Rugby World Cup 2015

[Ken Gargett]

This match should maybe have been the final.

why?

otherwise, agree with rob. they had it under control. that said, would have been a very interesting last ten minutes if victor M had not caused that penalty to be reversed.

what stunned me was that the best lineout in world rugby let them down. if that had been as good as usual, the all blacks might have been in a bit more strife.

and what odds that ritchie mccheat is not cited? mind you, while i think he seems to be given a licence other players are not on many occasions, i didn't see anything in it.

[jat]

I don't care if its considered unsporting, but we need to start the "Suspend McCaw Now" campaign if the wallabies are to stand a chance in the final (if they get there).

Watching the game again this morning and the pressure applied by the Boks in the 1st half was terrific and according to plan. Agree with Ken that the number of line-outs lost was a blot on their game plan. You could see the AB's were very confident about their ability to steal the ball in the line-outs from the number of times they kicked the ball deep into the books half.

I watched the yellow card on Kaino again and that is a harsh penalty.

Habana getting sent off was the type of interruption to the game that is out of proportion to the act committed, in my view. The IRB should look at that rule as so much of the game is about disrupting the flow of play.

And then the AB's found another gear.

I predict a very physical and frantic game for the wallabies tonight.

[Ken Gargett]

I don't care if its considered unsporting, but we need to start the "Suspend McCaw Now" campaign if the wallabies are to stand a chance in the final (if they get there).

Watching the game again this morning and the pressure applied by the Boks in the 1st half was terrific and according to plan. Agree with Ken that the number of line-outs lost was a blot on their game plan. You could see the AB's were very confident about their ability to steal the ball in the line-outs from the number of times they kicked the ball deep into the books half.

I watched the yellow card on Kaino again and that is a harsh penalty.

Habana getting sent off was the type of interruption to the game that is out of proportion to the act committed, in my view. The IRB should look at that rule as so much of the game is about disrupting the flow of play.

And then the AB's found another gear.

I predict a very physical and frantic game for the wallabies tonight.

for me, the maitland card was absurd, but i thought both cards last night actually justified. both cynical attempts to stop the attacking team by illegalities. for me, that is what you need the cards for. cutting out that crap will benefit rugby.

more important for the wallabies that pocock plays, rather than mccaw doesn't. as great as mccaw has been, and still is, for me, pocock currently the better player.

[Hoepssa]

McCaw lost his discipline again while Dan Carter played like Leon McDonald's 2003 RWC semi, expect that drop kick.

Boks played well, a team lost to Irish, Welsh, Pumas even ****... they have what winning team is lacking, but they try to fix in short time, and outclass Wales-NZ in scrum power.

[Ken Gargett]

McCaw lost his discipline again while Dan Carter played like Leon McDonald's 2003 RWC semi, expect that drop kick.

Boks played well, a team lost to Irish, Welsh, Pumas even ****... they have what winning team is lacking, but they try to fix in short time, and outclass Wales-NZ in scrum power.

in fairness to macdonald, if i recall, he was shunted into the centres by deans (assistant coach) and so played out of position. i thought carter was excellent today. i'd go so far as to say if you swapped carter and foley (and carter playing as he did last night) then it would be line ball.

have to get there first.

[JohnS]

Richie McCaw receives leeway from referees because he is the greatest All Black since Colin Meads. But he is not alone. I think Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath received benefited LBW's due to being greats of the game of Cricket and Greg Maddux similarly received a lot more questionable strike calls since he 'painted the corners' so often.

[Ken Gargett]

Richie McCaw receives leeway from referees because he is the greatest All Black since Colin Meads. But he is not alone. I think Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath received benefited LBW's due to being greats of the game of Cricket and Greg Maddux similarly received a lot more questionable strike calls since he 'painted the corners' so often.

warnie never appealed unless he was certain it was going to knock over the pegs!

john, if that theory was correct, king wally should have been given some leeway by the refs instead of being endlessly and unfairly hounded by them. or perhaps that was a state thing?

