The Wheat has been separated from the Chaff! The last sixteen have emerged to take their Quarter Final spots but who were the Wheat and who were the Chaff?

The last week of the pool round had some scintillating match ups with Scotland needing to get at least one victory from two very tough encounters against Argentina and England. New Zealand had to face their World Cup boogey team France to win their Pool and Ireland just had the thorny little task of beating Italy to advance.

The week got underway with Australia facing a weakened United States in Wellington. The US coach Eddie Sullivan chose a second string US side to face Australia due to the Eagles hectic schedule. Eagles had little chance of turning over one of the competitions early favourites, and with the Wallabies running in 11 tries to one, the chances of an upset lasted only until the two teams walked on to the field.

Aussies, Rob Horne and Rocky Elsom scored for the Wallabies, before they were surprised by a JJ Gagiano’s try for the US. The two times World Champions Australia, then put the Americans to the sword, as Kurtley Beale and Anthony Faingaa ensured Australia earned a bonus point by half-time. The Aussies stepped up a gear in the second half, running in seven unanswered tries, including a six-minute hat-trick from Adam Ashley-Cooper, to secure all five points from the match with a 67-5 victory.

England took a more assured step towards the Quarter Finals as they trounced Romania 67-3 with returning from injury winger Mark Cueto scoring a hat-trick along with Chris Ashton. Jonny Wilkinson seemed to be returning to better form as he converted three tries with his trusty boot along with a penalty conversion before being replaced by Toby Flood who also had a superb outing with his boot. The Six Nations champions seemed to be on better form after a couple of error strewn games earlier in the tournament but they would need to in much better form to face Scotland in a crunch final match in the Pool stage for both sides.

Hosts New Zealand went head to head with France to see who would be the winners of Pool A. Les Bleus had famously knocked out the All Blacks from the 1999 and 2007 World Cups, but with rumors of France possibly throwing the game, so they would have an easier run in, in the knock out stages the tie was highly charged. The Hosts weathered the early pressure from Les Bleus but were never truly troubled by their old nemesis, as they ended up clear winners 37-17 at full time.

Ireland kept their chance of winning Pool C with a emphatic victory over Russia as they easily earned their bonus point to go with the four for winning the tie 62-12. The Irish scored nine tries with Ronan O’Gara scoring an impressive six conversions and a penalty kick. The victory left them in control of the Pool and an important test against Italy to see who would be the winner of the group between them and Australia.

Minutes after Ireland had all but secured their place in the Quarter Finals their Celtic cousins Scotland had a tough task of their own to secure a place in the last sixteen of the tournament. The Scots had to face an ever improving Argentina side. The Southern Hemisphere nation have steadily improved over the years and will finally get its inclusion in the Tri-Nations in 2012, as they become the Four Nations, with a possible Pacific Islands team to make a fifth nation in the future.

Argentina had run England very close in their opening game and would look to make Scotland’s road to the Quarter Finals as difficult as possible, as they did with a dour 13-12 victory over the Scots. Both teams made life difficult for themselves with a number of errors that gifted their opponent’s chances to put themselves on the board but points seemed hard to find for the two nations, as Scotland’s Chris Patterson and Felipe Contepomi of Argentina, who had given the Pumas the lead despite Scotland’s early pressure missed a number of penalty opportunities.

Scotland survived an early scare as Martin Rodriguez sliced wide a simple drop-goal attempt in front of the posts during the first spell of Argentine pressure. Rodriguez missed another stellar chance from a drop goal attempt just after Contepomi put the Pumas on the score board. Scotland did pull level with the Pumas before the half as the Argentine forwards collapsed the scrum to give Patterson another chance in front of the posts, and this time he did not fail to hit the target.

After the restart Ruaridh Jackson then gave the Scots the lead with a Penalty conversion of his own after another collapsed scrum. The Argentinians pulled level as Contepomi made amends for a failed penalty conversion as the Scots collapsed a scrum of their own. Scotland applied the pressure and went close as scrum half Rory Lawson was held up on the line by some stalwart Argentine defending. A minute later, a beautifully controlled drop-goal from Jackson restored the Scots’ three-point lead.

Dan Parks replaced Jackson with 10 minutes remaining and, after a monster kick deep into Argentine territory, slotted over a drop-goal that appeared to put Scotland in the driving seat. However, Argentina swept up the field and Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino jagged inside Paterson on the touchline and squirmed inside two more tackles before getting over the try line for an superb try that was converted by Contepomi.

