Shane Jennings was on TV3 and said "You just have to look at France and ask what did they actually do?"
I wonder why the French didn't challenge the haka tonight unlike in previous World Cup clashes between the two sides. I knew they were going to get beaten then and there.
Rules have been changed so confrontations are avoided. At least, that's what I heard on TV.
That was in place for the last world cup and France got fined i thinkRules have been changed so confrontations are avoided. At least, that's what I heard on TV.
That was in place for the last world cup and France got fined i think
Gutted with the Wales-SA game. Like against Australia, we were wasteful. That pass that went over our player to go out for a line out within the first 5 minutes - should have been an easy try. Too many errors in our attack, and we weren't amazingly disciplined when it came to the rucks.
Players looked shattered by the 60th minute or so - the injuries finally creeped up on us. We haven't been able to rotate the squad over the past few weeks due to the depleting squad, and then having to put returning players straight back into the line up - like Liam Williams last week - and end up becoming injured again.
Still, proud of the team. With Halfpenny and Webb (although to be fair, Gareth Davies has had a fantastic World Cup - behind Biggar, our best player) - we definitely would have gone further. Probably would have beaten Australia, and avoided SA.
New Zealand were either frightening or France were awful - only watched second half, but what a great second half for NZ. Ball handling skills are just ridiculously good.
You haven't beaten Australia in about 10 attempts with your first choice team.
Why bother playing with that sort of attitude? Australia beat NZ in the Rugby championship decider just a few months ago, they will not be thinking about losing, and will know they can beat NZ if they do meet them.With the way we played against them, we would have won that day with a Halfpenny and a Jonathon Davies in the side. Hindsight/easy to say that if you can't prove it - but I'd be confident of that. We lost to Australia due to a injury-depleted squad fatiguing, and marginally lost to a SA side. If we had the ability to rotate some of the tired legs with more quality from the bench - ergo, being able to bring on Scott Williams/Liam Williams on for Cuthbert or Tyler Morgan.
We go from having the luxury of being able to bring on Scott Williams from the bench, to starting Scott Williams to not even having Scott Williams in the space of a month due to injuries.
SA at the end of the day won, and bravo to them - both teams today would eventually lose to New Zealand anyway going from the current squads.
The all blacks at the end of the day are just 15 New Zealand men who play rugby. Admittedly they're damn good, but they're not superheroes. The last three games between SA and NZ were decided by no more than 7 points, a combined total of 13 and an average margin of 4.333. If the Springboks are to beat New Zealand next weekend, they'll have to play better than they did vs Wales. South Africa respect the AIG'S, but they're not fearful or awestruck by them.With the way we played against them, we would have won that day with a Halfpenny and a Jonathon Davies in the side. Hindsight/easy to say that if you can't prove it - but I'd be confident of that. We lost to Australia due to a injury-depleted squad fatiguing, and marginally lost to a SA side. If we had the ability to rotate some of the tired legs with more quality from the bench - ergo, being able to bring on Scott Williams/Liam Williams on for Cuthbert or Tyler Morgan.
We go from having the luxury of being able to bring on Scott Williams from the bench, to starting Scott Williams to not even having Scott Williams in the space of a month due to injuries.
SA at the end of the day won, and bravo to them - both teams today would eventually lose to New Zealand anyway going from the current squads.
Shameful perfomance by France. There is losing, but in a world cup quarterfinal, at least show some fight.
Ireland have to win today or we will have an all SH hemisphere semis for the first time ever.
Its more to do with Australia, although I would love a Scottish upset, but just cant see it. Your match with Argentina will be tight affair, they are a really good side Argentina.Writing off Scotland? I wouldn't count on us, I think it will go to the wire. A lot of talk about Madigan stepping up the way Sexton did for Leinster when Contepomi got injured. That will be needed today to have a chance.
Up until that game against France, Madigan had been considered a bottler by many. Goes all the way back to when he missed a kick right in front of the posts to win a semi final for blackrock in a schools semi final!
Delighted for him silencing his critics and really hope he can do the job tonight.
The gap is definitely getting smaller. I just think it's misleading to say southern hemisphere dominance is purely down to NZ. IMO it's very clear that the two best teams in this tournament are NZ and Aus - and they're miles ahead of the rest. There's a real possibility we're going to have four southern hemisphere teams in the semi final - this being in a world cup played in the northern hemisphere.I'd say the Irish are the strongest for the north right. And I meant the past 4 years or so, not the history of world rugby etc. While it's clear that the southern hemisphere is still better overall, the gap is getting smaller every world cup in my opinion.