There is a Chokers Tag sitting in the storeroom of the NZRFU gathering dust. It’s likely not going to see the light of day for the next 25 years (unless someone wins a back to back World Cup before that).

France can have that if they want….

Quade Cooper.

Always reminded me of Carlos Spencer. Flashes of sheer brilliance coupled with brain dumps.

Thought he would have gone quite well in the NZ comps. If he hadn’t played for Aussie, there wouldn’t have been three amigos (2 amigos doesn’t really work). A sideshow in itself.

Brilliant long passes, clever feet. Bad attitude in his early career, 50/50 passes that needed to be trained out of him. Occasional big game jitters, particularly when playing The all blacks. And terrible PR decisions 2011. Strange management. All together, adding up to a wasted talent. He was a bit undercooked for the 2015 cup, unfortunately. The Genia Cooper combo at their peak was pretty good.

I get what you’re saying Andrew,

Balanced outlook and all that. But this is a Rugby fansite. Probably the wrong place to question. It like asking a Politco subscriber if Politics are a waste of time and are they over-committed.

Like any hobby it’s an investment in time. And energy.

And being sport, it also provides emotional rewards.

Yes, all fans are biased towards their own team. Like any sport.

I tend to ensure that my travel scehdules don’t conflict with rugby events, such as a Beldsloie. While a mate changed his marriage date so it wouldn’t clash with a All Blacks/wallaby match. Another mate asked his wife to not have the baby until at least full time in the recent France All Black game (which she kindly did).

Someone earlier in the thread pointed out that being a fan or follower is not a flash in the pan event. But it is something that is years and decades and generational. And there is even something quite tribal about it all.

But in a place in space and time where 100 million people watch some bloke crying about leaving Britney Spears alone. I could think of worse hobbies than rugby. Even if people get flustered now and then.

Harry,

I don’t think they conned the ref. But I do think the call was a mistake.

I simply feel that the rest of the world collectively thinks Scotland were robbed, aside from Australia. And then some supporters are wondering “where’s the unconditional support because we are a better team”. Regardless of what Australia think, the rest of the world is allowed to disagree.

I also don’t think Scotland would have progressed any further. In fact, the only team more disappointed than Scotland are Argentina. I fully expect the Wallabies to find their mojo next week. Argentina were pretty good, but I’m not buying that suddenly they are playing a new brand of rugby that they discovered last week.

CS, exactly.

Seems to be a heck of a lot of posters highlighting a bunch of reasons why the Wallabies deserve the win. All but avoiding the single point of contention that the rest of the world is discussing.

Even refusing to accept that it has been deemed as an incorrect call.

It is what it is, it’s in the bank.

Why can’t wallaby fans simply admit that it was a wrong call. And that call put them through to the semi finals.

Is that so hard to say?

That wasn’t a get out of jail free card. That was a whole monopoly set, all wrapped up in pretty paper and a silver bow, and given to the team by their favorite auntie alongside a heaped dosing of ice cream and strawberries.

Ok. So World Rugby is wrong. They don’t know their own laws. They threw one of their own under the bus. Cast a shadow of doubt over their showcase piece, which won’t occur again for 4 years.

And they did all that for what purpose? For fun?

Sheek,

I don’t expect remorse from this, but a nod towards being damn lucky would be nice.

Seems to be a heck of a lot of “well we deserved it anyway”.

1. Just because you have the better national anthem doesn’t mean you deserve the win.
2. Yes, questionable decisions happen each game. And YES. Some decisions are more important than others. Just like in life. Example….should I have a vanilla ice cream or a chocolate one. OR should I ask her to marry me.
3. Just because you score more tries doesn’t automatically mean you get to win.
4. Just because your tries looked nicer than Scotland’s, doesn’t mean a toss.
5. Overall, I thought the wallabies played a better game, but the crowd wanted the upset of a Scotland win

Many rugby games have been won ugly. But a last minute penalty resulting in a World Cup quarter final win that is deemed incorrect by World Rugby is about as ugly as it can get.

In the Wallabies defence. It’s not their fault that they got awarded the penalty. But Sheek, I do agree that the rest of the rugby world views this as a illegitimate win.

