Over to you, Southern Semisphere – the 2015
Rugby World Cup is yours, just as it was in 1987,1991, 1995, 1999, 2007 and 2011. Every time the tournament has been played, that is,
with the exception of the lone occasion England’s Jonny Wilkinson dropped in to deny Australia the trophy on their own soil
12 years ago.
But what a bonny fight Scotland’s perceived
no-hopers put up before losing 35-34 to a controversial
last-minute penalty decision against form team Australia. Written off
by everyone bar the Princess Royal and themselves, they seemed to be
heading for the last four when Mark Bennett’s interception try under the
posts powered skipper Greig Laidlaw and his men into at 34-32 lead amid a feast of tries at Twickenham.
Ironically, the heavens had
just opened and rain was bucketing down as Bennett dived in to restore the pride of the Shower of Scotland, last
season’s winless Six Nations wooden spoonists.
Perhaps significantly, Bennett was wearing the No.13 shirt
and after a last-minute lineout in Scotland’s own 22 went awry,
out-of-form Wallabies goalkicker Bernard Foley landed the decisive
penalty to complete the quarter-final humiliation of the Northern
Hemisphere.
Wales, France and Ireland had all been KO’d
over the weekend by South Africa, New Zealand and Argentina
respectively. Ireland, like Wales decimated by injuries to key
players, took the field at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium as favourites to beat the Pumas. But the
South Americans, who have become a genuine world power since joining
the Southern Hemisphere championship, stormed into a 17-0 lead in the
opening 20 minutes and survived a brave Irish fightback to complete
a 43-20 rout.
So who are the real winners and losers of this
amazing tournament, whose crowds already top two million? Well,
England’s failure to reach the knockout stages has to be top of the
losers list. But for me the biggest disappointment has been ITV’s
unpredictable match coverage by a hotch-potch of unknown
commentators and C list ex-players I’m not talking about the
studio panellists but the faceless voices that pipe up with drivel
like (pre Australia v Scotland) ''After the break, we’ll have the
best of Antipodean ambition and Caledonian courage’’ and (at final whistle) ‘’There will be no Caledonian quickstep on the
streets of London tonight’’.
It’s the ultimate embarrassment to see one of
these anonymous intruders thrusting a microphone in the face of a
squirming losing captain moments after the final whistle and asking: ‘How does it feel to
lose in the last minute?''
Bloody great, Jimmy - isn't it obvious?
Bloody great, Jimmy - isn't it obvious?
Bill McLaren, rugby misses you. And please
come back soon, Auntie Beeb.
