Rugby - The game they play in heaven

[Andydog]

Dudes, long time no speak.

40 gold on the Boks please!

I haven't caught up on the posts yet, but did notice Finbar's above summary. Caligasta betting on the Wallabies??? Finbar on the Boks??? What has happened to you guys?

Havak - managed to secure my ticket to the November NZ - England game yesterday. I've already begun to exercise my yelling chords...

[Andydog]

btw - stick 50 of Mickeyj's gold on the boks. I'll inform him of his bet this afternoon. ;-)

[Tamerlin]

Originally posted by ravagon


I'm thinking 1 000 000 Euros probably comes to more like 37.25 civ gold using current exchange rates.

All that for nothing !

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by NeoStar


Ah - The kiwis Caligastia and ravagon have realised their folly and turned to the side they secretly know rules world rugby

hahahaha...just for that I hope I lose my bet!

GO SPRINGBOKS!!!

[NeoStar]

YAWN Bloody hell, tis almost 11:00 over here - but Ive managed to stay awake!!!

Well the game is beginning - Caligastia, your backflip better not jinx this... Im logging off.

ADVANCE AUSTRALIA FAIR!!!

Australians all let us all ...... ah, stuff it

GO THE WALLABIES

[Caligastia]

Awesome, awesome game!!!

Springboks 33 d Wallabies 31

All Blacks win Tri-Nations!!!

The Wallabies get a taste of their own medicine by losing in the last minute. I really thought SA were done for after that last try by the Wallabies.

I thought it was a bit unfair that Sharpe was merely penalised for his punch while SA had a man sent off for the same thing in the second half. Also the red card at the end for the high tackle seemed a bit harsh.

SA let themselves down with a lack of discipline, but managed to scrape back at the last minute. Imagine what the margin would have been if they hadnt given away penalties and had men sent off.

[LDiCesare]

Wow! Anyone who saw the game can post some more details of what happened?

[Havak]

Actually Caligastia I also thought Mr O'Brien was very wrong not to penalise Sharpe for blocking the tackler from Keifu just before the league boy took his try? I felt Skinstad was interfered with at the line out leading to their last try as well?

Still a cracking game to watch - I have never seen a side lose defensive shape the way the Boks did in the second half. And then the Wallabies did exactly the same in the closing seconds!

Still I have to give it to the Aussies - nobody punishes 14 men as well as them, I really thought they had done enough. And even my mate George Smith played better in the loose than I think I have ever seen him.

Roll on November I say!

[Tamerlin]

I should have paid more attention to the stats...

This said, I never thought the Aussies could beat the Boks with enough points to win this Tri-Nations though I thought they would won this game.

[NeoStar]

We almost won ... almost...



The Game - as seen by NS

Thanks to several Springbok mistakes Australia managed to slot in three penalties. SA had the chance to draw with their own kicks - but none of them found the mark (Andre Pretorius was out just before). They then went on a scoring spree near the end of the 1st and the beginning of the 2nd. With a quarter of the game left it was 26 - 9 (and I was starting to get worried)

Note - Brent Russell is someone to look out for. Starting in his first test, he sparked a thrilling display from the Springbok backs, who ran in five tries against Australia's three.

The Wallabies then hit back hard with three tries in nine minutes. Flanker George Smith was brilliant at the breakdown, but the backs only started looking good when Mat Rogers came onto the field as a replacement. He was the only Australian three-quarter to be able to open up the Springbok defense.

When replacement hooker Brendon Cannon crashed over for a try with four minutes left -- taking the Wallabies into the lead for the first time since the 20th minute of the first half -- the Springboks looked beaten.

Typical late game Wallaby surge - they were on their way to winning but a missed conversion by Burke (for the last try) and a mistake near their own line with a minute or so left was the downfall. SA got their chance.

RULE IN RUGBY - the team attacking an opponents line (needing one try to win) before the hooter are odds on to win. Always. The Wallabies have done it themselves, so many times...

South Africa spent 20 minutes of the second half with just 14 men on the field, as De Wet Barry was sin-binned for a punch and then his center partner Marius Joubert was red-carded for his second high tackle of the match. This was a bit harsh - but note that a yellow card at the 71st minute is the same thing.

But the South Africans attacked relentlessly in a desperate attempt to avoid losing all their Tri-Nations matches for the first time in the competition and were rewarded when Greeff burst through the Australian defense to level the score.

Greeff, with the calm of Burke, slotted the conversion to secure victory and the crowd went crazy.



I was gutted - but the game was one of the best. Pity about the result, to be honest though the Springbok really deserved it.

This is why rugby at the top level can be the best international game fullstop!!!

Australia could almost won though. The boys put on the fireworks too late...

[finbar]

Originally posted by Andydog
40 gold on the Boks please!

I'll include your bet in the equation, AD, and Mickeyj's. I assume, of course, that had the bet not won, Mickeyj would have refused to pay up and charged you with theft.

