Has this wc really been the best?

[loratadine]

right i know there has been a few epic games, and the minnows have caused a few upsets, but has this really been the best rwc in terms of the quality of rugby that has been played. Im not just picking on england, but when a side as clueless and unimaginative as england get to the final then what does that say? thats not taking anything away from the english though because the amount of passion and grit theyve played with has been quite inspirational... But i just think that the quality of rugby on the whole has been quite poor. And is the wc really a fair reflection on who is the best team in the world? i mean its surely down to who peaks and fluctuates at the right time.... i mean cmon guys lets all be honest here, new zealand are by far the best rugby team on this planet, and yet they go out at the qf's, for me this wc has been largely dissapointing, only with a few highlights, like argentinas success, fiji's games(apart from the welsh one obviously ) and georgia running ireland very close.... but in terms of the rugby quality which has been played on the whole bar a few chinks of light this has been a very scrappy and unispiring wc

 

[RoyalBlueStuey]

If it was any other nation you'd be saluting a triumph of sporting endevour and pluck. That a team totally written off by everyone has defied the odds and stands on the brink of a miracle is something truly wonderful.

The fact that unfancied teams like Tonga, Georgia, Fiji, Argentina and England have gone so far is what's made it the best. It's what sport's all about....teams coming together and playing above themselves. Becoming heroes. Granted it hasn't been breathaking flowing rugby but that's not always what it's about.

Best World Cup ever!

 

[Aeros]

i mean cmon guys lets all be honest here, new zealand are by far the best rugby team on this planet,
[/b]

The other 2 SANZAR partners would no doubt argue that statement till judgement day.

 

[Bullitt]

Yes, it has been the best so far. And if that not the most feeble attempt to disguise taking a cheep dig at England, I don't know what is.



Next.

 

[36crazyfist]

If it was any other nation you'd be saluting a triumph of sporting endevour and pluck. That a team totally written off by everyone has defied the odds and stands on the brink of a miracle is something truly wonderful. [/b]

it's been a world cup of flukes and triumphs. arg vs france, triumph, tonga vs samoa, triumph, south africa vs tonga, triumph for tonga... the list goes on. but honestly i think that aus vs eng, and france vs nz was flukes.

sure they played good rugby in those "flukes", but i think on any other day, they would have lost.

but, end of the day, after the whistle has gone, it will be eng vs sa in the final. it's world cup time, and to be honest, being crowned world champion is end of the day the mission.

The fact that unfancied teams like Tonga, Georgia, Fiji, Argentina and England have gone so far is what's made it the best. It's what sport's all about....teams coming together and playing above themselves. Becoming heroes.[/b]

i honestly don't think it's been the best world cup or even a great one. it's been a REALLY GOOD one. but the thing that has helped this WC being really good, is that it's amazing to see that some of the so called minnows are actually improving their game, and might be a greater obstacle come the next WC.

hats off to all the "minnows", and regretfully saying it, well done to england.

 

[loratadine]

its not a dig at england in the slightest its a dig at boring unimaginative rugby!!

and sanzar can argue till the cows come home... but new zealand on a good day could stick 40 pts on any team in the world including sa and aus.... id be very shocked if sa or aus could do the same thing.

 

[Bullitt]

If they were that good they wouldn't bottle it when it counts. Every. Single. Time.

This free flowing, broken style of play may be superb to watch when in it works, but a the disorganised mess needs a huge element of luck when the pack donesn't front up or the back three choke underneath high balls;

The ABs vs Boks in the 3 Nations this year wasn't taken seriously by SA, so it was a pretty miserable, near 2nd string, side vs a bunch of 15 (highly talented) individuals wearing the same black shirts. Yes, the AB's won that. Hurrah for then.

Come World Cup time, the ABs get one difficult opponant the whole tournament and went into the game with a level of arrogance that they'd simply waltz through the French. The French however regrouped, played as a team and low and behold, the World ranked no. 1 side who everyone expected to win the whole thing didn't even reach the Semi finals. The big upset occoured, that is a great thing for a tournament.

The same with England v Convicts; Wallabies pride themselves on this "fast flowing, free rugby" and seem to think they don't need a pack (being a they're all part time league converts (insert NRL jibe here) therefore don't understand the basics of contesting a ball). What happens? The Formula 1 cars of Australian Rugby find themselves in a tug of war contest against English bulldozers and wrecking balls. England, ranked eight in the world knock out Aus, ranked 2. Another big upset, another win for world rugby.

(By the way, what do you call the 7th vs 8th place playoff in the Rugby World Cup? The Bledistloe Cup!)

Argentina, everybodys hero in this tournament did the same against France and Ireland. Fiji did it against Wales. Japan attempted it against Fiji. Portugal did it against The ABs (and scored a try) and Romania.

The only side to combine the pack and the backs is South Africa, who only can claim so because Habana runs away from everyone except rookie Yanks to score. Otherwise, they're a side with a devistating bunch of fatties, a little gobshite scrum half in the shape of Du Prez, and finally Percy and James banging the ball downfield for the teratory.

