Rugby Union World Cup 25 Everything Thread

[Free Republics]

This is your Round of 16 Cutoff presented by Bank of Acedonia! Bank of Acedonia: We Put Your Financial Privacy First. Its Acedonian law!

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Round of 16 Results

The Iron Syndicate 32–0 Darmen
Nova Anglicana 19–17 Mattijana
Abanhfleft 13–13 Bvriana (13–20 AET)
Neu Engollon 13–27 Racao
Alice Bay 10–23 East Saintland*
Barunia 17–15 Hutanjia
Elejamie 7–8 Lisander
The Fair Republic 9–7 Ko-oren

*Scorinated by me to avoid a delay of the entire tournament (including several days for the final).

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Quarterfinals

#1 The Iron Syndicate v. #14 Bvriana @National Organization for Men Stadium, Estonopolis, Keronama, Free Republics
#2 Nova Anglicana v. #13 Racao @ RepublicSoft Stadium, New City, Orlandiana, Free Republics
#6 Barunia v. #12 East Saintland @ FreedomCola Stadium, Borotia, Iodara, Free Republics*
#8 The Fair Republic v. #10 Lisander @ MilaneseDome, Wortana, Keronama, Free Republics

*If you're interested in 3rd party scorinating this match, please let me know ASAP via either TG, Discord or the discussion thread.

[The Iron Syndicate]

The Rugby War

Chapter Seven

“As much as many of us would like to not admit it, what started off as a protest movement, that at the most made plenty of noise and caused annoyances for those who they targeted, has now become a national security threat with foreign connections that could cause an international incident. This Feminist League may have began as a group of college students and amateur protesters who were no more dangerous than they looked, but our findings in the Free Republics and back home have proved that we have had the wrong idea about them for a long time. This organization uses a less extreme wing to front as being peaceful, while planning at the same time to support the destabilization and overthrow of the elected government by its fringe members.

“We have found this out after they have declared to go to war with our rugby team, and traveled to the Free Republics to fight their battle. Alongside them were members from the SLO, and the Green Alliance, the two other main organizations opposed to the Syndicate and our government, and we have found this out through a raid on a hotel where members of the extremist group known as the Pink Front were revealed to be staying. The raid seized a great amount of data, and revealed the connections between the organizations and the fact that their plans extended far beyond the attack on the players that happened early in the tournament.

“While they decided to go after the rugby team, sport is not what these rebels care about. Leverage is, and because of the meteoric rise and newfound popularity of the rugby union national team, actions against this team would bring a large amount of publicity and leverage to the rebels if they could manage to capture one of the players. That was their main plan scheduled for after their first attack, and they succeeded, through using their Green Alliance allies. It is now believed that they have Shaun Draco, the twenty three year old starting scrum half for both the Luxus Kingfishers and the national team, and that they intend to turn him over to the Pink Front or the SLO for one of the latter groups to make an official ransom demand.

“However, this is not the most disturbing thing. The raid uncovered much data, and when that data was slowly looked through by officers from Police Corp, connections with the government of West Saintland were revealed. With the Feminist League and the newest version of the West Sanctii government sharing a similar feminist ideology, it only makes sense that they would align themselves together and promote each other’s interests. However, we did not expect the government of West Saintland to directly fund and assist with the training and radicalization of the extreme branch of this movement.

“It appears that rugby has helped this nation more than we have expected. Not only has the rugby team enjoyed a quick rise to success, but their involvement in the World Cup and them being targeted by multiple rebel groups has allowed us to dig deeper and reveal connections that we never knew existed. We still have to decide on a plan of action, though, for the Sanctii involvement. Our country is not typically a militaristic one, as we rely on private contractors rather than a large nationalized military, and so coming in with our metaphorical guns blazing and demanding an explanation for what has happened is likely not the best course of action for us.

“We still do need to take action, though, and I suggest a total embargo on West Saintland and a ban on any and all West Sanctii imports. We should also strike up a new contract with Police Corp for the monitoring and interception of all West Sanctii communications entering the country and all communications being sent out of the country to West Saintland. While civil liberties are valued in this country, we cannot allow known collaborators of terrorism to operate with impunity while we sit back and do nothing, in the name of privacy. Anyone arriving from West Saintland will have to go through increased background checks, and they will have their every move watched for as long as they are in the country.

“Because of the lighter involvement with the feminist movement in the Free Republics, I also propose doing the same for citizens of that country until we can determine if the support there for the Pink Front and their allies runs as deep as it does with West Saintland. This set of actions will be temporary in nature, but I do not know the end date for them and I also do not know when, if ever, these sanctions on Saintland will end. Now, can I see a show of hands for those that are in favor of this proposal?”

Augustus Darkstar, the Chief Executive of the Iron Syndicate, watched as almost all of the hands at the table went up. “It looks like I have a reasonable idea, then. Because of the nature of this emergency, the Executive Board will be gathered for a meeting before the end of today, when the proposal will be voted on officially. Until then, I suggest that anyone who has a counter proposal develops it now and measures support for it, because there won't be time for the usual lobbying that comes with this type of thing. The situation is still ongoing, and waiting for longer than a day could easily mean that lives will be lost.”

Everyone around the table nodded, and Augustus looked back down to the papers that were resting in front of him. “Now, the Pink Front or the Green Alliance haven't come out with their demands yet, but I still believe this is the time to decide how we are going to bring our stolen player back home safely, once they do attempt to negotiate with us…”

~

Somehow, as the Black Arrows faced fifth ranked Hutanija, they played even better than they had played in previous matches. Sure, they had lost their starting scrum half, but that was part of the reason why they were able to do so good against a team that foreigners had predicted to stomp them when the groups were first drawn and the different news outlets began to analyze the matchups. Many of the Syndicate players would suddenly have a lot more money after betting on themselves to win, because of how much of an underdog they had been under the old lines. They didn't have Shaun, but they flipped that into a strength because they were playing for him, in their minds.

They told themselves that he'd want them to win and that they had to make sure that they were still winning and in position to take the number one overall seed when he was rescued, and they played with more heart than they had played with in any other match. And they would need it, as they went down early to the number five team but went on a turnaround led by Mia White, Eric Hammer, Trey Vitas, and Ana Cosma, to win the match by the score of 20-14. With the heart of the team out, others had been forced to step up, and they all did a brilliant job of that, especially in the second half.

But as they returned to the locker room, the atmosphere jovial and celebratory, they quickly realized that something wasn't right, because the staff didn't share that mood. Apollo Black usually acted as if he was one of their players, being unafraid of joining their celebrations and lightening the mood, but this time, he had a concerned look on his face as he and some of the other staff members looked at a tablet. “Why are you looking down, coach? We're on our way to the top seed,” said Eric Hammer, as the group of players entered, a few of them with their shirts off already.

