Rugby World Cup 2015

[El Presidente]

foley wins us the cup, i'll scream apologies to the heavens and renounce any suggestion that quade has ten times the ability in his little finger than foley.

Don't get me wrong. I agree wholeheartedly that Quade has 10 times more ability than Foley.

Quade has 10 times more brain explosions as well. the flick pass in his own quarter when no one knows it's on, the repeated failure to kick the 10, the not finding touch, the high takle a metre from the line etc etc.......and a lot of etc.

The Wallabies will not be blowing anyone off the park in the finals with Foley or Cooper at the helm. They dont have the outside backs to do it. You want game management (field position). To stay in the game, make your kicks, do the little things right and pray that the bounce of the ball/rub of the green goes your way in the final 20 minutes. Foley edges out Cooper in that scenario.

If we have to chase a game with 25 to go then I would hope Cooper is on the bench to come on.

[Ken Gargett]

high risk/high reward.

understand what you say but what i have said for the last two years still applies. we won't beat the all blacks with steady as she goes. they are too good. we need to shake them up. only quade can do that. foley will not. fair chance he might not but if you are drowning, do you take a deep breath and slowly sink with dignity or do you grab that twig?

mind you, if we do not improve a bucketload when we play the argies, then it is all moot.

how embarrassing that we had to rely on a dud ref to sneak home against the scots.

and i still have massive question marks against anyone who would have phibbs on the field at any time. he should not be in the squad. cheika hs a blindspot for him and i don't see why.

hey, slipper proved he has a better pass than phibbs - it went straight to the man.

[ayepatz]

So, World Rugby's official position is that Joubert was wrong, but he couldn't do anything about it. Don't you just love it when governing bodies maintain two contradictory points of view as if it's completely normal? Or sane? Lol

Surely, if they are prepared to admit he was wrong, they should change the rules regarding the TMO to ensure it doesn't happen again?

I dread to think of the backlash if something similar occurred in a Wallabies/All Blacks final...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/34576756

[Ken Gargett]

So, World Rugby's official position is that Joubert was wrong, but he couldn't do anything about it. Don't you just love it when governing bodies maintain two contradictory points of view as if it's completely normal? Or sane? Lol

Surely, if they are prepared to admit he was wrong, they should change the rules regarding the TMO to ensure it doesn't happen again?

I dread to think of the backlash if something similar occurred in a Wallabies/All Blacks final...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/34576756

as long as it goes against the all blacks, i'm all in favour!

more seriously, you've lost me a bit with what you've said. 'he was wrong but he could not do anything about it?'. do you mean that he was unable to talk to the TMO? apparently that is the rule is respect of that incident, but he seemed to talk to the TMO endlessly throughout the game and the TMO seemed to talk to him without any prompting.

i think that this is crap. what if he had? anyone seriously think the wallabies would have complained because a wrong decision was changed?

it was a poor and an embarrassing decision. we should have put it to bed much earlier but we did not, thanks to that quade-wannabee, foley. that is down to us.

it is also embarrassing to see people here saying that it was fair because there were poor decisions against us earlier. does not excuse making that shocker. but the yellow card, for me, was worse. i hate that rule. as diving is a disgrace in soccer, so is that rule in rugby.

finally, you could have some sympathy if he had not bolted off the field without even shaking hands with the captains. imagine if the losing captain did that (last time i saw that was when the all blacks all left the field without shaking french hands after the big upset in 1999, with the exception of lomu who stayed on and shook every frenchman's hand - to his eternal credit). he needs to explain his reasoning.

i see barnes and the frenchman? have the semis and they think owens has the final. shame. i think barnes is the best ref on the planet and daylight second. at least joubert won't be there.

[ayepatz]

Yes mate. Apparently the rules state that the ref can only call on the TMO for clarification in "try-scoring opportunities, or instances of foul play". So World Rugby have stated that the rules, in this case, did not allow Joubert to refer to the TMO, so he was correct in that regard.

However, World Rugby has also acknowledged that the replay shows the decision to award a penalty was wrong. He should have awarded a scrum to Australia. So World Rugby's position is that he was right, even though he was wrong. Lol

Which seems to me to just make a joke of the whole point of having a TMO. Like you, I'm puzzled that the TMO could interrupt for the Maitland yellow card, but not in this case, apparently.

