First on the field

Wales, Argentina to kick off Rugby World Cup

Click here for more on this story

Posted: Wednesday September 29, 1999 06:48 PM

Over 70,000 are expected to fill up Millennium Stadium in Wales for the Rugby World Cup opener. Mike HewittAllsport

LONDON (Reuters) -- The first World Cup of the professional era will kick off with a deafening Welsh roar on Friday -- the start of five weeks of the fastest and toughest rugby union in history.

Hosts Wales will open the tournament against Argentina in front of 72,500 spectators at the new Millennium Stadium in Cardiff which boasts some of the most intimidating acoustics of any sports stadium in the world.

The atmosphere was intense enough when the Welsh beat reigning champions South Africa in June when the ground was half empty and half finished.

There are no plans to close the stadium's retractable roof during games -- it would be like inviting a marching band of bagpipers off the street and inside the kitchen to play.

But Welsh captain Rob Howley has already admitted he feels frightened by the prospect of playing there in the opening match of pool D. Fiji will meet Namibia in group C in Beziers in the other match of the opening day.

"I'm not trying to think about it to be honest," Howley said. "When we played South Africa in front of 27,500, it was awesome. This is completely different -- 72,500. It is quite frightening and it is the first game of the World Cup."

Once some of the one-sided first-round affairs have been completed, the rugby on offer in the next few weeks should be some of the most competitive ever -- even if it is likely to be very tight and defensive when the major nations clash.

Reigning champions South Africa showed at the last World Cup in 1995 how athletic defense is the way forward in the professional era with the game much faster and harder and the players much fitter.

Now many of the northern hemisphere nations have followed suit. The Europeans have their best chance of winning the tournament for the first time after New Zealand, Australia and South Africa dominated the first three tournaments since 1987.

Teams will have to take advantage of the few opportunities to come their way in matches between the main contenders -- New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, England and Wales. The term "big hit [tackle]" will be heard throughout the tournament.

It is fitting that the Welsh have buried a time capsule of a video of the greatest try in history -- by Gareth Edwards for the Barbarians against the All Blacks in 1973 -- under one of the stadium's stands. It belongs very much to the past.

In the modern game Edwards is unlikely to have had the space to run down the touchline and score without being tackled.

Nevertheless many of the first-round matches in the next two weeks are likely to be warm-up affairs for the top teams. One of the effects of professionalism has been to widen the gap between the big nations and the emerging nations, most of whom are still amateur.

South Africa's first-round pool A games against Spain and Uruguay, for example, are likely to be as fair as a contest between a juggernaut and a hedgehog.

But the Springboks start their campaign on Sunday with a tougher test against Scotland at Murrayfield, the same day that the All Blacks take on Tonga.

The Wallabies have a relatively easy opener against Romania on Sunday while England should beat Italy in their opening clash at Twickenham on Saturday.

Apart from England's clash with New Zealand and Ireland's match with Australia, there are few mouthwatering contests in the first round.

The competition will begin in earnest from the quarterfinal playoffs on October 20. The final takes place in Cardiff on November 6. Some of the British media have criticized organizers for failing to promote the event more in the weeks before the start. But the atmosphere is certainly building up in Cardiff. The Welsh, on a high after their run of form under New Zealand coach Graham Henry, are ready for an emotional afternoon on Friday. Cardiff will certainly hear the start of the World Cup.

 

Related information
Stories
World Cup for the best, and the rest Springboks prepare to defend World Cup title 1999 Rugby World Cup Rules & Terms
Multimedia
Visit Multimedia Central for the latest audio and video
Search our site	Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day
	Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call your cable operator or DirecTV.

Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.