Quartfinal 1: Ireland vs Wales
Posted on Friday, 7 October 2011 (11:10 am)
Ireland and Wales will be play one of their most important rugby matches in their history when they face each other at the Wellington Stadium on Saturday morning (07:00 SA time).
It’s the first quarterfinal of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, Ireland have opted for reliability and experience while Wales will count on youth and the element of surprise, it can go either way.
The decision to use Rhys Priestland at flyhalf instead of the reliable Stephen Jones has set tongues wagging but Warren Gatland is not going for comfort here, he’s trying to win a World Cup quarterfinal and sometimes you need to take some risks to achieve that.
With Shane Williams, George North and Leigh Halfpenny in the backline, Wales will not be short of speed, but they also have the grunt that is required to win the battles at the rucks with players like the captain Sam Warburton, Toby Faletau and the fearless Dan Lydiate.
The Irish will be relying on captain Brian O’Driscoll, who has been of the top players in the world for years, as well as the accuracy of flyhalf Ronan O’Gara. They have not reached the semifinals in four previous attempts and it’s these men who have to shoulder most of the responsibility to see the team through.
Then there’s flanker Sean O’Brien who seems to be an unstoppable force and has the ability to break defensive lines with ease. Did I mention the huge tackles that he puts in? Eina!
The Wellington Stadium may be nicknamed the Cake Tin but it’s not going to be a “cake and tea party” when these two sides take the field.
With this being a knockout game, neither team will want to make mistakes, especially in the early stages, but as the game opens up we will see some bruising, attacking kicks and hopefully some good running.
It promises to be a classic battle worth waking up for on a Saturday morning, but my money is on Ireland.
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on Tuesday, 25th October 2011 (11:10 pm)
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