RUGBY- blood sweat n honour

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Larkham out until last eight

CARDIFF: Australia flyhalf Stephen Larkham is out of the World Cup until at least the quarter-finals after aggravating a knee injury, coach John Connolly said.

Larkham, who injured his knee while kicking during training on Friday, missed the World Cup Group B clash with Wales yesterday as well as the group games with Fiji and Canada.

The 33-year-old, capped 102 times and playing in his third World Cup, will undergo an arthroscopy on his right knee within the next 48 hours.

carrim7

i was rooting for georgia ler.
  syg last2 minute tuh georgia nyer foward terlampau gopoh ler.
      kalo rileks sket dh leh win tht game.
good efort georgia!!!

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Fiji dream of place in quarter-finals after win over Canada

MONTPELLIER: Tonga, playing the final minutes two men down, broke a nine-match losing sequence to derail Samoa's hopes of reaching the quarter-finals with a fighting 19-15 win here yesterday.

The Tongan Sea Eagles followed up their opening 25-15 win over United States to remain unbeaten in the tournament and lie second in Group A one point behind South Africa and four points ahead of England.

Tonga now have a great opportunity of reaching their first quarter-finals at the World Cup if they can beat the faltering holders England in their last group match in Paris on September 28 after they next play South Africa.

But the Tongans almost beat themselves through their ill-discipline and playing out the remaining four minutes two players short.

Flanker Hale T Pole was red-carded in the 72nd minute and replacement Toma Toke was yellow carded with four minutes left.

Tonga had to withstand a determined finish from Samoa, but they clung on to the fulltime whistle.

It was a momentous day for Tongan rugby

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All Blacks lose to Portugal

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Latham equals Campese try record

MONTPELLIER: Full-back Chris Latham equalled an Australian Rugby World Cup record in the Wallabies' impressive 32-20 win over Group B rivals Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.

Latham scored two tries in a man-of-the-match performance as the Wallabies took charge of their group with a four-try bonus point victory over the Welsh at Millennium Stadium.

It took Latham's World Cup try tally to 10 from four matches to equal the Australian record held by wing great David Campese.

Latham is joint third in the list of World Cup try-scorers behind New Zealand's Jonah Lomu (15) and England's Rory Underwood (11).

Campese scored his tries in 15 games, but it is a remarkable comeback by the 32-year-old fullback, who only played half a Test match in July after spending the entire Super 14 season out with a serious knee injury.

Latham played just one match in his previous two Cup campaigns as he was understudy to Matt Burke in 1999 and Mat Rogers in 2003.

He scored a try on his tournament debut against USA in 1999 and crossed for a national record five against Namibia in 2003.

Latham's two tries against Japan in Lyon last week, and two against Wales, underlined how quickly he has returned to top fitness and peak form after a knee reconstruction, suffered in Super 14 pre-season training for Queensland Reds.

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England抯 Noon out of World Cup

VERSAILLES: England centre Jamie Noon has been ruled out of the remainder of the World Cup with a knee injury sustained during the champions' 36-0 defeat against South Africa on Friday, team doctor Simon Kemp announced at the squad's hotel here yesterday.

揓amie Noon sustained a grade two strain to the medial collateral ligament on his left knee, the ligament on the inside of the knee,

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France recover poise Hosts thrash Namibia

PARIS: Hosts France recaptured their poise, power and pace on Sunday in a record 87-10 win over Namibia nine days after they were upset by Argentina in the opening World Cup match.

A team showing 12 changes from the side who lost 17-12 to the Pumas ran in 13 tries in the Pool D match to better their previous highest overall win, a 77-10 victory over Fiji in 2001.

Lock Sebastien Chabal, who came off the bench in the Argentina match, scored two tries greeted with sustained applause by the Toulouse crowd in the heartland of French rugby.

  

You can抰 catch me: Sebastien Chabal of France charges through to score a try during the World Cup Group D match against Namibia on Sunday.

Three Pacific Island nations were in action earlier in the day with Tonga recording a memorable 19-15 win over Samoa in Montpellier in Pool A and Fiji defeating Canada 29-16 in Cardiff in Pool B.

