The Final: France vs NZ

[Athlai]

I loved their response to the haka. The IRB ruling about being behind the 10 metre lines is a joke, IMO they should let the teams do what they want with regards the pre-match challenges (well besides a stand-off a la Wales vs NZ about five or so years ago)

It was brilliant. Really set the tone for the intensity of the match.

 

[Somerset]

Out of interest, what would people pick as the best game of the tournament?

I'd probably rate Wales vs SA as the best, and although there was a lot of debate regarding the officialdom in Australia vs SA, I thoroughly enjoyed that too. Also really enjoyed one of the matches I attended, France vs Japan, and thought for a match involving a minnow it was well above expectation as far as entertainment went.

 

[Athlai]

All 3 of the Eng-Scot-Arg games were brilliant.

 

[Zinzan]

NZ are a bunch of homers then. We will wait for another 24 years for another victory for them when they host it again.

Seriously though, they need to win it away from home soil now to earn the full respect worldwide like the Aussies, SA and England have done.

Lol, I expected this line of argument, but not immediately in the aftermath. Of course the problem you have is apparently it's not easy to win at home. Only NZ & SA have managed to ever win as host countries, so based on that fact one could argue there's more pressure & expectation at home.

 

[Somerset]

No way IMO. They never looked like scoring besides for Weepu's stupid mistake. They never got any decent kickable penalties and Weepu missed a handful of kicks. The All Blacks played better, looked better on offense and were better on defense. The last 20 minutes were just us backing we could hold out a 1 point margin and not going for any offensive rugby. It was a risky strategy but it paid off, France couldn't even get over the halfway.

I actually agree with James. I think we were the better side in the first half, scored a try and should've scored a few penalties to take a 10 point lead or so. France for me easily had the better of the second half though; I can barely remember us venturing into their 22, and they had the better of territory and possession. Sure their try resulted from Nonu/Weepu's errors but you could argue a French defensive blunder lead to Woodcock's try too.

 

[KiWiNiNjA]

Haha, flibberty and Scaly.

NZ obviously missed a trick at the toss, chosing to play at home and all.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

All 3 of the Eng-Scot-Arg games were brilliant.

Yeah, weren't the best in terms of quality but all 3 games seesawed and were so tight. A bit like England in the cricket world cup, their mediocrity was part of the whole competition with the drama they produced.

 

[Athlai]

I actually agree with James. I think we were the better side in the first half, scored a try and should've scored a few penalties to take a 10 point lead or so. France for me easily had the better of the second half though; I can barely remember us venturing into their 22, and they had the better of territory and possession. Sure their try resulted from Nonu/Weepu's errors but you could argue a French defensive blunder lead to Woodcock's try too.

The French not really threatening all that much despite holding so much possession meant that they didn't play the better game though IMO.

 

[Somerset]

The French not really threatening all that much despite holding so much possession meant that they didn't play the better game though IMO.

Possibly, but they did miss two second half penalties - one of which I initially thought Yachvili kicked - and in my mind were tactically better in the second half; fortunately we had a large enough lead and our defence was disciplined enough, and we were then able to kill the game Southland style in the final five minutes.

 

[centurymaker]

WE ARE THE WORLD CHAMPIONS.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh



What a finish it was !!!

 

[Burgey]

Yeah but to be fair we aren't a rugby nation and we have only ever had 1 good team and they won it.

Point i was making is that winning it away from home has more kudos and earns more respect than at home. Like the way Brazil were revered in football for winning it away from South America and being only side to win football WC away from own continent for so long etc...

When it comes to it in about 20 years time this NZ side won't be ranked as good as say the England side of 03 or SA of 07 and most of that will be because they won it away. It would actually be a good discussion as to which world cup winners were the best team of all time.

Point I'm making mate is we aren't a rugby nation either, it's our third code here, arguably fourth (but I think third). And we've won it twice. But tbf, NZ is a better rugby nation than we are by a million miles. Not because it's their number one side, but because of the type of people who play it and administer it at the elite level there compared with here.

The England team that won in 03 wasn't a great team ffs. They set rugby back 20 years with the boring style of play and had that over rated nuffy at five eigth who was nothing but a penalty kicker. He's the worst number 10 to have won the WC, and by some margin

Edit: and I should add because of the way NZ play .

 

[BoyBrumby]

Out of interest, what would people pick as the best game of the tournament?

I'd say Argentina v Scotland. Proper arm wrestle and won by a moment of genuine brilliance.

The England team that won in 03 wasn't a great team ffs. They set rugby back 20 years with the boring style of play and had that over rated nuffy at five eigth who was nothing but a penalty kicker. He's the worst number 10 to have won the WC, and by some margin.

Nah, we were. We peaked just before the world cup when we won in Oz & NZ and were running on fumes for most of the tournament, but to say we weren't a great side is to sell us short. We had an awesome pack and in Dawson, Greenwood & Robinson some genuinely attacking options behind it.

Do agree Wilkinson's overrated (he needs someone to tell him what to do; always responded more to the gobby Dawson than the more reserved Bracken and struggles without a kicking 2nd 5/8 outside him), but he's a much better player than Butch ****ing James.

 

[Burgey]

Haha yes. Forgot about Butch tbf (perhaps understandably!)

 

[_Ed_]

Significant heart palpitations in the last 10 minutes.