“You all have to see this video. Looks like Tanner was spot on with his prediction of what was going to happen with Shaun and the Pink Front,” Apollo replied, turning the tablet so the whole team could see and rewinding the video to the very beginning.

The video was a typical Pink Front one, with Dana Solas standing between two masked members of the organization who wore black balaclavas and pink combat jackets, in front of a large picture that showed one of the Pink Front goon squads marching down a city street. The group’s anthem was playing in the background, but Dana chose to speak right over it. “Hello again, everyone. You likely recognize me as Dana Solas, the leader of the Pink Front who made a threat against the national rugby union team of the Iron Syndicate. Many of you believed that we did not have the capability to carry out what we spoke about, but we have already proved you wrong.”

She paused for effect before continuing while still staring at the center of the camera. “The attempted attack on the traitorous Mia White after the Natanians and Nosts match was our doing, and while it didn't succeed, it did show that the Free Republics was within our striking distance and that we could go after the team and this government that supports them any time that we want. However, we haven't had complete failures in our operations. Through our good friends from the Green Alliance, the only organization in this country that cares about the environment and preserving the islands for future generations, we have captured a key member of the team, scrum half Shaun Draco.

“We have talked with the Greens and with our other allies, the freedom fighters of the Space Liberation Organization, and have decided on the terms that we want for the safe release of Draco. First, we wish for the Syndicate government to stop promoting sexist sports by disbanding its recently created national teams. Second, we want the release of all of the Pink Front and Green Alliance members being held in Police Corp prisons, and we also want all bounties on active members to be removed, permanently. Third, we demand that the Syndicate hands over its latest land acquisition in the Sea of Iron, the mostly untouched island of New Atrus, to the Green Alliance. If all of these terms are completed and verified, we will release Shaun back to his teammates unharmed.

“You have one week to decide what to do, and obviously, we will not tolerate action against us during this time period. Any more raids by Police Corp, or attempted ones, will result in Shaun’s death. We have already proven that we have the ability to defeat you, and we implore you not to make the same mistake that you made before, by deciding to ignore us and hope that we're bluffing. We weren't bluffing last time, and we aren't bluffing this time. Anyway, the choice is yours… Again.”

The video ended, and everyone was left staring at the black screen afterwards. It looked like it had been released only minutes after the end of the match, when the attention of the entire nation was on the rugby team and their battle for the top of the group. According to metrics from I-Vision, it was the most watched rugby match in the history of the country. That also meant that there would be plenty of people who were aware of the missing player, making it the perfect time for the Pink Front to steal the spotlight from the team that they hated so much.

“What are we going to do about this?” asked Mia, breaking the silence that seemed to go on for a minute. “We’re just going to let them hold one of our own ransom like this?”

“We’re athletes, not one of the PMCs that's inevitably going to be brought in to rescue him,” stated Eric Hammer. “We do nothing, it's our government that's going to have to get this shit sorted out before we have a casualty on our hands.”

“Agh, I should have never let him go home with that green haired girl. Neon green hair should be a red flag for anyone that's not part of the Green Alliance, it practically identifies someone as being from there,” Mia sighed, grabbing her head in frustration. “This is my fault. I was suspicious and I didn't say anything-”

“Hindsight is twenty twenty, Mia,” said her club teammate, Karim Spike. “Of course it's going to seem that way right now, that doesn't mean that it was as obvious as you're making it right now. Anyway, I want to know what's up with the demands list. I can understand them asking for their prisoners to be released, but what do they want with New Atrus?”

“They want that island because it's mostly untouched and the Green Alliance wants to keep it that way,” explained Tanner. “However, the Pink Front also has a good reason to want the Greens to have it. If they hold the island through force and start a small community there, it's basically going to serve as a safe zone for any kind of rebel that can get there. In other words, they're stepping up their operations and they want a base to do it from, where they don't have to worry about their bounties and about Police Corp tracking them.”

“Yeah, sounds about right, the Pink Front has wanted their own place for awhile. While the Feminist League wants reform, they've always been about overthrow, because they want to be the ones making the laws and controlling everything,” said Mia. “I still don't think we should just sit around and let them hold Shaun ransom though-”

“And what do you suggest that we do, as a group of rugby players who have no more information about this situation than anyone else? We don't even know where he's being held, or how strong their force is, or what we would need to do to rescue him without him getting hurt-”

“I know, I know. We should leave it in the hands of the government, right? It's just hard to do when you really know this group. I know them personally, I know how dangerous and how brutal they can be when they feel like it. Doesn't sit right with me to leave one of my good friends with them and trust someone else to rescue him.”

“Then the best thing you can do,” said Eric. “Is to give all the information you have to the Police Corp or the central government or whatever PMC they contract for the rescue, and hope that it helps. Let's not try anything stupid, because they did say that he dies if anyone tries anything. And let's not let this cause us to lose focus, because that would be letting them win. I don't mean that as some stupid slogan that's supposed to inspire us but doesn't really mean anything, they literally do want to force us to withdraw. If we keep winning, we're doing the opposite of that.”

“Right then,” replied Mia, moving to the edge of the room to hide the emotions that were showing on her face now. “We’ll do everything we can to stay focused and keep winning… For Shaun.”

[Bvriania]

Alex Tomlinson Memorial Stadium was the place, the toughest match in Bvrianian history against the world number two, Ko-oren. For the first time in tournament, Finlay Martin sent out an unchanged squad, Buck Jackson impressing enough at fullback to stay on. Ko-oren was on a winning streak, not a very high scoring one though. The stand out stat for the runners-up last time was a points conceded total of zero. Three matches, three nils for the opposition. Albeit, they weren't the best sides, but a nil was a nil. Despite entering the tournament without a rank, Bvriania were going to be Ko-oren's toughest match yet.

The game stuck to the pattern, and no points were put on the board for the first quarter. Bvriania's style of phase after phase attack till a gap opened up or a penalty committed proved worthless, and played into the Ko-oren style of defense perfectly. Bvriania crashed into the Ko-oren line for what felt like an eternity, only gaining metres in the process. The Ko-oren backrow of Ueabheil and Fullmore got things moving at the 21st minute with a sneaky turnover of the ball, from which their scrum-half Berend Bruinkool got the ball out wide for the first bit of running rugby of the game. Twenty minutes of futile attack would tire anyone, and Bvriania were no exception. The ball found its way to de Leem, who chipped through for Sullivan to chase. Reaching it before Rasolo, he collected and passed back inside to Thorebourne, who fed it to the try-scorer, Coloabhor Uolhaenim. A bad start by any account, and when de Leem added the extras, Ko-oren took a 7-0 lead, that went on till the halftime break.

