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A lot has been written and commented upon regarding the refereeing by Bryce Lawrence of the Australia/South Africa quarter-final. Not enough has been said about David Pocock’s game.
He was outstanding. A 23 year old that pretty much single-handedly won the Wallabies the (statists-wise), impossible game to win game.
Having read a little bit about this outstanding number 7, whilst other players are satisfying their love of flying light aircraft he has been working tirelessly on a personal passion – eightytwentyvision.org – and (only perhaps) less altruistically cementing himself as the best number 7 in the game played in heaven.
His game on Sunday was immense.
Perhaps the most annoying thing about the criticism of the referee and comments generally about the game that the Wallabies should not have won is that, within this game, the greatest display of skill, strength and intellect by a single rugby player in a game of rugby has been over-shadowed.
Surely if the referee was not to blame (and I personally don’t believe he was) then there must have been a reason for the Wallaby triumph.
26 tackles whilst being involved with nine turn-overs (and any true believer of rugby who watched the game will have noticed the others which he had rights to or should have got) is a pretty good start.
The only other area that the wallabies won apart from the scoreboard was in the breakdown contest.
Never before in a game of rugby has one player dominated one area of the game to the extent that it negated the fact that statistically the other team dominated possession, territory and the set-piece.
Well done David Pocock, that was the greatest game ever played by an individual in a World Cup final – possibly in any game of rugby.
You may well be the difference come Sunday.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.