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Rugby World Cup 2007
- Thread starter Blue Velvet
- Start date
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Good point
At least Wales seem to have woken up now. 42-17.
Wales v Australia next week is in Cardiff. One of the absurdities of holding the tournament in different countries.
57 SA SAM 7 !!
Big score for SA!
I didn't see the game ... were SA playing extra well, or were Samoa playing poorly ... or both? (I didn't think the margin would be that large)
Big score for SA!
I didn't see the game ... were SA playing extra well, or were Samoa playing poorly ... or both? (I didn't think the margin would be that large)
kiwi-in-uk said:
You really thought it would be close
Does no one have faith in South Africa?Well to conclude, South Africa's Bryan Habanna scored 4 tried and was denied a fifth due to a forward pass. Samoa, as usual, played very dirty rugby. They had a single break that resulted in their early try due to some miscommunication by the SA line.
Here's some biased SA commentry on the game:
Wales were crap. The same problems that have plagued the team ever since Gareth Jenkins was installed as coach/manager. Lack of possession and territory, terrible tactical kicking and poor decision making. ( )
And Australia to look forward to!
South Africa were awesome against Samoa. I'm still sticking with them to win the World Cup.
)And Australia to look forward to!
South Africa were awesome against Samoa. I'm still sticking with them to win the World Cup.
Wales were crap. The same problems that have plagued the team ever since Gareth Jenkins was installed as coach/manager. Lack of possession and territory, terrible tactical kicking and poor decision making. (
And Australia to look forward to!
South Africa were awesome against Samoa. I'm still sticking with them to win the World Cup.
So I'll take it you don't want to buy my spare ticket for Saturday then
Pretty underwhelming performances by all the six nations teams so far
You really thought it would be close
Well to conclude, South Africa's Bryan Habanna scored 4 tried and was denied a fifth due to a forward pass. Samoa, as usual, played very dirty rugby. They had a single break that resulted in their early try due to some miscommunication by the SA line.
Here's some biased SA commentry on the game:
The 5th wouldn't have looked forward if the passer had continued his run and not got tackled after passing. Nearly every pass in Rugby has some forward momentum, because the passer is running forwards.
Other dodgy decisions:
Samoa were unlucky with the disallowed try.
Most unlucky were Namibia with the Irish "try" right at the end.
The Irish player was short of the line, lost the ball and was then pushed out of play.
Really poor call from Joel Jutge.
And finally, although he was probably right, Steve Walsh was really harsh to call back the winger Carvalho after he had sprinted the best part of 75 metres. As Portugal didn't have a any chance of winning I think I would have turned a blind eye to the offside.
Big three Southern Hemisphere sides look like they have the most clue so far. Australia always show up for the big occasions and are undefeated in RWC in the northern hemisphere, so they are my outside tip, although what South Africa did to Samoa today was impressive.
I highly doubt England will sweep Samoa aside so comfortably and next Friday I think the Boks will run up a big score in the range of 40-50 points.
You really thought it would be close
Well to conclude, South Africa's Bryan Habanna scored 4 tried and was denied a fifth due to a forward pass. Samoa, as usual, played very dirty rugby. They had a single break that resulted in their early try due to some miscommunication by the SA line.
Here's some biased SA commentry on the game:
No - I didn't think it would be close, but thought the margin would be less than 50 points (I have no doubt that SA is very strong, but Samoa have also been a strong tier 2/3 side in the past).
Re the dirty play ... most of the top sides have been accused of dirty tactics - not the least SA, the All Blacks, the Wallabies, France, and "even" IRE, SCO, WAL and ENG. I certainly don't condone dirty play - the suspect tackles, ruck behaviour, eye gouging, sprigging etc.
I will be watching the SA-ENG game with interest, to see whether this is a truly strong SA side (which would be good!) and whether ENG have managed to settle down and get focused (in my view they have some great players and some talented young-uns but as far as I am aware still have not developed the confidence and consistency for the big matches).
I'm hoping one of the six nations will show enough strength and consistency to give the big three a good run for the cup.
England is complete rubbish... not even on the score-board, which accurately reflects their performance. Maybe not a big surprise after the results of the warm-up games.
Very difficult to say how good South Africa actually is. They didn't have to give 100% today.
Before the world cup I thought this is getting the most interesting pool game. Unfortunately, it wasn't worth getting up at 7 am.
England were embarrassing. South Africa were awesome - they're gonna win it, I tells ya!
I also think we saw Andy Farrell's last international appearance. And Richard Hill will be England manager/head coach by the end of the year, you mark my words.
I wonder how bad Wales will be against the Wallabies?
I also think we saw Andy Farrell's last international appearance. And Richard Hill will be England manager/head coach by the end of the year, you mark my words.
I wonder how bad Wales will be against the Wallabies?
England rugby fans, you'll have to excuse Miss Applespider, she's still feeling good after the result in Paris.
Whoa! Again, I expected a SA win, but ENG zero ??? ho ho ho.
Are ANY of the northern hemisphere sides up to it?
BTW for anyone who is curious there is an overview of the All Blacks, Tonga, Fiji, Samoa pre-game dances, with words and translations at the RWC website.
Are ANY of the northern hemisphere sides up to it?
