Rolling Rugby Thread

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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
fuck. ah well.

getting over the disappointment and looking forward to tomorrow's match, as next week could be a massacre if France don't/can't improve on that pretty dour display (if effective, though Wales can ultimately blame only themselves for missed kicks). they offered nothing - if you're 15v14 and you kick the ball out with possession at the end of the first half, it suggests you have no confidence in your ability to play rugby. An insult to France teams past, as good as Parra was.

I hope NZ do it.
 
luka

luka

Well-known member
the fat hairy one and the captain gone in the first 10 minutes. its a big problem with this tournament. too many injuries to top players. takes some of the fun out of it.
 
luka

luka

Well-known member
it was a red card though. no two ways about it. i do blame that on his being teetotal. those people cant be trusted theyre too keyed up. he was wild eyed from the start. no sense of perspctive.
 
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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Dunno about the legality, but can't complain about it. As said Wales were good enough to win it anyway, and not practising drop goals (seemingly) before a WC semi-final is unforgivable.

Cooper (Quade) is shocking..... :eek:
 
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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
if they don't beat France it will be a travesty for rugby and not just for them.

Btw, aside from not winning finals, are France the most consistent team in WCX history? 3 times semi finalists, 3 times finalists, 1 time quarters. Actually, NZ have that very same record, come to think of it...
 
luka

luka

Well-known member
nobody can play rugby like that. its just another game entirely. the precision and the intensity are amazing. the things dagg was doing were just mindblowing. cruden was incredible too. he had ball cancer a little while ago.
 
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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
yeah, Dagg is my choice for back of the tournament (followed by Mike Phillips, who created two tries where no-one else would've seen an opportunity, in a tournament with few amazing tries, or maybe I didn't watch the right games? Argentina v NZ my choice for try of the tournament).

Hmm, I think NZ made quite a few mistakes though- wouldn't say it was perfect by any means. I think they still have another gear to move to.

i think this is the right assessment of yday:

"Rolland made the correct decision by following the laws set out to him unquestionably.

However, you could argue that making that decision was "bottling it" rather than the other way around.

Had he given a penatly and a yellow card there would have been no complaints from anyone. Not the Welsh, not the French, not the millions watching etc. and the game would have been far the better for it. The incident would have been forgotten by most of us.

The only person who would have been in trouble, would have been Rolland himself, for not following the IRB directive."
 
luka

luka

Well-known member
i dont. i think if you come that close to paralysing someone you go. he was out of control from the start. almost frothing at the mouth. it shouldnt have mattered anyway. those penalities were kickable.
 
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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
luka said:
i dont. i think if you come that close to paralysing someone you go. he was out of control from the start. almost frothing at the mouth. it shouldnt have mattered anyway. those penalities were kickable.
Click to expand...

on itv, after the match they showed some similar tackles that went unpunished and were just as dangerous...but yeah, the pens were kabsolutely kickable, and the miss of that conversion was the big one i think, would've left france chasing the game (which they looked incapable of doing).

looking forward to friday now, entertaining, open match with two great teams - won't be too gutted if aus win, if they do so in style. is beale likely to be playing?
 
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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
pity.

any conecivable way that france can beat the ABs, do you think? I just want to keep the interest alive a little for next week! their backs are talented (tho how much in relation to previous french teams, i don't know), but the team has been dour...Parra clearly doesn't trust them (enough), judging by Saturday's performance.

every WC final (maybe since 87) has had at least a little uncertainty about it. This seems to have none.
 
luka

luka

Well-known member
you know youre only an injury and a red card away from being able to lose to anyone.
 
Dr Awesome

Dr Awesome

Techsteppin'
baboon2004 said:
every WC final (maybe since 87) has had at least a little uncertainty about it. This seems to have none.
Click to expand...

After our traditional Opponents (Aus/SA) France is NZ's biggest boogeyman. I'd say the collective mood here is nervous to say the least. We couldn't have asked for a better run but I haven't seen anybody counting their chickens yet.
 
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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Dr Awesome said:
After our traditional Opponents (Aus/SA) France is NZ's biggest boogeyman. I'd say the collective mood here is nervous to say the least. We couldn't have asked for a better run but I haven't seen anybody counting their chickens yet.
Click to expand...

I know, but that's largely based upon three years, no? - 1994 (the test series), 1999 and 2007. France are nowhere near as good as 1994 and 1999 (and the hysteria before the 1999 match was a bit nuts in retrospect - while in 1999 France had been bad in the Six Nations, they'd won the grand slam in 1997 and 1998 -they were a good team), while 2007's french victory was due to (a) bad All Black tactics; (b) suspicious refereeing and (c) a blatantly forward pass for france's try.

To put it in perspective, this french team didn't even back themselves to score vs 14-man Wales, so they kicked the ball out at the end of the first half, despite having good possession. that shows utter lack of confidence. Plus, the pool match, and Phillips' try on Saturday, showed how leaky France's defence is.
 
C

craner

Beast of Burden
New Zealand rugby is like the Iliad -- a litany of great battles, but ultimately quite tedious. Welsh rugby is more like the Odyssey -- full of stories, locations, colour, magic, and heartbreak.
 
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