2011 Rugby World Cup

[AGPi]

All Blacks were worthy winners. Still not sure about Cooper.

 

[lasbar]



All Blacks were worthy winners. Still not sure about Cooper.

When he is good he is good but when he is bad...

 

[lasbar]



I think this Guardian article says it all, so much promise and no delivery. To use a sexual analogy it was like catching the train to Flinders Street Station and getting off at Princes Bridge,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/oct/15/wales-france-rugby-world-cup
I dont think France will have any kind of chance next week, they played their final against England last week.

I don't think we stand a chance but we will give them a game because we have nothing to lose...

It is not like in 1987 or 1999 when we did have a chance to win...

We have absolutely nothing to lose...

 

[hendrix]



Great game by Wales and the referee decision was wrong..
It was a dangerous tackle and a yellow card without any discussion...
Wales has a great team full of youth and bravery...
They werethe better team today but France was better than South Africa in 95 and England in 2007 and we did lose..
For the match itself , France did not play well and playing against 14 men stop them playing expensive rugby...
They were playing territory ..
BTW , on the last kick missed by the Welsh , there was never a penalty ..
Charteris was on the floor handling the ball ...
To the anti-French brigade , I'm sad we played that way but I'm happy you 're swallowing your hatred bile back.

Pretty much sums it up.

The one thing i love about the French teams is their complete honesty. Deusetoir pretty much said "we did not deserve to win this match, but we'll take it".

Thinking it over, some players from the team do deserve to go through. Yachvilli has been excellent. Harinorduquy too.

Also, Wales had their chances and they blew them. Just as South Africa did. You don't want to see a team knocked out on mistakes, but that's the reality of playoffs - brilliant play doesn't get you anything if you can't finish. France's mistakes were less costly. It's a self-belief thing i think.

Blacks played well. Goddam

All Blacks were worthy winners. Still not sure about Cooper.

Cooper was pretty poor.
The one stat that stood out was the kicking. We rarely gave o'connor/cooper/ioane easy ball. The couple of times we did Australia looked really dangerous.

Craig Joubert had a great game. Sonny Bill Williams is an idiot.


Aaron Cruden was fantastic, especially on defense. I guess he knew Aus were gonna run at him all night, but i think he made more tackles than any of the backs.
Israel Dagg has a hell of a punt that really seperated the teams in the second half.
Forwards were excellent.

Kaino so far is player of the tournament. Read and McCaw were also very good.

And yeah, Pocock is really great. Samo is an excellent runner but Pocock needed a bit more support at the breakdown. Sione Lauaki is an analogous player - will make great bursts but at the top level you need a more well-rounded game.

 

[AGPi]

The NZ crowds - and many Kiwis in general - have shown an embarrassing lack of sportsmanship when it comes to the Australian side, in particular Cooper. It's that old small island, little brother mentality: Aussies don't have a chip on their shoulder w/r/t NZ, never will. Also, your women are ugly.

 

[hendrix]



The NZ crowds - and many Kiwis in general - have shown an embarrassing lack of sportsmanship when it comes to the Australian side, in particular Cooper. It's that old small island, little brother mentality: Aussies don't have a chip on their shoulder w/r/t NZ, never will. Also, your women are ugly.

i must admit i find it horribly embarrassing when the crowds boo players, but that's not exactly endemic to NZ. Harbhajan Singh and Kevin Pietersen receive nice welcomes in Australia and South Africa. It's just crowds in general. I hate it though, we're hosts of the world cup, we should be a little more...hospitable.

Also, Cooper is not a very likeable person and his character is questionable. His cheap shots at McCaw were both disgusting and pathetic. In his case it's more of a "how dare you attack our national hero" than "we resent talented Australians". Add the fact that he's a NZer, and you can see why he cops a bit.

the "little brother mentality" is actually not what's going on at all. It's more the fact that we haven't won a world cup in 24 years, and each time we fail to do so we get more and more agitated and nervous. That anxiety was best antagonised by George Gregan's famous "four more years" quote. It's fair to say it doesn't bring out the best in us.

.

 

[Luc-Emmanuel]

I will watch the final on sunday morning. I don't expect france to win on a fair game, so I just hope it will rain!
!luc

 

[lasbar]

I'm a bit partial because in France we do have a deep respect for the south hemisphere and especially the All Blacks..