But what a moment when the final whistle blew - a privilege to be there.

And such a thrilling game. Full credit to the French - best I've seen them play in years.

 

[Mike5181]

That Thierry Dusautoir is one badass dude.

 

[Smudge]

NZ looking rather lethargic here, referee still not giving anything against them mind.

Oh well. The home team factor was the difference. The team bottled it like they've done for the past 20odd years. But the referee didn't want to call high tackles or a number of other things against New Zealand, the referee bottled it as much as New Zealand did. France are crap but they performed as well as they could. The best team in the tournament did win, but they didn't deserve to.

Haha, **** me dead. If it was destined, once the game was close, that any **** - any ****ing **** - would pop his head up, throwing his negative ****ing **** all over this place, it'd be you. You're pathetic. No, scratch that - you're less than pathetic. You hate your own team, you hate all other teams. In fact, why the **** do you watch rugby union, let alone any other sport for that matter. You smear hatred all over any competitive situation you have the displeasure of coming across.

You know nothing about rugby union at all. Nothing. You are Nigel Richards' bitch at Scrabble too, which must tear you up inside like a triple letter score when someone drops an X on that tile. Throw me a ban, mods, I don't care, but if you can't see what a cancer this man is on the forum, then I'll take the hit instead.

That was an average NZ performance, desperately average in fact. But credit must go to firstly, France, for throwing all amounts of attacking pressure on us (without being outstandingly creative) and to our defence for holding it out (except for that one try). I've been a Joubert fan for years, but I'd argue he did as good a job for both sides as you'd see. I had a whinge about one ruck penalty, but that was it, and that's a good level for any ref (and I pre-empted several penalties against NZ which we both seemed to see).

 

[atisha_ro]

France was scared to go for the win. They picked up a line from the Romanian playbook when they chose to kick at goal after a penalty inside the 22 and near the touchline. It was obvious it will be a tough kick and it was missed.

Evem that Trinh-Duc kick would have been better played in touch, because the French were superior in lineouts. They didn't dare to take a gamble and deservingly lost.

NZ was very beatable today and Weepu had a bad game all around (except some tactical kicks). No dare, no win.

Great game though, very tense and close, and the haka moment was brilliant.

 

[social]

No way IMO. They never looked like scoring besides for Weepu's stupid mistake. They never got any decent kickable penalties and Weepu missed a handful of kicks. The All Blacks played better, looked better on offense and were better on defense. The last 20 minutes were just us backing we could hold out a 1 point margin and not going for any offensive rugby. It was a risky strategy but it paid off, France couldn't even get over the halfway.

France were the better side for the majority of the match and it was only great defense and a ref who was incredibly lenient at the break-down that held them off

As for NZ "just us backing we could hold out a 1 point margin and not going for any offensive rugby" - mate, they were ****ting themselves, totally lost their shape and couldnt think to do anything else other than kick and hope

That being said, it would've been an incredible injustice to see the French win the WC as they only put together about 100 minutes of decent rugby in the whole tournament

Congrats to NZ - clearly the best team throughout the tourney and the country really deserves/needs it

 

[Quaggas]

Congratulations to all NZ fans on CW. Was close, as one might expect.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Haha, **** me dead. If it was destined, once the game was close, that any **** - any ****ing **** - would pop his head up, throwing his negative ****ing **** all over this place, it'd be you. You're pathetic. No, scratch that - you're less than pathetic. You hate your own team, you hate all other teams. In fact, why the **** do you watch rugby union, let alone any other sport for that matter. You smear hatred all over any competitive situation you have the displeasure of coming across.

You know nothing about rugby union at all. Nothing. You are Nigel Richards' bitch at Scrabble too, which must tear you up inside like a triple letter score when someone drops an X on that tile. Throw me a ban, mods, I don't care, but if you can't see what a cancer this man is on the forum, then I'll take the hit instead.

That was an average NZ performance, desperately average in fact. But credit must go to firstly, France, for throwing all amounts of attacking pressure on us (without being outstandingly creative) and to our defence for holding it out (except for that one try). I've been a Joubert fan for years, but I'd argue he did as good a job for both sides as you'd see. I had a whinge about one ruck penalty, but that was it, and that's a good level for any ref (and I pre-empted several penalties against NZ which we both seemed to see).

Grow a pair.

Actually I have a winning record v Nigel Richards, I admire the guy because he's clearly a class above everyone else and deserves to win. If he had done a NZ and played like a total numpty in the World Championships final and still won then I'd have said he didn't deserve to win - even though he's the best player there. Feel free to whine like a baby about it. I couldn't care less who or what the person or team represents, I'll call it how I see it - it's not personal.

NZ were crap in that final and without some non-calls from the referee would have found themselves in their own 22 far more often in that match and they wouldn't have got that penalty they kicked to go 8-0 up (immedately after a blatant high tackle). Who knows whether a even-handed referee would have meant a France win or not, but they would have made it far harder for NZ that's for sure - defending in your own 22 not around the half-way line. Penalties are huge in rugby union - as highlighted by England having sweet FA chance of winning this tournament and losing the 2007 final. You get referees and umpires in all sports who make home calls, Joubert was one of them, that's sport. Pretending otherwise is ridiculous, I'd suggest if you're that bothered after you've just won your first rugby union World Cup for 24 years then you obviously recognise there's some truth to it.