How much mainstream media coverage should the Rugby World Cup get? There simply isn't much interest in rugby as a spectator sport in the US. At most, there are a few hundred thousand people interested in the entire country, or about .1% of the population.
Semi-finals this weekend. And what's this I see? 38 degrees??? What sort of a temperature is that for rugby? Nasty.
Not quite that bad in Sydney. Only about 22 C, or so, for the Wallabies and the All Blacks, but in the 30's tomorrow for England and France. http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/local/ASXX0112?from=search_city About an hour to go before the trans-Tasman clash between Australia and New Zealand... can't wait. GO WALLABIES!!
Australia 22 - New Zealand 10 Never Rule Out The Underdog! I don't know of many people at all who seriously thought Australia would win this match, it was just a question of how many tries New Zealand would rack up. Give the Aussies their credit for turning it on, defending superbly and earning a place in the final, but New Zealand should seriously look at themselves and see this as yet another major opportunity lost. France in 1999 and now Australia in 2003. The pressure of expectancy weighs very heavily on big teams, it's done for New Zealand now and England have been poor this World Cup in the games where they were a heavy favourite against a decent team. England won't be as pressured in the other semi final tomorrow, while France will be under genuine pressure of expectancy for the first time. Should be a fascinating game.
If anyone says that the Wallabies have under-performed or under-achieved in this World Cup, I've felt that's been a load of bollocks. Buggery, buggery bollocks... Exhibit A was tonight. The way they took the game right to the Kiwis from the opening moments was a statement that they were there on a mission. The perception of them under-achieving or under-performing might have been true going into this tournament, but they've won every World Cup game so far, which is what they should be asked to do in a world championship competition. And tonight, they won with style... in essence, they turned their game up a notch or two when it has mattered most. The Wallabies will repeat as world champions next weekend, based on their display tonight.
Even by their own admission Australia have been poor in this tournament and pretty much for the whole year beforehand. This was the first time they clicked into top gear as a team. But although they played exceptionally well in defence, New Zealand were way below standard and looked far too tense, so I'm still not entirely convinced. I reckon France or England should still be favourites to beat Australia in the final. Kudos to the Aussies though, they did everything that was required.
Pretty fair point-- but when you're the defending champions, the standards they've set for themselves are pretty high. Same can be said about the expectations of the Wallabies' fans here, too. But as far as the way they've played, I think the one analogy that can be applied is the way that Italy have played in soccer World Cups. Play well enough to get through the qualifiers, then the group stages, but save your best for when it matters most.
Me and my dad were talking of the very same thing just last week. Well similar. We came to the conclusion that the Aussies are a bit too much like Germany (in football) for our liking. Even when they're aren't playing particularly well, it's a fool that writes them off. This RWC strikes me as similar as Germany's 2002 WC. They just seems to have an annoying ability to win. Not just in rugby, I'm a cricket fan too. Just when it seems England could win a test match, we end up not doing. Shocker today though. Nevermind. We were the last team to beat the Aussies at the WC, and we'll be the next.
Kick-off approaches. I'm hoping the French have an off day - they've been looking rather too good lately I think. Again I'll say, God help us if Wilkinson gets injured. England-Australia final would be a corker though. It'd piss so many Aussies off if we won. Mainly wanker Campese.
As partially suspected, England are making life difficult for themselves. Thank the Lord the French kicker has missed a few kicks. Mistakes aplenty from both sides. And check out that rain!
Final score England 24 - France 7! Horrible conditions which made ball handling and penalty kicking a real lottery, but the English pack controlled the French who also lost their discipline in the game with a couple of yellow cards. This all set up the platform for Wilkinson to eventually kick all the points. France scored a try early in the game after a good break from the flanker, but it looked a possibly dubious decision to award it as he seemed to lose the ball right as he touched it down. Good to see England back in some sense of form, the return of Catt and Hill to the starting lineup helped them a lot and I think despite the Aussies playing very well defensively against New Zealand, England will now be slight favourites to win the final.
Watched both semi-finals (I was in Canada this weekend) and can only point out that Australia raised their game immensely over their Tri-Nations form,there were no errors by the backs.Mortlock's interception and try was the critical point of the game .The All Blacks looked tenative and nervous with the ball the rest of the match. England played really solid rugby .The game was decided by pack play and sound kicking, not just for goal (wasn't Johnny W. a pretty safe bet?) ,but in open play.The French lost their cool completely,which somewhat ruined the spectacle,as it's hard to come back when you're down one for a quarter of the game.
