Chariot of Fire wrote:
Useless yes, but 'arrogant' both on and off the field? I think that's hardly a justified remark. Acting like children on a few occasions sure, but the squad as a whole did quite a bit in/for the communities they visited - though of course that makes for unsensational press.
we got very lucky, we didnt show anything today
but in the final u never know
we might decide to turn up
but i wont put any of my hard earn money on my team
that s for sure
edit
i also feel bad for the welsh
they have a very good young team
playing good rugby, they didnt deserved that
i hope they win 3rd place
Playing schoolboy rugby I was taught almost immediately to attempt to score a try between the posts so that my kicker had a better chance of converting the try. If Philips had done less showboating - and a little more mental arithmetic - when he crossed the line, checked, then stepped inside the defender that was on him he could easily have got closer to the posts. When your team is 6pts in arrears (and a man down) then 5pts is not enough - and ultimately it cost them the game. I'd like to say it serves them right, but deep inside I'm gutted the Welsh lost.
As for France....I've never seen a more undeserving team reach a final. For the first time ever I truly hope a southern hemisphere team absolutely stuffs a northern one. I'd like to see the French utterly humiliated.
As for today's game, it's just given me one more reason to hate them.
Highest position #5 (18 Nov 2010) General 4,380pts (11 Dec 2010)
It is this. We dinkum love you people. For gawd's sake, stop worrying so much about your World Cup semi-final match against the Wallabies tomorrow night in Auckland. How do we know you're anxious? Because your collective knee-knocking and teeth-gnashing have been keeping our children awake across the ditch.
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Look, we all know that the three great traditions of rugby are tossing the coin before the match, giving three cheers for the ref afterwards and the All Blacks crashing and burning in the World Cup semi-finals. (A tradition you only missed last time because you flamed out in the quarter-finals.) And it is true that the All Blacks have never beaten the Wallabies in World Cup encounters, suffering famous defeats in 1991 and 2003.
We are in agreement that in the absence of your champion injured fly-half, Daniel Carter, the two blokes who have taken over are more anonymous than wrong numbers and the rest of the back line now look like lost orphans. And all right, you've got us - we cannot argue that while the Wallabies back-rower David Pocock turned in the performance of his life last week, your own champion, Richie McCaw, has a crook foot and looks to be the ghost of Christmases past in football boots.
We Australians do understand all these things. We also recognise that last week the All Blacks struggled to put away a relatively lowly team like Argentina while our blokes played a shocker against the titleholders, the Springboks, and still managed to put the brutes to the sword with a compelling, comprehensive and conclusive … two-point victory.
And on that subject, you don't have to tell me that ever since the All Blacks won their sole World Cup victory, back in the inaugural tournament of 1987, when dinosaurs were still roaming the earth, it is the team that has beaten the incumbent world champions that has gone on to win the Cup.
As a matter of fact, we know that because the Wallabies have done it twice, beating your lot in 1991 - or did we mention that already? - and the Boks in 1999.
Please don't be haunted by the fact that the bloke you decided wasn't good enough to coach the All Blacks after their disastrous quarter-finals dismissal in 2007, our very own Robbie Deans, is now the architect of the Wallabies resurgence this year into winning the Tri-Nations and threatening in this World Cup.
Australians don't want to focus on such things. We barely talk about them at all, honest we don't. The point is that whatever happens, we implore you, in the silent watch of the night, when you're staring at the cracks in the ceiling, don't let any of the above factors creep up on you, get their fingers and then their hands round your throat, start to tighten … and make you CHOKE!
For you guys are like our beloved brothers and sisters and, though we do love beating you in sport, it is not quite with the same savage joy we love beating the Americans in a few things and the Poms in everything.
And always remember this. Over every four-year period, everyone knows that you have the finest rugby team on earth for three years and 50 weeks. Is it really so bad if we Australians snatch a fortnight, here and there?
It's only a game.
Enjoying your lovely nation, as we speak,
Peter Fitz
Auckland
P.S. On the off-chance you do win, you'll have all of Australia behind you for the final.
greenoaks wrote:one of our newsreaders quipped that not only are SA devastated about their loss to Australia, but now they have to fly home across Australia
That's not much of a quip really - lack of humour, ambiguity, etc.
Now had he said "The Boks may be flying home but at least they can still look down on Australia", now that's a quip
Highest position #5 (18 Nov 2010) General 4,380pts (11 Dec 2010)
Regardless of the Ref's decision; missed kicks costs us the game.
Can you imagine the euphoria, if just one kick had gone over. I still believe 14 Welshmen are better than 15 French any day, and the game just showed how inept the French were. They should have put the game way beyond Wales' reach, especially as Wales' not only lost Sam Warburton, but also Adam Jones at tighthead. France won most of the Welsh lineouts, and still couldn't score. Notwithstanding who wins tomorrow, the real final in my mind will be next Saturday.
Roll on the 6 Nations
God is not on the side of the big battalions, but on the side of those who shoot best.
Arethusa wrote:Notwithstanding who wins tomorrow, the real final in my mind will be next Saturday
The real final will be next weekend, whether in your mind or on paper (and it'll be on Sunday btw, so hope this saves you getting up early on a Saturday morn unnecessarily).
Tomorrow's game promises to be the likely decider of who goes on to lift the cup though (and would be a more befitting final...in my mind).
Highest position #5 (18 Nov 2010) General 4,380pts (11 Dec 2010)
lol, I was just gonna say that, how much more different (and accurate) were those early calls compared to what we were given!
Still, some great play by the AB's as well. Did you see that try-saving tackle on Ioane? I thought he had made an amazing run, and then the guy just picks him up and throws him inches from the try-line!
