I didn't see this coming. So much for southern hemisphere dominance. Australia may have choked, but England deserves props. They were playing like crap but they stepped up when it matters, and they played a very smart game and great defense. Goes to show that the first round means nothing.
Wow is all I can say. How overhyped were the SH teams. NZ had great possession play though! 24 phases of play at some points. But the resilience of France was amazing!
Great stuff by England and France today, should be a terrific semi-final. Boks vs Fiji and Argentina vs Scotland tomorrow. Not sure there will be upsets there though.
WE DID IT !! WE BEAT THE ALL BLACKS !! I can't believe it... Congratulations to England also. The semi-final next week in le Stade de France should be a classic.
Marvelous effort and tries by Fiji but South Africa were just too powerful. The Boks switched off after getting a comfortable lead again though, just like against Tonga. Boks vs Argentina would be fascinating. Boks at top gear should win, but if they switch off again Argentina are stronger and more organised than the Pacific Islands so could punish them for it. Although I still have a feeling Scotland could go close in their 1/4 final, Paterson is so accurate with his kicking and the Scots did look a decent side at times this year.
I cannot believe Argentina atm! It's amazing! I'm so happy they won, they've thoroughly deserved it! Plus the fact I hate Scotland just adds to it!
Los Pumas will have to turn it up a notch if they hope to have a chance to beat South Africa. Today they played with lots of heart, but they made too many mistakes. Fortunately, Scotland also had their share of mistakes and Argentina was able to hold on. But props to Scotland, they played with heart too.
I dearly hope so as well. However, Argentina is starting to look tired. Their group took a lot out of them. There was one point where you could see Pichot rallying his teammates to keep going. Hopefully their heart and passion will give them that extra boost against South Africa. Vamos Argentina!! P.S Props to Scotland.
I hope so. Argentina has never beaten South Africa, so this is as good a time as any to break the spell.
http://myp2p.eu/Other.htm It's where i usually get milan matches from. The England-France match is the only one listed as of now but it might be updated. Edit: no i forgot they were on different days, the SA/Arg match is also on
wouldnt say great form tonga and fiji have pushed them the argies winning wouldnt be a huge shock if you look at both teams performances so far in this rwc
its a bit like euro 2004 sure greece won but we all know they are not the best from europe the All Blacks are still the best... but seriously never seen a team dominate their sport leading into world cups(maybe the hungarians of Puskas) only to come home empty handed losing to lets face it, a pretty limited french team, nothing like the awesome french teams of the past oh well its not like we are not used to it good luck to the rest of the teams...
It still would be a shock in the bigger picture, a team not known as any sort of power coming and eliminating the now tournament favourites.
A pretty limited French side ? They actually delivered one of the most fantastic defensive performances ever (with also a touch a French flair - see Dusautoir's and Jauzion's try), showing something the 'awesome' French teams of the past never really had : tactical intelligence combined with discipline ! New Zealand was completely stuffed after half-time ! It was a nearly perfect tactical game for France whereas NZ had no B plan. It was surely not as spectacular as the WC99 semi-final but all in all I think their performance last saturday was still more impressive. NZ didn't choke, France had simply a better game. And yes NZ is certainly the best team in the world but yet again they're unable to prove it when it really matters !
they were pretty limited to just kicking, only when the abs where down to 14 did any sort of flair come into play they offered nothing in attack apart from a foward pass try they defended bravely no doubt, i wouldnt say they were disciplined there were a few hands and offsides that were not called, but hey you play to the ref which is something we simply didnt adapt to(drop goal anyone?) but they played like greece in euro 2004 let the abs make the play and hold on to pounce compared to past french teams they were limited in attack or at least restrained it will be interesting to see who takes the game to who against the english
i guess so, but to be fair the argies for the past 3 years have been pretty much a top 5 side if your thinking 90´s then yeah it would be a shock nowdays not so much