In the dying minutes of the tie, Parks came close to steeling it for the Scots as he sliced wide with a drop goal attempt after being forced on to his weaker left foot by an offside-looking Contepomi, but there was to be no whistle other than the final one from the referee.

Wales not to be out done by Ashton, Cueto and Ashley-Cooper got a hat-trick scorer of their own in Scott Williams in their easy 81-7 victory over Namibia. The Welsh running up an impressive 12 tries to give them the full five points form the match and leave them needing a victory over Fiji to claim their Quarter Final spot.

In other matches Japan and Canada had the first tie of the tournament as they drew 23-23 in Napier. Italy kept on target for a place in the Quarter Finals as they beat the USA 27-10. Georgia beat Romania 25-9 to give the Romanians the ignominy of the Pool B wooden Spoon. The South Africans took a lazy ride through the Samoans as they ran out 13-5 winners to claim top spot in Pool D.

With only two days of Pool action left there were two crunch mates still to play out of the six remaining games on the last Pool weekend. Scotland had a myriad of permutations if they were to win a place in the quarter finals but ultimately they had to hope that they could beat England and prevent England from getting a bonus point to stand any chance. Whilst Ireland had to beat Italy to claim their place in the Quarter Finals as well, but after their historic victory over Australia earlier in the tournament is was Ireland’s to lose.

Despite the hype of an Italy upset before the kick off the Irish easily saw off the Italian threat with a stunning 36-6 victory to win all their pool matches and head the Pool C table over heavily favoured Australia. Scotland on the other hand were not so lucky.

Needing to beat England and prevent their old rivals from claiming a bonus point they failed dismally as the English stumbled to yet another World Cup victory 16-12. The game was over shadowed by the wet and blustery conditions that made handling a major issue for both sides in Auckland. Scotland will count themselves unlucky that they couldn’t put the game to bed as the English gave way numerous penalties in scoring positions for the Scots and failed to put away scoring opportunities of their own.

The Scots had the advantage at the half with a 9-3 lead but whatever England coach Martin Johnson put in his player’s tea certainly did the trick as England came out a new team. Despite some ranging runs from the English backs, the Scottish defence held out and after another error from the English the Scots extended their lead from the boot of Patterson. The tie was in Scotland’s hand but the every present drop goal threat of Wilkinson bore fruit as on 63 minutes the English pulled three points closer. The Scottish line out failed near the Scottish touchline as Wilkinson again gave the English a lifeline from his boot to put the English within three points. However, with England trailing 9-12 and the game entering its painful finale for Scotland, English replacement Toby Flood threw a devious miss-pass to Ashton on the right wing who dived over to end Scotland’s hopes, with Flood adding the extras from the touchline.

The rest of the weekends fixtures were games to make up the number as the Pools had all but ended as expected, Australia routed the Russians 68-22, Argentina rested a few first team players as they ran out 25-7 winners over Georgia. The Welsh continued their fine form as they demolished Fiji 66-0 in Hamilton and New Zealand took a leisurely stroll to beat Canada comfortably 79-15.

In contrast to the majority of tier one nation’s relatively easy passage to the Quarter Finals, the French failed to qualify in style, as they suffered an ignominious 19-14 loss to Tonga. The loss meant that Les Bleus limped into the Quarter Finals, with Marc Lievremont’s side in disarray after a fine start to the Pool stage of the completion.

So the cream of world rugby has risen to the top and the only shock is the omission of Scotland from the Quarter Finals but for Argentina it is a well-deserved spot in the last 16 after some combative and spirited rugby. The Quarter Finals have separated the Northern Hemisphere sides from the Southern, meaning that it will be a North versus South World Cup Final.

The 2003 winners England have looked less then sterling in their Pool play and can count themselves lucky to have squeaked through, after some awful displays. France has also looked like a disjointed team bereft of originality and clearly not at the races in their last two outings. Ireland and Wales both look like they can beat anyone on their day, unfortunately one of them will miss out on a Semi Final spot.

Reigning champions South Africa have a formidable test against Australia but New Zealand will be quite happy that they be playing Argentina in the Quarter Final and hoping that their possible Semi Final opponents have a very tough match. However, the teams got to the Quarter Finals it is now that the real World Cup starts in earnest.

