Coupe du Monde de Rugby 2007 France

[AfrcnHrbMan]

Blame it on the French Rugby Administration, after all they were the ones who "bribed" Wales for their vote by offering them games in Wales.

Well ok then I will.

[Carefree 95]

Woop woop!


Go England!!!!!!!

[sl7vk]

Anywhere to listen to a radio feed on the France New Zealand match? Setanta is only showing it tape delayed.... tomorrow!!!!

[sl7vk]

http://www.rmc.fr/player.html

rmc has got it live for anyone interested.

[impalemeplz]

great defense by the french!! truely a brave and disciplined effort.

on the other side the all blacks choked without dan carter. they didnt know what to do against that disciplined french defense. five 2nd half points is pathetic, which came after a lost lineout by the french.

gratz :)

[Blitzwing]

Wow couldn't ask for much more, two heart pounding edge of your seat quater finals! Congrats to both the English and French they showed great courage in overcoming their respective more highly favoured opponants.

This is definitely turning out to be the best World Cup ever!!

So are the French favourites again for their own World Cup?:p

[jlscrub]

What a game! I saw it at the British pub Kingshead.

The mood was quiet during the first half...but in the second the french went crowd went crazy. awesome!

Allez le Bleus!

Next England...I can only imagine what the atmosphere will be for that game.

[cmblfc]

We are pretty much amazing.

[sl7vk]

Poor New Zealand. Really they were victoms of the collosal pressure the entire world/nation put on them. Once we got close and tied the match in the second half there would only be one winner. New Zealand played not to win, but instead played not to lose.

Why didn't anyone on the all-blacks position themselves for a drop kick in minute 76? Totally baffling. Either pure arrogance, thinking they could breach the French line for a try, or total panic.

I'd guess the later, but I can't be sure.

[guignol]

i'm no rugger expert but when they were only a few meters away, the try looked easier than the drop, especially with them being so dominant "au ras" (don't know the english term). they may also have been worried that 3 points wouldn't be enough, since france was on fire. from their lineout on 77' they were clearly looking drop, but the french were coming forward very quickly and the blacks realizing they'd only have one shot were in no gambling mood... anyway they finally had to take it from a wee bit too far. watching that ball die just short of the posts was agony for them, delirium for us, and that's what sport's all about.

one can't deny that NZ had it their way for 70 minutes up front, but when you look at the 9 points france left by the wayside in the first half, and the heart they showed at the end, you can't say they just lucked out.

[impalemeplz]

Why didn't anyone on the all-blacks position themselves for a drop kick in minute 76? Totally baffling. Either pure arrogance, thinking they could breach the French line for a try, or total panic.



i will say it again. no dan carter. he is their "general" on the field and without him they were truely lost.

but i think you are right in the other parts of your post. nz couldnt handle the pressure of the world and choked.

[sl7vk]

i will say it again. no dan carter. he is their "general" on the field and without him they were truely lost.

but i think you are right in the other parts of your post. nz couldnt handle the pressure of the world and choked.

Then shame on Henry for not having a plan B. It's pure madness to hinge all your hopes on one player (even if it is Dan Carter).

[guignol]

i will say it again. no dan carter. he is their "general" on the field and without him they were truely lost.in the same way, playing without betsen made it very hard for france to face NZ "au ras" and so the two injuries further pushed the game to the physiognomy we saw.

[sl7vk]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4231264a1823.html

[impalemeplz]

in the same way, playing without betsen made it very hard for france to face NZ "au ras" and so the two injuries further pushed the game to the physiognomy we saw.

i think the flankers will be more important against england. they absolutely owned australia at the breakdown. quicker, faster, braver and fitter. they basically won the game with their flankers and the boot of JW.

[impalemeplz]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4231264a1823.html

haha isnt mccaw an opensider? shouldnt he know what is going on with his flyhalf, etc.:p

[AfrcnHrbMan]

Ahh England France WC semis. Matchup like that is sure to even make the non rugby fan mouth water. What a match that should be. Allez les Bleus

[condor11]

i will say it again. no dan carter. he is their "general" on the field and without him they were truely lost.

but i think you are right in the other parts of your post. nz couldnt handle the pressure of the world and choked.

NZ would have been better off with Evans from the start than a half fit Carter

someone mentioned the disciplined french D they were good but disciplined they were not, ref could have picked a few penalties there but he wasnt having the best of days

still NZ should have won it if they used a dg but its not something the abs use often if at all

Carter apparently only has one at test level(according to comentators)

while the blame seems to be pointed at the ref in nz who to me was shocking missing an obvious foward pass

but the All Blacks blew the game again being 13 points ahead they should have just rammed their superiority home

but they went away from their running style and played a dumb kicking game

having said all that good luck to the french even do i despise Laporte;)

4 more years:rolleyes:

[condor11]

Then shame on Henry for not having a plan B. It's pure madness to hinge all your hopes on one player (even if it is Dan Carter).

to be fair to Henry his team had dominated the rugby world since he took over

their style had no apparent weaknesses apart from lineouts(ironically that was our best lineup performance for a while, Williams was a mosnter)

it wasnt relied solely on Carter

it was started up front by Hayman

followed by the best loose trio in the world

superb first five and awesome outside backs(for some reason they were barely used against the french)

the one positional weakness was center since Umaga retired Muliaina is better at fullback and the other two centers are fairly average

seems to me if anything the All Blacks went away from their normal style and played differently against the french, thats the most i have seen us kick for example

add to that our most dangerous player at the time getting sin binned somewhat harshly

still Henry is gone and NZ will rebuild again and no doubt be again favorites for the next world cup and the cycle will most likely continue

[impalemeplz]

whats the point of having a great loose trio if your centres are not good. i guess you can counter with your wingers and use your trio to dominate, the breakdown, that way but like you said the all blacks went into a shell and started kicking.