Rugby World Cup Final

[chrissivad]

:lol: I saw that too. They really shouldn't allow children to get involved in these sorts of things because they will always screw it up.

the little kid was just so funny :lol:

It was a try, Cueto lifted up his left foot at the last minute. His leg hit the line after he had already put the ball down.

[/quote] I dont think he lifted it in time, its very, very close but im sure his toe just catches the line before he pulls it up. The view from behind is the best one

 

[cockjol]

clear try unless you're one of the officials in charge tonight...they might as well have worn springbok jerseys...funny thing is I know we're not the best side in the world, nowhere close, just would be nice not to have felt we were playing against the officials as well...I still think NZ are the best side in the world, but they missed out to an official as well...as for sa, they showed good defence tonight, nothing else...if we win dull, what does that make them tonight...I personally think they will be regarded as the worst world champs ever...had a very cushy route to the final and beat us in the final and we are more spirit than talent.

 

[don1]

i think his foot just hit the white line before the ball was touched down but it was only by a hair on the head, and in that cause it should be awarded a try for good play england played well but could near break down there defence but they have came a long way to get to the final

 

[LSUY]

clear try unless you're one of the officials in charge tonight...they might as well have worn springbok jerseys...funny thing is I know we're not the best side in the world, nowhere close, just would be nice not to have felt we were playing against the officials as well...I still think NZ are the best side in the world, but they missed out to an official as well...as for sa, they showed good defence tonight, nothing else...if we win dull, what does that make them tonight...I personally think they will be regarded as the worst world champs ever...had a very cushy route to the final and beat us in the final and we are more spirit than talent.

Sorry mate but I'm going to have to disagree with one of your comments. The All Blacks didn't lose because of an official, they lost because they were arrogant.

They went into this world cup thinking it was going to be a walk over. They rotate their team so much that their best players struggle to play together. The current talent development system in place in NZ and Aus means that whilst the backs are world class, the forwards are average at best so teams like SA, Eng and Fra can dominate the game up front and stop the backs from getting involved. France dominated the breakdown, which slowed NZ down.

I remember when NZ played Scotland's second string team at Murrayfield. They spent 25 minutes scrumming on the Scottish line. They were pilling into the Scots but still couldn't get the push over. If they moved it one, two balls they would have scored. They tried to intimidate their opponents physically but it failed. They looked at France and said we are going to take you physically but forgot that they've got some good players. They left Doug Howlett out and Rokocoko now runs like an aggressive second row. The balance is gone, they focus so much on power that it's effected the entire team.

 

[cockjol]

yes nz did pay for their arrogance, but they also paid for a ridiculous sin binning and france scoring from a blatant forward pass...still that ref did us a favour cos we wouldn't have beaten the kiwis in the semi

 

[Phantom]

The boks offered nothing of note through the game. Couple of crappy decisions and stupid trip took us out of contention.

For what its worth I felt it was a try but it was a very close decision. Im fairly sure had it been SA it would have been given.

England did us proud.

 

[Physco]

The only good thing to have come out of today was my 'Quins beating Wasps.

Gloat why you can, we'll see what happens when you come to adams park, when we have our full squad.

Congrats to the Boks, though they rid there luck:hump:

Biggups to B.Ashton, he inherited a mess, and produced a team to get to the W/C final, he deserves another contract, which is more that can be said about Mr Jol.:bang:

 

[TheChosenOne]

In my humble opinion we lost they didn't win the game, we lost it.

So near and yet so far. I was expecting England to get hammered but I think we can walk away with much respect.

The only downsider was in the last 15 when SA played like Arsenal - cynical and professional with the dirty stuff

 

[carrickature]

the way i saw the try it shouldnt have been, his toe it the like THEN he lifted up his foot, thats what me and most of my friends saw.

as for the referee, he was cmpletely out of order, more than once he completely missed fouls by the Sa team and called fouls on England where none existed.

for example, my friends and i counted no less than 3 times where they were crossing, and he called us once on crossing, when we weren't even doing it! and how did he not give that obstruction foul that Smit comitted against Tait (i think)?

 

[tony0379]

your correct carrickature th eref was a total wanker

 

[cockjol]

there is a great picture doing the rounds that clearly shows it was a try...it is taken from the in-goal area looking back at cueto the moment he touches the ball down with his foot in the air and his leg not touching the line...what angers me is not that we lost, cos we may have lost even if we'd got that try, but that tv technology is supposed to get these decisions right and this guy failed to do his job...it's that sense of injustice which is so frustrating, if we'd lost fair and square i'd accept it...I was not tense about this game beforehand as we had nothing to lose and had done amazing to get there, but that defeat feels worse for that decision

 

[DFF]

Who's bright idea was it to have an Aussie replay official and an Irish/French ref for the game? Were they taking the piss? I don't care how impartial you claim to be, if you're (proper) Aussie/Irish/French, you don't love the English at the best of times (certainly less than Soot Africuns), especially when we knocked both of your teams out on the way to the final.

