Sunrisers Hyderabad v Chennai Super Kings MATCH 34 AT HYDERABAD 2015

Rugby World Cup 2015

Marler ruled out for rest of season

Harlequins’ director of rugby Conor O’Shea confirmed Joe Marler will not play again this season after his team had been forced to hold on desperately for victory, with surgery on a minor shoulder injury he picked up in the Six Nations the only option.

O’Shea described the injury as a “Six Nations hangover” and added: “It’s a minor one and it’s not one that is going to have an impact on him for the World Cup.”

Marler, who had seen a specialist in Manchester, was a ‘water boy’ as Quins swept aside Sale in the opening 50 minutes to build a lead of 25-6.

Sale paid for a high number of turnovers though Quins were at their sharpest, spurred on by Charlie Walker.

Every time Quins attacked they gained points through another try, first Walker and then Chris Robshaw; strikes from Marland Yarde and Danny Care followed.

When Nick Evans, who had only converted one of the four tries, added a penalty three minutes after the break, Quins looked comfortable at 25-6 up.

However, Sale, shaken up by the arrival of four substitutes, suddenly found their usual upbeat momentum at this ground and dominated the final 30 minutes.

Tom Arscott, one of the four substitutes, caught Danny Cipriani’s football-style pass to launch Sale’s comeback which grew in intensity when the wing grabbed a second in the 72nd minute.

Victory leaves Quins a point behind Sale who remain seventh and still hope to finish in the top six which would bring an automatic place in next season’s European Champions Cup.

Steve Diamond, Sale’s director of rugby, had no reason why his team had played so dismally in the first half.

“Overall, it was a fair result and we got a bonus point,” he said.

Wood: Keep the ban on overseas players

“I would not like us to back-pedal on our position as it is what we have built our team around,” Wood said. “As an England team, we have set our stall out quite early and made things clear. We have put our hat on it and we should stick to it. It could undermine some of the togetherness we have built.“Obviously I am biased in that one of the biggest candidates we are ­talking about [Steffon Armitage] plays in a similar position. Make of that what you will. But I am even more biased in that we have a guy like [back-row forward] Calum Clark here at Northampton and if he were to miss out on a World Cup training camp, it would be tough to take. Never mind me and my personal ambition, it could have an effect on the team.”Tom Youngs was the first player to voice his concerns about the possible presence of Top 14 players in the 45‑man training squad, which is due to be named next month. The Leicester hooker felt that whatever value they might bring as players would be offset by the potential divisiveness. Youngs spoke of “being pretty gutted” if “someone came in from France and took your spot”.• England must resist siren calls for Steffon Armitage • Australia relax overseas player rule ahead of Rugby World Cup“I don’t disagree with what Tom said,” Wood said. “It would be a shame and you would feel for the guys around you. It is a team game and if people start to lose faith or don’t believe in what we are doing, then people aren’t pulling in the same direction. We have got a set of ground rules that are there for a reason, and they will be undermined if we look for loopholes.”Wood admits that it is a complex issue and says that he will wholly abide by whatever decision is reached by the England management. “I am not ­saying that there is a right or wrong answer and I am sure that whatever Stuart [Lancaster] decides, we would all get on with it and make the best of it. It is our home World Cup and we would not do anything to jeopardise it.”Wood’s Northampton team-mate, Dylan Hartley, was courted by Montpellier early in the season but the hooker did not take up the offer. Wood himself has never looked into the possibility of moving to France, although he did break the mould as a young player by taking himself out of the Worcester academy to spend a year playing in New Zealand.

Japan and Uruguay overcome early scares to win

Japan and Uruguay overcome early scares to win

RWC 2015 sides Japan and Uruguay continued their preparations for the showpiece event with handsome wins over Korea and Brazil respectively

Seven-time Asian 5 Nations champions Japan kicked off the inaugural Asia Rugby Championship with a win against Korea in a high-scoring match in Incheon.

Eddie Jones' side eventually found another gear in the second half to add six tries to the three they notched up in the first half to prevail by 56-30 at the Namdong Asiad Rugby Ground. But it was the locals who were perhaps more deserving of the standing ovation given to both teams at the end of an entertaining game played in ideal conditions.

The Koreans led 17-3 after just 15 minutes and trailed by just two points at half-time as they shocked the Brave Blossoms with their tenacity at the breakdown and in the tackle.

Jang Seong Min led the way with two tries in the space of four minutes and the full-back was ably supported by Lee Myung Jun, who was outstanding at scrum-half, and his half-back partner Oh Youn Hyung, who kicked three conversions and three penalties and did more than his fair share of tackling.

“The players really gave 100 per cent in the first half,” said Korea coach Chung Hyung Suk. “I was very confident Jang would be able to show his ability and I thought Lee gave even more than 100 per cent, especially as he was playing with a shoulder injury

Choice words

Following a few choice words from Jones at half-time about improving their attitude, Japan came out a different team and Karne Hesketh – one of their better players on what was a fairly disappointing day – dotted down six minutes after play resumed, with Yoshikazu Fujita and Yu Tamura following him onto the scoresheet as Japan went 37-23 up
The Koreans, however, weren't down and centre Kim Nam Uk beat five defenders to go over in the 68th minute to rejuvenate the crowd. But their hopes of an upset or even a bonus point were dashed as Hopgood, Ryu Koliniasi Holani and Justin Ives all touched down in the final nine minutes, with Goromaru finishing the day with four conversions to add to his early penalty.