I see this occurring:
– all the neutral supporters will now move out of the Wallabies column.
– anti-wallaby crowd support will grow
– tougher referring on the wallabies, moving from 50/50 to 40/60

Ralph,

France would probably need to consider getting points in their simple plan too.

I thought the defence was pretty good by France against Ireland. But lots of bootlace tackles, Ben Smith, Skudder, the Bus and even Nonu are quite good at overcoming that tackling technique. They might need to go a bit higher.

The ABs are pretty good at overcoming disruptive play, and I don’t think the refs are letting it go, particular if intentional slowing down. Do France have enough discipline?. Probably not.

Concerned with France. Concerned for all knock out games. But the bookies aren’t. So I’ll go with them.

It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye.

I think the Boks would have to have a pretty bad day at the office to lose this one.

Possible but not probable.

Then again I would have bet a $1,000 that the Boks would beat Japan. The other night having drinks with an Australian, we discussed this. They had been traveling and somehow were completely unaware of that event. Even though it was quite obvious that they weren’t rugby followers, the look of disbelief was classic. “Japan?” “The Springboks! Are you sure?” “….in the rugby”

Errr….yep I’m pretty sure.

I guess the moral of the story is someone better go tell Wales that the Boks have already won.

I expect a Boks victory, but still, I wouldn’t get too comfortable. Next you’ll be calling for the Boks to rest players for the semis.

Another myth broken was World Cup holding teams bottom out after winning it. The ABs with a mere 3 losses since the last cup broke that mould.

Like all fans, of all teams, it’s a nervous week. Hopefully followed by 2 more.

But if the ABs did manage it. With the stars aligning, kicks making it to touch and through the sticks, and the boys catching the ball and with a dash of good fortune. Wow that would be something else.

First team to go back to back. First team to win 3 cups. No one could even hope to match That record until 2023.

Don’t think I would be feeling any remorse in that event.

Interesting point Peter.

Could you consider gaining a penalty as a “steal”?

If Pocock has 10 turnovers, I wonder how many penalties he has won and how many he has lost.

Gregor Paul pointed out that the ABs conceded an average of 20 turnovers per game so far. However, many of those were isolated players that had broken the line.

That would seem a higher priority to address than attempting to steal the ball.

David Pocock has had a total of 10 steals in the Pool Round, Kieran Read has had 7 (not a huge amount of difference over 4 games)

I do wonder how many unsuccessful steals lead to penalties? What’s the risk reward ratio?

With a curious eye on France. I have a question, what are the jersey colors?

Since France went to a dark blue, someone is going to have to wear their alternative strip.

How is this decided? Never seems right when the All Blacks aren’t in….well, all black.

Matthew.

Good comments and quite valid.

A team like Georgia know that they were never going to the finals. And for the players, this was likely their only chance to play against the All Blacks. This was their “moment” of their rugby lives. It’s one of the great things about RWC. Minnows getting to play the powerhouses.

Spectacular performances aside, ie Wallabies and Wales games… No top tier team wants to be drawn against the All Blacks. That’s a fact. And they top the wishlist of the team to avoid. Consider the Irealand, France game….which should be a cracker. They are not just playing to win, but to avoid the Darkness.

I personally think a bit of pressure for the ABs to lift their game is kinda better than trying to maintain their game.

Over-belief can bite the ABS, ie Sydney, while real hunger for performance brings out the best of them, ie Eden Park.

I fully expect the ABs to bring their A game to the finals. The soft draw in their pool, due to them being ranked number 1, really meant they had only 3 games to win (Argentina aside, and in fact it didn’t even matter if Argentina had won… The ABs were always going to be in the finals).

Great ambassador for the game. Prior to his leg break, I thought he was in excellent form and had changed from a slippery runner to a hard hitter.

The only consolation, was he bowed out in a dominant match by the Springboks and not the one before.

To be honest, Kriel and Allende are a pretty exciting combination. And the Boks don’t lack experience to fill the leadership gap…ahem….