We do not have a deep rivalry with Austrailia or South Africa but we love beating the All Blacks because they're the best team in the world.

Lievremont did say he would always support the All Blacks against any other teams apart from France...

I do have a deep respect for them too..

I'm a bit saddened by your press and their tabloid tones...

It 's like in England when the football team is playing...

The atmosphere is awful , the articles borderline racist and the climate unbearable is your team plays England..

Insulting a team is at best counter-productive especially when the people supporting that particular country see you as an example...

Just my little word..

 

[hendrix]



I'm a bit partial because in France we do have a deep respect for the south hemisphere and especially the All Blacks..
We do not have a deep rivalry with Austrailia or South Africa but we love beating the All Blacks because they're the best team in the world.
Lievremont did say he would always support the All Blacks against any other teams apart from France...
I do have a deep respect for them too..
I'm a bit saddened by your press and their tabloid tones...
The articles borderline racist and the climate unbearable is your team plays England..
Insulting a team is at best counter-productive especially when the people supporting that particular country see you as an example...
Just my little word..

yup.

It is embarrassing. Our newspapers are terrible. Well, they're all owned by the same company (fairfax), so i guess our newspaper singular. I hate it.

they are actually painful to read:

what is the point in this article?

Unfortunately, the Kiwis can now add the "choker" tag to their artillery of verbal assaults

...why would we do this?

I had hoped that this stuff wouldn't be circulated around the world but it seems it is.

 

[lasbar]



yup.
It is embarrassing. Our newspapers are terrible. Well, they're all owned by the same company (fairfax), so i guess our newspaper singular. I hate it.
they are actually painful to read:
what is the point in this article?
...why would we do this?
I had hoped that this stuff wouldn't be circulated around the world but it seems it is.

Quade Cooper is a very good player...

He just did have a bad night like every player..

Maybe too much pressure...

Rugby is not an exact science and great teams have bad days and mediocre ones great days..

 

[hendrix]

Whether he gets better and more consistent from here is entirely up to him.

We can see how far Cruden has come in one year, and that is due to work ethic and attitude. His defensive game has really tightened up and his passing is becoming very attractive.

If QC wants to get better he needs to recognise his deficiencies and not hide from them. Defense, field kicking, decision making etc are areas he needs to polish up.
Carlos Spencer never addressed his issues and thus was never great, despite loads of talent.

Believe it or not, but even Dan Carter had flaws 8 or so years ago.

 

[lasbar]



Whether he gets better and more consistent from here is entirely up to him.
We can see how far Cruden has come in one year, and that is due to work ethic and attitude. His defensive game has really tightened up and his passing is becoming very attractive.
If QC wants to get better he needs to recognise his deficiencies and not hide from them. Defense, field kicking, decision making etc are areas he needs to polish up.
Carlos Spencer never addressed his issues and thus was never great, despite loads of talent.
Believe it or not, but even Dan Carter had flaws 8 or so years ago.

A great player will work on his weaknesses until they become strengths...

That's the difference between a very good players and a world class player..

 

[Luc-Emmanuel]

As much as I enjoy when France beat them, the english players were the only one left in this world cup with rugby spirit: haskell, tindall, tuilagui...

http://www.rugbydump.com/2011/09/2079/o2-inside-line-episode-15

http://sport.uk.msn.com/blog/james-haskell-blogpost.aspx?post=c8a7216c-92fa-47d5-84b1-8c0245a7773d

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/rugby...t-road-in-the-world-and-more-115875-23424680/

Thank you england!

!luc

 

[lasbar]



As much as I enjoy when France beat them, the english players were the only one left in this world cup with rugby spirit: haskell, tindall, tuilagui...
http://www.rugbydump.com/2011/09/2079/o2-inside-line-episode-15
http://sport.uk.msn.com/blog/james-haskell-blogpost.aspx?post=c8a7216c-92fa-47d5-84b1-8c0245a7773d
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/rugby...t-road-in-the-world-and-more-115875-23424680/
Thank you england!
!luc

The amateur years are far behind now...

They're all athletes...

I remember an Aussie telling he was out with Serge Blanco who was smoking like a chimney and drinking and he couldn't believe his eyes when he scored a 60 metres try the following day..

 

[meister]



All Blacks were worthy winners. Still not sure about Cooper.

Trouble for him is that his performance will hurt his player value when he switches to Rugby League.