A very poor final to finish what, for me, has been a largely poor World Cup. A couple of fantastic quarter finals aside, this has been a long drawn out damp squib that won’t last long in the memory.
The four quarter finals were fantastic, unfortunately it peaked then.
rain ruined the final .. the Saffies were fortunate to win .. as ever, the sending off somewhat ruined the game and the Saffies always got the benefit of the doubt in the close decisions .. Barnes' refereeing was not up to his usual standard .. Pollard's immaculate kicking both at goal and tactically won the day
A lot of whingeing on here but lets look at the facts. Springboks have won 4 world cups in the 8 they have participated in. In this world cup they had to play Scotland, Ireland, France, England & All Blacks. This is not underserved or by luck or by poor officiating. It's playing to one's strength and using skill and strategy. Yes, they don't play the flamboyant way the All Blacks or say France do but they play to win (and do that well).
And on the topic of being unlikeable, let's look no further than the likes of Farrell and Sexton.
I have to say, I must have watched a different final to most here.
I actually thought that it was an intriguing match, for all that, as a neutral, I was favouring New Zealand (out of 6 of us watching, only my sister in law was for South Africa, but that's because she's good friends with some New Zealanders and felt they'd be insufferable if they won). South Africa got their tactics right, and played really well (and, but for dropping the ball over the line would have scored a try that would be on the highlights clips for years).
While Sam Cane was brilliant in his after match words, his red card was, IMHO, entirely justified, and I was a bit surprised that the first yellow wasn't upgraded. Kolisi's yellow, on the other hand looked like an attempt to even things up (he had clearly lowered himself into a tackling position and there wouldn't have been any head contact had he not hit the ball first).
A tight, really nervy game, what you'd expect in a final. South Africa might not have won without the cards, but that's not their fault.
Considering our historic links with South Africa, and the problems their country faces, I'm happy that they won (not because Ireland beat them, because earlier results are meaningless).
I'm gutted that England snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against SA, and equally gutted last night that NZ didn't win.
The NZ 'try' that was disallowed for a knock on came from the line out when the giant 6ft 9in SA forward committed a foul so obvious the NZ player couldn't take the ball cleanly. A bonkers rule if the ref interpreted that correctly as well as the TMO.
Ireland and France played some brilliant rugby in this tournament including beating the SA and NZ respectively. The draw meant the 4 best teams couldn't meet in the Semi's but the hard as Nails springboks with their giants and their smaller athletes sure know how to win close games.
That was a horrible game to watch from a largely turgid event as a whole. Some of the officiating with the predictable and maybe understandable total backing of world rugby is making the game a really hard sell to those not already invested. I understand why they don't like the look of tackling high but its so unfair the marginal high ones get analysed in super slow motion for a red card decision when these guys are making split second decisions to tackle 15 stone lumps of muscle and power running at them. There is a code or there always was a code in rugby if someone does something genuinely naughty or unnecessary it would be levelled up and by and large that kept the game playable. For example the Samoan tackle on Mark Cueto whilst he was in the air rightly promoted Lewis Moody to go full UFC but my point being most players wouldn't dream of doing that as they wouldn't want it done to them or any of their teammates. Thats long gone as any vengeance will end up with a citing and mistakes, genuine mistakes are way too harshly punished and they can ruin games which just turns people away
I'm watching international rugby now waiting for the yellows to be upgraded to reds when tackles are coming in. Catch 22 because you want the game to be safer but you still see more blood than an episode of Casualty. Why can't all players wear the rubber headgear as well as gum shields ?
The refs and TMO's take centre stage even more than before.
Ugo Monye former Harliquins and England player is not impressed with Jones -
"Australia had him on a long-term deal, but this whole project has been selfish and self-centred,"
"I think Rugby Australia were put in a tough position. Eddie is very convincing as a person and you have to sift through some of the nonsense he says at times and you know when he is just saying things for effect.
"You can't come in and uproot a coaching staff, sack off some legends of the game, take a punt and a gamble on some young kids, get booted from a World Cup and then say 'cheerio'."
"In the last year, Eddie has lost the English rugby public and then the Australian rugby public in eight games. That's a remarkable skill."
A very poor final to finish what, for me, has been a largely poor World Cup. A couple of fantastic quarter finals aside, this has been a long drawn out damp squib that won’t last long in the memory.
