Tri-Nations – Champions – check! – empty victory when the other 2 teams play their B teams because they are focussed on the World Cup. unlike Aus, in SA and NZ the guys play provincial rugby too, which means less rest than the Aussies get. Player management is key in WC years.

Super Rugby Title – check! – Well done to the Reds. Played well but were lucky to get a vital ref decision against Crusaders which gave them a home final. But will give them that one. well done.

RWC Semi-finalist – check! – Totally undeserved- lost to Ireland in group, and had no right beating the Boks where they were creamed in every facet.

Hardly a good checklist mate, you seem have left out losses to Ireland by 9, Samoa by 9, England twice by 17 and 1, Scotland by 1, and Wales by 3 since the last World Cup.

You also neglect to mention that this was the first Super Rugby title since the Brumbies of 2004. Or that the only times an Australian team has even qualified for the Semis of Super Rugby (ie finish top4) between 04 and 2010 was the Waratahs on 4 occasions as compared to South Africa having been in semis 8 times, and won 3 titles.

You also forgot that aside from the Reds winning in 11, that Australia had 3 teams in the bottom 4 of the same year.

did you mention the first 3N title since 2001 ? I must have missed that line.

no wonder so many Aussies are suddenly vocal – theyve had to shut up for so many years.

You have had a good year Wallabies. Congratulations, however – my prediction – is that now that the boks can get a decent coach, the older legs are moving on, and the new talent is coming in – the Boks will get even better, and should beat Australia again soon. Since 07, the Boks didnt really improve – but they will now.

So we give it to you, get it out – have your say. because after this weekend i think its back to silence for you wallas.

.

Enjoy watching NZ rip australia a new one. Thats going to be good to see.

Aus are not on par with NZ or SA or even Wales. a 3N win because the other 2 were not really into it counts for nothing. So many of these 6/7 posters – forgetting that SA were without key players for most of those. You will see that this weekend\ when the ref doesnt help you just how weak your team is – and you will quickly failover to League or cricket or something Aus are actually good at.

Heres a classic example of great Aussie sportmanship – Australia vs. NZ Cricket Test, NZ batting required a six off the last ball to win – So what the did good sport Aussies do ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFToAdeS93Q

it means that against a team like NZ who wont fluff all their scoring chances, Australia will be shown up to be the ponytail pretenders that they are.

The only Saffas behind Oz – are the ones that are looking for assylum in Sydney. I dont think id survive in Aus – that accent will make me slap people everyday.

We did chuck that game away. Was a horrible way to lose – but in the end, we cant really blame anyone – So im not contesting that, and im over calling lawrence a shmuck.

what i am perturbed by, is how so many arrogant people can think Aus played well, and defense this and that. Oh please, Aus were clueless – they were totally rattled by the Boks.

What a sad little man you are mactheblack

It went on to say: “Gold was visibly emotional, and equated the exit to the death of a loved one.” Not even an intense game of rugby could be compared to the death of a loved one, Mr Gold.

Clearly you are not South African or a kiwi – that loss was about as bad as the death of a loved one. When Australia loses, everyone focuses on league and aussie rules – or even that other game you ruled for so long – cricket.

“However, opposition teams, their rivals in the south and even up north, have become equally stronger, but also more mobile and streetsmart, like is evident in the Wallabies set-up and are now thrashing the Boks at their own game – upfront.”

Yip the aussies sure did show those Boks – total domination from the pack in gold. Boks were lucky to get out of it alive.
– you really should disengage your head from your butt before you type.

This article is so poor, that i had to stop reading half way – FAIL !

mate, they couldnt – no Brussow – no ability to negate pocock.

The running game is coming – plenty of talent coming through now, and with it i think the Boks will evolve. We needed to first see off the old guard.

Thank You Dan – you have said exactly what i was thinking. We called a Springboks All Blacks final some time ago, it was fitting considering the Boks beat the Blacks in SA 1995, for the two to meet. And based on how good the Boks were here – i would say they really were the only team capable of beating the Kiwis.

Australia will fail miserably this weekend, and im not sure what kind of excuses we are going to hear after.

