RWC Final '07 - South Africa V England (Saturday 8pm)

Marshy

The one that was played over and over again at the end was "world in union"

EdgarAllenPoo

Thanks for that.

MooseJam

dull dull game, I think it was a try, close but ok

Ping Chow Chi

Marshy wrote: »

SA deserved winners IMO. England fought like they did in their recent victories but this time the opposition was too strong.

I hope people(English media) won't focus on the disallowed try.

To be fair the *ITV commentator did say it was a fair result at the end of the match... I think that the (english) media have been pretty unbais in this world cup, but I guess it's still a stick people will like to beat them over the head with (though why a nation can not have a little pride in something like a sporting torny I don't know)

ThomasH

Well done to the boks!!!

Not an exciting game but WC finals will be close and if you play exciting rugby you make mistakes that can cost you the game. WC finals are not about playing good or bad rugby but about the end result.

Referee Allan was ok, not great but not bad. He mad bad calls for boths sides.

England tried everything but did not turn their opportunities into tries. It was definitely NOT a try. Mark's toe touched the line before he placed the ball and as a rule he was out. If you look at the video from the side you can see the ball was still at this shoulder when his toe touched the line.

SA played like Eng in last two games, did the basics right but punished Eng for their mistakes and converts it into points.

Francois Steyn, Danie Rossouw and Percy Montgomery was very shaky for SA apart from the penalty kicks.

Mathew Tait had a good game.

SA were deserved winners, played better rugby than Eng in this whole tournament, scored 32 tries as to Eng's 12. SA was more consistent and played to their potential. SA might have had the easier route but it's not their fault who they play.

Celebrations!!!:D

jayteecork

"Percy Montgomery was very shaky"

No he wasn't. He was man of the match in my opinion. 4/4 kicks, did not drop one high ball.
Good in defense. Plus he was pushed into a bloody TV camera!! lol!

Overall I thought the Boks just about deserved it, and when they went 15-6 in front the way they killed the game was a joy to behold - they gave England a taste of their own medicine.

Catcher86

Stev_o wrote: »

Putting me on the spot here. Id like to track down one of Tonga's tries i know that one of the lads hits the corner before scoring also Argentina's try under the post was also dodgy and on everyones thought that if theres doubt then it shouldnt be given then that one shouldnt be given either

The Tonga try was a try.
Touching the corner flag is ok if you are in the air. The same as being allowed to be over the side line if you are in the air, but you cant touch the ground.

Tonight it was not a try as he touched the line on the ground before he grounded the ball, therefore no try.

copacetic

Catcher86 wrote: »

The Tonga try was a try.
Touching the corner flag is ok if you are in the air.

sweet jesus!`no it feckin isn't. the flag is out, like it has been forever. why do you think they even have the flag?

MooseJam

Catcher86 wrote: »

Tonight it was not a try as he touched the line on the ground before he grounded the ball, therefore no try.

did he touch the line though, I think his foot lifted up and he cleared it, it was very close though

Chaz

copacetic wrote: »

sweet jesus!`no it feckin isn't. the flag is out, like it has been forever. why do you think they even have the flag?

Agreed. The flag is an extention of the line / corner - thats why they are there.

ThomasH

"Percy Montgomery was very shaky"

No he wasn't. He was man of the match in my opinion. 4/4 kicks, did not drop one high ball.
Good in defense. Plus he was pushed into a bloody TV camera!! lol!

Overall I thought the Boks just about deserved it, and when they went 15-6 in front the way they killed the game was a joy to behold - they gave England a taste of their own medicine.

Rubbish. Successfully kick at goal does not make you man of the match. He miss-judged few high balls that went backwards that England got hold off, lines kicks did not go out and was under pressure the whole time.

ThomasH

did he touch the line though, I think his foot lifted up and he cleared it, it was very close though

Yes. His toe touched the line while he had the ball up at shoulder height.

MooseJam

Percy Montgomery badly needs a haircut

davyjose

Anyway, Congrats to South Africa, well deserved Champions. Also well done to England, who managed to turn back the clock and showed us all what a little bit of commitment and belief can do.
I'm off to find something to do with my weekends from now on

MooseJam

ThomasH wrote: »

Yes. His toe touched the line while he had the ball up at shoulder height.

I think his toe went up and over the line but it was very close, impossible to say for sure

ThomasH

Anyway, Congrats to South Africa, well deserved Champions. Also well done to England, who managed to turn back the clock and showed us all what a little bit of commitment and belief can do.
I'm off to find something to do with my weekends from now on

Roll on Six Nations!:D

davyjose

ThomasH wrote: »

Roll on Six Nations!:D

Too true brother, too true. It'll be interesting to see how that pans out.

ThomasH

Catcher86 wrote: »

SA are killing the Ball. At least Rowland blowed up on it there, but he is not imposing his authority enough. Berger is getting away with murder.

You sound like a broken record.

NotWormBoy

Fair play South Africa. The best team throughout without a doubt. Professional final, well done to them.

On the final itself, it was a disappointment. It wasn't a bad final, very tense, full of committment, passion and great forward play, but didn't do justice to the competition as a whole. You always had the impression that SA had the edge to take the game. England tried, but sadly didn't have the skills. And it just shows how important the lineout is. England lost ... at least seven of their own lineouts... you can't play in a final like that.

On the very very controversial try... that was simply the most 50-50 TMO call I've ever seen. I can't decide if it was a try or not after repeated viewings and on that basis, I'd award it since you're supposed to give the benefit of the doubt to the attacking side. But like I said... it was incredibly close.