More weary defense followed in the second half, this time both sides got their share. Something had to give, and it was the Ko-orens. Meindert Bovendaan's failure to roll away led to a penalty to Bvriania, and a chance to end their perfect defense streak. Aidan Scully lined it up from forty metres out, went through his routine, and points racked up on the screen. The game got under way again, little change to either team's strategy. Another scoring opportunity finally came at the fifty-fourth minute, Ko-oren prop Burton Nagle penalized for a high tackle. The kick was even easier than before, and Scully took Bvriania to within a single point of the second best team in the world. That would be it for scoring however. Successfully at least. Both sides took an attempt at a drop goal, de Leem for Ko-oren, and Malli for Bvriania. On the stroke of the seventy-ninth minute, it would have made for an epic victory, but it was not to be. The ref's whistle went, and Bvriania's first loss of their World Cup quest was upon them. It just wasn't to be.

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Unified Sunrise Islands were the fifth and final team of the group, one who couldn't built on their previous tournament. Fifth in the group, it should've been an easy win by all accounts. The Sunrise Islands hadn't even submitted a roster to the officials. Or maybe they had, no Bvrianian commentator had one. So when the Sunrise Islander in the number fourteen shirt scored in the corner, and their ten converted, no name was given for the viewers at home to curse, meaning no chance of witchcraft intervening. One name that didn't need announcing was Sam Jones. The captain who played every minute of every match till then did what he should, and led by demonstration. sixty five minutes on the clock, 7-0 down, a try was all that would do. And Jones went and did it. Try number three for both the captain and Bvriania, Scully's conversion took it level, and level it ended. A draw against an arguably worse side was not good for confidence. But there was a good enough showing to put Bvriania as the fourteenth overall team. Thus, no need for a playoff game! Bvriania had another week as a result to prepare for their first ever knockout match.

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Abanhfleft, fourth in the world, had absolutely waltzed their way to the Round of Sixteen, finishing third overall. They had played an aggressive style of rugby getting to where they were, with perhaps the most experienced team in the competition. In fact Manasseh Farrell at 38 might be the oldest player in the entire tournament. Experience goes a long way, but it couldn't bring you the whole way, as Bvriania would seek to prove.

The match saw its first score far earlier than expected. A drop goal in the third minute to the Abanhfleft nine, Sikaruchabamba , saw them take an early step towards the next stages. Their ten, Nawwaz Shareef Wahhab, would add to that in the tenth minute, O'Leary being penalized not rolling away. It didn't take long for Bvriania to strike back. At twenty two minutes, the ref blew after Nakamura came off his feet. It within kickable distance, so many would've expected a kick at goal. Erik Decko took it quickly however, sprinting through a hole in the Abanhfleft defense and feeding out to Rasolo on the wing. His quick thinking got them within try five metres of the tryline, and it was Buck Jackson who would squeeze through two defenders to score the opening try of the game. One conversion later, and it was 6-7. The first half would be Abanhfleft's however, some clever play from Sikaruchabamba and Wahhab opened up the Bvrianian defense, left Umaga bamboozled, and left a metre between them and the tryline. It was Zack Mosquito who would dive over American Football style to score the try. Wahhab converted an easy kick, and halftime commenced, 13-7.

The second half started quicker than the first, an overeager Mosquito working hard to cancel out his earlier effort with a high tackle. Not going quickly this time around, Scully kicked through the posts to make it a single score game. Despite the closeness, the scoreline stayed as it was through over thirty five minutes of bone rattling tackles, blitz defense, line breaks, and open play. With four minutes left, the teams were on the halfway line, battling over a ruck. Palut Hekar was brought to ground by Moodley, who had done enough to turn the ball over. The ball went out to Jones, and from there he went most of the field before being brought down by an aged but energetic vicecaptain Manasseh Farrell. Scully was waiting in the pocket to launch his first drop goal, and by far his most important. 13-13, with a few minutes left to play. After the siren went, Bvriania went looking for a second drop or a penalty, but only found a knock-on from Malli. And so, extra time arrived.

That meant ten minutes to score, and move on to the quarter finals. If the first eighty minutes had been exciting, those last ten put any other match to shame. Quick running rugby and a notable lack of rucks took up the time. Defense both sides seemed bolstered, and stats later would back that up. Nearly all play of the ball stayed between the 22 metre lines during those ten minutes. That was until a moment of brilliance by the man who couldn't put a foot right, Joshua Malli. Dummying the Mosquito, he opened up a gap which he cut right through, opening up space on the right for a grubber through.

All in one quick motion, Umaga chased, kicked the ball into hand, shook off the incoming defense, and dotted down for the greatest try in Bvrianian history. It's not that it was a masterful piece of work, but it meant so much. Abanhfleft, fourth best rugby playing nation on Earth, fourth place at the 24th Rugby World Cup, were beaten. The little island nation who had no fully professional players, no rich league, just a love of the game, had beaten one of the sport's greats. By seven whole points once the conversion was taken. There's a lot of talk of miracles in sports. The Bvriania-Abanhfleft match may or may not have been a miracle, but in Bvriania at least it's going to go down as one. A miracle, and the greatest victory in Bvriania rugby history.

[Lisander]

Halftime

—No, we are not going to lockers in this halftime. I want you to see that scoreboard. 5-0. Look at that numbers. What can you see? Can you see a win? — Patricio Bernauer was in the middle of the players, talking to them.

—Yes, sir, I would say this is a good result. — Cesc Gasteiz, the young Flanker, says.

—Would, but?

—But we are still in the Halftime, Elejamie team is better ranked, with more experience and 5-0 can be reversed easily if they come back with serious intent.

—Perfect, Cesc. I believe all of you know this is a good result, but it was only half of the match, and those guys will come back with blood in their eyes. I believe all of you can comprehend that. Gasteiz, I'd like to have this vision of the game inside the field, but I can't have you and Domani at the same time. — Bernauer approached Henrique Domani and said — This lad can take the seven from you. What do you say about it?

—I wouldn't be more happy to give it to him. But he still needs a lot of experience. I'll train him to use this heavy one. Gasteiz, you know you are the next number 7 of the Irises. You must not disappoint me. And you must not disappoint Bernauer, because you know, he was also an Openside Flanker in the Irises.

—Yes, Harry... I'll — The young Flanker was about to be interrupted by Bernauer.

—Enough being pussies. This second half won't be fluffy as a pussy, and I'm referring to a cat. Elejamie will come back in some minutes not like a cat, but like an elephants herd. You have two orders, all of you. First, make sure to convert any scoring opportunity you have. Second, hold Elejamie in any clean way. I believe all of you remember. Rugby is a gentlemen sport. Winning or losing, I don't want you to lose your minds and being sent off because of dumb penalties. Now rest a little.