This is your World Cup New Zealand – and South Africa is behind you 100%.

interesting. Defense does win matches, The Boks showed it in 07, and again in this cup with the best defensive record of all the teams. 61 minutes in wallas half, was negated by the ref not giving any penalties (i wont say he was more unfair to one than the other, even though i believe it, thats another debate). The point is that the boks game has for a long time been based on kicking penalties that result from applying pressure in the opposition half. When you dont get the penalties because the ref decides to let the game flow, then their gameplan is stifled. They didnt have what the wallabies usually have, and kiwis almost always do – the attacking flair to score the tries (even though they could have had two were it not for marginal calls).

So in the end, the Boks lost because they couldnt get the kicks to tick the scoreboard over – you speak of fantastic wallaby defense, yet they couldnt get out of there 22 -id say, the boks defended the half way line like it was their tryline. So their defense was just as good then wasnt it.

Wallabies were outplayed, and if they dont lift themselves 100% – they will lose to the kiwis.

i dont really care who wins anymore, i just hope the better team does and the ref doesnt have any influence on the outcome.

Good luck all the teams left, we are hoping to see some hard rugby – the bone crunching type.

Yawn Red Kev – I said this on another post. dont take 1 incident, and highlight it as the springboks foul play. You will find the springboks were one of the most disciplined teams at this tournament. Why not make a gif image for us of some of the many high or armless tackles by the aussies, some ruck dives, some illegal ball stealing – nope. cant do it. move on ginger

I agree with this article, Since the Boks had far more possession – they were ultimately more affected by Lawrence allowing illegal tactics. The difference i might point out, is that the Bok infringements were mostly in the Australian half, where most of the game was played – at best Aus could have received a penalty, and kicked for touch. Thereafter they would probably have lost their lineout and the Bok assault would continue. As opposed to the infringements by Aus in their 22 – where Steyn would surely have kicked over for 3 each time. Pocock was brilliant, definitely an ace in the Wallaby pocket. But the ref could have negated him largely, and the loss of Brussow meant the Boks had no answer for him since brussow is usually the first man to get to the ball from the Springboks side.

It was a disgusting piece of refereeing, Wallabies were outplayed in every facet – id say they largely underestimated the Springboks, and were somewhat shell shocked in that second half.

On the other hand, when Wales lost to us because of a dubious conversion call by the touchies – we didnt hand it to them did we, we just claimed the victory. Oh how i wish now that Wales had beat us – They would probably have knocked Aus out in the quarters, the Boks would have steam rolled Ireland and still have had a chance to meet NZ in the grand finale of finale’s.

Lifes not fair, but i get where the writer is coming from – we need to stamp out the refs ability to influence results, players should not be spending time studying the ref before a match, perhaps its time to add a second ref to the field, to monitor the other side of rucks and scrums, and a panel to discuss the refs performance and mistakes at half time with him – so that if he is getting it wrong, it can be addressed while there is time left for the better team to win.

Bryce probably did his best, but it cost South Africa a win – If I thought SA had no chance of beating NZ and then Wales in teh final – It would have been easier, but based on that domination of Australia (who are still an extremely good side), i think the Boks would have gone all the way and retained the cup.

Thats what made it harder for me.

We have to get over it now, Lets concentrate on the rest of the cup – hopefully there will be some good entertaining and especially for us saffas – bone shattering rugga coming up, to remind us that we love the game, more than winning.

Theres some incredible youngsters coming up in SA now, if we get the right coaches, and nurture them the right way – i think the Springboks golden era is just starting.

does seem a bit south african doesnt it – i mean, where in the world would an Aussie ever admit they were not the best, and didnt deserve to win.

except, his blunders sent he boks home, not so for the aussies against the irish.

Wow, you sound like a jehovah that takes one line out the book and builds a church on it.

Thats one incident buddy, why dont you animate the many aussie infringements.

oh wait you cant, because the Aussie media are under instruction to never replay anything where an aussie has committed an offense, ive seen this tactic many times from them.

There were numerous infringements from both sides.

but the point i made earlier was – most of the Bok infringements happened in teh aussie half and would not have cost points – See Aussie kick touch, see lineout get stolen. See SA back on attack.

Compared to infringements made by Aus in their own half, that should have resulted in 3 pointers.