[JohnS]

Haha...Warnie had supreme confidence in his game, he truly transformed the game of cricket as a leg-spinner.

In regards to Rugby League, Wally Lewis in my honest opinion never received preferential treatment from referees, but Cameron Smith on the other hand, was amongst the most consistent players in the game for many years, with minimal errors, who possibly has enjoyed the benefit of the doubt due to his class in the past.

[ayepatz]

Great job by Australia. Bossed the whole game. Superb in defence. Pocock simply amazing. That man is like the Terminator - absolutely relentless!

Roll on next week. Should be a great final, and something of a home advantage for the Wallabies, maybe, given how many games they've now played at Twickenham?

I've got the Aussies in the pub sweepstake, so there will be at least one Pom cheering loudly for them!

[RijkdeGooier]

why?

otherwise, agree with rob. they had it under control. that said, would have been a very interesting last ten minutes if victor M had not caused that penalty to be reversed.

what stunned me was that the best lineout in world rugby let them down. if that had been as good as usual, the all blacks might have been in a bit more strife.

and what odds that ritchie mccheat is not cited? mind you, while i think he seems to be given a licence other players are not on many occasions, i didn't see anything in it.

I think that the Boks so far are the team that runs the AB closest and in the end the diff was only two points.

The other match (congrats Wallabies) was a total domination.

Let's see how the final is matched up. I believe the main chance for the Wallabies is to take a leaf out of the Boks first half regarding the battle at the ruck.

Let's see if the impressive Pocock can continue like this against the AB.

[El Presidente]

Well played Argentina. Gave it everything.

Well done to the Wallabies to make it to the final. Pocock immense. The best forward in world rugby right now?

Folau truely awful. I didn't think he could ever play so poorly. I hope Sio is fit for the final or we will have a hard night at the scrum.

Genia good, Foley good, Gitteau excellent.

line speed in defence impressive. 15 minute lapses of clueless football will cruel us against the AB.

We need all the luck to run our way in the final.

[JohnS]

SEMI-FINAL 2 - AUSTRALIA 29 - ARGENTINA 15

In the end it was 4 tries to nil and well done to the Pumas to make it this far. Some interesting points leading into the final...

1) New Zealand have only lost three tests since the 2011 World Cup.

2) Australia have only lost once in 2015 (to New Zealand at Eden Park, Auckland where the All Blacks have not lost since 1994). Credit must go to Michael Cheika, the Australian Wallabies Coach, for turning the team around from their performances in the past few years.

[Ken Gargett]

Haha...Warnie had supreme confidence in his game, he truly transformed the game of cricket as a leg-spinner.

In regards to Rugby League, Wally Lewis in my honest opinion never received preferential treatment from referees, but Cameron Smith on the other hand, was amongst the most consistent players in the game for many years, with minimal errors, who possibly has enjoyed the benefit of the doubt due to his class in the past.

john, possibly for melb but never for origin!

as for king wally, i think you may have come up with an early contender for understatement of the century - " never received preferential treatment from referees". i'd pay good money to see you suggest that to the king.

[Ken Gargett]

i must say that i think wayne barnes is the best ref in the world and should have got the gig.

this does not augur well...

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/opinion/73400315/mark-reason-nigel-owens-will-referee-the-rugby-world-cup-final-or-will-he

[OZCUBAN]

When's the final on isn't it the Saturday night of the Havanathon ?.

[jat]

that's what I've said above somewhere, the final's on 3:00 AEDST, so seeing as Brisbane doesn't run day-light savings, I expect it would be 2:00 am Sun 1st Nov.

We'll just be coming out of Havanathon and have to find a TV somewhere and possibly some libations.

[OZCUBAN]

that's what I've said above somewhere, the final's on 3:00 AEDST, so seeing as Brisbane doesn't run day-light savings, I expect it would be 2:00 am Sun 1st Nov.