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71:26
The scoreboard was showing Elejamie 7 - Lisander 5. Hope began to decline among the lisanderian fans. The game was frantic and the ball did not stop for a second. Lisander had a lineout in its 22 line. The elevator lift and the ball reached Mariano Valente in the top. Valente delivered to Damian Skye and the Scrum-Half kicked it to the opposite field. The ball was about to reach the Elejamian backs, but turned and Elejamie centre failed to recover it properly. Knock-on, Scrum to Irises in the 22 line of Elejamie

—Crouch... Bind... Set! — the firm words of Mr. Giuseppi Reinvaughn reached the players and Damian Skye put the ball into the formation, with enough time only to run behind Florian and receive the ball, promptly returning it to Kevin Armada.

The fly-half screamed "Gear!" and the center prepared himself to go for the try. The Elejamian backs must have heard it too, because Maurice, wearing white, was surrounded by green jerseys. But it wasn't the right Gear. Matthew, the left-wing, appeared from behind and kicked between the posts. A sucessful Dummy Switch and 3 more points for the Irises. 8-7. Lisander one point ahead, with just seven minutes to the end. Bernauer was amazed, Assen was calm in the bench, players were euphoric. Lisander was near the quarterfinals in its first Rugby World Cup. History was being made.

[Nova Anglicana]

Lions Escape Mattijana Into Quarterfinals

Harland Howerton, Londinium Courier

Errol Anderson knows his team needs to play a lot better than they did in their 19-17 Round of 16 win against Mattijana. "We got lucky, I think. Real lucky we didn't lose this one. Giving up the first try, waiting til the last minute to take the lead, that's all stuff we've got to work on before our quarterfinal. We won five games in the group stage, but breaking in three new pack guys takes some time, and I think we saw that tonight."

Anderson was right in much of his assessment, as the Lions couldn't manage to keep Mattijana from scoring first. Sanja Cevnik broke contain, got the corner, and sprinted all the way over the try line, diving down between the goalposts to make it an easy conversion for fly half Dominik Kunikov. That was seven minutes into the game, and when Kunikov hit a penalty from 35 yards out with just under twenty minutes remaining, the Lions fans in the stands started to get a little restless. Trailing an unranked team making its debut in the World Cup 10-0 in the playoffs is not something that rugby fans in our nation are used to. Mattijana sneaked into the playoffs with a 3-0-2 record and only scored six points in two losses to the stronger teams in their group, Neu Engollon and East Saintland.

Nevertheless, the Lions had played twenty-one minutes of rugby and hadn't scored a single point. It was a rough go of it for the three new pack starters, especially new hooker Dan Broadway. Although he had played pretty well in the group stage, he was consistently losing scrums to Marko Mulec, failing to steal and even losing a Lions put-in. But they got their composure back and ground down the field. With just under three minutes to go in the half, captain Damian Clemens crashed across the try line and Quentin Foray nailed the conversion to close the gap to 10-7, which was the score at the half.

Mattijana would strike first in the second half, and strike quickly, with Cevnik again getting past Eric Clark and racing in for a try, with the conversion making it 17-7. Anderson immediately yanked the aging Clark for Nate Jefferson. Jefferson's not that much younger than Clark, but he was at least a pair of fresh legs and he managed to hold Cevnik down for the rest of the match. Foray answered back in the 15th minute, faking a dump-off to Alec Alba circling behind him, then squirting through the minute hole in the Mattijana line and sprinting to pay dirt. He hit his own conversion and the Lions trailed by three. The next twenty-three minutes were spent slogging back and forth across the pitch, with the forwards grinding down towards the try line before inevitably turning the ball over. The backs boomed kicks at each other, trying to pin their opponents down and gain field position. But with two minutes to go, Mattijana turned the ball over just inside the Lions' twenty-two. Alec Alba was the man who jackaled the ball away, and he tossed it out to the veteran scrummy Julian Lee. Lee and the back line finally looked like the #7 team in the world, and executed textbook passes, fakes, and other moves to steadily advance the ball down the pitch. The forwards moved reliably in support, and soon the Lions were inside the Mattijana twenty-two, but there was less than a minute to go in the game. If Mattijana could turn them over, the game would be all but finished. But weak-side wing Jean-Marc Aubert barely inched past the outstretched arms of Matej Campagnaro and dove into the try zone, giving the Lions the lead. Foray couldn't hit the conversion, but they did manage to hang on just barely and win the game.

Their relief won't last for long, as now they face off against Racao in the semifinals. The Lions have never faced Racao in 15s play before, but have defeated them several times in 7s. But they are ranked 18th in the world, won three games in their group, and saw off Neu Engollon 27-13 in the Round of 16. These are no slouches, and the Lions can't afford to be caught looking ahead to playing a team like Barunia, or they will be sent packing.

[Free Republics]

This is your Quarterfinals Cutoff presented by the Salvation Circle! Visit your local Salvation Circle church this Sunday morning to learn how you too can gain forgiveness for your sins!

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Quarterfinal Results

The Iron Syndicate 13–3 Bvriana
Nova Anglicana 11–12 Racao
The Fair Republic 16–6 Lisander

*Awaiting third party scorination by Lisander for the East Saintland vs. Barunia match.

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Semifinals (April 8)

#1 The Iron Syndicate v. #13 Racao @ Olympic Stadium, Baseton, Amolotopia, Free Republics
#8 The Fair Republic v. Barunia/East Saintland Winner @ Soccer Palace, Petrograd, Plymouth, Free Republics

[Lisander]

Quarterfinal
Barunia 20–6 East Saintland

Sorry for the delay. I was out when I received the telegram. I have sent a TG to Free Republics with prints of the result.

[The Iron Syndicate]

The Rugby War

Chapter Eight

The battle between the Syndicate rebels and the government, that had collided with the rugby team and forever altered their path by resulting in one of their players being kidnapped as leverage for the rebel coalition, was like a carefully planned out chess match where every move had its benefits and cons, and making too many mistakes could spell dire consequences. This game of cat and mouse was coming to an apex as the Syndicate’s Executive Board near unanimously approved a proposal by Chief Executive Augustus Darkstar, one that would officially declare the Feminist League and all of its local subdivisions as a terrorist group, and that would see the tracking and monitoring of all conversations from West Saintland, after the West Sanctii government was exposed as supporting the Pink Front financially.

That decision didn't sound like it was a big deal, because people already thought of the Feminist League as radicals after their extreme branch went after the national rugby team on two occasions, succeeding with a plot of theirs on only the second time, but making it official was important because it would see the government come down hard on them in ways that they previously couldn't. They could freeze the bank accounts of those who donated to them, they could make arrests without having to catch their members in the act of an actual crime, and they could seize property that was being used to facilitate the Pink Front operations.