Looks like we probably have our World Cup champs as well already, unless France can really pull out an amazing rabbit from the hat!
Spoiler
#27
Nobody has a higher score or more medals with less games completed My Dispatch Interview
Ya it was a great game,first half display was outstanding by the All Blacks
I don't think the French will be upto much next weekend they should enjoy their national athem as long as possible, before the onslaught
I just watched the French surviving Wales in the Semi Final. Ouch.
Quite the match, such a shame the last penalty shot didn't clear
the bar. Even short handed they sured up the scrum, but pathetic
line outs were a big factor, otherwise Wales looked dominant
late in the game.
It is this. We dinkum love you people. For gawd's sake, stop worrying so much about your World Cup semi-final match against the Wallabies tomorrow night in Auckland. How do we know you're anxious? Because your collective knee-knocking and teeth-gnashing have been keeping our children awake across the ditch.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Look, we all know that the three great traditions of rugby are tossing the coin before the match, giving three cheers for the ref afterwards and the All Blacks crashing and burning in the World Cup semi-finals. (A tradition you only missed last time because you flamed out in the quarter-finals.) And it is true that the All Blacks have never beaten the Wallabies in World Cup encounters, suffering famous defeats in 1991 and 2003.
We are in agreement that in the absence of your champion injured fly-half, Daniel Carter, the two blokes who have taken over are more anonymous than wrong numbers and the rest of the back line now look like lost orphans. And all right, you've got us - we cannot argue that while the Wallabies back-rower David Pocock turned in the performance of his life last week, your own champion, Richie McCaw, has a crook foot and looks to be the ghost of Christmases past in football boots.
We Australians do understand all these things. We also recognise that last week the All Blacks struggled to put away a relatively lowly team like Argentina while our blokes played a shocker against the titleholders, the Springboks, and still managed to put the brutes to the sword with a compelling, comprehensive and conclusive … two-point victory.
And on that subject, you don't have to tell me that ever since the All Blacks won their sole World Cup victory, back in the inaugural tournament of 1987, when dinosaurs were still roaming the earth, it is the team that has beaten the incumbent world champions that has gone on to win the Cup.
As a matter of fact, we know that because the Wallabies have done it twice, beating your lot in 1991 - or did we mention that already? - and the Boks in 1999.
Please don't be haunted by the fact that the bloke you decided wasn't good enough to coach the All Blacks after their disastrous quarter-finals dismissal in 2007, our very own Robbie Deans, is now the architect of the Wallabies resurgence this year into winning the Tri-Nations and threatening in this World Cup.
Australians don't want to focus on such things. We barely talk about them at all, honest we don't. The point is that whatever happens, we implore you, in the silent watch of the night, when you're staring at the cracks in the ceiling, don't let any of the above factors creep up on you, get their fingers and then their hands round your throat, start to tighten … and make you CHOKE!
For you guys are like our beloved brothers and sisters and, though we do love beating you in sport, it is not quite with the same savage joy we love beating the Americans in a few things and the Poms in everything.
And always remember this. Over every four-year period, everyone knows that you have the finest rugby team on earth for three years and 50 weeks. Is it really so bad if we Australians snatch a fortnight, here and there?
It's only a game.
Enjoying your lovely nation, as we speak,
Peter Fitz
Auckland
P.S. On the off-chance you do win, you'll have all of Australia behind you for the final.
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this this morning.... after yesterdays match
As far as the ABs go they were brilliant. However they should have had the match out of Australias hands before half time. Should have scored another try, and a couple of penalties as well, but just failed to convert the territory into points.
Great game over all and muchos respect to the Aussie boys for their graciousness in defeat (clapping the lads off etc, good stuff).
Yes - the aussies contributed to a brutal match (as evidenced by all the claret around the place) but were unable to stay with the ABs. I think the 150 odd tackles made by the aussies against the Boks last weekend started to take their toll, and life up front was very difficult for the aussie forwards.
As for the French - has there been a less deserving side make the final? The way they sat on their 1 pt lead and kicked the ball at the welsh all second half, displaying no attacking or aggressive intent was horrible to watch. I now feel robbed of the final that should have been - a 15 man wales team vs the ABs.
It ain't done yet but surely we can lay our ghosts to rest next weekend.............can't we
'You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows' Robert Zimmerman
I now feel robbed of the final that should have been - a 15 man wales team vs the ABs
I hear ya mate. Would have been great to witness the two form teams facing up, esp with their fast-moving backs.
Let's just hope the French don't spring any surprises (it'd be a lie to say they're not capable of it) but on the strength of yesterday's showing if the ABs play like that again I don't see a team, even at its best, that could stop them.
I hope England are watching and taking notes on how to move the ball out quickly. Some of the best/fastest passing I've seen in ages on show in y'day's game. They're certainly not missing Carter (apart from the kicks at goal I guess).
Highest position #5 (18 Nov 2010) General 4,380pts (11 Dec 2010)
I now feel robbed of the final that should have been - a 15 man wales team vs the ABs
I hear ya mate. Would have been great to witness the two form teams facing up, esp with their fast-moving backs.
Let's just hope the French don't spring any surprises (it'd be a lie to say they're not capable of it) but on the strength of yesterday's showing if the ABs play like that again I don't see a team, even at its best, that could stop them.
I hope England are watching and taking notes on how to move the ball out quickly. Some of the best/fastest passing I've seen in ages on show in y'day's game. They're certainly not missing Carter (apart from the kicks at goal I guess).
Two things this tourney has missed that would make it a million times better:
