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World Cup Daily - September 29 Review
Total Sport looks back on Tuesday's offering in the rugby World Cup, where Tonga met Namibia at Exeter's Sandy Park...
The World Cup Yesterday
With just the one match throughout the day, all eyes were focused on the nations of Tonga and Namibia.
The South West Africans met the Pacific islanders in Exeter in front of a gathered crowd of 10,103.
As expected, Jacques Burger came through with two tries for Namibia, in a valiant effort to pull his nation through.
However tries from Latiume Fosita, Telusa Veainu (2) and Jack Ram (2), along with two further conversions from Vunga Lilo were enough to see Tonga overwhelm their opponents and battle to a 35-21 victory.
The Big Talking Point
The World Cup is a fantastic stage for unknown players to reveal themselves to the sporting landscape, and Tuesday’s encounter certainly saw one of those occasions.
Telusa Veainu, the New Zealand born Tongan wing, left a considerable impression upon all present.
The 24-year-old was in imperial form, scoring two and setting up another, only to then be denied his hat-trick following a last-gasp Namibian tackle.
Despite standing only 5ft 10in in stature, Veainu was a giant of a man on the day, rightly earning the plaudits of fans and pundits alike in the aftermath. Covering more blades of grass than any other Tongan during the 80 minutes of rugby, Veainu could be instrumental going forward, if Tonga are to progress from pool C.
Around The RWC
The rugby community has responded to the announcement that South African captain Jean De Villiers is to retire. The 34-year-old sustained a fractured jaw during his nation’s recent clash against Samoa, ruling him out of the tournament indefinitely and forcing him to take the option of international retirement.
New Zealand icon Dan Carter took to social media to offer his thanks and admiration..
A true gentleman of the game. Honored to have played against this legend. #Repost worldrugby with… https://t.co/4rMEoIaGYm
— Dan Carter (@DanCarter) September 28, 2015
As did former All Blacks star Ali Williams.
The up most respect to one of the games great men. What a career what a man Jean de Villiers #respect
— Ali Williams (@AliWilliams_) September 27, 2015
Elsewhere on social media, Welsh international Adam Jones was clearly ecstatic to have beaten the English, so much so he strangely decided to send a tweet containing the names of prominent English figures. The tweet was soon deleted by Jones, who perhaps later thought better of his random bragging...
Inside The England Camp
Following their defeat to Wales, England are said to be using the waves of criticism heading their way as a means of uniting the camp together. A series of former players have voiced their concerns following last Saturday’s defeat, with complaints surrounding unity and leadership coming into the question.
Scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth publicly hit back at the criticism, particularly that levied at the squad by former captain Will Carling. Wigglesworth lamented Carling’s ‘ridiculous England chat’, prompting the former captain to post a YouTube video (below)explaining the reasoning behind his comments…
And Now For Something A Little Different
In other news, Dan Carter was again taking to social media… this time to announce his love of boyband One Direction. Carter uploaded a photo of himself and band member Niall Horan to his Twitter and Instagram accounts, stating how it was nice to finally meet the Irish singer, and how he was impressed to see how grounded the young man was..
Nice to finally meet @NiallOfficial & even cooler to see how grounded he still is. Thanks for the tix mate. pic.twitter.com/1D3OWLnCeM
— Dan Carter (@DanCarter) September 27, 2015
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