swee'pea99
Legendary Member
Absolutely. Fantastic contest. Very unhappy with that (my dad was a kiwi, so....) But that's what I call a World Cup final. All credit to the Saffers - they were immense. Oh for that last missed penalty. 😢
Rugby World Cup 2023
- Thread starter AndyRM
- Start date
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Absolutely. Fantastic contest. Very unhappy with that (my dad was a kiwi, so....) But that's what I call a World Cup final. All credit to the Saffers - they were immense. Oh for that last missed penalty. 😢
Beebo
Firm and Fruity
- Location
- Hexleybeef
To beat France, England and NZ by one point in three consecutive weekends just shows the fine margins. And each game could have gone the other way.
Ireland just squeezed past them in the group stages but the games have all been so close.
Ireland just squeezed past them in the group stages but the games have all been so close.
OP
OP
AndyRM
XOXO
- Location
- North Shields
Great final. The second half was something else.
newts
Veteran
- Location
- Isca Dumnoniorum
England losing by 1 point to SA 'fans needs to lie down' if they were happy with that performance, yet NZ losing by 1 point to SA to 1 point was a 'great game' 🙄
figbat
Slippery scientist
- Location
- South Oxfordshire, UK
I must have watched a different game. I found it a bit disjointed, error-strewn and few opportunities for tries, with the TMO playing far too much and overturning an on-field decision to cancel a try. How far back can a TMO go?!
It came alive in the last quarter as NZ became determined to score but overall I found it nowhere near some of the previous games.
It came alive in the last quarter as NZ became determined to score but overall I found it nowhere near some of the previous games.
Joey Shabadoo
My pronouns are "He", "Him" and "buggerlugs"
I think only one side tried to play rugby.
DogmaStu
Senior Member
Well to sum up this morning: I enjoyed the match, it may not have been an example of great free-flowing end-to-end Try-fest skills but the weather wasn’t helping in that regard and slippery ball does tend to dictate arm-wrestles more often than not, especially involving a team/s not used to playing in wet conditions often.
The intensity and passion was there. The nail-biting last 10min was excruciating. Both sides put their bodies on the line and gave 100% commitment. A credit to their Nations.
The Ref and the TMO made the right calls on balance, neither side can have any great beef with them. For all NZ talk about being reduced to 14, SA played much of the game with 14 too.
The Boks have proven their World Champion and No.1 ranking status and deservedly so. They had a tough route to the Final and found the way to win against the top sides in the World. They didn’t have an ‘easy’ Semi-Final, they never had a comfortable Quarter-Final and they endured a tough Pool stage. Arguably a greater effort than any of their previous WC triumphs.
You play to the conditions and the style of the team you face - whatever works to be leading after 80min. That's rugby!
I had a live Facetime link with my family and friends back in Durban as we watched the Final together - a great evening!
The intensity and passion was there. The nail-biting last 10min was excruciating. Both sides put their bodies on the line and gave 100% commitment. A credit to their Nations.
The Ref and the TMO made the right calls on balance, neither side can have any great beef with them. For all NZ talk about being reduced to 14, SA played much of the game with 14 too.
The Boks have proven their World Champion and No.1 ranking status and deservedly so. They had a tough route to the Final and found the way to win against the top sides in the World. They didn’t have an ‘easy’ Semi-Final, they never had a comfortable Quarter-Final and they endured a tough Pool stage. Arguably a greater effort than any of their previous WC triumphs.
You play to the conditions and the style of the team you face - whatever works to be leading after 80min. That's rugby!
I had a live Facetime link with my family and friends back in Durban as we watched the Final together - a great evening!
OP
OP
AndyRM
XOXO
- Location
- North Shields
I meant on their overall performance.
Watching it back, it wasn't actually all that great. Guess I got a bit caught up in the moment.
newts
Veteran
- Location
- Isca Dumnoniorum
I thought both games had plenty of merit. When so much is at stake in the knockout stages with evenly matched teams, the scores are rarely high. SA ground out 3 results with minor points margin, their opponents in each game played their part in what were tense last 15 minutes.
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AndyRM
XOXO
- Location
- North Shields
For as long as I can remember it's what South Africa have always done, and to a lesser extent England. It's an approach I find frustrating because they've both had classy, quick players who can run with the ball but often stick to grinding their opponents down. Hell, if it works for them, who am I to judge?
Time Waster
Veteran
Win or look good losing? Is that the choice?
So England lost out by the same margin to the same team as the ABs. Do you think that the England performance was the lesser when they lost by one point but overall higher number of points than ABs? I think it possibly was but in time the results show one point between SA and the teams they beat I'm the SF and finals.
So England lost out by the same margin to the same team as the ABs. Do you think that the England performance was the lesser when they lost by one point but overall higher number of points than ABs? I think it possibly was but in time the results show one point between SA and the teams they beat I'm the SF and finals.
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
At the risk of talking absolute bollocks I think SA have a ton more mental resilience than anyone else. I ended up rooting for SA yesterday because they seemed so damned determined. Plus I'm a Faf de Klerk fan. He's the most annoying SH around at the moment, and seeing that being annoying is 95% of a SH's job that's good going.
Time Waster
Veteran
FdK is annoying. I like to watch him in the hope someone will flatten him, but he is a good player.
OP
OP
AndyRM
XOXO
- Location
- North Shields
The way he interferes at the scrums makes me want to string him up by his hair.
DogmaStu
Senior Member
That's his role to be fair. My girlfriend knows very little about rugby, this WC being her intro to it and she loves watching him because, in her words "the Hair is such a little s**t picking on those big blokes!"