Tonga's victory threw their group wide open with South Africa heading for first place and defending champions England and the two Pacific nations battling for the other quarter-final spot.

The French, who froze against Argentina at the Stade de France, relished the opportunity to run the ball against a Namibia side reduced to 14 men when number eight Jacques Nieuwenhuis was sent off in the 19th minute.

It was the second red card of the day after Tonga's Hale T Pole became the first man to be sent off in the tournament.

Tonga finished the game with 13 players after replacement Toma Toke was sent to the sin-bin but their greater urgency and commitment proved too much for a Samoa side who may have had one eye on next Saturday's match against England.

Fiji profited from a controversial decision by the video referee which denied Canada a second half try.

Then, after closing the margin to six points, the north Americans scrambled to centimetres of the try line, only to lose the ball and watch helplessly as fullback Kameli Ratuvou ran the length of the pitch to score and secure a bonus point for his side.

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Tonga抯 quarter-final dream still alive

MONTPELLIER: Tiny Tonga have realised two dreams and there's one more still to come if they can defy the odds and knock aside holders England for a quarter-final spot at the Rugby World Cup.

The Tongan Sea Eagles shocked their fancied Pacific Island rivals Samoa 19-15 to remain unbeaten in the tournament after knocking over United States 25-15 here last week.

The unbeaten Tonga have eight points and lie second in Pool A one point behind South Africa and four points ahead of England.

Tonga now have a great opportunity of reaching their first quarter-final at the World Cup if they can beat the faltering holders England in their last group match in Paris on September 28 after they next play South Africa (next Saturday in Lens).

Inspirational skipper Nili Latu typifies the fighting spirit in the Tongan ranks as he looks ahead to bringing off a mighty achievement over the next fortnight.

揟here's a simple answer: where's there's life, there's hope,

pedon

copy and paste merata-rata...

carrim7

biase ler tuh.
   anyway maner dak2 ruggers yg lain nih lamer tk nampak ler...

muor76

ade nih.. aku baca jerk... hheheh nak ulas pepanjang tak reti ler pulak.. huhuhuh

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New Zealand not the All Blacks for Scotland match

AIX-EN-PROVENCE: New Zealand players will not be wearing black shirts at a World Cup game for the first time in 12 years when they face Scotland on Sunday but said it would not put them at any disadvantage.

As the home team, Scotland have chosen to wear their traditional dark blue jerseys for the Pool C match at Murrayfield meaning that New Zealand will have to don their silver-grey second strip to avoid a colour clash.

The last time New Zealand wore a non-black jersey at the tournament was against Scotland in the 1995 quarter-finals. Wearing white did not appear to hurt them as they won 48-30.

揥e're still playing for New Zealand and running out with the same guys. I guess it won't make a difference, but we'll see,

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Italy抯 Troncon set for his 100th cap

PARIS: Scrumhalf Alessandro Troncon will win his 100th Italy cap in their World Cup Group C match against Portugal at the Parc des Princes in Paris today.

Troncon, a 34-year-old at his fourth World Cup, was included in the side announced by coach Pierre Berbizier at the squad's St-Remy-en-Provence base in the south of France on Monday.

He started Italy's first pool match, a 76-14 rout by New Zealand in Marseille, and came on as a replacement in the 24-18 win over Romania to take his caps tally to 99.

Troncon, one of eight changes from the starting line-up against Romania, one of them positional, is partnered at halfback by Roland De Marigny.

  

Troncon: The 34-year-old is playing in his fourth World Cup.

揟here are some injured players and we made our decision with that in mind,

carrim7

rite now tk sabor nk ngk france vs ireland n all blacks vs scotland.

all blacks akan pakai baru away die for the 1st time since world cup 95...kalo tk silap aku ler.

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All Blacks expect tough test from any Scotland side

AIX-EN-PROVENCE: New Zealand captain Richie McCaw expects his side to be given a tough test by Scotland even if their opponents put out a second-string side in Sunday's match at Murrayfield.

揑 think we'll get a good workout regardless,

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England抯 Wilkinson reveals his World Cup fears

VERSAILLES: Jonny Wilkinson has admitted he feared his latest World Cup was over before it began after suffering another setback in an injury-plagued career since he landed the drop-goal that secured victory in the 2003 final.

