Rugby Union 21/22/23 Discussion | RWC time!

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I thought tonight was excellent entertainment. Red card could have spoiled it but NZ brought it, big time. The best teams in the world have all played brilliantly IMO. Second tier a bit disappointing but that doesn’t spoil the tournament.

Disagree with your first sentence and last sentence.

Ah look, I'm being an asshole making these points tonight. I'll leave it to another time.
 
SA had the toughest group, the toughest QF and the toughest SF. They thoroughly deserve this win.

Meh, credit to the opponents they faced... but they were second best in certainly 3 games for me, if not 4, thus why they were all 1 pointers. Sometimes luck just swings in your favour, but you also generate your own luck in sport, tight shit. You can't deny a back to back World Cup winner.... but it doesn't feel as dominant as the NZ run in the prior back to back streak to me, feels more like RM's threepeat CL.

They shit luck.... yes, the Cueto try still hurts. (And England had no right whatsoever being in that final!)
 
Both teams historical records in the WC tells a different story. Both teams were good enough to reach the final.

I don't care about historical record when I judge a game. It's silly to talk about a lack of bottle when you are talking about a game that was lost on some of the most obvious refereeing mistakes in the tournament.
 
Sometimes a tense hard fought grind of a rugby match is as good as a free scoring try fest. We lost but I thought it was really good game.
 
I don't care about historical record when I judge a game. It's silly to talk about a lack of bottle when you are talking about a game that was lost on some of the most obvious refereeing mistakes in the tournament.
Well, until South Africa’s following game ;)
 
Meh, credit to the opponents they faced... but they were second best in certainly 3 games for me, if not 4, thus why they were all 1 pointers. Sometimes luck just swings in your favour, but you also generate your own luck in sport, tight shit. You can't deny a back to back World Cup winner.... but it doesn't feel as dominant as the NZ run in the prior back to back streak to me, feels more like RM's threepeat CL.

They shit luck.... yes, the Cueto try still hurts. (And England had no right whatsoever being in that final!)

There are definite Real Madrid vibes about them (or the German national team of old). But to win 3 tough knock out games in a row is not easy (as we saw with England in 2019).
 
Sometimes a tense hard fought grind of a rugby match is as good as a free scoring try fest. We lost but I thought it was really good game.

I thought NZ played great. So close. Can go out with heads held high. SA should really have had another yellow after alll those infringements in quick succession. They’re dogged feckers though. So hard to beat.
 
Sometimes a tense hard fought grind of a rugby match is as good as a free scoring try fest. We lost but I thought it was really good game.

Agree. Much better than one team just running away with it.

You guys were extremely unlucky which is going to be a tough pill to swallow.
 
The celebrations have barely started and you are already completely drunk. :lol:
:lol: Kolisi came from the townships to lead the springboks to back to back world cups. Unbelievable and an underdog story that is hard to beat
 
Just have to mention, I'm not a big fan of rugby and haven't really watched much, used to play in school of course but never really liked it.

So anyway I watched the final and I have to say the sportsmanship between 2 teams that have just spent the last 80 minutes basically at war is really something to behold. I also enjoyed the way the referee was mic'd and all of his decisions were explained to everyone with no fuss and drama. The players reactions to decisions by the referees was also brilliant. A quick explanation and the players just get on with it, no arguing, no drama, no complaining. The FA and football in general really need to take note !
 
:lol: Kolisi came from the townships to lead the springboks to back to back world cups. Unbelievable and an underdog story that is hard to beat

It doesn't make him the goat, a very good player and an exemplary leader but he isn't even the best player in this current team. Prime Vermeulen was a better player but my favorite one has to be Tendai Mtawarira because he had all the qualities of a typical Springbock but he was also a class act.
 
Just have to mention, I'm not a big fan of rugby and haven't really watched much, used to play in school of course but never really liked it.

So anyway I watched the final and I have to say the sportsmanship between 2 teams that have just spent the last 80 minutes basically at war is really something to behold. I also enjoyed the way the referee was mic'd and all of his decisions were explained to everyone with no fuss and drama. The players reactions to decisions by the referees was also brilliant. A quick explanation and the players just get on with it, no arguing, no drama, no complaining. The FA and football in general really need to take note !

Football - A gentlemen’s game played by thugs
Rugby - A thugs game played by gentlemen
 
I don't care about historical record when I judge a game. It's silly to talk about a lack of bottle when you are talking about a game that was lost on some of the most obvious refereeing mistakes in the tournament.
Every game in the knock-outs for SA I felt that they were going to find a way to win the match.