In addition to all of this, it meant that they would be able to use military force to defend the country from this group, after it was found out the hard way that just police and normal security officers weren't much of a match for an organization that had far better training than anyone had predicted for a group that had originally started as rebellious college students doing something to protest that they believed was social injustice. This small conflict that was mostly between these people in the police had turned into a war that would have effects around the country, all because they had reached too far and decided to mess with the rugby team that the country had grown so attached to in the short time that the team had been together as a national team.

So now, the time had come for the next stage in the battle, where the government had turned to one of their most trusted military contractors, Red Hill Defense, to go up against the feminist threat and the threat that was represented by the Green Alliance, and rescue Shaun Draco without the government actually having to give up what the rebels wanted for the ransom. They wanted the disbandment of the national sports teams, the release of their imprisoned members, the permanent removal of the bounties that were on their free members, and they wanted an island to be signed over to them so they would have a base of operations. It was an impressive list of demands for one person, but they knew that the newfound popularity of the Black Arrows would put pressure on the government to cave to them and go through with it.

The average person didn’t care about bounties or about how many rebels were in prison or about the fate of an island that hadn't yet been developed yet by the Syndicate corporations that were responsible for real estate and development… But they did care about their heroes on the sports scene, who were major celebrities and who were well known by just about everyone who was connected to the internet or had access to TV by now. And on the islands, that quite literally was everyone, with how advanced the Sea of Iron had grown to be. There were trending hashtags saying that the government needed to save Shaun Draco, and there were even more signs saying similar things that could be spotted at the national team’s next match, the annihilation of Darmen that had happened in the round of sixteen for the first match since the ransom demands were announced.

The government was going to bring him back, but they weren't going to do it in the way that was expected of them by the rebels, or by the desperate fans that wanted to see one of their favorite players return unharmed. No, they were taking the riskier way, but the one that would swing things in their favor in the war that they were fighting against this coalition.

It was the middle of the night, and the coalition didn't know just how much the government had found out about their plans from the previous raid. They didn't know that the Red Hill Defense team that had been hired to rescue Shaun would have full knowledge that they would be leaving the Free Republics on an expensive yacht, heading to some friendly location where they would wait out the rest of the time left that they had given the Syndicate to make a decision. That yacht was large, but not large enough to fit a huge group of rebels on it to defend it, and that played into the hands of the mercenaries.

The coalition also didn't count on getting tailed from a distance by a RHD ship that kept just out of their line of sight before releasing a team of three divers into the water, who used their advanced wetsuits to quickly catch up with the yacht, preparing to board it. “This is when we earn our pay, boys…” said the leader of the unit, known as Helios, swiping his HUD away so he could see fully and turning the night vision goggles to a higher mode. “Bryant, Justin, Follow my lead.”

Helios grabbed onto the ladder that led to the main deck of the yacht, and started pulling himself up as the others followed and tried hard to keep up with the ship. The sound of the ocean covered over the sound of them climbing up the side of the ship, and as Helios looked around the deck to see if anyone was there, he saw that they remained undiscovered. “The deck’s all clear,” he said to the others, and then the three of them finished their climb and arrived at their target location.

They reached for the rifles that they had strapped to their bodies, and did another sweep of the area that saw them identify the captain of the ship. Bryant pointed her out, and Helios pointed the silenced rifle at the back of her head and dropped her with one shot. “Well, now we’re clear for real,” he added, before the group formed a single file line and started down the stairwell that would take them to the lower levels of the ship.

There was more than one door, but they knew that the largest one was the one that was being used by their enemy, because of the size of the force that was on this ship. It seemed that they hadn't noticed the gunshot yet, because there was mostly silence as the three soldiers moved through the hallway and headed towards that room, which was on the second deck of the expensive yacht that had about four decks. Eventually, they reached a door at the end of the hall, and Helios held his hand up for the others to stop.

“Let's use the charges for this, we don't know if just shooting the lock is going to work this time,” Helios said, and Justin nodded and dropped his backpack before digging around in it for the breaching charge, which he placed on the door handle before gesturing for the others to stand back as he picked up the controller.

“Might want to cover your ears for this, I'm detonating in four… Three… Two… One,” he said, before pressing the button on the small remote and causing the charge to explode and bust the lock open. There was a bang, a puff of smoke from the charge, and noises of panic from inside the room as these enemies finally realized that they had been boarded. But it would be too late for them to turn things around.

The door flew open, and the three men stormed inside and let the bullets fly before their HUDs could even pick up the targets. They caught their enemies off guard and took out the first three before they could even go for their weapons, and as a fourth woman in black fatigues and a pink combat jacket reached for a shotgun, Bryant fired a shot across the room that caught her through the heart and caused her to slump to the ground. Someone else tried to grab a pistol before being shot three times by Helios, and when someone jumped from behind a table with a rifle and got a single shot off, the three soldiers converged their fire on the green haired insurgent.

They eased into the room while looking in all directions for more hostiles, but found that there were fewer than they expected. “Looks clear,” said Helios, before pointing to the edge of the room where the only man to be found was sitting on a long couch against the wall. “There's the target, let’s radio the boat to come over and get him out of here…”

The man was indeed Shaun Draco, the one who had been captured by the Green Alliance and that was being used as a ransom, and he was definitely unharmed. He wasn't even tied up, which was probably from charming his captors enough to show some sympathy for him. “That was fast… I expected things to come down to the wire, and you guys got in within the first week of the deadline,” he said, standing and looking unphased by the burst of violence. “I assume you're the ones that the Syndicate has hired to get me out of her. Well, I'm convinced that I had them charmed enough to get out on my own, but… Thanks for the rescue, anyway.”

And so just like that, the leverage that the rebels had gained was gone, and now with the Syndicate coming down hard on them, they would be at a disadvantage as they figured out their next moves and tried to minimize the damage that was coming from the information that had been lost in the raid. Yes, this was like a back and forth chess match, but now, things had changed and the Syndicate wasn't just doing well, but they now had their opponents in check. All that was left was one more move, and victory could be theirs.

[Barunia]

The Barunian Waves defeated East Saintland 20-6 to make their way into the Semifinals of the World Cup.

The Barunians were in strong form, setting up a quick series of passes and tackles that left East Saintland struggling to catch up. On one play they made a dozen passes before the ball ended up with Rogers, who scored the first try. O'Shea sliced the conversion though, but it didn't mean much to the Waves, who continued to dominate the match. Stirling got try number two, thanks to a rolling maul off a five metre line out, and this time O'Shea was dead on with the kick.

