Bolavucu ruled out of World Cup

MONTPELLIER – Fijian winger Filimone Bolavucu has been ruled out of the remainder of the Rugby World Cup with an ankle injury, team officials said yesterday.

Bolavucu aggravated the injury at training last week and has returned to his French club Brive for treatment. Coach Ilie Tabua is seeking Metro-Racing winger Sireli Bobo as his replacement.”Sireli Bobo was in the back-up squad and is here in France training with his club, so he is the natural replacement for Fili,” Tabua said yesterday.England stand between Tonga and new heights PARIS – Tonga are one victory against defending champions England from a historic place in the World Cup quarter-finals, a remarkable transformation for the small Pacific island nation.”We have one more left, one against England.It’s going to be another hard one but if we keep believing in what we have been doing we have a good chance of winning,” captain Nili Latu said on Sunday.”I said to the boys it’s all about hard work.Let’s just concentrate on ourselves.It’s a test, it’s about going about our job,” he told reporters following Tonga’s narrow 30-25 defeat by Pool A winners South Africa in Lens on Saturday.Laporte unconcerned about lack of tries PARIS – France’s lack of tries compared to the other favourites for the World Cup does not concern their coach Bernard Laporte, who breathed a huge sigh of relief when his side beat Ireland 25-3 on Friday to keep alive their interest in the competition.The 43-year-old shaven headed bespectacled handler said that it did not require a side to score plenty of tries to secure the William Webb Ellis Trophy as previous winners had shown.”From what I know, England were crowned world champions in 2003, scoring less tries than all the other major sides,” said Laporte, who will become Sports Minister once France’s interest in the World Cup is over.Argentina sitting pretty for Irish clash MARSEILLE – Argentina said they had achieved the perfect result in the 63-3 defeat of Namibia ahead of next Sunday’s crucial clash with Ireland which will decide both side’s World Cup fate.The win left the Pumas with a record of three wins from three games played after having notched up other victories over France (17-12) and Georgia (33-3) and in pole position in the eponymous “group of death.”Argentina’s place as either number one or two in the group will now be decided by the result of their final game against the under-par Irish in Paris, with France expected to beat Georgia in their game on the same day and gain a bonus point.Crucially, the team that finishes second overall in the pool are drawn against tournament favourites New Zealand in the quarter-finals in Cardiff, while the top team will likely play either Scotland or Italy.- Nampa-Reuters, AFPCoach Ilie Tabua is seeking Metro-Racing winger Sireli Bobo as his replacement.”Sireli Bobo was in the back-up squad and is here in France training with his club, so he is the natural replacement for Fili,” Tabua said yesterday.England stand between Tonga and new heights PARIS – Tonga are one victory against defending champions England from a historic place in the World Cup quarter-finals, a remarkable transformation for the small Pacific island nation.”We have one more left, one against England.It’s going to be another hard one but if we keep believing in what we have been doing we have a good chance of winning,” captain Nili Latu said on Sunday.”I said to the boys it’s all about hard work.Let’s just concentrate on ourselves.It’s a test, it’s about going about our job,” he told reporters following Tonga’s narrow 30-25 defeat by Pool A winners South Africa in Lens on Saturday.Laporte unconcerned about lack of tries PARIS – France’s lack of tries compared to the other favourites for the World Cup does not concern their coach Bernard Laporte, who breathed a huge sigh of relief when his side beat Ireland 25-3 on Friday to keep alive their interest in the competition.The 43-year-old shaven headed bespectacled handler said that it did not require a side to score plenty of tries to secure the William Webb Ellis Trophy as previous winners had shown.”From what I know, England were crowned world champions in 2003, scoring less tries than all the other major sides,” said Laporte, who will become Sports Minister once France’s interest in the World Cup is over.Argentina sitting pretty for Irish clash MARSEILLE – Argentina said they had achieved the perfect result in the 63-3 defeat of Namibia ahead of next Sunday’s crucial clash with Ireland which will decide both side’s World Cup fate.The win left the Pumas with a record of three wins from three games played after having notched up other victories over France (17-12) and Georgia (33-3) and in pole position in the eponymous “group of death.”Argentina’s place as either number one or two in the group will now be decided by the result of their final game against the under-par Irish in Paris, with France expected to beat Georgia in their game on the same day and gain a bonus point.Crucially, the team that finishes second overall in the pool are drawn against tournament favourites New Zealand in the quarter-finals in Cardiff, while the top team will likely play either Scotland or Italy.- Nampa-Reuters, AFP