Top group goal scorer world cup 2018

When All Blacks prop Tyrel Lomax, prone on the Twickenham turf, first looked down at his injured leg and could see exposed thigh muscle, his first thought was: “That’s my World Cup over.”

Now it is just about to begin, with the rugged tighthead prop set to be part of a quartet of returning players who will provide a welcome injection of quality for Ian Foster’s All Blacks ahead of a World Cup clash against Italy in Lyon that forwards coach Jason Ryan has tagged one of the team’s biggest tests “in a long time”.

Lomax, and the All Blacks, have time on their side ahead of that likely pool decider to decide runnerup behind the French, with 14 days between the 71-3 victory over Namibia in Toulouse and Saturday week’s (September 30) clash against Italy that the New Zealanders must win to avoid an historic group stage exit at the global event .

There’s a good chance that Lomax, skipper Sam Cane (back), first-choice No 12 Jordie Barrett (knee) and top blindside flanker Shannon Frizell (hamstring) will all return for the Italy clash after sitting out the first two matches of this World Cup.

If Lomax does – and both he and his forwards coach made it clear in Toulouse on Sunday that he is on track – it will mark a remarkable comeback after he was left fearing the worst in just the 14th minute of the final pre-World Cup warmup against the Springboks in London . That contest turned into a horror show with Scott Barrett red-carded and the New Zealanders suffering their heaviest ever test defeat (35-7).

Lomax at first didn’t know what had befallen him when he felt a sharp pain in his leg at Twickenham. Then a furtive look down confirmed the worst.

“I went to get up and glanced at my leg and I could see my thigh muscle and was in a little bit of shock,” he said. “I couldn’t feel it, and was probably in shock. I remember grabbing it and trying to close it because I thought it was going to start pouring out with blood.

“I wasn’t aware how I did it until after the game. I didn’t think a boot could do that.”

Lomax ended up receiving 30 stitches – around half of them internal around the quad – from a cut opened up by the plastic moulding on a boot. It was so gruesome the 27-year-old, who was playing his 27th test, was left contemplating the unthinkable.

“My initial reaction was ‘my World Cup is over’. I thought I was going home,” he added. “I’m just happy to be here and still have a chance to play. The surgeon did a good job of stitching it up, and the medical team have been excellent.”

So much so that he got through enough work in the leadup to the Namibia game – including some eight-on-eight scrummaging – to undertake a full warmup at Stadium de Toulouse. “I was preparing to play if anyone had gone down,” he said.

“It’s healing well. I had a good couple of weeks of getting it right, and last week was my first full week back training. I’ll train again next week, and that’s another chance to up the load again and get into a few more scrums and a bit more contact”.

Lomax had his leg in a brace for around a week while the stitches healed. After that he’s been upping the ante whenever he could, starting with boxing training, then running, and now finally into full training.

“It was frustrating at times,” he reflected. “It’s a short tournament and I had to do as much as I could to stay fit. It was a funny feeling when I could start putting weight on it. My quad was pretty much asleep and I was trying to get that strength back and the bend was the last thing.”

Forwards coach Jason Ryan is practically rubbing his hands with glee at the prospect of getting his tighthead power man back, especially with potential suspension hanging over loosehead starter Ethan de Groot after his red card against Namibia.

“He’s really stood up for us,” said Ryan of a prop who has taken his time to find his feet at the top level. Eleven of his first 14 tests, from 2018-21, were off the bench. But since he was promoted to starting duty in South Africa last year he has barely looked back.

“He’s grown his game, and he’s grown his body,” said Ryan. “He’s been challenged a little around his professionalism, and making sure he’s putting the best he can into his body to get the maximum output.

“He’s made some good shifts there the last 2-3 years, and though he’s been a little up and down with his Super Rugby form, he’s been a real warrior for us. He’s got good ball-carry in him and he gets around the track really well.”

He’s also got something else, as the man himself revealed in Toulouse.

“I guess I came in last year with a bit of a chip on my shoulder,” he said. “I just felt like I had a lot to prove and my mindset has stayed the same even this year. I still feel I’ve got a lot to prove – to this team, and to the world.”

