Rugby World Cup 2003 - The Rugby Widows Weep!

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Originally posted by LDiCesare
Why is it that Australians have the right to throw in line outs neither straight nor more than 5 meters and go away without suffering a scru or free kick?

Good question. They got away with it three times.

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Originally posted by LDiCesare
Australia 17 - 16 Ireland
Short victory for the Aussies, who did a good job in defense. Their scrum is really weak, and I think the referee has been a bit lenient. I'd have whistled once for Ireland instead of against on one scrum (both looseheads were doing different fouls), and I think many of the lineouts wer not straight. The Australian lineout lost many balls too.

Our lineout was terrible, our scrum was ordinary, we dropped too much ball - pretty much the same problems we've had for 18 months. I'm not sure why we still have the same problems 18 months later. But, typically, our dogged defence, our courage, and an outstanding performance from George Smith saved us. Oh, and about 3cm, which is what Humphreys' drop goal attempt missed by. Oh, and Ireland's bizarre decision to turn the ball back inside when they had a 4 man overlap with about 10 minutes to go.

What I found interesting was Eddie Jones' choice of players to replace. Lyons - well, I don't know why he was replaced; but Burke and Larkham, two of our most experienced players, were replaced at a crucial time by Tuquiri and Giteau, who, arguably, both should have started the game. I hope Eddie was admitting his first selections were wrong. But I doubt it.

Of course, Australia will trample Scotland in the QF, but I don't see them as favourites after that.

You're quite right. Unless there is some miraculous reversal of the problems that have plagued us for 18 months, we will sink in the semi-final. And we will have gained nothing out of the last 18 months. We won't have progressed an inch. Oh, but we will have travelled a considerable distance backwards relative to four years ago.

France - Ireland will be a tough match.

Ireland lifted their game a couple of gears tonight. They always do against us. Gee, O'Driscoll is a mighty mighty player. If the Irish can repeat their performance tonight against the French, they will be competitive. But the French scrum and lineout are so far superior to Australia's that the Irish won't have either of those advantages. Unless something disastrous happens, I can't see France losing.

[LDiCesare]

Unless something disastrous happens, I can't see France losing.

I hope you're right, but France is so unpredictable that you can never know.

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I think France has been a bit less unpredictable in this tournament. When they haven't been playing at their best, they seem to have been coasting rather than playing bad rugby, which has been a habit in the past. Coasting and bad rugby are two different things. Of course, coasting can be dangerous, but they seem to have been able to switch on when needed. I also wouldn't expect them to coast against the better teams.

I make one proviso, though. They have to get Madamoiselle Labit out of the team!

Edit. Something I forgot to ask about. In the match against the Americans the other night, one of the commentators mentioned that the French skipper - the hooker from Toulouse - had been suspended during the domestic competition for headbutting someone in a car park. Is this true? If so, what was it all about? I assume Tamerlin was somehow involved?

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Bath 31 -d- Leicester 17

Just in case Havak was hoping no one would notice.

Gee, I can just about do a cut and paste on Leicester's results these days. Havak - how glad are you that Rotheram were promoted this season? It should guarantee you avoid the ignominy of the bottom of the ladder. Just about, anyway.

[flipside]

Hate to do this but....................

I agree with every single word Finbar said.

Edit. It was about 5 inches and I am still crying and ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh........................ .................................................. .................... waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......................... ................
We can beat France.
It will be very close.
IF we can play our best.
Would not put money on it
I still believe.

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Originally posted by flipside
Hate to do this but....................

I agree with every single word Finbar said.

I have no wish to rub it in - in fact, in saying this, I'm condemning our performance - but Ireland should have won. They gave us a rugby lesson in several key aspects of the game, but couldn't capitalise on the huge amount of possession and territory they had.

Edit. It was about 5 inches and I am still crying and ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

The attempt was fair enough, but, like a couple of other options taken in the last quarter of the game, it mightn't have been the best. O'Driscoll was murdering us whenever he got the ball, and should have been exploited more, IMHO.

We can beat France.
It will be very close.
IF we can play our best.
Would not put money on it
I still believe.

We shall see. I just hope it's a mighty match. There was huge Irish support in the crowd last night. Great to see and hear.

Edit. And now Bob Dwyer has come out and said what most sensible people, excluding Eddie Jones and his selectors, have known for a long time - this Wallaby team (the team currently being selected) cannot win the tournament. Its makeup is too deeply rooted in the style of rugby that succeeded in 1999. The game has moved on. Our game hasn't. Trouble is, it's now much too late in the day to do anything about it. Even if those in power were inclined to do anything. The players with the skills to change the way we play are available. They just haven't been part of Eddie's plan. This isn't to say they would win the tournament for us, but at least our game would have progressed. As it is, we're just going to have to count on poor performances from the opposition.