Don't know why Johnny wasn't used more for the dropgoal. He was in the pocket several times and wasn't used. Might not have made the difference, but ... better than running aimlessly against that SA defense. And the English back three kicked far too much and far too aimlessly as well. Tait's run though was one of the best of the tournament, if not the best. He played very well, he's grown a lot during that game.

Steyn ... that penalty... that lad has balls. And he's only 20 or so. Balls of steel.

In conclusion... thats the best Rugby World Cup thus far. Best of the 5 that I've watched, easily.

My personal favourite game... either Wales-Fiji or Fiji-South Africa. Followed by France-New Zealand.

MooseJam

I hope the new rules are brought in and this will be the last major game decided by penalties

flogen

Ping Chow Chi wrote: »

I think that the (english) media have been pretty unbais in this world cup, but I guess it's still a stick people will like to beat them over the head with (though why a nation can not have a little pride in something like a sporting torny I don't know)

Well it was on downstairs in my house and the first thing the commentator said was something like "come on England" as they came onto the pitch... I went upstairs and put Setanta on after that... I've not watched any English coverage at all, basically because in the past it's been so bias.

If that's what the English audience wants that's fine - they're the ones who count to ITV and the BBC, I just want commentators and pundits who tell it like it is rather than what they want it to be (or think the audience want it to be).

Whatever you can say about Irish commentators and pundits, they rarely go easy on Ireland because they're Irish and they don't go hard on the likes of England just because they're English.

It was a pretty boring match all in, SA deserved the win but fair play to England for fighting like dogs to get there - if Ireland had have had half of their desire things could have been very different.

I just hope the English media, team and fans don't cheapen a very impressive tournament performance by dwelling on the try issue - it was extremely close but the tip of his boot touched the line before he grounded... I know I'd be raging if it was Ireland but in the end a converted try wouldn't have been enough anyway.

At least with The Hand of God goal it would have made the match a draw had it been disallowed.

ThomasH

I hope the new rules are brought in and this will be the last major game decided by penalties

Nobody likes boring rugby but I can't see how the new rules could change this around. Because it's such an important event neither teams want to make mistakes by playing running rugby. Eng did that tonight and paid the price.

The ABs likes to play running rugby and try and score tries and maybe that is the reason they fell short in each WC. Maybe they should try and play more conservative with the forwards and take whatever points they can to win it.

d22ontour

Wow nice , i get a warning for replying to a poster who insulted another poster, i can take it he was warned also ? I doubt it tbh. South Africa played Englands negative game against them and it worked.The world champions scored 52 points against their fellow finalists and conceded 6 points in two games against them.Lucky winners i think not.

Catcher86

ThomasH wrote: »

You sound like a broken record.

My point is that he has been infringing illegally all tournament and again tonight. Whether its been said before does'nt make a difference.
Whats your point?

Catcher86

copacetic wrote: »

sweet jesus!`no it feckin isn't. the flag is out, like it has been forever. why do you think they even have the flag?

Its well known that the flag is not out if you are in the air. There have been countless trys scored where players have had their legs over the line but not touching the ground.
In the same way trys have been scored where players have been tackled into the flag but they have not touched the ground, therefore play is not dead.

ThomasH

Catcher86 wrote: »

My point is that he has been infringing illegally all tournament and again tonight. Whether its been said before does'nt make a difference.
Whats your point?

Rubbish. He might have done it in other games in the tournament but he was disciplined tonight, exactly when, how and where did he infringe? It does make a difference saying it now as it sounds like sour grapes. The SA loose trio are brutal and just because they play clever and win turn over ball does not always mean they infringe.

Oilrig

The Bokke were the best team of the event and deserved to win.

England did themselves proud but were beaten by a better team.

What was very interesting was the ability of both teams to decide tactics while on the pitch... something our lot have always failed to do. Lack of empowerment? ability?

The inside story of the pow wow after England's 36 - 0 defeat to ZA during the group stages will make interesting reading.

IMHO on pitch tactical decisions has been a weakness for IRL.

Either way, the ZA performance tonight sets the bar in what is required to win at the top level.

copacetic

Catcher86 wrote: »

Its well known that the flag is not out if you are in the air. There have been countless trys scored where players have had their legs over the line but not touching the ground.
In the same way trys have been scored where players have been tackled into the flag but they have not touched the ground, therefore play is not dead.

honestly, just go and check it. and stop making a fool of yourself. or go back and look at mals tackle into the flag at twickenham. :rolleyes:

It's even one of the rules they are talking about changing as mentioned above.

EdgarAllenPoo

MooseJam wrote: »

Percy Montgomery badly needs a haircut

Indeed he does, he looks to be showing his age and the surfer do just makes him look odd.

Can someone give me a list of Boks who will be playing overseas this season?

Did I hear right that Percy's going to Perpignan? How the hell is it that so many French clubs (and not even big ones though I don't mean Perpignan in this case) can pull money from nowhere to sign SH players and all Irish provinces can get is Doug Howlett, though he is a good signing.

Guys like Greegan, Umaga, Matfield and Anton Oliver are going to a club like Toulon who aren't even in the Top 14. WTF?

bowsie casey

Catcher86 wrote: »

Its well known that the flag is not out if you are in the air. There have been countless trys scored where players have had their legs over the line but not touching the ground.
In the same way trys have been scored where players have been tackled into the flag but they have not touched the ground, therefore play is not dead.

Catcher,
Check out Paddy O Brien explaining the new rules on: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055166352

Here he mentions that this flag will now be moved 2m out from the touchline, so that in future a leg in the air crossing the line will not hit the flag and disallow the try. Sounds pretty conclusive to me...