Marc Hinton is Stuff’s senior rugby writer in France to cover the Rugby World Cup

OPINION: Signature match dripping with intensity and intricacy that this Rugby World Cup has been crying out for? Or an esoteric, one-dimensional game of international rugby featuring just two tries, 27 minutes of ball in play and largely bereft of high-level entertainment?

If you’re a true rugby fan you’re almost definitely in the former camp; if you’re a casual, floating sports observer, maybe under 40 years of age with a fat wallet and low attention span, you may have a different view. Glass half-full, or half-empty?

These are the two sides of the riveting Pool B contest at Stade de France on Sunday (NZT), won 13-8 by Ireland over South Africa , that many believe was a preview of the final which will play out at the same venue on October 28. If so, we are in for a treat.

In a heavyweight contest of epic proportions, the No 1 side on the planet defeated the defending world champions in a massive arm-wrestle that ticked almost all the boxes as a true rugby matchup. The collisions were huge, tackles bone-shuddering and tactical nuances intriguing. Both teams muscled up, and hit with considerable force, yet played with incredible discipline and accuracy. There were no cards, no TMOs jumping in with calls to look at accidental head collisions, and no game-changing officiating decisions because of poor technique.

It should be added it was a match brilliantly refereed by Kiwi Ben O’Keeffe who demonstrated palpably you can rule to the letter of the law, yet still let a fabulous contest unfold as it should. He was strict when he needed to be, yet let the players decide this captivating contest.

Both teams found it difficult to score tries simply because both defended with incredible pluck, accuracy and intent. The Boks had 30 dominant tackles, for goodness sake. Ireland just seven. Yet Andy Farrell’s side kept the South Africans out when it really mattered, soaking up a raft of opportunities and near-misses to keep their line all-but intact.

Both teams had their wobbles. The Irish lineout was shaky early, and they should have accumulated more from their surging opening quarter. The Boks’ goal-kicking shortcomings undoubtedly cost them dearly (more Manie Libbok’s misses than Faf de Klerk’s), some scrum uncertainties late likewise and they will want to be better themselves when carrying hard in the opponent’s red zone.

The Irish breakdown was wonderful. The Boks’ power carriers thunderous.

It was undoubtedly a contest the aficionados, the cognoscenti, the true rugbyheads lapped up with relish. I watched it in a crowded pub in Lyon filled with Welsh fans. They could not take their eyes off it, and you could see them thinking to themselves, “if only we had a team capable of playing rugby like this”.

This was the defining contest of the World Cup so far, and it sends a clear message to hosts France, the ambitious All Blacks and anyone else with hopes of lifting the golden trophy at the end of this tournament. To do that, you are going to have to find a level that will enable you to compete with these two giants of the game.

But was there a downside? Was it entertaining enough? Would it have captured the floating fan’s attention?

Maybe. Maybe not. That ball-in-play time was low, so too the try-count. There were a lot of technical decisions, and contests that were less easy on the eye than they were delicious in their context.

Real rugby fans loved this contest. But are they the people World Rugby, the sport in general, are trying to win over?

Well, they’re important, because it is they who buy the tickets, tune in their TVs and devour the content around the sport. They’re the lifeblood.

But rugby, which calls itself a global sport, but really isn’t, has wider ambitions. There are still only eight to 10 genuinely competitive nations that line up at these World Cups. There is still a large divide (though it does appear to be closing marginally) between the Haves and Have Nots of the game. There are still too many mismatches for this to be described as a genuinely compelling global tournament.

If rugby wants to become, like football and basketball, a true world game then it must grow its appeal. Maybe part of that is educating the casual fan that epic contests like Ireland-South Africa are to be savoured, just as a 1-0 match in football can be every bit as compelling as a 5-4 one.

But also maybe the game needs to flow more, to showcase its skills and athleticism more, to have more tries, more highlight plays – essentially offer more ball-in-play magic than it did on Saturday night at Stade de France.

That route is a complex one in a sport with an impossible lawbook. But in the meantime perhaps we all just need to take a deep breath and smell the roses. This was real rugby, and it was terrific and tense and taut and tumultuous until the final whistle.

