Pool C qualifiers: 2011 Rugby World Cup
Thanks to Ireland’s historic 15–6 win over the 2011 Tri Nations champions Wallabies at Eden Park, Auckland, on September 17, the Irish have finished on top of Pool C of the 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC). Ireland confirmed their place in the final eight of the
2011 RWC after defeating their European rivals, Italy, in their final pool match of the tournament.
Besides, Ireland, Australia is the second team which has earned a quarter-final berth from Pool C. Ireland’s four consecutive wins includes a bonus try point win over Russia and the squad finished with 17 points on the table.
Ireland conceded just three tries and scored 15 tries, which has helped them score 135 points. Ireland displayed an impressive defensive game and gave little or no chances of scoring to their opponents. Their efforts are highlighted by the fact that they
have conceded just 34 points.
Apart from the shock defeat suffered at the hands of the Irish, the RWC title favourites, Wallabies, have been phenomenal in their remaining matches. Besides winning their remaining three games, they have also bagged three bonus points. They have scored
25 tries in their four matches so far and currently are at second place behind All Blacks, who with their 36 tries are leading the tries chart in the tournament. Wallabies have conceded 48 points but have scored 173 points.
Italy finished third in the pool with two points. Azzuri lost both their matches against the top 12 rugby union nations. However, they have comprehensively defeated Russia and United States of America (USA).
USA national Rugby Union team, commonly known as USA Eagles, finished fourth in the pool. They managed to win a single game against their archrivals Russia. They scored four tries but also conceded 18 tries. USA Eagles will be happy with the fact that they
have scored 38 points. However, their rival Bears managed better stats as they scored 57 points in their four matches.
Russians finished tournament winless and managed to register just one point on the points table. They have scored 8 tries while conceded 29, which was the highest tries conceded by a team in the pool. Russia’s best performance came in their matches against
the USA Eagles, Italy and Australia. They scored 17 points against Italy, and 22 points against Australia.
Russians earned their losing bonus point in their opening 2011 RWC encounter against the USA Eagles. The Russians need to work hard on their defence because they conceded the highest number of points in the pool and are only second to Namibia, who conceded
266 points in their four matches of the tournament.
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