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Just caught up on the aus-eng game. Australia played a hell of a second half but they were damn lucky to get out of the first half ahead. As good as those tries were to watch the England squad just looked better for the first 60 minutes but couldn't finish it off. Australia put on a great finish to the game though. Feel bad for England. This was a good squad who in any other pool would have finished top.
No way. England only started to look good once Ford came on but by then they were well behind and then Farrell and Burgess threw away any chance of a come back with some really dumb play. Australia fell off quite a few tackles in the first half (something I'd put down to rust) and their lineout is pretty rubbish these days but they were dominating the breakdown and scrums and demonstrated a lot of patience and skill on attack. Foley controlled the game perfectly and Pocock was immense, I have no idea how Launchbury of all players got MotM ahead of either of them. Oh wait, I do, the commentators who voted for him were morons.
Commiserations, English fans. I know it's gutting to be out so early and the British media will be getting their claws out but if I were an English supporter, I'd want to keep Lancaster around. Sure he made some big mistakes, especially with his backline selections over the last two games, but England have still seen huge improvements under his watch. Though as a NZ supporter, I'd like you to get rid of him and hire Martin Johnson again or something.
For Welsh and Aussie fans, congrats on making it through the hardest pool in RWC history. Even Fiji were pretty good, probably the strongest Fijian team I've seen for a long time and they could only manage fourth. I can't see Aus vs Wales being close, not with the injuries Wales have suffered and their terrible record against Australia, but who knows, far weirder things have happened at this World Cup.
One more week of pool play and then every game is a potential final game. I'm both looking forward to it and not.
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Ireland face their first decent opposition this tournament and put in a... Passable performance.
I hope they were under order not to go all out because we have France in a week, because otherwise this is worrying.
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Made massive ground down the short side which wiill have other potential All Blakc opponents interested. Should have got a Penalty Try at the end there but Lacey shat out as they say.
Wouldn't be a world cup without a controversial nz victory off of some pretty questionable referring.
Lacey absolutely crumbled in the face of the ABs.
Yeah that Ben Smith "tip" tackle penalty should've been a yellow card, right? Come off it, you're more one eyed than me and your team wasn't even playing. Lacey was shit for both teams. He had no clue at the scrum, penalising us a few times when it was the Tongan tighthead who was infringing. The shit turf were probably the biggest factor in the scrims though, as the players clearly had difficulty getting good footings. By the time Scotland and Samoa play on it, the pitch will probably be a mud pit. The Tongan maul that resulted in Read's yellow card probably should've resulted in a penalty try to Tonga but that's about the extent to any "favouring" by the ref (and if we're talking about what should've happened then Tonga shouldn't have had the lineout in the first place, because the tip tackle penalty was an absolute joke).
Anyway, we're still a bit rusty, as the players get used to the new systems introduced recently, but that was a big improvement over last week. Dan Carter looked like he was back to his 2005 best, controlling the backline flawlessly, kicking well and mostly importantly, running well. Sam Cane, Ben Smith and Nehe Milner-Skudder were class too. Woodcock's still too old, Crockett needs to start ahead of him but I think I say that every week and little seems to change. Kaino was a bit anonymous and Read was rubbish (solely responsible for most of the handling errors), hopefully both players step it up in the next two games. Pretty disappointing Messam wasn't given a chance to show he's better than Kaino though. The bench was awesome again, seems like that'll be one of our major weapons heading into the knockouts.
You know, I don't watch heaps of rugby. But I have watched a fair few of the world cup games this year and in previous years. Nevertheless, I don't think I'll ever understand the various rules and penalties involved in scrummaging.
I don't know where he got the scorpions, or how he got them into my mattress.
Well despite the half time score, I think France looks a little better here. But Ireland are taking chances, one of them coming off could see them with a try.
I don't know where he got the scorpions, or how he got them into my mattress.
That is at once reassuring, but also mystifying in that this edifice around which the game of rugby is built is this thing so few understand.
The three key points are players must remain on their feet, players must push straight forward, players must stay bound.
Yet there are a ton of different things props do to cheat in there. The most common is "boring in", where the loosehead (number 1) pushes into the scrum, putting a ton of pressure on the tighthead (number 3) and basically forcing the scrum to collapse. Here's a link to a good picture of England's Marler doing exactly that against Wales (with Robshaw illegally helping him out, he has to be bound to the second row, not the front row): http://i.imgur.com/7UUnBIq.jpg
The tighthead can also fold inwards though, taking the loosehead with him and making it look like they're boring in at first glance, even when they aren't. Australia did this a few times against England, both to further expose Marler's boring in and to milk some penalties.