The outside-half was included in England's team to play Samoa in Nantes on Saturday after he sustained a right ankle ligament strain during the squad's first training session in France.

Wilkinson, 28, then had to watch from the sidelines as the team began their campaign with a mediocre 28-10 win over the United States before they were thrashed 36-0 by South Africa on Friday

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Aussies eye revenge

MONTPELLIER: It is rare if not unprecedented for any Australian to cheer for England but the Wallabies are suddenly hoping their oldest rivals find some form at the World Cup.

England are in danger of making a humiliating early exit from the tournament after their 36-0 loss to South Africa on Friday but the Australians do not want them to go, at least not yet.

The Wallabies have their fingers crossed that England will win their remaining two group games against Samoa and Tonga to reach the quarter-finals, where they will almost certainly play each other.

But that is where the charity ends.

The Australians are still smarting from their agonising last-minute loss to England in the 2003 World Cup final in Sydney and want nothing more than to knock the defending champions out of this tournament.

揂 few people have said we won't play against England but personally I'd like to play against England in another World Cup,

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Fiji may field second stringers against Australia

MONTPELLIER: Fiji are considering fielding a weakened team in Sunday's World Cup match against Australia to save their best players for the following game against Wales.

The Pacific Islanders are currently level with Australia on 10 points at the top of Group B after defeating Japan and Canada and coach Ilie Tabua believes their best chance of making the quarter-finals comes from beating Wales.

揔nowing that our following match is a three-day turnaround, we need certain players rested and we need to vary it around knowing that Australia would have looked at all our games so far and assessed all our players,

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Fiji may field second stringers against Australia

MONTPELLIER: Fiji are considering fielding a weakened team in Sunday's World Cup match against Australia to save their best players for the following game against Wales.

The Pacific Islanders are currently level with Australia on 10 points at the top of Group B after defeating Japan and Canada and coach Ilie Tabua believes their best chance of making the quarter-finals comes from beating Wales.

揔nowing that our following match is a three-day turnaround, we need certain players rested and we need to vary it around knowing that Australia would have looked at all our games so far and assessed all our players,

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Hogg scores three tries in Scotland win

EDINBURGH: Scotland flanker Allister Hogg scored three tries in an impressive 42-0 win for the home side over Romania in their World Cup Group C match at Murrayfield on Tuesday.

Hogg scored in the 17th minute, secured a bonus point for the Scots with their fourth try five minutes after halftime and completed his hat-trick seven minutes later.

The victory will put the Scots in good heart for the match against tournament favourites New Zealand on Sunday.  

  

Getting there: Scotland's Rory Lamont (centre) powers his way past the tackle of Romania's Ionut Tofan (left) to score his second try against Romania as team-mate Chris Cusiter watches during their World Cup match on Tuesday

From the kick-off Scotland set up a rolling maul that seemed unproductive until flyhalf Dan Parks used the possession with a towering kick that put the Romanian defence in trouble.

When the ball spilled loose wing Chris Paterson pounced for the score, before making it a seven points contribution with a difficult conversion.

Romania had a chance to reply only for Ionut Dimofte to pull his attempted goal kick to the right. The Scots too missed a scoring opportunity when Paterson was hauled down a metre short of the try line.

When Scotland's forwards tested their muscle power against the tough Romanian pack from a driven lineout Hogg claimed his side's second try, Paterson converting from wide out.

Breaks by Simon Webster and Sean Lamont showed the Scots' potential, realised four minutes before halftime when inside centre Rob Dewey, taking a reverse pass, threatened the Romania line.

When the ball was recycled, Parks was on hand to supply a long pass to Rory Lamont for the fullback to crash over for Scotland's third try, Paterson's third successive conversion giving the Scots a 21-0 interval lead.

But when replacement Romanian scrumhalf Velentin Calafeteaunu had his kick charged down, Simon Taylor showed his skills with a clever flip to Mike Blair, before Hogg raced over for the bonus-point try. Paterson converted again.

With the four-try barrier broken, Scotland were able to relax and soon added another score as Simon Webster supplied the pass for Hogg to complete his hat-trick.