Im so tired of talking about this now, well done – obviously the victory is too hollow to enjoy, so some of you need to come here and tell the kids that theres no santa.

Clap, Clap, Clap = well done Aussies.

oh please – surely you saw vickerman, samo and mccabe make high tackles in that game ? Surely you noticed how vickerman was diving into rucks without arms ? hope you dont lose an eye, youve only got one to start with.

that hitler vid is funny, im still laughing

I think, SA – Aus – NZ – we’re all whingers when our teams lose. We all expect to win. Probably hte only 3 teams in teh world that expect to win ALL THE TIME

cant help it can we.

This appeared in THE AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER this morning!!
From a Ausie supporter

LIMITING THE POWER OF THE WHISTLE

There are no doubt a lot of Australian rugby supporters celebrating our victory over the Springboks yesterday. There are also a number of us that are wondering how on earth we managed to pull it off against a side that dominated possession and territory and lineouts. Now, I don’t want to take anything away from the Australian victory – our boys did perform superbly but on the day the Springboks were, we have to admit, the better side. The boks, as always were magnanimous in defeat with a somewhat pragmatic approach to the result. I wonder what our boys would have said faced with the same situation of blatant incompetence by Mr Bryce Lawrence.

I support Australia and always will but for those of us that believe in fair play this was a hollow victory. This was very much like fighting a worthy opponent with one arm strapped behind his back – it leaves a bad taste. There were rumours about Mr Lawrence’s impartiality before kick-off from a lot of ex pat South Africans now living in Australia but we tend to dismiss these conspiracy theories with a grin. Certainly, Mr Lawrence’s performance on the field did nothing to dispel those theories. His performance was nothing short of abysmal. He did not award the bok try because of a dubious forward pass. I have looked and looked and to me, anyway, it did not look forward. Minutes later when the boks once again breached our defences and were well on the way to scoring another try, he called them back for a forward pass. If the first call was contentious, there certainly was nothing wrong with the second one. Here, I must ask – why not use the “eye in the sky”? An impressive expensive piece of equipment that should be used for such decisions.

He failed to penalise Pocock for slowing the ball down. If we had played like that against the All Blacks, they would not have been so quiet about it. – and rightly so. In the dying minutes of the game he was in full view of at least 2 high tackles by our boys that went unpunished. Any of these transgressions, if properly acted on, would have surely given the game to the Boks with their advantage over territory. To rub salt in the South African wounds, he awarded a high tackle to the Wallabies for a chest high tackle.

We won, but did we really? Our sport has always been regarded as a “hooligans game played by gentlemen” – If we do not want rugby union to degenerate into a farce that soccer can become we need to make sure that our refs are of suitable calibre. They need to be trustworthy gentlemen.

Mr Lawrence, I would advise against any planned holidays to South Africa for a couple of years.

Chris Davis

The Australian

Not sure why so many feel the need to convince everyone that their opinion is the right one. Maybe you should skip politics, and give christianity a try.

Everyone is entitled to theirs, by even trying to prove otherwise – by using your own opinion as fact, smacks of arrogance.

Bryce was crap – both teams suffered, but the Boks suffered more. Boks had chances to win, they didnt take them, Aus held out and won – end of story.

NZ wont dominate Aus like that, but should still win – and im tipping Wales to beat NZ in the final.

Theres my opinion, Its all fact – if you dont believe me, ill use more of my own biased opinions to convince you so.

Hes a good ref. Very impartial and diplomatic.

it cost the Boks, since Brussow was off. If he was there – im sure he and pocock would have negated eachother – and the Boks could still have won.

We cant do anything about it now, so lets just enjoy the semis and hope that NZ and Aus push eachother beyond the limits physically. I want to see a bloodbath, i want to see late hits, i want to see hard hits, i want carnage. And it would be nice to see Richie get his knee on the floor – with quades head underneath, to exact some revenge.

It should be a good semi and entertaining, i still think the Boks would have beaten NZ in the semis.

Nobody remembers Stu Dickinson ? If he ever refs a Springbok game again – i will stick my foot through my 50inch LCD.

He has now said that he didnt make any mistakes in the SA – Aus game.

this commentator is not a commentator – hes an aussie or kiwi supporter that speaks with his hands. get someone that knows how to commentate.