The great (and horrible, I guess, depending on the person) thing about rugby is that its rules have changed and evolved ever since it was created. Things like the scrum and lineout started out as fairly simple things but they've gotten more and more complex over time. Getting rid of the hit was definitely a positive though, so things are better now than they were even 4 years ago.
Maybe it's because we finally got the monkey off our back in 2011 but I'm not really that worried. I'm not writing France off or being cocky, I just have faith in this team. Everyone keeps bringing up 1999, 2007 and even 2011 but it's 2015. Over the last few years this ABs team have proven numerous times that even if they play poorly, they can still snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. They're experienced, know how to win and are ice cold under pressure. As talented and as good as our depth was in 2007, we didn't have any of those things back then. Our two first fives got injured, the French came back, we didn't have a plan B and we didn't have the leadership needed to stop the panic. I'm sure this weekend will be a tough game and France will play a hell of a lot better than they did this morning but provided the forwards front up, I think the ABs will absorb that pressure and strike back.
Anyway, congrats Ireland and Irish fans. Argentina are my second team and Ireland are my third, so I hope whoever wins that quarter manages to expose Australia. Sucks that you'll be missing O'Connell, Sexton, O'Mahony and (almost certainly) O'Brien though.
Congrats to Scottish fans as well, even though I'm disappointed Japan didn't make it. Not because I don't like Scotland but because I don't really think either team stood a chance against Australia, so it would've been cool to at least see Japan make a quarters for the first time.
The first quarter final is all over, SA win 23-19. Great game, even though there were way too many penalties and kicking. I thought Wales could feel a bit hard done by because Barnes reffing of the breakdown was atrocious. Both teams were guilty of infringements but SA were flopping over the ruck and pretending that they were still on their feet all game, yet they were never penalised for it.
Regardless, congrats SA fans and condolences Welsh fans. SA haven't been having a good year at all but they toughed it out till the very end, while Wales came back from injury crisis after injury crisis all tournament and still went down a quality team.
What the fuck is up with Gats' love for Cuthbert though? Dude is rubbish, they may as well've just played with 14 men, at least then they'd always have to make the tackles on his wing.
Awesome first half, all the new plays worked on during the pool stages are coming together perfectly with DC and Savea finding form. Just need to make sure we don't get too ahead of ourselves like in 99.
Awesome first half, all the new plays worked on during the pool stages are coming together perfectly with DC and Savea finding form. Just need to make sure we don't get too ahead of ourselves like in 99.
If you lose this now I will never be able to take NZ seriously as a country ever again.
Awesome first half, all the new plays worked on during the pool stages are coming together perfectly with DC and Savea finding form. Just need to make sure we don't get too ahead of ourselves like in 99.
If you lose this now I will never be able to take NZ seriously as a country ever again.
Eh, we've seen crazier results at this RWC. Japan just bloody beat South Africa a few weeks ago.
That said, it is pretty unlikely. Unlike 99, we have a hugely experienced team, a good captain and a settled backline (not just shifting players around just so we can fit all our stars in it).
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Commiserations, English fans. I know it's gutting to be out so early and the British media will be getting their claws out but if I were an English supporter, I'd want to keep Lancaster around. Sure he made some big mistakes, especially with his backline selections over the last two games, but England have still seen huge improvements under his watch. Though as a NZ supporter, I'd like you to get rid of him and hire Martin Johnson again or something.
For Welsh and Aussie fans, congrats on making it through the hardest pool in RWC history. Even Fiji were pretty good, probably the strongest Fijian team I've seen for a long time and they could only manage fourth. I can't see Aus vs Wales being close, not with the injuries Wales have suffered and their terrible record against Australia, but who knows, far weirder things have happened at this World Cup.
One more week of pool play and then every game is a potential final game. I'm both looking forward to it and not.
I hope they were under order not to go all out because we have France in a week, because otherwise this is worrying.
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Made massive ground down the short side which wiill have other potential All Blakc opponents interested. Should have got a Penalty Try at the end there but Lacey shat out as they say.
