Pride and penitence were mixed with pain in the aftermath of weekend rugby World Cup quarterfinals which left four survivors nursing injuries of varied severity and four teams dealing with defeat with degrees of resignation. New Zealands 33-10 win over Argentina,which earned them a semifinal against archrivals Australia,had a grim sequel when flyhalf Colin Slade and fullback Mils Muliaina were ruled out of the tournament,deepening an injury crisis that began when it lost star playmaker Dan Carter. Muliaina fractured his left shoulder and Slade tore a groin muscle,forcing New Zealand to test its vaunted resource of quality players. Flyhalf Stephen Donald and winger Hosea Gear had both accepted the end of their international careers when they missed selection in New Zealands initial World Cup squad,but have been called back to duty. Donald has played 22 tests but has struggled to reach the standard that test rugby demands of a flyhalf and is already associated with one of New Zealands most galling losses to Australia,when the All Blacks surrendered an early lead and went on to lose 26-24,their only loss of that season,in a Bledisloe Cup test in Hong Kong in October last year. Have we got the depth? Well find out in the next two weeks I guess, coach Graham Henry said. Where were lucky is that the guys whore coming in have played test match football. Theyve been with this group in the last 12 months. Theyve been here,they know the players,they know the environment we live in and they know the rugby were trying to play,generally speaking. Australia now moves into a classic semifinal against New Zealand,a match certain to add to the long rivalry between the Antipodean neighbours as the Wallabies attempt to end a 25-year losing streak against the All Blacks. England centre Manu Tuilagi and All Blacks winger Cory Jane took the role of penitents,publicly apologising for off-field misbehaviour. Tuilagi was briefly detained by police after leaping from a ferry as it prepared to dock at a downtown Auckland jetty and swimming to shore. He was quick to apologise,but fined £3,000 by Englands Rugby Football Union. Jane also apologised for his drunken night out with teammate Israel Dagg 72 hours before the All Blacks clash with Argentina. He said he made a stupid choice to go out drinking before such an important match. After making a poor decision the other night and having it thrown all over the paper this morning I knew I had to go out there and play well (against Argentina), Jane said. Argentina took pride in its performance despite its loss to New Zealand,showing they are ready to take advantage of admission to an expanded southern hemisphere tournament next season. South Africa has an uncertain future as it faces the retirement of senior players and the departure of coach Peter de Villiers,not expected to renew his contract when it expires in December.