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England 111 -d- Uruguay 13

Another largely meaningless match. Any England player who ended up with the ball with a centimetre of space had a try on offer. I mean, for crying out loud, Mike Catt scored two tries.

On a slightly more meaningful note, The Nose had a better second half than first half, but still looks out of sorts.

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Half time score:

All Blacks 28
Wales 24

Tremendously entertaining match. Closest I've ever seen to a Barbarians match in a RWC. Defence seems to be everyone's last priority. Gee, the Welsh #14 has a dazzling step.

[LDiCesare]

Half time NZ 28 Wales 24.
The Welsh play rather well. Their small winger is very good.
However, overall, this match shines by the missed tackles. It is very pleasant, of course, we saw 7 tries in the first half, but I can't help thinking that if the All Balcks don't defend better, they will manage to be in trouble against a Wales second team.
The kiwi forwards play rather well, but they don't defend correctly. Two of the AB tries come form Rokocoko personal feats and one from the cleverness of Marshall who played a penalty fast. The kick by Spencer was a very nice one, and his lock ran really fast to get there and ground the ball first. But the Welsh play well, despite their lack of a real fullback (which shows at time, as Thomas is not very well positionned to receive kicks).
I still see the ABs winning, but they should really defend better than this.

[LDiCesare]

The welsh socred a fourth try by Shane(?) Williams. Wales beating NZ? The inability of the balcks to tackle is going to cost them a lot. Spencer should be careful not to have a brainfade. He already made a knock-on. Who knows?
Great match, best so far in the world cup imho.

[LDiCesare]

New Zealand 53 - 37 Wales
I am a bit pissed off at the video ref who didn't see the forward pass between Marshall and Howlett. After that try, the Welsh gave up. The AB would probably have scored anyway, but still, it's a pity that they win the match partly due to a bad refereeing.
Marshall did a very good match, and Meeuws helped a lot when he entered.
Had the Welsh had a fullback and Thomas played wing instead of their 11, had they just given the ball after they had pierced the kiwi defense, the balcks could have lost.
Otherwise said, South Africa - Nez Zealand should really be worth watching.
And England - Wales, needless to say. Havak will be having nightmares featuring red dragons this week.

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All Blacks 53 -d- Wales 37

Okay, now the All Blacks, along with England, have had their wake up call*. Methinks they started the game with the intention of turning on a backline exhibition, didn't give defence much of a thought, and suddenly found themselves in a heap of trouble. Wales jumped all over them, and it took the ABs a very long time to recover. The ABs' defence had more holes than a sieve, their lineout again misfired, and their pack only held its own. Next week, the Boks will put them under 10 times more pressure than Wales did tonight. It will make for, um, an interesting match.

Edit. News through tonight that Boks flanker van Niekerk is out of the tournament with a knee injury. That will hurt the Boks.

Wales look to have some very talented young players and they played superbly tonight. Congrats to them. Pity that the Howlett try that took the ABs 6 in front - and possibly broke the Welsh hearts - was from a blatantly forward pass.

*I only wish the Wallabies were good enough for the Ireland match to be considered a wake up call rather than the lucky win it was.

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Originally posted by LDiCesare
And England - Wales, needless to say. Havak will be having nightmares featuring red dragons this week.

You can be sure Havak is praying the Welsh will do a Samoa and not perform two weeks in a row.

[Drogue]

This is looking good for England. Wales, even with today's form, shouldn't prove much of a test, since England can defend. The French, as always, are looking pretty variable IMHO, which means Ireland stand a reasonable chance, and so England stand a reasonable chance of not having to gamble that the French are not on top of their game when they play us. Although saying that, our second team only just lost our winning streak to the French. It is looking like it will be easier to get to the final than to qualify top of the group, since I can't see a match as hard as the South Africa game until the final. On top of that, the All Blacks are finally looking a little shaky. At the begining of the tournament, I was very wary of all this talk that England were going to win, and while I haven't seen us play at all as well as we have at times during the last couple of years, it seems that the teams that were expected to gain quarter-final places, but go no further, are raising their games, whereas the top teams are under-performing. Not only does it look exiting, I can't see England losing until the final, and I think, unless the All Blacks raise their game a lot and we don't, we should win it