Pool A
1. New Zealand
2. France
Pool B
1. England
2. Argentina
Pool C
1. Ireland
2. Australia
Pool D
1. South Africa
2. Wales

Quarter Finals

Ireland Vs Wales
England Vs France
South Africa Vs Australia
New Zealand Vs Argentina

IRB Rugby World Cup – New Zealand 2011 – Final Pool Week Round Up. is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Australia collapse another scrum to nullify a dominant Ireland

The 2011 Rugby World Cup got its first upset of the tournament as the Irish turned over Australia in a thriller at Eden Park, Auckland. The United States recorded their first win as they beat Russia, and reigning champions South Africa and host’s New Zealand sustain their dominance in their pools.

The United States had come off the back of a fine performance in their defeat to Ireland to face a Russia side that has one eye on improving their performance as Rugby Sevens is to be included in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The USSR had regularly beaten the likes of Italy in the 1970’s but with the decline of the Soviet Union their players had spread to the four corners of the broken up Soviet Union.

The Eagles outperformed the Bears on their World Cup debut, under horrendous conditions with the wind and rain lashing the Stadium Taranaki in New Plymouth. Russia got off to a fantastic start, as Yury Kushnarev kicked Russia’s first World Cup points from a penalty after only three minutes. Ultimately though, despite the early lead the debutants ended up losing 13-6 to the stronger American side. Russia’s coach, ex-Sale head coach Kingsley Jones would have been pleased with the stalwart defensive play of his charges who despite an overwhelming size difference in the pack managed to hold the Americans to one try in the first half, and prevented them scoring any in the second half.

For Russia their second match of the week was against a slightly stronger side than the US, in the shape of Italy. The Italians needed to rack up some points if they wanted to challenge Ireland and Australia for one of the two quarter final berths from Pool C. Unfortunately for Russia that is exactly what they did. As the ran out clear winners with a 53-17 victory to claim all five points up for grabs and claim their first victory of the tournament and leave Russia squarely at the foot of Pool C.

The Pool was thrown wide open for Italy as Ireland pulled off a fantastic mauling of the Tri-Nations Champions Australia at Eden Park, Auckland. The Aussies had gone into the match up as clear favourites but the Irish who have stuttered in the last couple of years produced some of the form that gave them the Six Nations, Grand Slam in 2009 to record an historic victory by 15-6. The Wallabies were without their playmaking flanker David Peacock and influential hooker Steven Moore, but the front five of Ireland would have made it difficult for any team out there, with their total dominance.

The other home nations came through relatively unscathed from their ties but England coach Martin Johnson will not be pleased with the manner of his team’s victory over Georgia. England stuttered through their match, winning 41-10, scoring six tries to gain the extra point but it was only the fitness levels of the English that told at the end to allow them the dominant victory, as they only led 17-10 at the half. Johnson will be hoping that his charges concentrate more on their team performance then their late night partying after a number of them were caught drinking late into the night at a local night club.

The Welsh are sitting in third place in Pool D, after a narrow 17-10 victory over second placed Samoa. In previous World Cup’s the Welsh have struggled to defeat the Samoans but with only Fiji and Namibia to play the Welsh will be feeling confident of moving onto the quarter final stages for the first time since 2003. However, they will be mindful that it was a 38-34 loss to Fiji that stopped them qualifying for the quarter finals in the last World Cup.

Scotland did not play this week but there has been some grumbling in the Scottish camp that their most difficult games come in the span of five days against Argentina and England. However, with nine points in the bag and joint top of Pool B with England, a berth in the quarter finals is theirs to lose.

In other matches the hosts New Zealand gave Japan a 83-7 thumping as they continued their dominancy in Pool A. New Zealand’s main rivals for winners of Pool A, are the French who gave Canada a thumping of their own as they ran out 46-19 winners. The two giants of pool face off next week as the All Blacks and Le Bleus attempt to top the pool, but speculation is rife that the French who have knocked out the All Blacks in recent World Cups are going to play a second string starting XV, in an attempt not win, with the hope of an easier route to the final.

Reigning champions South Africa trounced poor neighbours Namibia 87-0 in Pool D, to all but guarantee their place in the last eight of the tournament but with only second placed Samoa to play it is their berth in the quarters to lose.

In the battle for the wooden spoon in Pool A, Japan were on the end of another loss as Tonga beat the Cherry Blossoms 31-18 and in Pool B, Argentina beat the pool’s whipping boys Romania 43-8 to leave themselves still in the hunt for a quarter final spot at the expense of either England or Scotland.