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I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
Lacey absolutely crumbled in the face of the ABs.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
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Yeah that Ben Smith "tip" tackle penalty should've been a yellow card, right? Come off it, you're more one eyed than me and your team wasn't even playing. Lacey was shit for both teams. He had no clue at the scrum, penalising us a few times when it was the Tongan tighthead who was infringing. The shit turf were probably the biggest factor in the scrims though, as the players clearly had difficulty getting good footings. By the time Scotland and Samoa play on it, the pitch will probably be a mud pit. The Tongan maul that resulted in Read's yellow card probably should've resulted in a penalty try to Tonga but that's about the extent to any "favouring" by the ref (and if we're talking about what should've happened then Tonga shouldn't have had the lineout in the first place, because the tip tackle penalty was an absolute joke).
Anyway, we're still a bit rusty, as the players get used to the new systems introduced recently, but that was a big improvement over last week. Dan Carter looked like he was back to his 2005 best, controlling the backline flawlessly, kicking well and mostly importantly, running well. Sam Cane, Ben Smith and Nehe Milner-Skudder were class too. Woodcock's still too old, Crockett needs to start ahead of him but I think I say that every week and little seems to change. Kaino was a bit anonymous and Read was rubbish (solely responsible for most of the handling errors), hopefully both players step it up in the next two games. Pretty disappointing Messam wasn't given a chance to show he's better than Kaino though. The bench was awesome again, seems like that'll be one of our major weapons heading into the knockouts.
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Neither do most refs.
In other news Scotland are hot garbage but still manage to get through to the quarters
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The three key points are players must remain on their feet, players must push straight forward, players must stay bound.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
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http://newnations.bandcamp.com
http://newnations.bandcamp.com
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
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Poor All Blacks.
Sean Lamont's face: still best at being good-looking
fyi hth
ABs have nothing to fear from a below par France side in the quarter finals of the World Cup at the millenium stadium... oh.
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Yet there are a ton of different things props do to cheat in there. The most common is "boring in", where the loosehead (number 1) pushes into the scrum, putting a ton of pressure on the tighthead (number 3) and basically forcing the scrum to collapse. Here's a link to a good picture of England's Marler doing exactly that against Wales (with Robshaw illegally helping him out, he has to be bound to the second row, not the front row):
http://i.imgur.com/7UUnBIq.jpg
The tighthead can also fold inwards though, taking the loosehead with him and making it look like they're boring in at first glance, even when they aren't. Australia did this a few times against England, both to further expose Marler's boring in and to milk some penalties.
The great (and horrible, I guess, depending on the person) thing about rugby is that its rules have changed and evolved ever since it was created. Things like the scrum and lineout started out as fairly simple things but they've gotten more and more complex over time. Getting rid of the hit was definitely a positive though, so things are better now than they were even 4 years ago.
Maybe it's because we finally got the monkey off our back in 2011 but I'm not really that worried. I'm not writing France off or being cocky, I just have faith in this team. Everyone keeps bringing up 1999, 2007 and even 2011 but it's 2015. Over the last few years this ABs team have proven numerous times that even if they play poorly, they can still snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. They're experienced, know how to win and are ice cold under pressure. As talented and as good as our depth was in 2007, we didn't have any of those things back then. Our two first fives got injured, the French came back, we didn't have a plan B and we didn't have the leadership needed to stop the panic. I'm sure this weekend will be a tough game and France will play a hell of a lot better than they did this morning but provided the forwards front up, I think the ABs will absorb that pressure and strike back.
Anyway, congrats Ireland and Irish fans. Argentina are my second team and Ireland are my third, so I hope whoever wins that quarter manages to expose Australia. Sucks that you'll be missing O'Connell, Sexton, O'Mahony and (almost certainly) O'Brien though.
Congrats to Scottish fans as well, even though I'm disappointed Japan didn't make it. Not because I don't like Scotland but because I don't really think either team stood a chance against Australia, so it would've been cool to at least see Japan make a quarters for the first time.
We are due.
Goodbye, NZ!
I've read that the French have given their coaching staff the boot and are doing it for themselves.
NZ by 30
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Regardless, congrats SA fans and condolences Welsh fans. SA haven't been having a good year at all but they toughed it out till the very end, while Wales came back from injury crisis after injury crisis all tournament and still went down a quality team.
What the fuck is up with Gats' love for Cuthbert though? Dude is rubbish, they may as well've just played with 14 men, at least then they'd always have to make the tackles on his wing.
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That sounds like an incredibly French thing to do
Barring Lazarus coming on in the second half this one is over.
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If you lose this now I will never be able to take NZ seriously as a country ever again.
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Eh, we've seen crazier results at this RWC. Japan just bloody beat South Africa a few weeks ago.
That said, it is pretty unlikely. Unlike 99, we have a hugely experienced team, a good captain and a settled backline (not just shifting players around just so we can fit all our stars in it).