Basically, Joubert has unwittingly revealed a gap in the TMO laws which obviously needs to be addressed.

Most of my Aussie pals seem to be of the opinion that the attack was still on had they been awarded a scrum, and could still have won the game with a drop goal, or even a solid forwards-drive. Scotland were panicking, as the decision to throw long at a shortened lineout shows, and the Wallabies could still have exploited that.

I so wish they had, cos then we'd all be talking about what was an extraordinary game of rugby, instead of Craig "Usain Bolt" Joubert.

Scotland might have been robbed, but I think Australia were also robbed - of the rightful recocognition and praise due to a team that refuses to give up.

[frenchkiwi]

Congratulations Argentina!

Great game of Rugby. Commiserations to the Irish.

Whoever plays Argentina next week in the Semi is in for a hell of a game.

I thought Ireland had no petrol left in the tank after their great effort against France. A few key components of their engine fell off against the French as well (Sexton O'Connell O'Brien - THE key components).

The Argentinians came out and played exactly like the Irish had the week before - huge intensity, great confidence in their play, the best game I've seen them play against a tier 1 nation actually (better than when they beat the Boks this year). But to be fair they were helped by a strangely passive Irish defence and forward pack for the first and last 30min of the game. A bit like the lacklustre French backs helped the ABs look like gods.

It is very hard to back great performances up and i will be interested to see what the Pumas have to offer in the semi. If no injuries they will be high on confidence but the Aussie defence should frustrate them a bit more (and will probably stop gift wrapping intercept tries the way they so kindly did with Scotland). Should be fun to watch!

[frenchkiwi]

Very, very proud of our lads. Nobody thought we'd give the Wallabies such a run for their money.

Some seriously questionable decisions from Craig Joubert. How does a man who can't take a dump without consulting the TMO not refer to him for such an important call?

And Maitland's yellow was completely unwarranted. As the replay clearly shows, he doesn't slap the ball down. Even the great Michael Lynagh felt it was too harsh. Penalty yes, yellow card no.

Hats off to Foley for slotting that last penalty home though, despite not having had the best day at the office. Showed some serious bottle.

A great game sadly ended on two poor decisions. With the hindsight of a TV replay though, I thought the main influence on the overall scoreboard was the Wallabies, not the ref (who made some pretty good decisions earlier - including calling the TMO to rule out Ashley Coopers try after a knock on all and sundry missed).

On attack they cut through the Scots like a knife through butter. Five tries (and change left on the field through Foley's errant boot) is hard to argue with. The Scots had a tactic of not pushing up around the fringes on D. It saved them being caught by switches and inside runners but it meant that the Oz forwards got easy metres and quick ball for Genia (great passing) to put on a platter for his backline. They got so confident at chucking the ball around that they gave away two gift tries through an intercept and a charge-down (or something like that?).

Scotland's forward pack was great with ball in hand, through phase play building a few penalties and the one try that was entirely of their own making. The Grays, Denton, Laidlaw, Bennett et al all had big games. Laidlaw one of the players of the Cup like Biggar for Wales. WP Nel ate up Sio for breakfast by pressing forward his early dominance with a few cunning twists of the shoulders later on. They did look like an underdog team playing to potential though, as opposed to Aus that looked the better team having a bit of a loose day (or is it a characteristically loose day???) at the office.

Overall you could say the Scots deserved the win for intensity and commitment (and putting wrongs to right etc!), but the Aussies deserved it by crossing the line 6 or so times, and are more likely to trouble Argentina in the semis (especially with Pocock back). At the time it just felt like a great injustice, and such a poetically scottish one at that (an aw'that).