We'll just be coming out of Havanathon and have to find a TV somewhere and possibly some libations.

An alnighter on the Deck I reckon ?

[Tomay]

McCaw is like teflon.

What's everyone's plans for the final? Party? Cigar? Cry because your from the UK?

[oliverdst]

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/oct/27/japan-rugby-world-cup-2019-kick-off

Rugby World Cup 2019 to kick off in Japan on 20 September

World Cup goes to Asia for first time with final on 2 November

Japan RFU excited and proud to be host union for 2019

Japan's exploits at the Rugby World Cup 2015 has inspired a nation to follow the sport and bodes well for the 2019 tournament.

Tuesday 27 October 2015 17.16 EDT Last modified on Tuesday 27 October 2015 17.41 EDT

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The opening match of the 2019 Rugby World Cup will take place on 20 September and the final on 2 November.

This years tournament concludes with Saturdays final between New Zealand and Australia at Twickenham, with Japan, one of the success stories from the 2015 competition, hosting the next edition.

The World Rugby chief executive, Brett Gosper, said: The Brave Blossoms, Japans national team, have been one of the great stories from this years tournament. With their combination of skill, speed, athleticism and determination, they have won many admirers and they have inspired a nation to follow our great sport. All that bodes well for the next edition of Rugby World Cup.

The Japan Rugby Football Union chairman, Noriyuki Sakamoto, speaking as the Japan 2019 logo featuring a rising sun and Mount Fuji was unveiled, said: We are very excited and proud to be the host union for RWC 2019 as the tournament is held in Asia for the very first time.

[oliverdst]

I am using my cell phone so I didn't check if the above news was already mentioned.

[frenchkiwi]

Looking forward to a great final... hopefully a few tries with these teams as well...

I thought the Boks were immense defensively, admittedly in rainy conditions favourable to their "back to Bok basics" style. Du Preez made the right decisions but kicked poorly some of the time, which was catastrophic for their game plan. Habana and Le Roux had great games (apart from Habana attempting to concede the yellow over a try and failing in the latter case). The ABs were very cautious, played the territory occupation game, which was the right move for that ref considering he pinged them with and without the ball. The lineout, their bench players, and overall level-headed composure and decision making (except for Aaron Smith and SBW 2 brain explosions per game as usual) won them the game. Carter and Ben Smith were the keys to the kicking and kick-chasing kingdom. The ABs ended up by dominating everywhere except the scoreboard.

Argentina generously gave the game away within 10 minutes as they started in la-la land. Quite a contrast from the previous week. My immediate thought was that it would take a miracle for them to win it from there. Aussie said thank you for the 14 points and managed their lead from then on with a good defensive performance, not comfortably though because of the Argie domination of possession and constant line breaks. Like the Irish against them the week before, Arg ran out of puff chasing the game midway in the 2nd half. Sanchez, S Cordero, Bosch, Imhoff - great to see these guys really having a crack with some latin flair. It has been missing from world Rugby at the top echelon for some time since France went flat.

Worryingly for Aus, another prop was turned into roadkill, and Folau is being played injured which betrays a lack of trust in Beale. The refs have picked up on the early pushing tactic at scrums and apart from Moore there is a bit of a question mark over tight 5. Encouragingly Genia keeps on with his beautiful distribution and fuels a rugby machine second to none when supplied with quick ball. Pocock and Hooper are an absolute nuisance to attacking teams, especially when playing fast and loose like the Argies did, far from their own backup. The commitment and scrambling defence compensated for some defensive lapses which shows the character in the team.

The ABs would win this final 7-8 times out of 10 but that is meaningless... the question is ... which time is it this time?

[Hoepssa]

Carter ←→ Foley
McCaw ←→ Pocock

↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑ key factors

Coach Hansen always play "safer" when two team in a close battle, ABs done well after Boks trailed just 2 points, you have to admit Pocock- Fardy-Hooper is the key to win, also Foley has to fix up his launching system, if he can shoot like Handre Pollard, Aussie is definitely win on final.

