Rugby World Cup 2015

[Le Chacal]

Bloody Swiss... [emoji12]

Hard to get good Zin over here.

I had some interesting Washington Syrah recently. Involved in an Oregon Pinot tasting early next year, which should be great.

Gotta stay neutral haha but still find it fantastic that at Rugby, Ireland is a unified country...
Met a girl from Portland not long ago and she was telling me about their wines and Pinot in particular, i didnt even know they were making wine up there, let alone Washington..
C'mon Scotland! and as usual they have the best jersey

 

[Athens]

Down to the scots now...
raises the question about our 6 Nations? Best european team get thrashed by southern weakest side

What about Namibia?

 

[Rosco]

Scotland a point up at half time and taking the game to the Aussies.

Foley is missing kicks too. Theyve got a chance and I hope they take it

 

[Judge Jules]

Try Australia.

Scots unhappy about that yellow but TBH it seemed fair enough to me - I didn't see any attempt to catch the ball. Long way to go yet though.

 

[Judge Jules]

Genia blags a penalty by throwing the ball against a Scotland player at the ruck to make it look like he was offside. Three points stolen for Australia.

 

[Athens]

That Australian try shouldn't have stood, surely it was a double movement? The ball and player had both stopped then he picked it up again for the try.

 

[Holle]

What was that???

 

[Leo]

That was awful bad luck.
The line out cost them all game.

 

[Athens]

I feel bad for Scotland. I'm surprised it was so close.

 

[ArneSlot4PM]

Poor Scots! I think they've just had a taste of how we have felt against that lot.

 

[Leo]

Did Joubert run off the pitch without shaking hands?
Strange that.

 

[Judge Jules]

Not really. If you watch a replay which includes him, as the kick is being lined up you'll see him look up at the screen. He knew then, if he didn't before, that he'd dropped a huge rick and would get pelters for it, so he scuttled away before anyone could corner him.

It was basically a Eurovision Song Contest decision, i.e.give your neighbours the vote in preference to other countries further away. There's a precedent for it from a S.African ref - Andre Watson damn near gave Australia the 2003 Final, which England eventually won, by constantly penalising England for shoving too early in the scrum, when all along it was the Australians who were collapsing the scrum because they couldn't cope with the England drive.

 

[StevieM]

Gotta stay neutral haha but still find it fantastic that at Rugby, Ireland is a unified country...
Met a girl from Portland not long ago and she was telling me about their wines and Pinot in particular, i didnt even know they were making wine up there, let alone Washington..
C'mon Scotland! and as usual they have the best jersey

Would you believe wine is actually produced in every single state in America, including Alaska & Hawaii.

Random fact.

 

[Rosco]

Did Joubert run off the pitch without shaking hands?
Strange that.

The IRB publicly admitted he got it wrong.

 

[Athens]

The Scottish fans will be raging. And rightly so.

 

[Rosco]

We can lock this thread now, yeah?

 

[Judge Jules]

Might be some interesting talking points yet, surely? Jeff Probyn tipped the Saffers to beat the Blacks a day or two ago, for example.

 

[Rosco]

I was joking!

7-6 so far.

And the Haka was a massive anti climax

 

[Judge Jules]

Right you are. 😀

Despite the closeness of the final score, there was only one winner in that second half once the Blacks sorted their discipline out. Looks like they're on a mission to put that "Can't win a World Cup away from home" tag behind them.

Tomorrow's game could be even closer, though I still take Australia to win. Just.

 

[LeTallecWiz]

Pity - a good run by the 'Boks ... Until next time.

 

[Judge Jules]

Yes, the Boks came back very well from the shock of that game against Japan. Some of their stars have found age catching up with them a bit, and in the end the younger players didn't have enough experience yet to bridge the gap, but they're always going to be a force to be reckoned with.

 

[ArneSlot4PM]

Argies for the win!

 

[Rosco]

Australia had their homework done. The Argies crowded the middle against us and tried the same against Australia only to be carved open by some super passes. They stuck to a very disciplined game which got the best out of their squad.

Quite why no team has simply stuck a jumper up at two in every line-out against the Aussie throw is beyond me. Moore's throw is asking to picked off. It's his biggest weakness and nobody has challenged it.

As the commentators pointed out, Argentina tried to play too much rugby and got caught out when they made errors.

I didn't see all of the SA v. All Blacks game but it looked like the Blacks had no difficulty in containing the SA backs. But they were made work for the result.

They always look good, but I'm beginning to think they might not have an extra gear this time around. And they might need it to best the Aussies.

It should be a great final.

 

[Judge Jules]

I'd agree with that summary of the NZ/SA semi-final, though it helped them that Habana is way short of the player he used to be. Pietersen threatened once or twice, but that's a literal description and it never came to anything anyway. SA have talent in the centre too but it never really showed.

I also agree that the Wallabies have a real chance in the final, and if I were a betting man I might well see them as offering better value. The only caveat I'd add is that Foley's form looked to have slipped a notch or two against the Argies and will need to recover for the final - the Boks kept in touch in their semi by kicking their points, and the Wallabies will need to make sure they do the same.

 

[Rosco]

Hard to argue with the result today.

Hooper and Pocock really kept Australia close in the first half but that was never going to be enough. They took advantage of the binning and got close before the All Blacks class shined through.

Superb team, well deserved win.