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/ 29 September 2007
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Wallabies winger Drew Mitchell continued his try-scoring feast at the World Cup with a double in Australia’s 37-6 victory over Canada on Saturday. Mitchell crossed twice in the second half to lift his tally for the tournament to seven tries from just four games, breaking David Campese’s Australian record for the most tries in a single World Cup with his six in 1991.
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/ 29 September 2007
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Springbok coach Jake White issued Australian rugby with a dare to plunder South Africa’s burgeoning rugby talent as the Wallabies look to boost their shallow player depth ahead of the next World Cup. ”The reality is that not every South African superstar is going to be playing for South Africa,” said White on Friday.
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/ 28 September 2007
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Champions England advanced to a quarterfinal meeting with Australia after proving too strong for Tonga in their Pool A decider on Friday by running in four tries in an eventually convincing 36-20 victory. Winger Paul Sackey added two more in the first half at a sodden Parc des Princes.
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/ 28 September 2007
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South Africa are not planning to cruise into the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals. The Springboks have already won Group A and want to keep the momentum going into the knock-out stages of the tournament, so coach Jake White on Friday announced a strong starting line-up to face the United States Eagles in Montpellier on Sunday.
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/ 27 September 2007
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Ireland prop Simon Best was hospitalised on Wednesday night after feeling unwell and complaining of a loss of feeling down his right side, a team spokesperson said. The symptoms began on Wednesday on a day off for the team from its Rugby World Cup campaign, said team spokesperson Karl Richardson.
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/ 26 September 2007
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Samoa ended their disappointing World Cup campaign with a scrappy 25-21 win over the United States in their final Pool A match on Tuesday. Samoa led 22-3 at the break after a three-try blitz and seemed on course for a comfortable win.
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/ 26 September 2007
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Georgia celebrated their first World Cup win on Wednesday with a 30-0 victory over Namibia at a soggy Stade Felix Bollaert. The Europeans scored three tries against an African side who were left searching for their first win after a poor tournament.
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/ 26 September 2007
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South Africa winger Bryan Habana has set himself a twin target at the Rugby World Cup — helping his team win the title and collect the top try-scorer plaudits. Habana has four tries to his name so far with probably more to come against the United States in Montpellier on Sunday before the quarterfinal.
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/ 25 September 2007
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Romania ground out a slogging 14-10 win over brave Portugal for their first win of the Rugby World Cup at Toulouse Stadium in France on Tuesday. The Romanians fought back from 7-0 down at half-time to overpower the Portuguese through their superior forward pack.
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/ 25 September 2007
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Japan scored a last-gasp converted try to earn a dramatic 12-12 draw against Canada in their final World Cup pool-B match in Bordeaux on Tuesday. Substitute Koji Taira crossed in the right-hand corner after sustained late Japanese pressure and then Shotaro Onishi held his nerve to slot over the conversion.
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/ 25 September 2007
Europe’s main human rights body will vote next week on a resolution opposing the teaching of creationist and intelligent design views in school science classes. The Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly will debate a resolution saying attacks on the theory of evolution were rooted ”in forms of religious extremism”
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/ 25 September 2007
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Springbok centre Francois Steyn was on Tuesday cleared of allegedly biting a Tonga player during Saturday’s Rugby World Cup clash. Steyn was cited by commissioner Jean-Claude Legendre for allegedly biting Tongan number 11 Joseph Vaka in the match at Lens, which South Africa won 30-25.
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/ 25 September 2007
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Japan’s players have earned respect for their fast-paced running game at the Rugby World Cup. Now they want a win. Their last chance comes on Tuesday at the Stade Chaban-Delmas in Bordeaux, where they take on a Canada team equally desperate not to go home empty handed.
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/ 25 September 2007
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South Africa centre Francois Steyn has been cited for allegedly biting an opponent during Saturday’s World Cup Pool A match against Tonga in Lens, tournament organisers said on Monday. ”Francois Steyn has been cited in connection with an allegation of biting involving the Tonga wing Joseph Vaka,” organisers said in a statement.
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/ 24 September 2007
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New Zealand, Australia and South Africa may not have been at their destructive best but all three southern hemisphere giants have kept up their unbeaten World Cup records. Little Tonga pushed South Africa, and scored three tries, before they were edged out 30-25 in a pulsating clash in Lens on Saturday.
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/ 24 September 2007
Need an alibi for a tricky situation, something to get you out of the house, or into someone else’s? Just log on to one of the increasingly available internet sites that offer the latest in e-business, an alibi service. Already up and running in the United States, Britain and Belgium, sites are now being launched in Switzerland and France.
