The Final: France vs NZ

[Hurricane]

France must be immortalized in NZ folklore and hopefully French folklore for their efforts last night. They way they stood up the haka told everyone that it was going to be a game for the ages.

I can't find a good youtube clip of it - this is the best I can find
Rugby world cup final haka all blacks - YouTube

I don't care about France losing to Tonga and NZ in the pool play. As far as I am concerned those 15 men are one of the stronger French teams I have seen. The number 13 in particular is a warrior. Yes they only played one half against England but if they had've tried in the 2nd they could have won by more.

Going into the game I knew that France had 14 good players - the only player I was shy of was their number 10 - and when he went off the field I thought here we go.

I am not sorry we won - I wanted it badly. But I am sorry for France. I do hope they can win the cup one day having been to the final three times now.

I don't think Weepu will be given the goal kicking duties again in a long time. Whether he was injured or not in the warm up as some have suggested we will not know. But certainly he did choke if choking exists. I thought Cruden looked dynamite while he was on the field.

If they made a movie out of 1995 in SA - then they will make a movie out of this - and part of it surely must centre on Stephen Donald. Surely he considered his AB days behind him. And i think even after this cameo they still could be. From Goat to hero. Surely he must have had his self belief tested. And his kick only just sneaked inside the right hand upright.

Why France replaced Yachvilli with a debutant with 4 minutes to go - we will never know their coach seems foolish - replays showed his replacement knocked it on at the base of the ruck and France never touched the ball again.

What a world cup it has been - outstanding games. And drama. And unforgettable memories of teams and players playing above the level that their talent should have allowed for. Playing on raw adrenaline and emotion.

[Somerset]

Sensational street parade for the ABs in Auckland this afternoon, not sure what the crowd estimate'll be but theres an absolute mass of people - looks brilliant.

[Quaggas]

(Utah) Police use pepper spray to stop haka dance at high school game

Clampdown on gang activity, imo

[Zinzan]

As I said earlier, I'm wrapped that we won, but I'm happy to concede we were damn lucky & that we got the rub of the green when it came to refereeing decisions. That said, it's not ab-normal for the ref to slightly favor the home side on an emotional occasion with the home fans so on-edge, Joubert is only human after all.

Part of me really feels France deserved to win on the day, but the other part says we were the best team in the whole WC, so maybe it's a case of just deserts

Also, so much for Weepu being 'so cool' under pressure and loving pressure situations, the fact remains he totally lost it in the pressure cooker that was the grand final I was so happy when Ellis finally came on. Incidentally, Reid was my MOTM for the AB's.

[ohtani's jacket]

The All Blacks played pretty poorly, I thought. It was the first game where we really looked like we missed Dan Carter. I suppose the idea that we’d glide through this World Cup was too good to be true and the one tough game that everyone plays came in the final, but I’m still a bit shell-shocked to be honest as we so very nearly blew that.

Henry's substitutions won us the game. Gutsy stuff, imo. France were excellent defensively, but too limited to capitalise on their territory and possession. Can't say I have much sympathy for the better side losing due to non-calls in a game against France.

[Quaggas]

I don't get all this navel gazing tbh. The AB deserved to win and the right team did win, end of.

[Athlai]

France only managed 6.35 minutes in the NZ 22.

They managed more in their defensive victory over Wales. New Zealand just didn't let them anywhere near the try line for the majority of the game. Our defense was just far too good, we just didn't put them in a position where they could kick at all really. The whole game seemed to be played out on the 40 metre line.

[wellAlbidarned]

All there is to say: Gotcha, at last.

Disagree with those saying France had a better game - they held possession well but couldn't hold the ball near the 22 for amount of time, was a bit of an illusion tbh. Feel sorry for Weepu, insane amount of expectation for relatively unremarkable player to cope with, at least it didn't cost us.

[Zinzan]

Interesting neutral analysis of Joubert's refereeing...... RWC Final - 23rd Oct 2011 - Refereeing discussion from The Breakdown - YouTube

[centurymaker]

oh well, nothing too unexpected though. refs are always like that- tend to favour home teams/top ranked teams. (sometimes a bit too much)

well he was clearly reluctant to give a penalty in the 75th min when he were infringing quite badly.
Besides that and maybe the high tackle, I'd say he did a reasonable job.

[centurymaker]

i guess these decisions even out the bad calls we got in our defeat against france in 07....

[Somerset]

Originally Posted by zinzan12

Interesting neutral analysis of Joubert's refereeing...... RWC Final - 23rd Oct 2011 - Refereeing discussion from The Breakdown - YouTube

Love the package, its given no context to the match as a whole and seems to only dwell on possible AB penalties. Woodcock's high tackle should've been called but the rest are interpretative at the breakdown, and for the most part I think Joubert generally refereed that well and tried to let the game flow, as has been the pattern for the knockout matches with relatively low penalty counts.

[centurymaker]

so it's just a case of SOUR GRAPES then?

a- they are jealous about the way we play
a- they are jealous about the fact that we are No.1
a- they're jealous that WE ARE THE WORLD CHAMPIONS

The bottom line is they've never been BLOODY NO.1 !!!


Ravi Shastri Responses to Nasser Hussain Donkey comment ~ New Video!! - YouTube

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Originally Posted by Somerset

Love the package, its given no context to the match as a whole and seems to only dwell on possible AB penalties. Woodcock's high tackle should've been called but the rest are interpretative at the breakdown, and for the most part I think Joubert generally refereed that well and tried to let the game flow, as has been the pattern for the knockout matches with relatively low penalty counts.

Agree with this. I thought he delivered consistent adjudication at the breakdown. Though I was shouting at the TV regularly with bodies from both sides obtructing the clear out. Bring back rucking!!

Heard on the radio this morning that there may be some investigation into an alleged eye gouging on Richie McCaw towards the end of the game. Didn't spot it myself, but that's what was said on National Radio NZ.

[Burgey]

France has been fined 10,000 pounds for their response to the haka.

I understand why the authorities are worried something might spill over, but I thought the response was fantastic. I mean, the Haka is like a challenge laid down by one side, and it's a bit ordinary to deny the other side a reasonable response to it. I'm not up on the ettiquette of it all, but I didn't see anything disrespectful in what the French did (perhaps NZ supporters can clarify).

IIRC a few years back one of the teams (it may even have been Australia) copped it for turning their backs on the Haka. I can see how that's disrespctful tbh, but to then deprive the opposition of the chance to meet the challenge of it seems a bit ordinary, provided of course it's not OTT.

And I didn't think France's reaction was at all.