Jerry for the love of God just once (only once!) prove you have a sense of humour!

Umaga and Mealamu went unpunished. Mealamu got off so lightly he even escaped any public opprobrium, Umaga copped it all. However their tackle was worse as they never dropped O’Driscoll, they drove him into the turf. Burger shold have also got red in that Lions game in Pretoria, especially seeing as linesman Bryce Lawrence saw what went on and told ref Christoph Berdos but didn’t recommend anything. Spear tackling and eye gouging should be completely eradicated from the game so to all you apologists upstairs, shove it.

Best bit of the game was the crowd singing John Denver en masse. Weird but a nice distraction to an awful game.

This RWC is like that Mel Gibson film ‘Conspiracy Theory’ if The Roar is anything to go by. Subterfuge and intrigue everywhere it seems. The Welsh didn’t turn up to play with their usual mix of smarts and skill. They were tactically dumb all night and couldn’t kick straight. France won by default and looked like they’d rather be anywhere else. It was all quite embarrassing really.

I’m with Johnno here – I think Rolland got the call right. Spear tackles have no place in the game and Clerc landed on the back of his neck and was then instantly forearmed in the face by Warburton from above. Could have ended horribly and that is the point. And what was Warburton thinking? It is such a deliberate act to go beyond 90 degrees it can be nothing but intentional. And from your captain in a RWC Semi??? At best he’s got to realise he’s going for yellow. Gatland defended him after the game in a classic case of none so blind as those who do not wish to see. And to say it ruined the game is bollocks – look at the end of game stats and they look like France were the team playing with 14 not Wales. France gave up any idea of playing the game and Wales were too slow-witted to realise they had to change their points of attack. Instead it was kick, kick, kick.

All this ref-bashing, seriously who else is out there to take charge??

Not broadcasting in HD is disgraceful. Bloody disgraceful.

The only body left on earth that is still comparable to FIFA is the International Whaling Commission (Japan regularly pays off the entire contingent of Caribbean nations to win votes – apprently St Kitts & Nevis’ vote is just as weighty and relevant as, ooh say Australia) – both laughable fronts to appease the dumb syndicated media monster and the suckered in proles who believe it all.

Oh yeah apparently the IOC has now reformed since the Salt Lake expose of 1998. Maybe they’ve just learned to cover their tracks a little better is all. Organisations like these are incapable of reform except from direct pressure from sponsors. Or the Swiss government/people could grow a pair and stop harbouring these bastards from economic/legal/moral reality.

Fussball ist unser leben – it’s easy to influence the poor countries because they are……poor! Not their fault and I’m not advocating a return to colonialism but that’s it in a nutshell.

Blatter and the Manson Family, sorry FIFA family keep throwing cash their way, eg the $1m ‘gift’ to CONCACAF to ‘spend as they see fit’. Warner the hypocrite has built his family empire of businesses in Trinidad & Tobago almost exclusively with FIFA money so he’d want to be careful about throwing stones.

FFA are gutless – as Working Class Rugger said, their supine capitulation to FIFA almost deserves a refund to the Australian taxpayer, not like Lowy can’t afford to shell out a few beans. And as much as I hate Rosco’s term un-Australian this situation is pretty close to a definition of that very thing – his reference about the Falklands (from Grondona again) is spot on – what the **ck is that being discussed for?

I think journalists are also partly responsible for this debacle – ruthless dictators and madmen have come under much greater scrutiny at much greater risk to the journo than this mob of impotent fat cats in Zurich. They have had a free ride and even at Monday’s press conference Blatter should have been properly questioned and harangued.

At least we’ve still got Barcelona. Oh wait their new sponsor is….Qatar.

To be in a position of power at the FIFA table you simply must be outstandingly corrupt. Blatter, Warner, Leoz, Teixeira, bin Hammam, Hayatou, Valcke, etc are all undeniably so. So for the FFA to be in any postiion where they can exert influence or get things moving their way, they must behave similiarly. This will never really happen, not at least to the extent required (although appoiting Hargitay as a consultant was seriously pushing it).

Like it or not the large majority of FIFA nations are underdeveloped/third world countries with a traditional anti-colonial dislike of the old-school established powers, primarily England. They are loving this and Blatter is using them beautifully as he has always done. That chip will remain on their collective shoulders for some years yet. To listen to the assorted delegates rant and rail agains the English FA yesterday was like listening to teenagers with paranoid delusions. The statements most made were appalingly childlike and arrogant in the extreme, the rhetoric of spolied old farts unaware of the the world outside, eg Julio Grondona from Argentina : “It looks like England is always complaining so please I say will you leave the Fifa family alone, and when you speak, speak with truth”. The FIFA family – what meaningless drivel. Also Nicolas Leoz, the Paraguayan member, requested via his aides that the FA Cup be named after him. These are the kind of shameless idiots running the game, yet some think it’s OK to bow down to these people and unquestioningly accept their leadership??