The second week of ties has shown that the established nations will beat the tier 2, nations, in the Rugby World 99 times out of a 100. This has led to a call in some quarters for the exclusion of the emerging nations from the actual finals. However, this would be wrong. For many players from the lesser rugby playing nations it is a chance to play in some of the finest rugby stadia in the world, in front of thousands of fans. It is a chance to pit their wits, energy and skills against the world’s finest rugby playing athletes. It is a chance at glory, a chance to cause an upset and maybe a chance to be seen by a scout from one of the world’s professional clubs and turn professional.

For the established nations these games are vital, they give the teams a chance to come together as a squad for over two months, a chance to iron out kinks in their games, a chance hone their skills so that when they (barring a humiliating defeat) reach the quarter finals they should be firing on all cylinders. The coaches should know who their ideal first XV is. They should know what tactics they should be employing as they take on their top flight opponents and whether they actually have a cat in hells chance of winning the tournament.

Rugby World Cup – New Zealand 2011 – Week Two Round Up is a post from: Anglotopia.net

The Telegraph is reporting that the Canadian Military will have the Royal title restored to it for the first time since 1968.

From the Telegraph:

The Liberals removed the “royal” designation in 1968 when they amalgamated the branches of service and called the military the Canadian Forces.

General Walter Natynczyk, chief of the defence staff, announced the decision to bring back the word “royal” for the official names of the two branches of the military in a memo posted on Monday on the military discussion site Milnet.ca.

The initiative to restore the names of Canada’s former services “is aimed at restoring an important and recognisable part of Canada’s military heritage,” Gen Natynczyk said.

“These were the services that fought and emerged victorious from the Second World War and Korea and contributed to the defence of Europe and North America from the early days of the Cold War. These were also the services that paved the way in terms of international peacekeeping missions.”

Source.

Canada’s Armed Forces to Get a Little More Royal is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Canada is gearing up for the tour of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Heritage Canada have released a cool iPhone app that will help you keep up with their journey.

The app features the detailed tour itinerary, a photo gallery, connections to Facebook and Twitter updates about the royal tour, as well as virtual postcards for royal watchers to send.

This will be a handy little application as we cover their first official tour starting Thursday.

Here’s a few screenshots:

The app is free – click the button below to download:

Royal Couple: Canada Heritage Releases iPhone App to Keep up with Will & Kate’s Royal Tour is a post from: Anglotopia.net

St James Palace snuck out the details of William and Kate’s upcoming trip to Canada and the USA on Monday (a holiday in the UK).

They have a pretty packed trip ahead of them – covering over 17,000 miles of North America.

Some trip highlights include participating in Canada Day celebrations, visiting Anne of Green Gables country (Prince Edward Island) and visiting a rodeo.

Here’s a breakdown of the Will and Kate Canada Itinerary:

• the National Capital Region (Ottawa, Ontario, and Gatineau, Quebec) from June 30 to July 2;
• Montréal, Quebec, on July 2;
• Québec City, Quebec, on July 3;
• Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, from July 3 to July 4;
• Summerside, Prince Edward Island, on July 4;
• Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, from July 4 to July 6; and
• Calgary, Alberta, from July 6 to July 8

The theme of the Royal Tour is “Moving Forward Together.” As this will be an official State Visit – Canada will be footing the bill for the Canadian portion of the trip.

On July 8th, they’ll head to California for a 3 day visit to the USA in the Los Angeles area. No word yet on the itinerary for the US portion of their trip. The good news is that they’re scaling back plans to meet loads of celebrities and keep it focused on work.

Official Statement from St James Palace:

The 2011 Royal Tour of Canada by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will give the Royal Couple the opportunity to visit every region of the country—east, centre, west, and north—on their first official tour as a married couple. It will enable them to meet as many Canadians as possible and, in the process, come to know Canada even better. It is hoped that, upon their departure, they will come to regard Canada as their second home—a term of endearment often used by The Queen to describe her special bond of affection for and pride in this country, which has developed over many years since her first tour of Canada as a princess in 1951 at the age of 25.

The planned events of the Royal Tour will highlight the ‘Canadian Continuum’ by focusing on a unique combination of what Canadians have accomplished together (the past), how Canadians define themselves through active service (the present) and why Canadians will continue to strive to attain other goals and aspirations (the future). Just as the Royal Couple reflect the generational continuum and vitality of the Canadian Crown, the various events will include those who have built the country (for example, seniors, veterans, and community leaders); serve to reinforce shared values (such as volunteers, artists, and the military); and even now prepare for the many challenges and promises of the future (youth).

The tour will also serve to reinforce the significant milestones already celebrated by Canadians and usher in Canada’s future milestones, moving toward the 150th anniversary of confederation in 2017.