Not trying to claim they were biased in any way (although there were some dubious refereeing decisions, the try was somewhat debatable), but come on...

 

[LSUY]

as for the referee, he was cmpletely out of order, more than once he completely missed fouls by the Sa team and called fouls on England where none existed.

for example, my friends and i counted no less than 3 times where they were crossing, and he called us once on crossing, when we weren't even doing it! and how did he not give that obstruction foul that Smit comitted against Tait (i think)?

That's Alain Rolland for you. He is as consistent as a Premier League referee.

I have to admit that Rolland isn't my favourite referee (though he can't be blamed for the disallowed try). He let's teams collapse the scrum at times, gives a foul against one team, then the other team does the exact same and he let's them get away with it. He doesn't just do this against England, he does it against everyone. I lost count of how many accidental offsides that Rolland didn't bother giving as fouls last night. England should have had at least two scrums within the South Africans 22.

Rolland adjudged that Ben Kay had obstructed Os du Randt with 20 minutes to play even though Randt clearly ran into Kay.

One thing I did find strange though was when Rolland explained to Catt why the try wasn't given he said the ball went out of touch. If you look at the replays you'll see the ball didn't go near the touch line, so obviously there had been a mix up between the two officials.

On a side note, Francois Steyn looks like he's going to be a brilliant player for the Boks.

 

[DFF]

One thing I did find strange though was when Rolland explained to Catt why the try wasn't given he said the ball went out of touch. If you look at the replays you'll see the ball didn't go near the touch line, so obviously there had been a mix up between the two officials.

Yeah, that was bewildering. It seemed to look like that's explanation he was hearing from the booth. Unless he misunderstood the communication, it's very weird.

 

[Physco]

On a side note, Francois Steyn looks like he's going to be a brilliant player for the Boks.

Absolutely, when he burst thru he left Catt for dead with his stepping, but Tait did the same to Monty.

As for the ref, you are right we should have had at least 2 scrums in there 22, i cannot belive a game of this magnitude and the ref totally ignores blatant knock on's and Bok hands in the ruck, absolutley shocking display from the ref.

 

[chrissivad]

there is a great picture doing the rounds that clearly shows it was a try...it is taken from the in-goal area looking back at cueto the moment he touches the ball down with his foot in the air and his leg not touching the line...what angers me is not that we lost, cos we may have lost even if we'd got that try, but that tv technology is supposed to get these decisions right and this guy failed to do his job...it's that sense of injustice which is so frustrating, if we'd lost fair and square i'd accept it...I was not tense about this game beforehand as we had nothing to lose and had done amazing to get there, but that defeat feels worse for that decision

When the ball crosses the try line his foot is clearly in the air, but its before that his toe touches, and when i say touches its barly scrapes the line but still touches it.

On SSN they just showed another picture that showed his toe on the line.

The ref was shit though, but the 4th official called it right IMO

 

[LSUY]

Having read the post match interviews the Aussies and Kiwi's can learn a thing or two from the England players.

"South Africa deserved to win. They have been fantastic all tournament. Big respect to them. It is their moment. But we gave it everything we had and we are very disappointed."
- Jonny Wilkinson

"You get decisions like that in a game. Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don't. I'm don't going to stand here and blame the referee. South Africa deserved their win."
- Phil Vickery about the decision to disallow Mark Cueto's try

"I'm disappointed for the players, not for myself. But South Africa deserved it. They were the best team."
- Brian Ashton

Could you imagine a Kiwi or an Aussie saying that?

 

[Mullers]

I really think this is a game that England could have...should have won. Some silly penalties were given away, the last penalty they scored was the killer blow. Victor Matfield was brilliant for them, won every ball in the lineout. I really like the way the players conducted themselves, they didn't complain about the referee's decisions they just accepted they lost fair and square.

 

[llamafarmer]

clear try unless you're one of the officials in charge tonight...they might as well have worn springbok jerseys...funny thing is I know we're not the best side in the world, nowhere close, just would be nice not to have felt we were playing against the officials as well...I still think NZ are the best side in the world, but they missed out to an official as well...as for sa, they showed good defence tonight, nothing else...if we win dull, what does that make them tonight...I personally think they will be regarded as the worst world champs ever...had a very cushy route to the final and beat us in the final and we are more spirit than talent.

NZ didn't go out because of some officials, they just weren't good enough. They spent about the last 10 minutes camped in the French 22 failing to do anything with their territory. It was screaming out for a drop goal winner and they never even tried it. I know Carter was off the pitch, but it's a poor excuse if you can't fins one other back to step up and have a pop.

England did us proud on Saturday and it was great to see the lads respond so well to defeat. The Saffers were the best team in the tournament and deserved to win it. Their line out was absolutely phenomenal!

 

[paulspursman]

we can debate the what if's for ever

all i wanna say is im proud to be english again and its all down to the rugby boys