BTW for anyone who is curious there is an overview of the All Blacks, Tonga, Fiji, Samoa pre-game dances, with words and translations at the RWC website.
Maybe there will be only Southern Hemisphere Teams in the Semi-finals:
Australia - New Zealand
South Africa - Argentina
Yeah.
High-ish score, but some very sloppy play by NZ at times.
I thought Portugal showed real spirit - if they can improve their defence they could give some of the other teams a fright.
Now for Australia:Wales !!
High-ish score, but some very sloppy play by NZ at times.
I thought Portugal showed real spirit - if they can improve their defence they could give some of the other teams a fright.
Now for Australia:Wales !!
Despite shipping a hundred points, I think Portugal can be proud with their display against the All Blacks.
Australia played magnificently in the first half but looked poor in the second half without Mortlock and let Wales back into the match. But I think the 20 points flattered us.
Can anybody challenge the Tri-Nations teams for the Cup? I don't think so.
Australia played magnificently in the first half but looked poor in the second half without Mortlock and let Wales back into the match. But I think the 20 points flattered us.
Can anybody challenge the Tri-Nations teams for the Cup? I don't think so.
Enjoyed the game, but thought Wales backs were patchy - sometimes very good, other times too flat and too wide on the set pieces.
Australia's game was very recognisable and makes me think there might be some new plays they are not disclosing in the early games.
I couldn't help feeling that Australia's performance was as much about testing the ref and testing the IRC's resolve and limits on "rough play" as it was about testing Wales.
It seemed to me that there were too many marginal tackles and other "edgy" technical plays for it to have been coincidence.
A very good technique to gain knowledge which could be used later in the tournament to force technical fouls - a match-winning method that Australia used to great effect during the 90s and early 00s.
Australia's game was very recognisable and makes me think there might be some new plays they are not disclosing in the early games.
I couldn't help feeling that Australia's performance was as much about testing the ref and testing the IRC's resolve and limits on "rough play" as it was about testing Wales.
It seemed to me that there were too many marginal tackles and other "edgy" technical plays for it to have been coincidence.
A very good technique to gain knowledge which could be used later in the tournament to force technical fouls - a match-winning method that Australia used to great effect during the 90s and early 00s.
Just got back from Paris. The Stade de France is an amazing stadium - I just wish I could say the same about the performance.
From a technical point of view England's back row seemed to be on more of a holiday than I was. Hopefully that was Farrells last game for England, although it was sad to see Jason Robinson go out like that.
All credit to the Springboks though, and their supporters were great - although they could afford to be
It's looking more and more that no Northern hemisphere team will make the semis, and a number are in danger of not making the quarters.
Ireland were dreadful last night, Scotland still have the All Blacks and more importantly Italy to play next, and the French could be about to suffer the ignominy of going out of their own World Cup either before the quarter finals or losing in another country
For tonight's game Laporte should have stuck with Skrela rather than Michalak but the rest of the changes are needed. France really need to batter Namibia, both for their own sake and for European rugby.
@ kiwi-in-uk All teams will play up to the limit of both the referees and the laws. At this level it's the minute percentages that make the difference between being a great team and losing.
As you should be well aware the All Blacks have long been at the vanguard of this approach. McCaw is just continuing a long tradition of All Black opensides operating on the fringes of the law, but all Southern hemisphere teams do it. Not that Northern teams are any better they're just not as good at it
Gareth Thomas was a prat yesterday and a perfect example of the differences above. Mortlock showed him exactly how it should be done. A hard (figuratively and literally) lesson to learn.
After the World Cup England, and the rest of the European teams, have some serious reorganising to do. For England the first action has to be:
Hire, at any cost, Graham Henry - and let him do what he wants.
From a technical point of view England's back row seemed to be on more of a holiday than I was. Hopefully that was Farrells last game for England, although it was sad to see Jason Robinson go out like that.
All credit to the Springboks though, and their supporters were great - although they could afford to be
It's looking more and more that no Northern hemisphere team will make the semis, and a number are in danger of not making the quarters.
Ireland were dreadful last night, Scotland still have the All Blacks and more importantly Italy to play next, and the French could be about to suffer the ignominy of going out of their own World Cup either before the quarter finals or losing in another country
For tonight's game Laporte should have stuck with Skrela rather than Michalak but the rest of the changes are needed. France really need to batter Namibia, both for their own sake and for European rugby.
@ kiwi-in-uk All teams will play up to the limit of both the referees and the laws. At this level it's the minute percentages that make the difference between being a great team and losing.
As you should be well aware the All Blacks have long been at the vanguard of this approach. McCaw is just continuing a long tradition of All Black opensides operating on the fringes of the law, but all Southern hemisphere teams do it. Not that Northern teams are any better they're just not as good at it
Gareth Thomas was a prat yesterday and a perfect example of the differences above. Mortlock showed him exactly how it should be done. A hard (figuratively and literally) lesson to learn.
After the World Cup England, and the rest of the European teams, have some serious reorganising to do. For England the first action has to be:
Hire, at any cost, Graham Henry - and let him do what he wants.
I'm Welsh and I smiled when Mortlock put Thomas out of the game. The prick deserved it!
Can't we have him back in Wales? Please?
FWIW, I think Richard Hill will be installed as head coach/manager of England before next years Six Nations tournament.