What also disappoints is that our own Les Murray, a member of the FIFA Ethics Committee (a oxymoron if ever there was one) went on George Negus last night and barely registered a whimper when questioned about FIFA. He’s been scathing at times in the past, but last night was distinctly muted.

So yes the FFA shold have at least registered their discontent. Doing the wrong thing won’t get them anywhere, a bit like the nerd at school trying to impress the hot girl by being nice – we all know how that ends. Sometimes doing the right thing will cost you in the short term but it is still worth it.

Let’s face it if FIFA were running a country now instead of a sport they would have called the military in last week. They are a serious bunch of irredeemable, recidivist cronies.

FIFA just make me angry beyond belief. If they were running a country instead of a sport they would have been jailing people and shooting dissidents since year dot. Blatter, Valcke, Teixera, bin Hammam, and particularly Jack Warner are scum of the highest order.

OJ how long has Fruean been around? He was brilliant early on but has faded a little lately, however if he’s only a relative novice at this level (I don’t remeber him from last season) then perhaps we can cut him some slack.

As for last night I thougt Vinnie Munro did a brilliant job reffing, he really had a feel for the pace of the game and let it flow when required, and blew the whistle at the right time. Not sure of his critical call on the Force’s early engagement at the scrum on front of the Crusader’s posts with 10 mins to go. I would suggest it was harsh at best, and was the most important decision of the night. As for the tackled players getting up, I think he got Cummins wrong but correctly let Corey Flynn go.

Overall a great game and a credit to both teams. The Crusaders getting their angry on at ruck time and the Force having the balls to come back with limited resources, particularly behind the scrum (Ripia’s terrible kicking from hand killed them).

As an aside what is it with the Kiwi teams and the pseudo-gang hand signals every time they score a try? Wannabes or am I missing something? And Fotuali’i was a touch arrogant, sauntering around in the dead ball area after the hooter but still in play and still in possession. Sure he would have been upset if he got smashed but he would have deserved it.

Thanks Mike, well put. I wish I was as lucky as you all above who have lived/are living in Japan. I have spent time there and I absolutely love the place and will return again time and time again. They have wonderful resolve and inner strength. We wish you and your friends well.

Do these guys ever stop playing? The ICC must be pretty desperate to keep pushing these kind of tours.

Ben Carter,
I don’t like Murdoch any more than you, and I appreciate the moral dilemma to a degree. But I had exactly the same arguments prior to subscribing as you have right now, and I feel it still represents value for money. All those channels I thought I’d never watch I actually do, more often than I thought.
Speaking of 7 and 9, I note that 7 are broadcasting Friday night football (Cats v Saints) in regular definition whilst on their ‘7mate’ HD channel we have the crowd-pulling ‘Reaper’, whatever the f**k that is. Probably not in HD either. We’ve gone backwards. Even last year’s grand final replay was not broadcast in HD.

Are you serious? Channel 9 have the Rugby World Cup? That will be a disaster. Clueless tryhards pretending they understand the game, then getting annoyed as it’s interrupting the ads. James Brayshaw analysing the All Blacks??? Nightmare looming. Even 10, while not perfect by any means, at least attempt to show some respect to rugby. Anyone but 9.

As for the cricket, I consider the $100 per month I spend on Foxtel as some of the best value for money I spend and while I appreciate it’s not cheap, I utterly detest the way the FTA channels treat sport, it’s transparently obvious they are just riding the back of the cash cow – to point where it’ll be hard to to separate the sport from the ads, like the pigs and humans in Animal Farm 😉

Agree Eric – the Irish performance on Saturday was phenomenal and the most aggressive display in defence and attack I’ve seen outside the ABs recently. However as people have touched on, it was a one-off versus a very old enemy – they were under attack in their own press like never before and also under huge pressure to finish off a poor tournament they could have won had things gone their way and had they lifted their game more often.

I just wonder if they can reproduce that intensity against Australia, or even game after game in the World Cup, it’s a big ask.

And the Force so far are playing with just the kind of controlled ferocity required in the modern game, so there’s plenty of hope for the Wallabies.

Having crossed paths with a number of footballers on nights out in Perth my opinion of them just keeps getting lower and lower. Self-entitled, self aggrandising, socially limited metrosexuals.
And the media give these guys a free ride when things are going well. How many more pointless, scripted, empty-headed press conferences in front of an advertiser’s banner must we endure? No hard questions are ever asked and no intelligent/insightful answers are required. So when the proverbial hits the fan, it’s time to pay up in spades.

The Botha incident was way more reckless and there was absolutely no doubt it was intentonal. Mealamu’s was probably intentional but you couldn’t be 100% sure hence the difference in punishment. The NZRU PR machine went into overdrive citing Mealamu’s Christianity as a defence (amongst many other things), which was ridiculous and irrelevant. Religion is not the barometer of morality. Anyway, bit disappointed with the reduction, but we move on. And yes, Hartley should also have been suspended.

