Last-Gasp England Send Scotland Home
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October 3, 2011 TheFreshOutlook  |
England come back to break Scottish hearts at the 2011 Rugby World Cup as Ireland and Wales secure impressive wins.
A last gasp try from Chris Ashton secured England a victory over old enemies Scotland that sent them through to the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup and the Tartan Army catching an early plane home.
The oldest fixture in international rugby carried so much weight and expectation, and, as a full-blooded affair full of passion and drama, it didn’t disappoint as the tournament really came to life over the weekend.
A dogged determination by the Scots saw them take an early lead through the boot of Chris Patterson as England’s Jonny Wilkinson suffered a torrid time in comparison, missing his first three kicks.
On the stroke of half-time, some good work by the Scottish forwards presented the impressive Dan Parks with an opportunity for a drop goal and he didn’t disappoint, giving Scotland a 9-3 lead.
Martin Johnson must have given his team a dressing down at the break in Auckland and whatever he might have said seemed to work with Delon Armitage almost going over but for an exceptional covering tackle by Parks.
Paterson again slotted a kick over to extend the lead but England hit back almost immediately with a long-range drop goal from Wilkinson.
Scotland needed to win by eight points to seal progression and having seen their lead eaten away by the man who won the Webb Ellis Trophy for England in 2003, they went searching for a try to give them the required cushion.
Yet they couldn’t break through, and their heartbreak was confirmed with four minutes to go as a looping outward pass from Toby Flood nestled in the arms of Ashton who gleefully dived over the line to complete the come-back win.
Another sluggish first half at the Otago Stadium on Sunday seemed set to cost Ireland against Italy but a remarkable second half performance soon calmed those fears.
The win took them top of Pool C and set up a mouth-watering Celtic clash with Wales in next week’s quarterfinals.
Ireland led 9-6 at half-time thanks to the exceptional kicking of Ronan O’Gara and the 34-year-old extended that lead to 12-6 with another penalty soon after the break.
Italy’s line had looked resolute until this point but Tommy Bowe finally found a gap on 47 minutes and fed captain Brian O’Driscoll, Ireland’s main man diving over for the game’s first try.
The Irish now smelt blood and a thundering run in to Italian territory by Gordon D’Arcy was well recycled and the ball found its way out to birthday boy Keith Earls who dived over.
A penalty try was not given to Bowe despite an evident pull-back on the Irish winger after some excellent football work chasing his own kick, but Earls pounced just moments later to complete the win.
Wales warmed up for that showdown with an impressive 66-0 win over Fiji that saw two tries from Jamie Roberts and further scores from Sam Warburton, George North, Scott Williams, Leigh Halfpenny, Lloyd Williams, Jonathan Davies and Lloyd Burns.
Stephen Jones and Rhys Priestland also had successful days with the boot.
But the story of the weekend went to Tonga who upset the French 19-14 in Wellington, but Vincent Clerc’s try sent France through to the quarters where they will face England.
South Africa versus Australia and New Zealand against Argentina completes the final eight line-up.
By Leigh Gruffydd Sanders
[Image courtesy of Unofficial England Rugby]
