Weekend final in turneele din Sud

Ieri s-a jucat ultimul meci al turneului Angliei in Australia si Noua Zeeleanda. Cu o formatie mai putin omogena decat cea cu care a castigat al doilea test cu Australia, Anglia a piedut cu 28-35. Desi a condus la pauza si in repriza a doua, Anglia si-a risipit total suflul pe finalul partidei, pemitand New Zealand Maori sa revina si sa castige de maniera semnificativa, terminand in forta prin doua penalitati produse de abilul Ripia in ultimele zece minute de joc. De remarcat ca aripa, Hosea Gear, fratele mai mic al lui Rico Gear, aripa de asemenea si titular All Blacks, a marcat trei eseuri, in minutele 14, 44 si 47. New Zealand Maori se afla, astfel, la a treia victorie consecutiva in fata unor formatii galonate, New Zealand Barbarians, Irlanda si, acum, Anglia.


Sambata se vor juca ultimele meciuri din turneele sudice ale formatiilor de varf ale Europei. Tara Galilor va juca al doilea meci test, la Hamilton, cu Noua Zeelanda. Formatiile probabile ale celor doua echipe sunt urmatoarele, conform presei:
Noua Zeelanda: Mils Muliaina (Chiefs); Cory Jane (Hurricanes), Richard Kahui (Chiefs), Benson Stanley (Blues), Zac Guildford (Crusaders); Daniel Carter (Crusaders), Jimmy Cowan (Highlanders); Tony Woodcock (Blues), Keven Mealamu (Blues), Neemia Tialata (Hurricanes); Brad Thorn (Crusaders), Tom Donnelly (Highlanders), Jerome Kaino (Blues), Richie McCaw (capitan, Crusaders), Kieran Read (Crusaders). Rezerve: Aled de Malmanche (Chiefs), Owen Franks (Crusaders), Sam Whitelock (Crusaders), Adam Thomson (Highlanders), Piri Weepu (Hurricanes), Aaron Cruden (Hurricanes), Rene Ranger (Blues).

Tara Galilor: Lee Byrne (Ospreys); Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Jamie Roberts (Cardiff Blues), Tom Prydie (Ospreys); Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Mike Phillips (Ospreys); Paul James (Ospreys), Matthew Rees (Scarlets), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Bradley Davies (Cardiff Blues), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Jonathan Thomas (Ospreys), Gavin Thomas (Newport Gwent Dragons), Ryan Jones (capitan, Ospreys). Rezerve: Huw Bennett (Ospreys), Craig Mitchell (Ospreys), Deiniol Jones (Cardiff Blues), Rob McCusker (Scarlets), Richie Rees (Cardiff Blues), Stephen Jones (Scarlets), Will Harries (Newport Gwent Dragons).

Irlanda va intalni Australia in, poate, cel mai neconvingator turneu al verzilor din ultimii ani. Dincolo de faptul ca nu au aratat nimic din panasul lor din 2009, au incasat si prea multe puncte pentru o echipa cu orgoliul atat de mare ca ar irlandezilor. Formatiile de start au destule noutati, pentru ambele echipe.
Australia: James O'Connor; Drew Mitchell, Rob Horne, Matt Giteau, Adam Ashley-Cooper; Quade Cooper, Luke Burgess; Ben Daley, Saia Faingaa, Salesi Ma'afu, Dean Mumm, Nathan Sharpe, Rocky Elsom (capitan), David Pocock, Richard Brown. Rezerve: Huia Edmonds, James Slipper, Mark Chisholm, Matt Hodgson, Josh Valentine, Berrick Barnes, Kurtley Beale.

Irlanda: Kearney (Leinster); Bowe (Ospreys), O'Driscoll (Leinster, capitan), Wallace (Ulster), Trimble (Ulster); Sexton (Leinster), O'Leary (Munster); Healy (Leinster), Cronin (Connacht), Buckley (Munster), O'Callaghan (Munster), O'Driscoll (Munster), Ronan (Munster), Jennings (Leinster), Henry (Ulster).
Rezerve: Varley (Munster), Court (Ulster), Tuohy (Ulster), Ruddock (Leinster), Reddan (Leinster), O'Gara (Munster), Murphy (Leicester).

Tot sambata, Italia va juca al doilea sau test cu Africa de Sud iar Franta, in cautarea revansei dupa umilintele din 2007, va intalni la Buenos Aires Argentina, care nu a convins deloc in aceasta vara.

Africa de Sud: 15-Gio Aplon, 14-Jean de Villiers, 13-Jaque Fourie,12-Juan de Jongh, 11-Bryan Habana, 10-Morne Steyn, 9-Ricky Januarie, 8-Pierre Spies, 7-Francois Louw, 6-Schalk Burger, 5-Andries Bekker, 4-Bakkies Botha, 3-Jannie du Plessis, 2-John Smit (capitan), 1-Gurthro Steenkamp. Rezerve: 16-Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17-BJ Botha,18-Flip van der Merwe, 19-Dewald Potgieter, 20-Ruan Pienaar, 21-Butch James, 22-Wynand Olivier.

Italia: 15-Luke McLean, 14-Michele Sepe, 13-Gonzalo Canale, 12-Andrea Masi, 11-Mirco Bergamasco,10-Craig Gower, 9-Simon Picone, 8-Sergio Parisse (capitan), 7-Paul Derbyshire, 6-Manoa Vosawai, 5-Marco Bortolami, 4-Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 3-Lorenzo Cittadini, 2-Fabio Ongaro, 1-Salvatore Perugini. Rezerve: 16-Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17-Franco Sbaraglini, 18-Quintin Geldenhuys, 19-Alessandro Zanni, 20-Tito Tebaldi, 21-Riccardo Bocchino, 22-Matteo Pratichetti.


In fine in Cupa Pacificului de Sud, tot sambata, se vor juca doua intalniri intre natiuni care au inceput sa conteze din ce in ce mai mult pe scena elitelor: Fiji-Samoa si Japonia-Tonga.

Dupa acest sfarsit de saptamana ne putem odihni cam vreo doua saptamani pentru ca incepe TriNations 2010, cu meciul de foc dintre Noua Zeelanda si Africa de Sud, pe 10iulie.