“To be honest the only thing I was really disappointed in was the attitude,” Jones said. “Before the game I thought we would either play really well for 20 minutes or not play well. And unfortunately it was the second,” though he added that in terms of his side's World Cup preparations, “this was the best game we could have had.
Japan leap to the top of the table with their 29th bonus point win since the start of the Asian 5 Nations in 2008, but the result had no impact on the World Rugby Rankings with Japan still in 11th position and Korea 24th
Hong Kong, the third side in the new tri-nations style tournament, enter the fray next Saturday when they host Korea at Hong Football Club before travelling to Japan on 2 May. Korea will have their second chance to beat Japan in the new home and away format when they travel to Fukuoka on 10 May

Brave Brazil prove tough nut to crack

Brazil led 9-8 after half an hour and only trailed by 12 points with a quarter of the match to go, but Los Teros picked up the pace in the latter stages to score four tries in the final 11 minutes and win 48-9.

Uruguay winger Jeronimo Etcheverry added to his 32-point haul from the win over Paraguay by kicking his side into a second-minute lead. But that strike was quickly cancelled out by Brazil fly-half Rafael Morales with the first of his three first-half penalty goals.

Richie McCaw has street fighting Rugby World Cup

Richie McCaw has street fighting Rugby World Cup

Former All Blacks prop Craig Dowd has allayed fears over Richie McCaw's form, saying the veteran loose forward has the experience and game for a "World Cup street fight".

McCaw's patchy play amidst a sloppy Super Rugby effort from the Crusaders has raised question marks over the 34-year-old's All Blacks claims.

But Dowd, a 60-test veteran who is now a rugby pundit with ESPNscrum.com, isn't buying into those theories, declaring: "That so many are casting McCaw aside beggars belief

 He is adamant McCaw is the man to lead the All Blacks' defence of the Webb Ellis Cup in England later this year.

"I have got no worries about Richie McCaw. There has been a lot of talk about whether he is past it, or lost a yard of pace, blah, blah, blah, it is all just … crap really," Dowd wrote in his latest column for ESPNscrum.com.

"People need to realise the Rugby World Cup is not going to be open running rugby and a try fest. It is not going to be a celebration of how the game can be played, or whether a guy is lightning quick and can beat players.

2015 Rugby World Cup

The 2015 Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament will be hosted by England^{[nb 1]} from 18 September to 31 October 2015.^[1] Twickenham Stadium in London will host the final.

England was chosen to host the competition in July 2009, beating rival bids from Italy, Japan and South Africa. The competition's organisers, Rugby World Cup Limited, had recommended England to the International Rugby Board (IRB; now known as World Rugby^{[nb 2]})^[3]

Of the 20 teams competing at the 2015 World Cup, 12 of them qualified by finishing in the top three places in their groups in the 2011 World Cup. The other eight teams qualified through regional competition. Of the 20 countries that competed in the previous World Cup in 2011, there was only one change – Uruguay replaced Russia.

Submission of interest[edit]

The International Rugby Board (IRB) requested that any member unions wishing to host this tournament or the 2019 Rugby World Cup should indicate their interest by 15 August 2008. This would be purely to indicate interest; no details had to be provided at this stage. A record ten unions indicated formal interest in hosting the 2015 and/or the 2019 events: Australia, England, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Russia, Scotland, South Africa and Wales.[4] Argentina had been reported in early 2008 as having given preliminary consideration to bidding,[5] but did not ultimately formally indicate an interest in bidding.

Of the 10 nations that had expressed formal interest, many withdrew their candidacy in early 2009. Jamaica was the first to withdraw its candidacy.[6] Russia withdrew in February 2009 to concentrate on bidding for the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens,[7] Australia and Ireland withdrew in spring 2009 due to financial reasons.[8][9] Scotland withdrew in April 2009 after they were unable to secure co-hosting partners for the tournament.[10] Wales was the last nation to officially pull out after they failed to submit a bid by 8 May 2009,[11] but Wales backed England's bid and some games will be played at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.[12]

Final bids[edit]

The final nations that bid for the right to host the 2015 Rugby World Cup were England, Japan, South Africa and Italy. Four confirmed bids was a record number for the Rugby World Cup.[6]

On 28 July 2009, the IRB confirmed that England would host the 2015 Rugby World Cup, and Japan would host the 2019 event, having voted 16–10 in favour of approving the recommendation from Rugby World Cup Ltd (RWCL) that England and Japan should be named hosts.[13][14] RWCL chairman Bernard Lapasset revealed the result on 28 July 2009 at IRB headquarters.[13]

England[edit]

In September 2007, The Guardian reported that the Rugby Football Union had decided to submit a bid. BBC News reported in February 2009 that the intent was for a solo bid from the RFU, but with the possibility of some matches being played in Scotland, Wales or Ireland.[15] It was hoped that the 2015 World Cup would add to Britain's "Decade of Sport" (including the 2012 Summer Olympics).

It was also claimed that the bid had a very strong chance of success due to the IRB's belief that the 2011 tournament might make a loss, therefore making it particularly important to ensure a profit, which was considered a strong point of England's proposed bid.[16] The chief executive of the Rugby Football Union, Francis Baron, said that the tournament will target sales of 3 million tickets. England's package was projected to generate £300m for the IRB – £220m in commercial returns from broadcasting, sponsorship and merchandising, and the £80m tournament fee

Rugby World Cup 2015 match 

The Olympic Stadium in London will host five matches at the 2015 World Cup, with only two club rugby grounds selected among the 13 venues.

The tournament opens on Sept. 18 at Twickenham, which has 10 games, including the final.

The only rugby clubs to get matches are Exeter and Gloucester, although the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff is also being used. By contrast, eight football stadiums will be used.