Reply With QuoteWell written, my thoughts exactly, just better expressed.Originally Posted by Zimmer
Nailed it.
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Well written, my thoughts exactly, just better expressed.
So, are we all sitting comfortably for the 3rd and 4th place game tonight.
Who wants who to win??
Jim
1. Yes
2. Don't care.
Forward pass - I know the ball can move forward when passed laterally but that was literally thrown 4 feet forward
I shouted the same at the TV!
It’s a good game though
Really don’t know what TMO do half the time. They reviewed it and said was Ok. Can’t see how they arrive at that decision.
7 mins to go, big scrum about to take place, bruised and bloodied players, the stadium PA is blasting a Spice Girls track.....
Quality! So French!
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Well done England. Back in August I'll have laughed my head off if anyone had suggested Eng would finish third.
Bit of an odd one for Marcus Smith, is he good enough?
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I think that England only finish 3rd thanks to the draw formatting. Play Smith in the right position without Farrell outside him and he’s certainly more than good enough
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Easy to be dismissive and sure, the draw helped, but still had to perform. Fair play for them for doing so.
If it was so simple to get something out of MS, you wonder why SB hasn't figured it out yet.
Reality is, subject injury or dramatic loss of form, Faz is there for another WC cycle at least.
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And therein lies the problem. Farrell. Even if Smith is not the answer, Farrell is the choke that strangles Englands backs. So long as he’s there, England will be perennial under achievers.
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To be fair I think they OVERachieved in this tournament
But fact is, Faz is the one England player that every other team would like to have. Post Courtney Lawes, he is ENG best player by far.
Funny thing rugby
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Last edited by xxnick1975; 28th October 2023 at 01:05.
!00% agree
They surprised me by showing in patches some encouraging signs like the first 15 yesterday. They beat the side that finished fourth twice and very nearly won against the Boks, ultimately denied by the "dark arts" of a scrum that could have been called up. I didn't expect any of that, hard to think of another team in the tournament that over-achieved by more frankly and expect normal order to be resumed in the six nations...
Would they though? I can think of many who might not!
Prior to this tourney: Farrell to replace Sexton, Farrell to replace Russell. He’d be on the bench at best. Kicking from the tee is his saving Grace, sometimes.
This glorification of a liability and non leader that is Farrell with no in game tactical prowess costs England every time a game changes - or swings as the chariot ditty goes. England flow so much better when’s not on the pitch and become a real threat.
Smith is an up coming exciting player who brings players into a game and alive. Every time Farrell makes moves to tackle, his team must cringe.
Jim
Yup, based on their extremely favourable draw, they should have expected a quarter final slot. Getting beyond that was the real shocker.
Jim
And so the final?
Who dya fancy for this one? And suggestions on shoreline??
I fancy All Blacks by a score. No more than that.
Jim
Agreed, he needs to play 10, he had never played full back in a competitive game before this tournament. He is not a 15
I hope SA win for the sole reason of how annoyed New Zealanders will be to have fewer World Cups than SA. I once visited NZ when the ABs were having a terrible run of form, and the national anguish was very entertaining.
ENG only finished third due to ARG blowing it.
Montoya should have ensured that they kicked those early penalties. They conceded a try, immediately after scoring, to a chargedown. They missed a three-pointer late on. It was like the ARG of a decade ago.
______
Jim.
I tend to enjoy the suffering of Boks more than kiwis. Hoping all blacks stick it to them big time. Got very bitter memories of a Lions trip to South Africa. Their fans were bloody awful and it just felt extremely unsafe frankly. Hated them since. Prediction NZ by 12
Pardon? Mo’Unga, Barrett, Jalibert, Ntamack, Pollard, Sexton, Russell, even Biggar. Farrell doesn’t get past any of those.
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Last edited by lughugger; 28th October 2023 at 10:53.
Agreed
You cant what-if your way retrospectively through a knockout tournament.
England would have been playing tonight if Fazza could keep his gob shut. OK they would have been pulped, but.....
You made the point much better than me.
Other countries see him for what he is!
Like Hogg with Scotland, giving him the captaincy was a step too far. Why he was ever put under that pressure by Jones I’ll never work out. It destroyed a good player.
Jim
And they were gifted 7 points by a dreadful TMO decision so in the world of if, but's and maybe's they could have lost by 10 which would have taken 4 more penalties to over-turn
My original post was maybe a bit ambiguous and has been misinterpreted. I wasn't saying Farrell would be a starting 10 for others.
I was being quite literal - that I genuinely think most countries, if they had to take one player from the England squad and add it to their group, Faz would be one the first names in the hat.
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Well that’s a damming indictment of the state of the English rugby team if ever I heard one and even then I would suggest only SA would put him near the top of their list.
(You can probably tell that I’m not his biggest fan!)
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Let’s go NZ
Ooft this isn’t for the faint hearted!
Got to be a red for Sam Cane surely? No different to Tom Curry.
Game over
Etzebeth knew exactly what he was doing there. Yellow for me
England could genuinely have won it all if we'd got through last week!
I seem to recall the ABs decided to play with 14 for the last 10 mins of the SF vs ARG - maybe a good call to prepare!
Ah, Mr. Mbonambi, I see you've met our friend Karma. Amusing little fellow isn't he? Still, chin up, eh?
Edit. What a knock on. important kick coming
Last edited by RustyBin5; 28th October 2023 at 21:32.
The game is so dull they decided to have a breakout game of sevens
Hard to believe NZ have been down to 14 for so long. Doesn’t look like it
Not a boring game at all, and congrats SA!
Well let's just say Wayne Barnes won't be getting any Xmas cards from All Black fans this year.
Not the geratest final ever, but I don't think you could argue with the result.
Could have gone either way tbh; the red card probably swung it.
Only another four years to go before the gallant English team can surprise us all again. I hope I am still here to see it.
SA win their three knockout ties 57-54
Remarkable the margin that SA won their last 3 games by, but also a measure of the team I guess.
So the Boks win off a penalty that Barnes apologised for awarding and admitted was a wrong call!??!
Etzebeth also smashed an AB in the face with an elbow.
Abject refereeing performance.
Congrats to the Boks though, superb defence and line speed, plus they played without a hooker for virtually the entire match
Barnes was always going to have more than a simple refs role. Loves the limelight.
Well done both teams for making a reasonable game of it. Congrats to RSA! Champions once again.
Roll on 6N 2024
Jim
Right result and as well refereed as any match in this tournament.
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