East Saintland did try to pick themselves up, and got the ball down the other end, where Adam Burns gave away a penalty for a high tackle. Marcus Norbanus put the East Sanctii on the board with the kick. They still had a mountain to climb after half time, with the Barunians nine points ahead. It got worse too when Joel Murray landed a drop goal, and when Norbanus missed a penalty from twenty metres out it the East Sanctii might as well have packed their bags. Andreas Lupus did score a drop goal to close the gap a little, but their tired defence allowed for a Barunian breakthrough, and it was Findlay Martin who put the final nails in the East Sanctii coffin with a try to stop the clock. Monty O'Shea signed the ball before he took the conversion, sending it into the crowd instead of through the pegs before going off to celebrate.

The win is absolutely huge for Barunian rugby, as they make it into the top four in only their second World Cup. Last Cup they made it to 18th place - this time they have an opportunity to make Barunian history. The Fair Republic now stands in their way - the World number 6 will be a tough challenge. But the Waves have already beaten two teams stronger then them in Ko-oren and Hutanjia, and they will not be intimidated by rank. Back home in Barunia, Barunians are beginning to get excited about rugby, and the further the team go, the more interest in the sport grows.

[Free Republics]

This is your Semifinal Cutoff presented by Fassbinder Tobacco Company! Be the Generation That Makes Smoking Cool Again! Smoke a Pack of Fassbinders today!

---

Semifinal Results

The Iron Syndicate 13–13 Racao (23–16 AET)
The Fair Republic 18–14 Barunia

---

3PPO (April 9)

Racao v. Barunia @ RayDome, Doranto, Contoria, Free Republics

Rugby Union World Cup 25 Final (April 9)

The Iron Syndicate v. The Fair Republic @ Gem of the Oceans Stadium, Republica, Republica District, Free Republics

[The Fair Republic]

(FRP)- Plymouth, Free Republics
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Fair Republic Toucans clinched their first ever berth for the Rugby Union World Cup finals today after defeating Barunia by a score of 18-14. The 28th ranked Waves burst right out of the gate and dominated possession for the first 15 minutes. The Fair Republic defense held up until Ross Lynch was given a yellow card for foul and Joel Murray converted the penalty try in the 17th minute. A successful conversion by Monty O'Shea gave the Waves a 7-0 lead. The Waves then stuck again after Luke Smith made a costly turnover and Tim Groundman was able to walk in the try at the 22nd minute. Another successful conversion by O'Shea gave the Waves as 14-0 lead. It looked like the Toucans were going to be shutout in the first half until Peter Lazarus converted a successful try at the 37th minute. Brett Adams' conversion attempt was wide right and the score was 14-5 Barunia at the half.

At the start of the second half, Toucans manager Gideon Patrick made two key substitutions as George Wood and Patrick Ross replaced George Lipton and Wellington Archer respectively. Ross had an immediate impact as he made a try saving tackle on Joel Murray. This immediately led to George Lipton converting a try at the 50th minute. Victor Peterson's conversion attempt was successful as the Toucans cut the lead to 14-12. The game remained a back and forth affair until Brett Adams made up for his earlier missed conversion by making a successful drop kick in the 74th minute to give the Toucans a 15-14 lead. A costly turnover by the Waves in the 79th minute led to Ross Lynch immediately converting a drop kick making the score 18-14 as time ran out.

The Toucans will now play the Unranked newcomers The Iron Syndicate for the Rugby Union World Cup title. The Iron Arrows defeated Racao today 23-16 in extra time. The Iron Arrows are also the top seed for the round of sixteen after going undefeated in the FreedomCola Group. Expect a brutal physical match from two fundamentally sound teams

[The Iron Syndicate]

The Rugby War

Chapter Nine

There was something unusual in Portus. The streets were still packed with people, the city was as busy as it could be on a weekend evening, and everywhere you looked, it seemed that there were hundreds of people making their way through the urban jungle and trying to get to their destination in what was the most efficient route possible, and every avenue looked like it was filled to the brim with cars and taxis and trucks and every other kind of vehicle that you could think of. The skyline was still dominated by the lights of the skyscrapers that were now turning from their daytime looks to their nighttime designs that had been crafted to grab the attention of those who looked at them.

The city was still full of advertising, with billboards on every street and electronic signs around almost every building. The signs were flashy, but they didn't just rely on their bright lights, they also had moving pictures and rapidly changing colors to draw in those that saw them. The whole city of Portus felt less like a city and more like a living mass of steel, lights, and color, with the colors changing as fast as you could look at them and the images shifting every few seconds and being put on every surface and every building. But still, there was something different, even if the city was the same in every other regard.

That difference was that rugby fever had hit the city and had hit the whole island of Portum, and had made its way to the rest of the islands too. The national team that they called the Black Arrows was enjoying massive success and hadn't yet lost or drawn a game, and as they had more and more wins, they caught on more and more in the public eye and became one of the most loved teams in the country. There was drama surrounding them, in the form of the rebels who were fighting the government targeting them for exposure and for publicity, but even that drama had helped the team, because it brought in people who would normally not care about watching the sport. You could find every kind of person watching, from the diehard rugby fan to the person who was just watching because it was their national team to the person who had heard about Shaun Draco getting kidnaped and tuned in just to see what the big deal about all of this was.

And as rugby fever spread through the islands and the ratings shattered records throughout the end of the group stage and the two knockout matches that had been played already, Portus was one of the areas that was hit hard. As soon as you arrived at the spaceport, you would be greeted by a massive billboard displaying an advertisement for the next match on I-Vision, and if you headed north and left through the exit in that direction, you would see another billboard on the building that was immediately across from the spaceport, reminding you that I-Vision had the contract rights for the Rugby Syndicate and that the stars of the national team would continue their journey in that league. There was a certain buzz around the team, too, with their merchandise being sold in city squares and with every sports shop suddenly stocking up with rugby items for both the national team and the clubs. Hell, you could even buy shirts for foreign national teams now, that was how much exposure the national team had created.

Before, the sport had been popular but it still hadn't been the same as football, which seemed like it was loved universally by the country. Now, that sport actually had a rival and that rival was threatening to jump and catch it in terms of ratings and revenue, with the supercomputers projecting that the ratings and the income for the Rugby Syndicate would skyrocket from their already high figures when the next season began and the players that had gained new found international fame returned home to join their clubs once again. They had already boosted the revenues of their clubs through merchandise sales; suddenly, you couldn't walk through Luxus without seeing someone in a Draco shirt, nor could you visit Portus without finding plenty of Blanco shirts.