[finbar]

Final Betting Update & Dividends

After AndyDog's and Mickeyk's late bets, the Bank A/c read:

academia 92
Andydog 153-40 = 113
Caligastia 37-10 = 27
finbar 130-30 = 100
Havak 46-20 = 26
LDiCesares 104-15 = 89
Mickeyj 121-50 = 71
NeoStar 134-20 = 114
ravagon 114-20 = 94
Tamerlin 69-20 = 49

The updated pool stood at 225 Civ Gold.

The bets were placed as follows:

Boks

Andydog 40
finbar 30
Havak 20
LDiCesares 15
Mickeyj 50

Wallabies

Caligastia 10
NeoStar 20
ravagon 20
Tamerlin 20

And, with the Boks winning, the successful punters have collected as follows (rounded up or down if need be, and including your original stake):

Andydog 58
finbar 43.5
Havak 29
LDiCesares 22
Mickeyj 72.5

Thus our Bank A/c at the end of the Tri-Nations series (and, effectively, the SH international season) stands as follows:

academia 92
Andydog 171
Caligastia 27
finbar 143.5
Havak 55
LDiCesares 111
Mickeyj 143.5
NeoStar 114
ravagon 94
Tamerlin 49

Now, the interesting question is, what do we do with our fortunes? Those of us who have accumulated them! Do we invest them in some sort of gilt-edged security - I hear there's a t'riffic US telco called WorldCom that's booming, apparently - until the NH international season starts? Or do those of us who feel the urge punt on the NH club season?

[finbar]

Originally posted by Havak
And even my mate George Smith played better in the loose than I think I have ever seen him.

He's had a couple of very good Tri-Nations matches. Best on field in the Brisbane game. He's coming along very nicely, IMHO, learning all the time.

Roll on November I say!

It's going to be a fascinating series of encounters.

It's hard to believe this is the same Boks team that struggled against the Pumas. Sure, they're now more experienced, but it's like they have an on-off switch. Their first 15 minutes last night resembled their first match against us - silly penalties, no cohesion. Then - pow! Then, in the last 20 minutes, the switch was turned off again.

It's to their credit that they pulled it off last night without Pretorius. While Russell is a very promising, very dangerous player, it was fairly evident that - via inexperience and enthusiasm - only he knew what was going on when he had ball in hand. His backs ran with him in hope.

Still, they're a very young, very inexperienced team, who will only - with the right guidance - get better and better. And thank God, because world rugby needs a strong Boks outfit. Without the mindless aggro and biffo, I have to say. Because, apart from anything else, they've proved they don't need it. They're a much, much better team without it.

As for the Wallabies - they worry me. Progress has been made through this season, but problems are continually exposed. Our big strong backs, basis of our attacking game, were caught out again last night by the Bok mosquito fleet who turned the defenders inside out. Sure, those wee Boks are going to worry a lot of defences, but our backs were exposed too often throughout the season. I fear we have too many eggs in the big, strong backs basket, and it's about time Matt Rogers started a game instead of coming on during the game when the side is looking for inspiration.

At least the Wallaby discipline was better last night, even taking the Nathan Sharpe punch into account. He was definitely of the view - as were others around him - that he'd been eye-gouged.

[finbar]

Originally posted by Caligastia
Awesome, awesome game!!!

I think the closeness - and the last 15 minutes in particular - made it so. Over all, I thought it was a scrappy match punctuated by some great rugby, and the Boks deserved to win because they played more good rugby than we did.

The Wallabies get a taste of their own medicine by losing in the last minute.

I don't really have a problem with losing that way. It was bound to happen sometime. The stats on those sorts of finishes must now read something like 4 or 5:2 in the Wallabies' favour. That's going back as far as the Rob Andrew folly of a few years ago.

I thought it was a bit unfair that Sharpe was merely penalised for his punch while SA had a man sent off for the same thing in the second half.

The Sharpe incident was interesting. It was evident that Sharpe - and others around him - were complaining about eye-gouging. I couldn't quite pick up what Paddy O'Brien was saying, but he could have been acknowledging the provocation. Which isn't a defence anyway.

Also the red card at the end for the high tackle seemed a bit harsh.

It was the Boks' fourth or fifth high tackle, most of which could have been avoided. The ref made it very clear after the previous one that the next one would result in a send-off. Bad Bok discipline.

[ravagon]

Originally posted by Caligastia
Awesome, awesome game!!!

Springboks 33 d Wallabies 31

All Blacks win Tri-Nations!!!

Better than I could've put it.
Indeed an entertaining match. Well worth losing 20 gold over.
finbar what's going on? The first few matches you couldn't pick 'em to save your life and now you can't seem to miss.

The Sharpe incident was interesting. It was evident that Sharpe - and others around him - were complaining about eye-gouging. I couldn't quite pick up what Paddy O'Brien was saying, but he could have been acknowledging the provocation. Which isn't a defence anyway.

I missed most of the after match post-mortem. Was there anything to the speculation that the Bok binned over the incident was bitten by the Wallaby?