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Glad you did as wellI got 3 out of 4 and the one I got wrong I'm glad I did.
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Glad you did as wellI got 3 out of 4 and the one I got wrong I'm glad I did
I was screaming my lungs out for Fiji yesterday! That last minute bad call from the ref for the deliberate knock-on cost them the game. Now we can hopefully show those entitled white jerseys how to win a match without paying the ref
But what a game. It was a hard fought battle. The emotional stance of the French afterwards was quite telling that they brought everything they had to the tableI got 3 out of 4 and the one I got wrong I'm glad I did
While i agree with you that its not the NZ of yesteryear, they can't be underestimated at all.
Very true.
Totally agree. Awesome awesome playerKwagga is an awesome player.I know Kwagga is great as an impact player but he is would be even better as a starter. Winning the breakdown wins games, and he is the master. Reminds me of Heinrich Brussow - Remember him
They were playing for time. It’s this mistake in the French 22 that in my opinion, cost them more than many other moments in the game.
To add to that, you can see how the French feel:
Enjoyable read. Well putSo here are some of my thoughts about the game.. And why Rassie is still a genius!!
So besides the obvious, what can we take from this game? Edit: This turned out to be a bit longer than I expected. Don’t read if you not a Rugby fan!!!
For starters, we weren’t very far into the game when something odd happened. Willemse caught a ball in our 22 and called for the mark. Nothing odd about that but what he did next was baffling, and genius, at the same time. He immediately called for a scrum which is something I for one have never seen a team do when calling a mark. Why is this important? Well the answer is simple. When you kick the ball from a mark you will not win the ball back if kicked into touch and the team that catches the ball or feeds the lineout will then have possession. In a game of inches, like last night’s game was, this is not ideal. By going for the scrum the boks then won a penalty which would guarantee them the ball when kicked into touch. From the moment when Willemse caught the ball to when he called for the scrum was literally a few seconds. There was no team consultation regarding it. It was no doubt a very clear instruction to him before he caught the ball. It was also a moral victory for the boks. as the French pack had to walk all the way down to our 22 for a scrum knowing they will probably conceded a penalty, which they did. The kick from the panalty was not a good one, but the idea was genius, and this had Rassie Erasmus written all over it!! I expect other teams with a strong scrum will be trying this from now on.
There was a moment when the French formed a maul in open play in our half and managed to drive a bit towards our try line. Once again, this was a Rassie move in the 2019 RWC final. The origins of this play has been widely debated, however it is very clear that this is something that France this time round took out of Rassies play book from the 2019 RWC final. Rassie’s genius is being copied more and more, but fortunately this one did not benefit the French much. I have also not once seen the boks do this move in this Rugby World Cup. This, combined with Willemse’s 22 mark/scrum, shows that Rassie and Co still have some tricks up their sleeve.
Eben’s card had me fuming! If there was ever the perfect example of a rugby incident, then this was it. I was just as livid as I suspect every single other South African was when head contact was called and the yellow given. But there was a silver lining none of us saw at the time. Eben got sent off just before 2nd half. Had the 10 minute break then spent another 8 minutes on the side. Not only did Eben get a 20 minute break, but he spent it watching the French play and defence. When Eben came back onto the field his legs were fresh, and he had a fire lit in him along the likes we had not yet seen from him in this World Cup. It wasn’t long after he came back he powered himself though for a try!!
France Cracked under pressure. In tightly contested games like this, there are always going to be key moments. But two stuck out for me. The first was France taking the 3 points while trailing. They looked like they were not certain of what to do. It was right then and there that it became clear that the doubt in themselves was starting to creep in. It’s not that going for poles was the wrong decision, but you could see in the players that they were not sure about what action to take. This also cost them valuable time in the game. This is where the boks are will always have advantage. They have a big match temperament that very few teams can match. They do not crack under pressure. They know exactly what to do and when to do it.
The second moment, and the biggest nail in the coffin for France, was their botched kick out their 22 with less than 5 minutes to go. The kick almost or seemed to go backwards?? I don’t know how or what happened, but this was a massive mistake by France and in any other game anywhere in the world, would not have happened. This was just cracking under pressure!! By kicking the ball directly into touch the boks had the right to call for their mighty scrum. This put us with a feed into our scrum 10m out from the French try line. I remember saying to my Mrs. that France is now officially in trouble and even though the games wasn’t won, I did breathe a slight sigh of relief. The scrum got reset a few times and the ref kept calling for time off, time on, time off, time on, and it slowly ate up the time. Our boks are amongst the best scrummers in the world, they are literally paid professionals. So, to watch them acting like they couldn’t get the bind right was comical.
Kolbe's charge down, what a moment! I had never seen a successful conversion charge down achieved in any game. A couple of tweets from the French have questioned if he moved off the line before the kicker started his motion, but there is something people need to be aware of. The kicker and Kolbe had played together for many years at a former club. So Kolbe was the ideal, and possibly the only player, to get this right. He knew the exact moment of when the kicker would start his motions. His timing was perfect!! As for whether or not this was a game winning moment, we will never know since we have no way of knowing if the kick would have gone through the poles. But it was definitely a physiological victory for the Boks!! There is an angle that wasn’t shown on the live broadcast of the boks celebrating this charge down. And after just conceding a try, this was a tiny little victory and morale boost for them.
And lastly the Ref.. I am not going to go on about whether he had a good or bad game, but here is some food for thought. Remember when we played Ireland in our pool game? And we were all livid with the Ref? Well, ladies and gents, this was the same Ref. I have no doubt that this played to our favor. The coaching staff and players would have spent hours analyzing that game and his calls. They would have studied every single break down and call of that Ireland game and then used that to their benefit when playing France. The ref got played by us. Not the other way round.
Still two games left and we could still lose the tournament. But last night showed us the grit our team has, and the genius in charge of it. I don’t suspect we will see anything special against England from the boks. And with a possible AB final looming Rassie and Co will still be keeping cards close to their chest. But what we did see last night was a team that that will not go away and will not crack under pressure.
rugby365.com
educate me, is this good or bad?We're getting Benno again.
World Rugby confirms the match officials for RWC semifinals
NEWS: World Rugby has announced the Match Officials for the World Cup 2023 semifinals at Stade de France this weekend.
A bit concerning the Frenchie ref is not at least in the other game. I have a feeling, because its in France and France are out, they are going to award him the final. God help us if we get there and we have to endure his incompetence, The only hope is that Barnes is also not on duty, so hopefully he will do the final IF we get thereWe're getting Benno again.
World Rugby confirms the match officials for RWC semifinals
NEWS: World Rugby has announced the Match Officials for the World Cup 2023 semifinals at Stade de France this weekend.