The four quarter finals were fantastic, unfortunately it peaked then.
Agree with these comments. Losing France as hosts and Ireland, with the fantastic support they bring, sucked the air out of the tournament. The rain came and two consecutive Saturday matches were, indeed damp squibs. Thought the refs were ok but must be disconcerting to have somebody (ie the TMO) rabbiting on in your earpiece throughout the game. As several NZ commentators have said, the final appeared to be managed by the TMO not the ref.
Wayne Barnes has retired from all refereeing .. generally regarded as THE world's best referee before the WC final, i m o it was a pity that his career has ended with a rather 'mixed' performance in that final ..
A step further .. Rugby Union is getting increasingly difficult to referee, three on-field officials plus an all too often too intrusive tele ref make for confusion .. perhaps a look at American Football is needed, though seven (go on count em) might be too many, and of course, too expensive for the RFU to consider, and certainly far too many for games involving Stow on the Wold Extra Fifths
If comments I see about refereeing in the NFL is anything to go by, theirs is an example to avoid at all costs.
Rugby is a paragon of efficiency in comparison.
The biggest problem is consistency, and having national rugby bodies support the application of the laws in full (there's an argument to be made that New Zealand lost because their players are normally refereed by officials who don't apply them fully, while South Africa went out of their way to make sure that as many players as possible understood and experienced refereeing to that standard).
Comments
And on the topic of being unlikeable, let's look no further than the likes of Farrell and Sexton.
I actually thought that it was an intriguing match, for all that, as a neutral, I was favouring New Zealand (out of 6 of us watching, only my sister in law was for South Africa, but that's because she's good friends with some New Zealanders and felt they'd be insufferable if they won). South Africa got their tactics right, and played really well (and, but for dropping the ball over the line would have scored a try that would be on the highlights clips for years).
While Sam Cane was brilliant in his after match words, his red card was, IMHO, entirely justified, and I was a bit surprised that the first yellow wasn't upgraded. Kolisi's yellow, on the other hand looked like an attempt to even things up (he had clearly lowered himself into a tackling position and there wouldn't have been any head contact had he not hit the ball first).
A tight, really nervy game, what you'd expect in a final. South Africa might not have won without the cards, but that's not their fault.
Considering our historic links with South Africa, and the problems their country faces, I'm happy that they won (not because Ireland beat them, because earlier results are meaningless).
The NZ 'try' that was disallowed for a knock on came from the line out when the giant 6ft 9in SA forward committed a foul so obvious the NZ player couldn't take the ball cleanly. A bonkers rule if the ref interpreted that correctly as well as the TMO.
Ireland and France played some brilliant rugby in this tournament including beating the SA and NZ respectively.
The draw meant the 4 best teams couldn't meet in the Semi's but the hard as Nails springboks with their giants and their smaller athletes sure know how to win close games.
Catch 22 because you want the game to be safer but you still see more blood than an episode of Casualty.
Why can't all players wear the rubber headgear as well as gum shields ?
The refs and TMO's take centre stage even more than before.
Ugo Monye former Harliquins and England player is not impressed with Jones -
"Australia had him on a long-term deal, but this whole project has been selfish and self-centred,"
"I think Rugby Australia were put in a tough position. Eddie is very convincing as a person and you have to sift through some of the nonsense he says at times and you know when he is just saying things for effect.
"You can't come in and uproot a coaching staff, sack off some legends of the game, take a punt and a gamble on some young kids, get booted from a World Cup and then say 'cheerio'."
"In the last year, Eddie has lost the English rugby public and then the Australian rugby public in eight games. That's a remarkable skill."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/67262905
A step further .. Rugby Union is getting increasingly difficult to referee, three on-field officials plus an all too often too intrusive tele ref make for confusion .. perhaps a look at American Football is needed, though seven (go on count em) might be too many, and of course, too expensive for the RFU to consider, and certainly far too many for games involving Stow on the Wold Extra Fifths
Rugby is a paragon of efficiency in comparison.
The biggest problem is consistency, and having national rugby bodies support the application of the laws in full (there's an argument to be made that New Zealand lost because their players are normally refereed by officials who don't apply them fully, while South Africa went out of their way to make sure that as many players as possible understood and experienced refereeing to that standard).
Rugby-All Blacks want answers on referee calls in World Cup final (msn.com)