Lets Beat The Kiwis Again... song And speaking of the All-Blacks, I decided to compose a song in tribute to our friends from the land of the long white cloud. This is based on the tune of "Lets Do The Time Warp Again" from the Rocky Horror Show. It's New Zealand, Rivals from across the Tasman, The underarm, they still hold a grudge. We beat them at everything, And they talk really funny, Which makes it easier to take the puss, Australia's better et crucket, Rugby, swummung end tennus, End their country, us bugger then ours. Now I'll start talking properly, Before I start going crazy, Oh lets beat the Kiwis again. It's just a pass to the left, then dummy back to the right We'll make a run through the centre, then we'll go out wide, We'll intercept their passes, and then we'll pinch their line out throws, Let's beat the Kiwis again, Let's beat the Kiwis again. It's so sheepy, very creepy, The things they do, with their sheep, And back home in their country, They all practise the haka, While keeping mulk and cheese, un the frudge. And while they are sleeping, Aussies are teasing, Oh lets beat the Kiwis again. It's just a flick to fine leg, then a classic off drive, We'll pull and cut anything short, hitting plenty of fours, Then we'll send them in, and bowl underarm when they look like they could win, Let's beat the Kiwis again, Let's beat the Kiwis again.
thats alright we have the bledisloe and the tri nations looking foward to putting 50 past the wallabies again next year and we have the netball world cup
Some dopes are still complaining about England's style of play saying they don't play "running rugby". Saying its bad for the future of the sport if a team like that wins the World Cup. Thats why Australians were rooting for France to beat England. Keep in mind its mostly Southern Hemisphere residents who are complaining about how England wins.
I find all the whinging the Aussies are doing, really quite funny. Is it a sign they are actually feeling vulnerable?? Rather hypocritical too. Especially when one considers their own highly dubious 'crossing technique'. I like the Aussies, I loved staying there for a bit, but honestly they do rather irritate at times.
England are fully capable of playing running rugby, Jason Robinson's burst and pass to Greenwood to score in the corner against Wales was one of the better running tries I've seen in a World Cup latter stage game between two decent teams. I also notice the Aussie media tend to overlook the three very good tries England put past them when they last played against each other this year. The thing with England is that they have someone who is pretty much the most precisely accurate kicker in the sport's history so far. So they would have to be pretty crazy to overlook that in favour of playing into the hands of a defensive team like Australia, who want teams to run right into their midfield with the ball. New Zealand tried to play like that in the semi final with quite simply the most gifted set of ball in hand players in the game, but stilll ended up battering themselves against a brick wall and losing on the counter attack. I also did not see too many Australian journalists and others complaining when Jannie De Beer kicked five drop goals for South Africa against England in the 1999 quarter finals and eliminated them that way.
Personally I think this is one of the weakest Australian teams for 15 years - if they do win it will be a great achievement. I tipped an England/NZ final back at the start, and still think England will win. But, drop goals really should be 1 or at most 2 points.
I've heard about all this media hate campaign from the convicts... They've been on our backs the whole tournament. After the france win we've been branded "boring".. yeah how dare we outscore our opponents and play tactics to suit the weather.. what the hell were we thinking??
I agree, it's a fantastic effort by the Wallabies to make it this far, especially considering we were the 3rd favourite going into the World Cup, and had the added pressure of playing at home. Having said that, we are capable of beating anyone if we play to our potential, something we're yet to do in my opinion. Eddie Jones has copped a lot of critism over the last couple of months, losing the Bledisloe and Tri Nations, but the goal is the World Cup, that is what we're playing for and come Saturday night, I'm sure we'll give it our best shot. GO WALLABIES!!!
Well, I'm getting the PPV of the game at 4am. Thank god the pubs are open until 3. By the time we're had some drunken mexican food and a taxi home we'll be perfectly ready for the game. Will be hard for the boys in England to get up at 6am and start pounding the beers. I was speaking to a couple of friends back home who had mentioned how up the whole country is for the game. It would be the biggest sporting acomplishment since '66 if we won which shows how starved of success England has been. I have to worry about Johnny Wilkinson. The whole nations hopes are laying on his shoulders and he's said himself how badly he suffers from nerves. But I would think even a neutral would want England to win, the competition needs a northern hemisphere team to do so.
personally i hope whoever wins it better score a try in the process even if it is one the all blacks paid the ultimate penalty for not taking superboot merthens (just as good as wilko at kicking) you really need an excellent kicker for the close matches