People say this ABs is the strongest team ever, not agree. ABs 2012-2014 is way better than they are this year.

[Ken Gargett]

i do think pocock is now a better player than mccaw - at the moment. i think pocock is currently the best player in the world. but the kiwis have enough weapons to neutralise him. they will bash the crap out if him all game. and owens is likely to allow it. remains to be seen if he can rise above that.

to even mention foley in the same sentence as dan carter (and as an aussie, imagine how much it hurts to say this) is an insult to the great man. carter is the finest five eighth to play the game - yes, even better than mclean and lynagh tho close - and one of the two best backs i've ever seen. with tim horan (who still gets the nod as the greatest ever back).

[frenchkiwi]

i do think pocock is now a better player than mccaw - at the moment. i think pocock is currently the best player in the world. but the kiwis have enough weapons to neutralise him. they will bash the crap out if him all game. and owens is likely to allow it. remains to be seen if he can rise above that.

to even mention foley in the same sentence as dan carter (and as an aussie, imagine how much it hurts to say this) is an insult to the great man. carter is the finest five eighth to play the game - yes, even better than mclean and lynagh tho close - and one of the two best backs i've ever seen. with tim horan (who still gets the nod as the greatest ever back).

I agree that Pocock is currently more influential than Mccaw at the breakdown simply because turnovers are pretty hard to come by nowadays, and Pocock is currently the world's finest turnover merchant. [And he has biceps like balloons.] In super rugby in recent years, the most turnovers were being achieved by a strange mix of outside centres and hookers as well as loosies, showing the trend in modern rugby that Pocock has been bucking (unlike erstwhile rivals such as Brossouw).

It has been at least 5-6 years since Mccaw has moved away from specialising in turnovers like a typical nz 7, instead playing a hybrid backrowers role. If Kaino wasn't around and NZ had a discovered a new great traditional pilfering 7, Mccaw would have been shifted to Blindside, like Michael Jones later in his career. Although a lot slower than in his youth, Mccaw is apparently still the fittest All Black according to beep tests etc -strange for a big man - and has one of the biggest work rates in world rugby, apart from having the most nous around the contact area. But like most players at this stage of their career he has a big talismanic and leadership meaning that his team values just as much as his leading by example on the footy field. Fortunately he is not a lame duck leader like John Smit in his last couple of years, who was all talisman but not worthy of his position on performance value.

The Pocock vs Mccaw matchup is a bit of a false conundrum for the Final as what their respective forward packs do in front of them will be far more important in terms of their respective influence on the game. And they have quite different roles within their teams strategies. But as a whole the ABs will be on the lookout for Pocock when they spread it wide - fearing his breakdown burglaries - whereas for the Wallabies Mccaw will just be another loose forward on the prowl. So Pocock's influence on the game will be easier to pinpoint than Mccaw's at any rate, even before it has been played...

Looking forward to a good Boks vs Argies game first - Pumas decimated by injuries but full strength squad for Boks...

[ayepatz]

i do think pocock is now a better player than mccaw - at the moment. i think pocock is currently the best player in the world. but the kiwis have enough weapons to neutralise him. they will bash the crap out if him all game. and owens is likely to allow it. remains to be seen if he can rise above that.

to even mention foley in the same sentence as dan carter (and as an aussie, imagine how much it hurts to say this) is an insult to the great man. carter is the finest five eighth to play the game - yes, even better than mclean and lynagh tho close - and one of the two best backs i've ever seen. with tim horan (who still gets the nod as the greatest ever back).

When I was playing, Michael Lynagh was my hero. It seemed he played rugby with more tactical awareness than anybody I've seen before. He was like a chess grand-master, picking his distribution to perfection. Carter, I agree, has that same ability. I reckon part of it is innate ability, and part of it comes from having such great players (the Horans, Pococks, and McCaws) around you.