I agree with most of the above – esp Pendlebury getting the Norm Smith, I’m tired of seeing midfielders continue to dominate the BOG awards by dint of their position alone. As Fly on the Wall said, most of his possessions were uncontested (22/29 I think) scooting around the back of a dominant ruckman. O’Brien and Jolly were more pivotal and gave the team a great structure to work up from.

Did anyone else notice that Channel 7 refused to broadcast in HD? Poor effort.

Oh yeah, Lionel Richie’s still got it! That was a surprise!

The Eagles have form when it comes to this kind of thing. It’s a fine balance in a relatively young club – creating and maintaining a loyal and trusting player culture and trading ruthlessly when players have peaked. I think the Eagles have erred on the side of loyalty and caution for too long. Embley hasn’t been productive for 2 or 3 years, Cox and Kerr have waned, for perhaps different reasons, and a great deal of tier 2 players have not taken the next step. Masten was a wasted pick at 4 (could have had Stephen Hill, but wouldn’t we all like a crystal ball?). Imagine how frustrated Josh Kennedy and Mark Le Cras must be.

What they really lack is a captain. Darren Glass is too polite, too nice to be captain, and is another who’s body is failing after years of hard work and honest toil. Beau Waters has the right attitude and mentality but his skills are simply too poor and it is too late for that to change now. Far too many players accept mediocrity and seem lulled into the ‘can’t someone else do it’ mentality. The club is crying out for leadership and direction.

My final point is that very few coaches last beyong 5 or 6 years at one club and maintain a succesful, hungry ethos. Players get tired of the same message and the same ideologies. Worsfold the player is exactly the sort of fellow they need now, just not sure anymore about Worsfold the coach.

To back up Republican I was at the Bledisloe in Tokyo last year, on neutral ground, and there were marginally more Kiwis than Aussies, they front up well. And living in Perth and being a die-hard Force member ther support here is significantly bolstered by expat South Africans and English mainly, followed by Kiwis and then Irish. Not sure they would be viable otherwise.

Sorry for going off topic a little but as someone who’s lived in Oz for close on 10 years I honestly didn’t know about Weary Dunlop, beyond being familiar with his name. Thanks to the contributors above like Rabbitz, I have thankfully rectified this gross oversight. What a person he must have been, it’s hard to fathom the decency and fortitude of the man. Thanks guys.

Matty I think you’re on the money. As a West Coast fan myself I am really struggling to watch season 2010. I could watch 22 losses in a row if they were only trying. But the effort, application, skills, and pride are disgraceful.

As for karma….maybe. I was regularly confronted by fans over the last 5 years who preached the West Coast gospel a little too fervently. If you weren’t 100% in agreement with the ostriches at the club you weren’t a ‘true fan’. The Eagles let themselves down badly and it will take a hell of an effort to win a flag within the next 5 years or even contest. They are by some considerable distance the worst team in the comp.

Cheers Dejan.
It’s just hard to swallow that what Suarez did was ‘right’. I can’t side with that view and I don’t think cheating in football is a fait accompli. The problem is that it is just so endemic that if commentators/journos/pundits were to arc up about every instance they wouldn’t be able to talk about anything else. If FIFA were interested in changing the game for the better it could happen but why should they, their constituency is by and large happy so where is the incentive? In a very loose sort of way we get the government we deserve!
Not sure who to cheer on now in the first semi – the Dutch Divers or the Uruguayan Usurpers. Help?!

Dejan you seem to be happy to play devil’s advocate here although you’re a little too convincing in my book!

The way I see it is : the ball was going in and Ghana would have won. A penatly is not an equivocal exchange, bearing in mind that about 20% of penalties are missed. Ghana were very hard done by although everything was within the rules. I’d advocate a law change to award a goal. To me the Kewell situation is a little trickier as he clearly had no time to move out of the way (super slo-mo makes it look like he could have but no chance). Penalty correct decision there but no red card. However I was in Ireland at the time watching that game and at least half the people at the time thought the ref got it right. Who knows?

There’s a wider point here as well, the ongoing and unashamed cheating going on at all levels. I heard former Uruguayan and Chelsea star Gus Poyet say Suarez didn’t cheat. This is exactly what he did, just like Henry – it was deliberate and to his team’s advantage. Witness Arjen Robben out-Rivaldo-ing (sorry!) Rivaldo with his ridiculous theatrics. Then van Marwijk comes out to defend him as if his honour had been forever tainted by accusations of diving (he’s done that all by himself). The game is sick and it’s concerning so many above are happy to tag along with the moral bankruptcy on show, at all levels. It’s like the Emperor’s new clothes – everything can see the dude is naked, everyone knows he’s naked but we’re all talking about what a fine suit he’s wearing! Otherwise football is awesome (seriously)