvoyant power, but next Saturday will be – I promise – an occasion not to be missed, if only as an exercise in counting how many cheeks feel the fall of a tear at the singing of the anthems.