After watching the Wallabies get almost certainly bundled out of the Rugby World Cup historically early with a famous meltdown against Wales , the All Blacks have no intention of following them in a trans-Tasman implosion.

That’s why you will not hear a bad word spoken out of the All Blacks camp about Italy all week, never mind that the Kiwis have all but a full quota back on deck (with only suspended prop Ethan de Groot out out of the reckoning). That’s why you will not catch them casting an eye forward to a potential blockbuster quarterfinal against Ireland . First things first. And right now for a New Zealand team not exactly in a position to take anyone lightly, that’s Italy in Lyon on Friday night (Saturday 8am NZT).

So, despite never having lost a test match in their history to the Italians, and having an average World Cup score against them of 69-10 over five previous meetings, the New Zealanders came out on Monday back at their training base in Lyon and trod a very straight line when it came to their third pool opponents at this World Cup.

It’s a smart move, too. The Italians have most definitely improved over the last couple of years under former All Black Kieran Crowley, and are most definitely worthy of respect. Especially at a time when a misjudged tackle can quickly escalate into a 15 against 14 scenario that would have the potential to make things very uncomfortable indeed.

In 2022 the Italians upset Wales in the Six Nations and Australia in the November internationals (a result that almost certainly cost Dave Rennie his job), and earlier this year their Six Nations results reflected a team very much on the rise – they lost 29-24 to France, 34-20 to Ireland, 31-14 to England, 26-14 to Scotland and 29-17 to Wales.

According to All Blacks defence coach Scott McLeod, the Italians, 0-16 all-time against New Zealand, definitely have their attention. “We’ve had close games with them in the past on tour, and this year in the Six Nations they pushed every team, and last year they won some critical games. They’ve really evolved their attack from what I can see. They had the fastest ball available in the Six Nations – that’s better than Ireland – and that’s quick. They know their game, and they’re playing it well.”

The Azzurri have opened their World Cup with victories over Namibia (52-8) and Uruguay (38-17) and though neither were exactly flattering results, McLeod said the coaches have seen enough to be on their guard this week.

“They can recycle the ball really fast. Their lightning quick ball is the best in the Six Nations and they have really upped their skillset in terms of their pass and running lines. They keep defenders engaged for a long time and hold them, then they’ve got the ability to play out the back or the guy next to them.

“That’s hard to defend. They’re very good at trying bunch you in the middle and then sweeping round to an edge, much like France do. We’re aware of those threats and we’ve got plans in place to combat that.”

McLeod confirmed all four previously injured players, in skipper Sam Cane, second five Jordie Barrett, No 6 Shannon Frizell and prop Tyrel Lomax, were fit and “selectable” after a quality Monday training hitout.

“We’ve had an extended period to prepare (it will have been two weeks by Friday since their 71-3 victory over Namibia), and as coaches we’ve had to balance that because you can spend too long focused on the opposition. I feel as though the group is in a good place, we understand what we need to do both sides of the ball and with our set piece, and we trained that reasonably well today.”

Dalton Papalii, one of six loosies contending for probably four spots on Friday, concurred on the Italian threat.

“We’ve seen how fast they’ve improved. The two main things is how quick they recycle their ball and they’re good at engaging defenders and passing at the line late, opening up holes.

“They’ve come a good way. They always were good, but now they’re a team you’ve got to put your best foot forward against because they’re playing some bloody good footy. You’ve got to respect them.”

To that end, expect a full-strength All Blacks lineup, with chief interest around what Ian Foster does with his three world-class locks (Scott Barrett or Sam Whitelock off the bench) and the makeup of his bench which remains a work in progress this year.

And of course, if they needed it, that second pool defeat for the Wallabies in Lyon on Monday (NZT), and almost certainly an historic pool stage exit, should remind the All Blacks of how quickly it can all unravel.

McLeod said they had sympathy for the Australian plight, but did not need a nudge to keep them on course. “We’re just going about our work to play to a standard, intensity and speed that we’re after, so we’re ready when we need to be.”

The All Blacks team will be named late on Wednesday night (NZT).