[frenchkiwi]

high risk/high reward.

understand what you say but what i have said for the last two years still applies. we won't beat the all blacks with steady as she goes. they are too good. we need to shake them up. only quade can do that. foley will not. fair chance he might not but if you are drowning, do you take a deep breath and slowly sink with dignity or do you grab that twig?

mind you, if we do not improve a bucketload when we play the argies, then it is all moot.

how embarrassing that we had to rely on a dud ref to sneak home against the scots.

and i still have massive question marks against anyone who would have phibbs on the field at any time. he should not be in the squad. cheika hs a blindspot for him and i don't see why.

hey, slipper proved he has a better pass than phibbs - it went straight to the man.

i agree for Phipps. He is nowhere near as much as a liability as Cooper though - who had another, and hopefully for Australia, his last chance, to shake up NZ at eden park this year again? The Argies will be writing letters to Cheika begging him to start Cooper every day this week, i imagine. Either that or hiring that american ice skaters boyfriend to kneecap Foley and Toomua.

if you could combine Toomua's defence with Foley's pace and Cooper's spenceresque skills you'd have a winner. In the meantime, on his day Foley is pretty decent. Just pray for no more off days...

[RijkdeGooier]

NZ was most impressive in the QF, a pleasure to watch.

It will be interesting to see if the Boks backs and centers are a match for NZ. Forwards might have a shout if they can get their maul rolling.

[Ken Gargett]

i agree for Phipps. He is nowhere near as much as a liability as Cooper though - who had another, and hopefully for Australia, his last chance, to shake up NZ at eden park this year again? The Argies will be writing letters to Cheika begging him to start Cooper every day this week, i imagine. Either that or hiring that american ice skaters boyfriend to kneecap Foley and Toomua.

if you could combine Toomua's defence with Foley's pace and Cooper's spenceresque skills you'd have a winner. In the meantime, on his day Foley is pretty decent. Just pray for no more off days...

i pretty much agree with your three posts, except this one. phibbs is the worst international player i have ever seen. truly dire. he is cheika's blindspot and i do not see/understand why.

no doubt foley will start and he normally kicks a hell of a lot better than he did last week - not sure about his pace. cooper and most of the team would run rings around him on sheer pace.

he had an absolute barry crocker last week. awful game (sure, he kicked a fairly simple penalty but it was his kicking and play that put us there). he can't play that badly again.

cooper is high risk/high reward - the issue is that solid will not go close to the all blacks. we need something. but even i don't feel changes horses this late is a good idea.

[ayepatz]

Campo has a few choice words for World Rugby.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/international/73263425/david-campese-believes-world-rugby-should-be-shot-over-craig-joubert-statement

[El Presidente]

sure, he kicked a fairly simple penalty

....you have mentioned this a few times.

So in the game to date....you have had one of yor worst kicking performances of your career.

It's pouring rain.

If you miss it....your team loses the game and is out of the world cup.

....it really was a "gimme"

[RijkdeGooier]

The Joubert comment by WR was awful. They have de facto retired him and opened up referees to much more scrutiny.

If you want the refs to get it right more often/all the time have them consult the TMO at their discretion. Given his overall performance I'm sure Joubert would have welcomed this.

The first person to get all calls right is not yet born.

And yes the Aussies were shown up by the Scots as compared to the All Blacks. The Wallabies might reach the finals but will be obliterated by the All Blacks in current form.

[Ken Gargett]

....you have mentioned this a few times.

So in the game to date....you have had one of yor worst kicking performances of your career.

It's pouring rain.

If you miss it....your team loses the game and is out of the world cup.

....it really was a "gimme"

the kick itself was simple. not necessarily the circumstances. but we were in those circumstances thanks to him.

jeez, i said i would not drop him. what more do the quade haters want?

[jat]

So moving on from the past, which will all be forgotten in 2 months, apart from old timers who have nothing better than to reminisce.

AB Vs the Springboks and AUS Vs Pumas.

What your thoughts and why?

It pains me to say it but the AB's look the complete package. The Boks will have to get in their faces from the whistle and increase the rate of play, forcing mistakes. I can't think of any other strategy. If they sit back it will all be over very soon.

I have to go for the wallabies, even though the puma's will be throwing everything at them. We did them in July '15, so hopefully history will repeat.

Another long weekend ahead.

[JohnS]

My thoughts are that the All Blacks will play the Wallabies in the final and that New Zealand will win in a canter. The Wallabies will need a sporting miracle akin to the USA winning the Ice Hockey gold medal at the Winter Olympics in 1980...or something similar.

