England’s preparations for the Rugby World Cup have been plunged into further chaos after Billy Vunipola was red-carded for a dangerous tackle in a 29-10 loss to top-ranked Ireland.
Vunipola, the only specialist No. 8 in England’s World Cup squad, saw his yellow card upgraded to a red by the newly introduced bunker review system after smashing his right shoulder into the face of Ireland prop Andrew Porter in the 53rd minute at Lansdowne Road on Saturday.
A disciplinary panel will determine the length of Vunipola’s suspension next week but he is in danger of missing the start of the World Cup — just like captain Owen Farrell, who missed the match in Dublin amid his own disciplinary process.
World Rugby has appealed against the decision by a judicial committee to overturn a red card handed to Farrell for his dangerous, no-arms tackle on Wales flanker Taine Basham at Twickenham last week. Vunipola’s tackle looked just as reckless.
Potentially missing two of his key players adds to the pre-World Cup woes of England coach Steve Borthwick, whose team was dominated by Ireland two weeks after losing in Wales. There was a home win over Wales in between but even that was hardly encouraging.
Ireland, on the other hand, are heading to the World Cup in strong shape, with Keith Earls’ 73rd-minute try on his 100th cap gaining the biggest roar of the evening.
It was one for the highlight reel, too, as the replacement wing took a miss-pass on the left wing and raced to the corner before placing the ball down and doing a flying forward roll at the same time.
Ireland scored five tries in total, with centres Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose going over in the first half which finished 12-3.
Vunipola’s red card meant an Ireland win was inevitable and the hosts took full advantage, adding tries through wingers James Lowe in the 55th and Mack Hansen in the 65th.
Replacement prop Kyle Sinckler burrowed over for England’s only try, in the 72nd.
“Clearly when you go to 14 men against Ireland, it becomes very, very difficult. But it was a tight battle for a long period,” Borthwick said.
“It had a bit of everything – good, bad and ugly,” Ireland coach Andy Farrell said.
Farrell added of his own side’s discipline, “it isn’t just tackling, it’s discipline in general. It’s a huge part of the game.
“We spend a lot of time on it and thankfully we seem to be doing OK in that regard.”
Jaminet stars as France beats Fiji in warm-up
Fullback Melvyn Jaminet has kicked France out of reach of Fiji as they won their Rugby World Cup warm-up Test 34-17 at Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes.
France scored three tries to two but recent Pacific Nations Cup champions Fiji – World Cup Pool C rivals of the Wallabies – closed to 14-10 in the first half and 24-17 in the second.
Jaminet, however, slotted seven out of eight goal kicks for a match haul of 19 points to make a difference.
The defence was also sturdy. After Fiji were held off the tryline in the 74th minute, French supporters sang the national anthem “La Marseillaise” to begin celebrating their 13th straight home victory, the longest in the history of Les Tricolores.
Jaminet capitalised on poor Fiji discipline to land three penalties in the first 10 minutes, and converted the opening try by hooker Peato Mauvaka.
Flyhalf Antoine Hastoy, making his first start in more than two years, freed right wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey, whose surge set up Mauvaka to power over.
Fiji hooker Tevita Ikanivere replied in kind, thanks to an accidental lineout overthrow. Flyhalf Caleb Muntz gathered and the forwards hammered the line before Ikanivere scored.
France regained the momentum when prop Uini Atonio crashed over under four Fijians to send the home side into halftime up 21-10.
Center Jonathan Danty made two crucial tackles in the second half, winning a penalty that Jaminet slotted in the 42nd and stopped a dangerous Fiji attack in the 55th. Danty and stand-in captain Gregory Alldritt were the only starters retained from the win against Scotland last weekend.
France remained under threat, and Fiji captain Semi Radradra touched down in the 50th for Fiji to trail 24-17.
The pressure from Fiji was broken in the 59th when flanker Sekou Macalou, just minutes after going on, intercepted a pass behind a lineout from scrumhalf Frank Lomani and sprinted untouched to the line.
Jaminet’s fifth and last penalty capped the scoring.
The game was the last opportunity for some players to impress France coach Fabien Galthie before he trims his World Cup squad from 42 players to a final 33 on Monday.
France plays another warmup against Australia next weekend before opening the World Cup against three-time champion New Zealand in Paris on September 8.
Fiji have a last warmup against England next weekend before starting their campaign against Wales in Bordeaux on September 10.
Superb South Africa thrash sorry Wales 52-16
Wing Canan Moodie and centre Jesse Kriel ran in a brace of tries each as South Africa flexed their considerable muscle with a thumping 52-16 victory over Wales in their Rugby World Cup warm-up fixture in Cardiff.
Adding to the visitors enjoyment captain Siya Kolisi made a successful return from long-term injury.
Wales coach Warren Gatland names his 33-player squad for the World Cup on Monday and will have learnt much about his team from this home humiliation, in which they were out-muscled up front and out-thought with ball in hand.
Perhaps it has made our selection easier,” Gatland told reporters. “We will go back to the hotel tonight and have a chat with the coaches and then a final conversation in the morning (to decide the World Cup squad).
“Possibly some of the questions we had have been answered and it’s made things a little easier. It was disappointing. The only positive is the learnings they’ll hopefully take. The disappointing thing for me was the soft tries we gave away.”
In mitigation it was an understrength team that started with a backline containing only 39 caps. Nevertheless, it was a chastening afternoon for Wales who are in Australia’s World Cup group.
The Springboks scored eight tries in all on Saturday as hooker Malcolm Marx, flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit and replacement back Damien Willemse also crossed to go with a penalty try, though they will be concerned over a high error count and some poor kicking.
They had a lot of changes in their starting line-up but we had a plan and we executed it today,” Moodie told Amazon Prime.
“Fortunately for me I’ve got the backing of the coaches and teammates to get the best of my ability. You want to make the most of the opportunities.”
“They’re some big boys and they were really tough to go up against,” Wales captain Jac Morgan said.
Kolisi played a superb 40 minutes in his first international appearance in 2023 and will hope to add to that when the Boks play old foes New Zealand in a final warm-up fixture in London on Friday.
Jaden Hendrikse and Ox Nche also appeared to come through the run-out unscathed.
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