One thing about the sport that wasn't often talked about, though, was its ability to bring people together. Lensey Steele could say that she had personally experienced that effect… No, she could say that she was personally experiencing it. That was what was on her mind as she walked those busy city streets, her HUD projecting little arrows at the edges of her vision and telling her how close the nearest pedestrians were. It was a tight squeeze on these streets, a very tight one, but in a way she was happy to be back in one of these crowds. It reminded her of days gone past, of the many days when she had walked these streets before running off to the territories to be a journalist that covered the rougher sports in the Syndicate, the ones that were played in the artificial gravity of the colonies.

Those were happier days that reminded her of when she still had a real home and when she was still close to her family, and rugby was the thing that had helped her to make amends with them somewhat. Her family had told her that the rugby team was playing Racao in the semifinals and that they would all be in Portus to watch, even the family members that were in Red Hill and Metrus. They said that they knew she was a rugby league fan rather than a fan of union, but that her company would be appreciated nonetheless and that this was a way that she could make up for the way she had run off and rejected the path that they wanted for her. According to them, they had already forgiven her and that all she had to do was come to terms with that and come back home for the first time since leaving.

She finally arrived at the building she was looking for, one of the expensive condos that was near the downtown area, and she stepped inside and got in the elevator to head to the top floor that she knew her parents lived in now. Her HUD was still projecting work related messages and social updates at the edges of her vision, but she swiped it all away and decided to focus on what was real and what was right in front of her right now. After getting out of the elevator, she found the right door and rung the bell, folding her arms as she waited and shifting in an almost nervous manner.

Right when she considered calling, her father, Avery, opened the door and let her inside the spacious apartment. “Welcome back to Portus, Lensey. I'm a little surprised that you're back here to watch rugby union, but it's still nice to have you around even though it's not your favorite,” he said, hugging her and showing her to the living room where the rest of her family was gathering as food cooked in the kitchen. She just smiled, waving to them and waiting to see their reaction to seeing her in the flesh for the first time in years.

“Is that Lensey?” asked one of her cousins, doing a double take even though it really was impossible to confuse her for anyone else, with her distinct hair cut where her hair flowed long to the right but was shaved off on the left side. “I didn't think she was ever going to show up here again-”

“Yeah, well, I wasn't. But sometimes people have a change of heart, and I'm a sucker for sports and food,” Lensey replied, before looking for her mother, Jessica. “Hello, Mom,” she added, waving to her from across the room. “I see you weren't lying when you said that everyone was here. I have to say, I'm glad you decided to invite me, because I don't even have any league stuff to cover until the end of this World Cup. Everyone's focused on union, including the outlet I work for. They put everything on hold, didn't bother calling some of us into the office. If I wasn't here, I probably would be watching by myself back home.”

“You might be the one league fan, but since everyone else is into union, I thought this World Cup would give us a good chance to get back together. Everyone's staying for the final if we can make it to that, too. And hey, you're glad that I invited you, but I'm glad that you decided to accept it. Really is nice having you around here, and it's been far too long since we stopped talking and visiting each other. You're still living on the stations, right?”

“Yeah, not really places that you want to visit, to be honest. If you thought the surface colonies were kind of impoverished and very working class, the stations are like that even more and they're the opposite of here in Portus. I almost felt like a foreigner when I got here, because I had to adjust all over again to what it's like to be with the crowds here or to see electronic signs on every building, and to see all of the outlandish architecture… For as advanced as the stations are, they're a throwback to the days before the islands were like this,” Lensey shrugged, before sitting down and looking at the giant TV that was playing on the wall in front of them.

The news was showing something about the rugby team, and it looked like it was about the player that had been kidnapped by the Pink Front, Shaun Draco. The newscaster was saying that Draco had been rescued by Red Hill Defense mercenaries and that he would be back in the side as the starting scrum half for the night’s match against Racao. And that was good, because he had played a key role when they had defeated them in the first match between the two nations, which had happened earlier in the group stages. According to the news, it had been the Green Alliance that was behind the actual capture despite the Pink Front being the ones to demand the ransom, and Red Hill Defense had been the ones to rescue Shaun after raiding a yacht being used to transport him by the Greens to a location that would have less of a presence of Syndicate law enforcement and even local law enforcement from the Free Republics.

“There's a lot of instability out there in the colonies, eh? Isn't the SLO propping up these movements on the islands, that got one of our players kidnapped?” asked Avery. “I hope you're safe from all this conflict, Len. This stuff going on around rugby, it's all just a prediction of what's going to come more often in the future with all of these opposition factions getting restless.”

“I'm on Station Twenty One, same place that I've lived at since I left at sixteen years old… So it's been eight years, and I haven't seen anything crazy happen yet outside of the usual territorial stuff like fighting in the streets and small time crime,” Lensey replied. “This place isn't that important to rebels because the only big industry is ice mining and mineral purification, they're more interested in the big time targets you can find on the surface at places like Zalium. Black Isle is a little bit of a different story, because that place has a much higher population, but that's not really close to where I live.”

“Right… You still covering sports with Iron Sport? Or have you moved into some other kind of journalism now?”

“I'm doing all kinds of journalism, but I'm still covering rugby for Iron Sport. Just not this code… I traveled all over the colonies to cover rugby league but I wasn't one of the ones that was invited to come to the Free Republics. Cause like I said, rugby union hasn't really been my thing and I hadn't done any coverage of that before. I actually wrote a pretty damning piece on it and most of the reporters that got invited were with I-Vision, who has the rights to the Rugby Syndicate in addition to the World Cup. I did, however, do some coverage on the new contract with that company and what effects it's supposed to have on the league.”

“And what effects would those be?” asked her cousin, raising an eyebrow.

“Let's just say that if we suddenly become a top nation in club rugby and keep winning internationals, it's because the federation was smart enough to fight hard for these TV contracts that have already helped the national team so much. They got into a TV war with the Territorial Championship, but they won and made sure that the next time the other code is able to compete with them will be in years, after they've already benefitted from the World Cup popularity surge and increased profits every year after that. This has all been calculated already, by supercomputers, by the way. Unless something drastic happens, union is on the path to success now… And somehow, I'm really not sure how I feel about all of that.”

~

It wasn't long before the semifinal match versus Racao, and the Black Arrows were in for a surprise. They were in the locker room, getting dressed for the match and getting ready to head out for the warmups that would start in ten minutes, and Tanner Blanco was going over a few pregame things with the team before someone else that was unexpected stepped into the room, wearing a blue team branded track suit. “You all weren't about to start without me, were you?” he asked, and they all turned and faced the source of the voice that they all recognized.

Shaun Draco was back, and he hadn't lost his jovial attitude that had made him popular amongst his teammates in the first place. The reports were true, he had been unharmed by his previous ordeal, and now he looked ready to play again after being out since the end of the group stage. He was still in top physical shape, and if one hadn't watched the news, they'd have no idea that he had only recently been rescued from kidnappers. “Shaun!” shouted Mia, running over to him and hugging him before any of the others could get to him. “What are you doing, coming back and not telling us that you were free now? We were just talking about you, worrying about you and wondering if you were okay!”