Neither Ireland nor France have that nerve. Say what you will about decisions and whatever else, but SA have won two WC's back to back and a Lions series in between.
 
I find it so weird that in a sport where the main goal for 80 minutes is to score tries, it’s so easy to win games without scoring any tries at all.

There's such an over-reliance on kicking these days. 1 try in a World Cup final and it was scored by the team who lost. Doesn't sit right with me.

Congratulations to South Africa. Hard luck to New Zealand. To lose by 1 point is hard.
 
Why the feck are they doing a light show just after they lifted the trophy :lol:

Surely the fans in the stadium want to see their players celebrating with the trophy rather than some fancy Govee lights
 
Every game in the knock-outs for SA I felt that they were going to find a way to win the match.

Neither Ireland nor France have that nerve. Say what you will about decisions and whatever else, but SA have won two WC's back to back and a Lions series in between.

Instead of judging what actually happened you are spreading clichés for the sake of it. The reality of the matter is that France lost a game by one point with several key mistakes by the referee including an obvious penalty to France that the referee somehow gave to SA. This has nothing to do with France lacking bottle during the QF also Kolbe was offside on the try conversion.

If you can't acknowledge factual things, say nothing otherwise it's annoying to see bs like the ones you came up with.
 
Every game in the knock-outs for SA I felt that they were going to find a way to win the match.

Neither Ireland nor France have that nerve. Say what you will about decisions and whatever else, but SA have won two WC's back to back and a Lions series in between.

Get out... France not only lost to the actual greatest ever team only 8-7 in 2011, but they actually knocked them out in the previous tournament as well as turning up for the greatest match in the history of Rugby also knocking out an ultra favoured All Blacks in 99. Sure they haven't finished it with a cup, but they've only truly had one seriously massive bottle job in 2007 when England beat them on their own turf with a historically bad England setup.
 
I thought NZ played great. So close. Can go out with heads held high. SA should really have had another yellow after alll those infringements in quick succession. They’re dogged feckers though. So hard to beat.

Goalkicking let New Zealand down, for whatever reason they didn't have their kicking boots on. On another day they would have kicked that conversion and penalty over.
 
Anyone else feel this fireworks display is robbing the SA players of their moment a bit? They dropped all the lights pretty much immediately after they got the cup. I'd prefer to see them celebrating with their fans.

Doubt they give a feck but yeah, it’s an odd decision. Nowhere near as annoying as the decision to repeatedly pipe in shite pop songs during matches. The worst thing about this tournament.
 
Goalkicking let New Zealand down, for whatever reason they didn't have their kicking boots on. On another day they would have kicked that conversion and penalty over.

To be fair, they'd not take the penalty at all and go for the try generally.... never good to move away from your natural instincts, especially when you aren't remotely desperate yet.
 
Football - A gentlemen’s game played by thugs
Rugby - A thugs game played by gentlemen
If that ain't the truth. It actually made me laugh watching the ref explaining his decisions to men twice his size and them just jogging off with no drama. Was a breath of fresh air, I'm too used to Bruno. :lol:
 
There are definite Real Madrid vibes about them (or the German national team of old). But to win 3 tough knock out games in a row is not easy (as we saw with England in 2019).
England game shouldn't have been tough though. They should've wiped the floor with us.
 
In that case, I just hope they don’t conduct the draw early for it. Take a leaf out of the football one and do it 6 months or so before the tournament, not 2-3 years.

The draw is Tuesday.
 
England game shouldn't have been tough though. They should've wiped the floor with us.

True but one of them, even when you are nowhere near your best and at major risk of elimination, you still find a way to pull through and win the game.
 
Get out... France not only lost to the actual greatest ever team only 8-7 in 2011, but they actually knocked them out in the previous tournament as well as turning up for the greatest match in the history of Rugby also knocking out an ultra favoured All Blacks in 99. Sure they haven't finished it with a cup, but they've only truly had one seriously massive bottle job in 2007 when England beat them on their own turf with a historically bad England setup.

Dusatoir's performance that final has to be one of the greatest individual sporting performances of all time.
 
Enjoyed the game. I've enjoyed the whole tournament.

Pretty unconvincing world champions though. Second best to Ireland, second best in large parts to 14 man New Zealand, lucky against France and didn't really deserve to beat England either, albeit due to being drawn into reducer tactics. They won their knockout games by a combined total of 3 points which is, well, crap if we're being honest

Puts a little dampener on it because I thought NZ would have been far more deserving winners, but still its not like SA are a bad side.
 
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