Source.

Stay tuned to Anglotopia for the latest coverage of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s first official tour.

Royal Couple: Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Canada and USA Itinerary Details Released is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Image by Saül Gordillo via Flickr

Queen concerned that United Kingdom will be broken up

With the election of Alex Salmond to his second term as Scotland’s First Minister, the Queen is said to be worried about the breakup of the kingdom.

Salmond made a speech to the Scottish Parliament saying he wants Scotland to have more influence in Europe and wants his nation to stand with England “as equals.” Salmond has said he wants to stage a referendum for a possible separation of Scotland from England, Northern Ireland, and Wales.

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Cranky Quebec MNA bristles at cost of welcoming ‘parasites’ Will and Kate

Amir Khadir, a Québec Solidaire member of the province’s National Assembly, is not chuffed. At all.

William and Catherine plan to visit Montreal and Quebec City July 2 and 3, after spending Canada Day in Ottawa. This upcoming Canadian visit by the new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge has caused this “outspoken” politician to declare them “parasites”.

All of the world’s media will descend on these areas to follow the newlyweds, so isn’t that beneficial? It will highlight good ties between nations (great!) as well as promoting Canada (more great). Amir Khadir doesn’t think so.

Read More…

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Middletons win deal to sell Justin Bieber merchandise

The Middleton family business, Party Pieces, is getting a slice of teeny-bopper life.

Party Pieces has recently inked a lucrative deal to sell Justin Bieber merchandise. The set costs £20.89 and includes plates, cups, napkins, banner and balloons for up to 16 guests.

If you’re not a fan of Bieber, then perhaps an Utterly Scrumptious Vintage Tea Party is right up your alley?

Royal Round Up 6-1-2011: Middletons Catch Bieber Fever; Québéc Politician Says NON; Queen Fears U.K. Dissolution is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Lots of really cool Anglophile links this week. From some interesting facts about England, old pictures of England to a funny site about Canadians.

Britain as Seen by a German:

This series of photos is from the Daily Mail. It’s a series of pictures of England taken by a German Photographer – who just happens to catch the REAL England.

From the Article:

This is an era on the edge of remembered history, a time when people wore suits to paddle in the sea and when no man would step outside without a hat.

As these enchanting pictures show, the England of yesteryear can seem almost to be a foreign land. So it is perhaps fitting that they were taken by a German emigre, Hans Gohler, who fled the Nazis in 1933 and headed for Britain, changing his name to John Gay and setting up home in North London.

Glorious Pictures by a German who Did Capture Britain

Interesting Facts about England from Eupedia:

This page from the Eupedia – An Encyclopedia about Europe – features many fascinating fact about the UK.

Such as:

England is 74 times smaller than the USA, 59 times smaller than Australia and 3 times smaller than Japan. England is however 2.5 times more populous than Australia, and 1.5 times more populous than California. With 2.5 times less inhabitants than Japan, its density of population is slightly higher than the country of the rising sun.

Trivia about England

How to Spot a Canadian:

This tongue and cheek site seeks to help outsiders with the difficult task of identifying a Canadian.

Their rationale:

Canadians are a tricky people to distinguish. They are often able to blend into a society and appear to be American, British, French or any other number of nationalities. This site will provide you with some tips and tricks to help you recognize a Canadian no matter where you are.

How to Spot a Canadian

The London Traveler Blog:

This is a pretty cool site for Anglophile that is solely focused on London Travel. Some well written article and good tips for potential London travelers.

From a recent post:

The V&A is fascinating, and full of beautiful things. The Geffrye Museum with its marvellous furniture, and imaginatively reconstructed rooms of different periods, is always worth a visit. I still haven’t managed to explore the whole of the British Museum. But this is my favourite.

It’s quirky. It’s individual. And it’s all the work of one man, Sir John Soane.

The London Traveler

Amazing Australia:

Planning a trip to Australia? Have no where to start? Check out this pretty cool site. Lots of information on travel in Australia and lots of info on getting good deals.

From the site:

Everybody knows Australia is an amazing country, but on arrival travellers often find it is even more amazinger than they had expected.
On this Aussie website you can find accommodation, flights and tours in Australia, but also have a laugh and learn about the amazing, interesting, funny or bizarre aspects that most of the serious travel websites don’t cover.
Enjoy our website and our amazing country !

Amazing Australia

Anglophile Links: Weekly Roundup is a post from: Anglotopia.net