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/ 23 September 2007
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The Wallabies claimed top spot in group B with a fitful 55-12 win over Fiji to lock up a quarterfinal place at the Rugby World Cup at Stade de la Mosson in Montpellier on Sunday. The Australians always had the game under control, but it was an unsatisfying, error-strewn performance against the second-string Fijians.
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/ 23 September 2007
The world’s best-known mime artist, Marcel Marceau, has died aged 84, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon’s office said on September 23. For decades, Marceau epitomised his silent art, eliciting laughter and tears from audiences around the globe. His comic and tragic sketches appeal on a universal level.
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/ 23 September 2007
The world’s best-known mime artist, Marcel Marceau, has died aged 84, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon’s office said on Sunday. For decades, Marceau epitomised his silent art, eliciting laughter and tears from audiences around the globe. His comic and tragic sketches appeal on a universal level.
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/ 22 September 2007
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Argentina hammered Namibia 63-3 in Marseille on Saturday, winning a vital bonus point to take pole position in pool D and a big step towards qualifying for the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals. The Pumas’ place as either number one or two in the group will now be decided by the result of their game against Ireland on September 30.
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/ 22 September 2007
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Reigning champions England overcame Samoa 44-22 to get their World Cup campaign back on track at the Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes on Saturday. Flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson, playing his first World Cup match since the 2003 final, kicked 24 points, while captain Martin Corry scored two tries.
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/ 22 September 2007
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Mighty South Africa were given the fright of their lives on Saturday before they made sure of their World Cup quarterfinals place with an error-strewn 30-25 win over Tonga. Springbok coach Jake White almost paid an embarrassing price for making 11 changes to the side who beat England 36-0.
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/ 21 September 2007
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Hosts France kept their nerve and their hopes alive of landing their first World Cup title in Paris on Friday as they beat Ireland 25-3 in their crunch group-D clash at the Stade de France. Two second-half tries by winger Vincent Clerc and 15 points from man-of-the-match Jean-Baptiste Elissalde were enough to see the Irish off.
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/ 19 September 2007
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Italy recorded their second unconvincing win in as many World Cup group-C matches when they were made to work hard for a 31-5 victory against minnows Portugal at the Parc des Princes in Paris on Wednesday. It was hard to believe that Italy had thrashed Portugal 83-0 as recently as October.
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/ 19 September 2007
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South Africa coach Jake White retained just four players who started in the 36-0 defeat of titleholders England last Friday when he named his team for the World Cup Group A match against Tonga in Lens on Saturday. The 43-year-old has guided the Springboks to two impressive wins over Samoa (59-7) and England.
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/ 19 September 2007
One of Darfur’s most powerful rebel leaders will not take part in peace talks until a lasting ceasefire is put in place and security is restored, he said in an interview published on Wednesday. Abdel Wahed Mohamed el-Nur has refused to join Darfur rebel commanders and groups who agreed a joint position last month.
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/ 19 September 2007
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Brian Ashton may have entrusted the pivotal position of flyhalf to a man who has spent much of the past fortnight with his right foot in an ice bucket, but the England coach didn’t look like a man who’d taken a gamble when he unveiled his team to play Samoa. Fit-again Jonny Wilkinson returns and starts a Test with Olly Barkley at inside centre for the first time.
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/ 19 September 2007
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France have traditionally had an iconic player in their flair-filled rugby ranks, whether it be Jean-Pierre Rives, Jo Maso or Serge Blanco. And to these ranks can now be added Sebastien Chabal, such has been the adulation from the French spectators for the 29-year-old.
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/ 18 September 2007
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New Zealand star Dan Carter says he is happy to be surrounded by friends, family and teammates who help keep his feet firmly on the ground despite all the hype surrounding him. The 25-year-old flyhalf is the pin-up of All Black rugby, a player widely regarded as one of the best in the world.
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/ 18 September 2007
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Dan’s battered camper van dates back to 1985, two years before the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987. But the one-time cream coloured vehicle, which has more than 240Â 000km on the clock, has been pressed into service for a rugby odyssey in France as part of a European tour.
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/ 17 September 2007
Everything must be done to avoid the prospect of war with Iran, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Monday, a day after his foreign minister said the country should prepare for that possibility. The United States, Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China have backed two rounds of United Nations sanctions against Iran.
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/ 17 September 2007
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If outspoken former Wallaby winger David Campese had his way, the likes of Georgia, Namibia and Portugal wouldn’t be at the Rugby World Cup. Yet the underdogs have shamed their critics by scaring some of the fancied teams and proving they do deserve places at the game’s biggest event.