[RijkdeGooier]

AB has been impressive although the demolition job SA did on the US still sticks in the back of my mind.

Pumas vs Wallabies will also be an interesting match.

[Baldy]

My thoughts are that the All Blacks will play the Wallabies in the final and that New Zealand will win in a canter. The Wallabies will need a sporting miracle akin to the USA winning the Ice Hockey gold medal at the Winter Olympics in 1980...or something similar.

Not an equal comparison at all. The US 1980 hockey team was made of amateur and college players while the Russian was an international power house. To this day a lot of Russian players on that team can't believe and can't figure out how they last the game. Japan beating the AB in the finals of the RWC would be more akin. The Wallabies are a power and will always be a power. In a 1 game match anything can happen and it would not surprise me at all if the Wallabies win it all.

Hopefully, the dreadful handling errors earlier in the tournament is behind my AB otherwise they'll be out quick enough.

[Ken Gargett]

Not an equal comparison at all. The US 1980 hockey team was made of amateur and college players while the Russian was an international power house. To this day a lot of Russian players on that team can't believe and can't figure out how they last the game. Japan beating the AB in the finals of the RWC would be more akin. The Wallabies are a power and will always be a power. In a 1 game match anything can happen and it would not surprise me at all if the Wallabies win it all.

Hopefully, the dreadful handling errors earlier in the tournament is behind my AB otherwise they'll be out quick enough.

probably a closer comparison but i think you'll find that most of the japanese are some of the best paid players around, hardly amateur. perhaps namibia?

one hopes that the wallabies will be a power but it seems that the figures are that the number of kids playing rugby are very much on the decline. a shame. it has always been a minor sport here - basically only two states play it and even then, 3rd or 4th ranked footy code there. south african, english and kiwi numbers for players far exceed ours. success here should help but then again, i think our peak was 2003 and even though we only lost the final by a kick into a goalpost, numbers headed downwards - not least because of poor admin.

with the numbers and money they have, england are extreme underperformers.

[JohnS]

with the numbers and money they have, england are extreme underperformers.

I know what you mean, not to mention the parochial supporters. It was quite something to witness the test matches in 2013 on the British and Irish Lions tour in a 'sea of red', outnumbering the hometeam Wallaby 'yellow' jerseyed supporters!

[ayepatz]

with the numbers and money they have, england are extreme underperformers.

Agreed. Their underperformance in both football and rugby has consistently disappointed my English buddies.

But they've a long way to go before threatening Scotland's disappointment levels (this RWC aside!)

[JohnS]

SEMI-FINAL 1 - NEW ZEALAND 20 - SOUTH AFRICA 18

Well, New Zealand have got through to their second World Cup Final in a row. I was surprised at how many penalties they conceded, which kept the Boks in the match until the end, but I felt New Zealand had the match under control after their second try. They were much more clinical in the second half. They have much to be thankful to Dan Carter for (as he kept them in the game early in the second half)!

Wallabies-Pumas tomorrow friends...bring it on!

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-match-report/rugby-world-cup-2015-new-zealand-book-place-in-world-cup-final-with-win-over-south-africa-20151024-gkhqqp.html

http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/news/117983

[RijkdeGooier]

This match should maybe have been the final.

Heartbreak for the Boks but well done to the AB.

The other two teams will have taken note I'm sure.

[ayepatz]

If I were Australian, I'd be rubbing my hands together in anticipation. The All Blacks, whilst they may have ground out the result, looked far from the all-singing, all-dancing team of last week.

Were I a Wallabies fan, I'd be thinking that the All Blacks looked far from the team that won at Eden Park in the Championship, and more like the team that Australia beat on their home turf the previous week.

I'd be thinking that the Kiwis may well be formidable on their own turf, but without home advantage, there are vulnerabilities there to be exploited. Not least the handling errors.

If the Aussies can dominate the Pumas tomorrow, I'd say we're in for a helluva final!

[El Presidente]

The Kiwis just have an innate second gear. Every time the pressure was on they just ramped it up a notch. While only a two point game they controlled near 70% of posession.

To me it looked a lot like a professional boxer playing with a good amateur .......plenty of jabs to keep the amateur at a far enough distance not to land the lucky knock out blow.