“I only just got back, they rescued me a few days ago and then I basically got interrogated for details about the ones who kidnapped me. I gave all the info I had and then they let me go and dropped me off back in the Free Republics and told me to go play in the match. So that's what I'm doing,” he shrugged, grinning as the rest of the team got up to greet him once again. “It's all over the news, you know, you guys just missed it because you're all busy getting ready.”

“Ah, I always knew that we were a focused squad, didn't know we were focused enough that we would miss one of our own players returning,” replied Eric Hammer, before tossing Shaun the shirt that had been hanging from his spot in the room. “Hey, you better get dressed, because even though it would be fun to swap stories about what the last week has been like, we have a semis match to play soon. We can talk a bit during the warmup, and then there's some time between that and the match. It is good to see you back safely, though, everyone was getting worried as the government kept their radio silence up and didn't negotiate with the Pink Front on the principle of not negotiating with terrorists.”

“You say you were worried, but I had even more reason to be worried because it was my life on the line. But they did a good job with the rescue. You should have seen it, it was only three guys but they made it feel like there was a whole battalion there. They blew the lock off of the door and then stormed in and shot something like five rebels in a few seconds before clearing the rest of the room and grabbing me and then taking control of the ship and steering it back towards the port that it had recently left,” explained Shaun. “They did all this without letting me get as much as a scratch, so I can't complain about the way that the government handled this all. Have you heard the other news?”

“What news would that be?”

“It turns out that after these recent years of the Pink Front acting like terrorists, we’re the ones that have actually gotten them and the Feminist League branded as actual terrorists, that the government can use extra measures to fight. They're all getting their bank accounts frozen and their property seized by the state, all because they overstepped their limits and tried to touch the most popular sports team in the country. Me getting kidnapped actually helped because it reminded everyone that these people are actually dangerous and not just a protest group. I also have the feeling that we're going to see them go underground completely in the next few weeks, because of what the government is doing over here.”

“They're doing other things than freezing bank accounts and repossessing property?” asked Mia.

“Well, they're cutting off support from West Saintland in the form of coming down on all Sanctii communications and trade coming into the Syndicate, and they were going to do the same with the Free Republics until this country decided to save some face with the government by doing their own investigation into what happened. I don't know all the details but let's say that all of the Pink Front and Green Alliance officers who made their way to the Free Republics should soon be found out and turned over to the Syndicate. Not only that, but the connections between the Feminist League and the progressive movement in the Republics should be severed. I was told all of this by Police Corp after we got back, and they said that this should all happen in the next week or so.”

“They should have known to not touch our sports. They can protest wages and they can protest male privilege without everyone hating them and they can have their supporters through doing that, but the moment they touch our sports, they're going to have a lot of people turning on them that they didn't expect,” chuckled Eric, as Shaun started to change to the kit that was waiting for him.

“It's just time to win, now. It's going to be embarrassing if we win on the battlefield and then lose on the pitch,” said Shaun, and after he got dressed, the team moved to the tunnel and prepared to move out. “Let's put it this way. We’re legends whether we win or lose, and that goes for this match and for the final, but if we win and then win again, we’ll be world legends and not just national ones. Isn't that what you all want?”

“Hell yeah,” Mia said, pushing to the front of the group and jumping to hit the top of the doorway as they turned into the tunnel and started down the path to the pitch.

“Keep that in your minds during the match, then… Arrows on three, guys. One, two, three…”

“ARROWS!” shouted the players, and with that, they charged out of the tunnel to play in the semifinals, in what was another match that was being called their biggest yet. But now, they were heading into it with one of their best players back, and they were whole again.

[Free Republics]

This is your Final Cutoff presented by The O'Reilly Organization! The O'Reilly Organization: We're More Than Just Gentlemen's Clubs!

---

3PPO

Barunia 17–12 Racao

RUWC 25 Final

The Iron Syndicate 31–8 The Fair Republic

Congratulations to The Iron Syndicate, commiserations to The Fair Republic and thanks to everybody who participated!

[The Iron Syndicate]

The Rugby War

Epilogue

Time was winding down in this final, but everyone knew who was going to win by now. It was late in the match, and the Iron Syndicate was up by the score of 31-8 over the Fair Republic, and with Shaun Draco back in action, it hadn't really been in doubt. They'd run riot since the opening kickoff, and their game was working on all phases, with the defense setting up the attack and the attack finishing their chances when they needed to and not missing out on scoring when the opportunity came to them. They were the team that had been better coached, and at full strength again, it showed.

And so they had went out and metaphorically punched their opposition in the face, knowing that they were heroes back home either way and playing as if there was no tomorrow and as if they had nothing to lose. They hit harder, ran faster, jumped a little bit higher, and rucked with more effort. Because the truth was, even though they were heroes either way, there was more of a reason for them to be motivated. Their run to the final had been one of the all time great underdog runs in the tournament, and if they could cap it off with a victory, they would be remembered by the history books not as underdogs, but champions.

It wasn't the Syndicate way to be happy with silver, and it showed in their performance as they played with both intensity and precision, continuing to win despite their smaller physical size and the fact that they don't play like a traditional rugby team. Apollo Black had been questioned for his team selection and critics had said that they would never win with the players that they had picked, that focused on precision and movement over pure power, but with the team in the final and winning, those critics had been silenced for the meantime, and Black was looking like one of the most promising coaches in the game because of the way that he hadn't been afraid to ditch a more traditional style for a national one that the rest of the world didn't believe in as much.

Of everyone out there, he was one of the most enthusiastic, standing by the touch line and yelling for his players to put in even more effort and to hit even harder and to put even more heart into their game than they were already doing. And their game plan was quite the advanced one, and he was the one that was waving signals to the players and shouting to them to communicate that plan, to keep it in tact as they built their lead up and then went into halftime up considerably. Precision was everything, and if they lost that precision, they could easily concede a number of points in a short period of time.

But they didn't give up in the second half and they didn't lose the precision that they had played with in the first, and eventually, their lead grew and became too big to overcome, and they were left to run the clock down for the rest of the match. And then the referee blew the final whistle, and it was all over in the twenty fifth Rugby Union World Cup. The Iron Syndicate had never played in an international match before this World Cup, and yet they were now the champions of the world, after defeating teams such as Hutanija and Racao and now the Fair Republic on their path to gold.

Before, they had been heroes. But right now, they were something more than that. They were stars not just in sports, but nationwide stars who were admired in every circle. Now, they were legends.