Rugby World Cup: And the Winner is...

[Krill]

Wonder what the odds were on an England France Semi...

[finbar]

What a strange game rugby is

You're not wrong. I'm still not entirely sure how France won. The blatant forward pass in the ultimate try aside. The ABs won scrums and line outs and the French kept kicking the frigging ball back to them. At the same time, the ABs, for some reason, seemed content to kick for territory instead of doing what they do best. They should have put France away before half time. I wonder if they thought they had everything well under control. Exit L. McAlister, enter F. Michelak, some great French defence, a couple of terrific French counter attacks and some shoddy All Blacks defence and that was the game. Bizarre.

[kittenOFchaos]

Originally posted by finbar
Bizarre.

Nope, just VERY French.

[kittenOFchaos]

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22538573-32102,00.html

They soooo deserved their beating.

[Barnabas]

Will they stop doing the haka from now on?


Without victories it looks silly

[finbar]

Originally posted by kittenOFchaos
Nope, just VERY French.

It also didn't help the ABs that D. Carter obviously wasn't 100% fit, then to lose him, as well as his back-up, N. Evans, within about ten minutes. I'm also not sure where R. McCaw's captaincy was in the last ten minutes when real leadership and direction was needed. They looked befuddled.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.a...3-32102,00.html

They soooo deserved their beating.

The guy's famous for being an idiot. Everyone's got one.

[Havak]

And we shouldn't dwell on how small he must be feeling now.

But this is worth a mention:

boasting a scrum that even rival flanker Lewis Moody concedes may be the strongest Australia has assembled, they will engage England head-on.

I see all those knocks to the head against Tonga have addled Lewis's brain after all.

We discussed McCaws captaincy during the pool stages. The first time they faced real adversity I regret that he failed that test.

Why with all the field position they had in the last 8 mins did NZ not play for the drop goal? I know McAllister fluffed one earlier but I was amazed they didn't try it. Win the game first - play with style later?

[finbar]

Indeed. They were befuddled. They were, for this team, in unknown territory. There was obviously no strategy in place for the situation. Or if there were, it left the field with D. Carter. G. Henry seems to be copping the blame for everything, from the resting of the players during the S14 - which had absolutely nothing to do with the result - to the rotations in selection. I think, overall, it was a case of poor first-half tactics, followed by a series of events - injuries and a forward pass - overtaking them, followed by a lack of strategy in the closing stages.

One thing's for sure. That dreadful grey strip will be consigned to the rubbish bin of history.

The Boks got a big fright. Never seen them miss so many tackles. On the other hand, there isn't a chapter in the coaching manual titled "How To Stop Rampaging Fijians".

[finbar]

Argies below par, I thought, Haggis Munchers up from their usual mediocrity to somewhere below average. Gee, R. Lamont is an accident waiting to happen. And D. Parks should rue that last kick with all his targets well covered. As decision makers go, I've always thought Parks ranks with George Custer.

Actually, I thought both the Boks and Argies were below par today. John Kirwan, speaking fluent Italian, is co-anchoring the Sky Italy telecasts. He put the Argie performance down to the pressure of the occasion.

[Barnabas]

The Argentines were in panic the last 20 minutes

[Caligastia]

Jeez, thanks a lot Luke "We're the best" McAlister. What a ****...he mouths off about what a great team NZ are, and then costs us the RWC with a schoolboy foul. The French would not likely have scored their 1st try if NZ had had 15 on the field.

And what the hell was up with the touch judges? Not only did they miss the forward pass on the run that led to the winning French try, but "Spreaders" couldn't even see that Ali Williams feet were out for that first *almost* NZ try.

At this point we may as well give the cup to the Boks.

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by Barnabas
Will they stop doing the haka from now on?


Without victories it looks silly

It looks silly anyway...it's become too over-hyped.

As for NZ victories, there are plenty of them in between World Cups...

[Nugog]

[Havak]

At this point we may as well give the cup to the Boks.

Logially they are now red hot favourites.

So were the ABs last Saturday morning of course. The cup isn't over yet.

I know what LdiC will be worried about - tradtionally after a 'shock' result the French tend to be flat in the next game. They cannot afford that even against England.

For me it's all gravy from this point on - after the debacle against South Africa beating Australia has put the smile back on my face.

[Havak]

From Auntie Beeb:

"In an online poll by New Zealand's TV3 network, 55% of respondents blamed referee Barnes for the loss; 19% blamed the All Blacks and 7% blamed coach Graham Henry. "

Mr Barnes shouldn't book a holiday in NZ any time soon then?!

Paddy is backing his man though:

"We've got to remember that France played very, very well, and as a country I think we have got to grow up."