Wouldn’t be surprised to see him hit the commentators box in some capacity from next year. He’s intelligent and articulate, and his face is loved by more people than just his mum, which combined qualities are not really in over-abundance in the rugby world.

First, I thought the Wallabies were outstanding for their first game. Especially the first half. The defense stopping Fiji in their tracks as opposed to them getting over the advantage one.

I agree that the Pooper experiment needs to stay. It is particularly efficient when their is a breakaway opposition runner. Which often leads to broken play, but Pooper seems to stop it.

But is it really as effective in the midfield rumbles? Yes, Fiji had to commit numbers to the midfield breakdowns to counter Pooper, but it often seems Pooper gets pinged as often as they turnover in this part of the field (or is that just a kiwis wishful thinking?)

I’m not entirely convinced with this statement, “Defence should be the easier proposition for Australia, with both Pocock and Hooper very mobile but astonishingly hard-hitting without the ball in hand.”

Hard hitting defence and ruthless penetration in attack is kind of the Fijian main Point of Difference. Say what you like about the English, but it was pretty surprising that Fiji got over the advantage line a lot.

Everyone wants to see if the Pooper model is going to work with breakdown policing seen so far at the tournament.

Genia is going to have to have a good game, particular as he isn’t going to get front foot ball all night. Early points will help to ease the pressure. Fiji likely to tire in the last stanza after their short turnaround, meaning the bench will need to perform well for Aussie.

The first objective is to win. Before thinking about bonus points and point differentials. It’s got to be in the bag before you start turning down easy penalties by hunting tries.

Donald Trump may have just found his Vice President…

Errrr. Not really. But it does work if your doppelgänger is hopalong….:-)

Simmo…not a fan of league.

The game I watched had big hits. Terrific runs. Line out steals, back and forth scrum battle. And at one stage felt a tide turning and England trembling. Finishing with a fantastic committed effort for the bonus point.

And now a bonus point throws a big challenge down to Wales and Australia.

Sure, a lot of mistakes, pointless kicks and missed penalty kicks were costly.

So yeah, that was entertaining to me,

Highly entertaining game.

I thought Peyper was pretty good. Fiji will be better of for that run out. Wallabies and Wales will be a bot concerned if FIji gets dry ball and decrease silly decisions.

The bonus point is….as the commentators said more than any other word….lucky to be on offer.

The reserves for England made a big difference. I initially thought they had come on too early.

At this junction, It would appear that the majority of support for Fiji, rests with the fact that a loss for England would release the pool play pressure for the Wallabies.

I think the Wallabies would be better off with the pressure (and the second chance allowed by the fact that they can still get through if they drop a game). It would bode well for the team to perform under pressure and going into the finals.

Plus a loss will take the gloss of the lip smacking, tasty morsels offered by the heavyweight rounds between Wales, England and Australia.

That’s what the rest of the world want to see.

Hmmm….thinking about the recent Ireland England, Johnny May was excellent. In fact, he was the game changer, As the Wallabies have bought every winger on contract to the ARU with them. Any ideas who will mark May on the left wing? Is Drew Mitchell the best defender?

England vs Australia is the big one. I think England have targeted that game for a long time.

They know Wales quite well. So they won’t be overly concerned about any mystery. Even if Wales did beat them, then they know if they get over the Wallabies it could be a points decision.

And they know if they top the pool it is plain sailing to the finals compared to the runner up.

I expect them to play like they did for the first 20 minutes against Ireland. Which was hard and dominant.

Likewise, I find Australia can often also have a strong first 20. As long as they remain fumble free.

On the plus side, the Wallabies have been playing 80 minutes of late, instead of one good half, and the bench seems to be adding value as opposed to dropping quality. If the Wallabies can hold off England for the first 20, it will create doubt in the English minds.

My view is beat England. Top the pool. I would be very, very surprised if Australia didn’t get out of the pool.

If the Darkness don’t win it. I could live with the whiteness.

Cheerful when they have a few beers. But the English can be a miserable lot.

So that would put a smile on their dial.

And hopefully garnish a few fans away from soccer. Which is a blight on sports channels, particularly in Asia, where they air every game of soccer ever played, including the old codgers down the road vs another team no ones ever heard off.