It may not have the "style" of the ABs, Aussies or Wales, but the forwards game which has dominated this World Cup has been a hark back to the golden days of real men playing rugby. Forwards win a rugby. Backs only decide by how much.

 

[RoyalBlueStuey]

it's been a world cup of flukes and triumphs. arg vs france, triumph, tonga vs samoa, triumph, south africa vs tonga, triumph for tonga... the list goes on. but honestly i think that aus vs eng, and france vs nz was flukes.

sure they played good rugby in those "flukes", but i think on any other day, they would have lost.

but, end of the day, after the whistle has gone, it will be eng vs sa in the final. it's world cup time, and to be honest, being crowned world champion is end of the day the mission.
[/b]

Flukes? What's that old saying? "The harder we work the luckier we seem to get".

True This WC has been a triumph of pragmatism over flair but when you are second best you need to play to your strengths....that's fundamental. If the 'superior' opposition can't take the game by the scruff of the neck and let their quality tell then that is their problem.

In rugby you need to have a plan b, when the going gets tough the tough get going. NZ and Australia were found wanting, the former were too cavalier & didn't have back-to-basics mechansisms to wrestle the game from France the latter simply just weren't physically strong enough to match England. Both ways it's them who are culpable.

 

[36crazyfist]

It may not have the "style" of the ABs, Aussies or Wales, but the forwards game which has dominated this World Cup has been a hark back to the golden days of real men playing rugby. Forwards win a rugby. Backs only decide by how much.[/b]

if you can't get the ball, you can't really expect to win.

and sure, it's not been the fluent running game, but that's why sevens is there.

The only side to combine the pack and the backs is South Africa, who only can claim so because Habana runs away from everyone except rookie Yanks to score. Otherwise, they're a side with a devistating bunch of fatties, a little gobshite scrum half in the shape of Du Prez, and finally Percy and James banging the ball downfield for the teratory.[/b]

is that envy or jealousy?

Flukes? What's that old saying? "The harder we work the luckier we seem to get".[/b]

hahahaha, good one...

it doesn't really matter what we say now, aus and nz are out. on any other day they would probably have won. on the dat that it mattered, they didn't...

 

[polonius]

right i know there has been a few epic games, and the minnows have caused a few upsets[/b]

Which upsets have these been, then? As far as I can see none of the minnows beat a superior side. Fiji are hardly minnows.

but has this really been the best rwc in terms of the quality of rugby that has been played. Im not just picking on england, but when a side as clueless and unimaginative as england get to the final then what does that say?[/b]

It says you might have to re-examine your opinions on England. "clueless and unimaginative"? - So a side which identifies its strength (their pack) and an opposition weakness (the Aussie front-row) and plays a game to suit, are "clueless and unimaginative"? I'd suggest this is a rather bright thing to do.

 

[loratadine]

tonga, doing so well was an upset in my eyes, as was georgia running the irish so close.

but all i mean is that you wtach an england game, and after 60 minutes you see that there only 2 pts down and your thinking how the f***ing hell have this happend.

johnny wilkinson is the best fh on this planet

 

[shtove]

Agree with lora - up until the Argentina 1/4 final it was building a head of steam. Gone flat since then. Here's hoping England can finally unlock their backs. Otherwise, it will have to, and better, be SA.

 

[O'Rothlain]

but new zealand on a good day could stick 40 pts on any team in the world [/b]

...but they didn't. Being the Best Team in The World, means being the best team in the world all the time, that's how you get the ***le "Best Team In The World." We have to take an honest look at who stepped up when it counted this year and then say, well, when it counted __________ were the best team in the world. Unfortunately, Ireland didn't step up fully as a team in any of their matches, so they are out. Teams like Georgia and Namibia (thanks to their one fan with an iPod who told them to prove their nation a great nation and smear it in the face of those lads at the TRF Podcast) did step up...they played their hearts out and it was brilliant. France beat NZ, because on that day they played hard, and New Zealand played laxidasically (sp). The best team in the world doesn't get lazy and over-confident. So, now we're down to two teams that I really don't care for: England and South Africa. I wouldn't have figured either of the two to make it to the final, especially England (and yes, Teh Mite, that's a wee bit of a dig). BUT they have and this shows that these two teams have stepped up when it counted (especially England). So, best World Cup Ever? We'll see, that last final is hard to beat.

 

[RoyalBlueStuey]

So if the miracle happens on Saturday and England to win it that'll mean we've won when we were the best team in the tournament AND won as one of the weakest in the knock-out stages.

Do you think we'll get any credit? Yeah right. It's funny how all this debate about it not being a very inspiring world cup has sprung up the very moment us Anglophiles started smiling.

 

[shtove]

It's funny how all this debate about it not being a very inspiring world cup has sprung up the very moment us Anglophiles started smiling. [/b]

Nah, it's pretty simple - to neutrals, Tonga's tries, Fiji's tries, Australia's tries, New Zealand's tries, South Africa's tries, France's tries, Wales' tries have been more memorable than England's ... try. How many have England scored?

 

[RoyalBlueStuey]

<div class='quotemain'> It's funny how all this debate about it not being a very inspiring world cup has sprung up the very moment us Anglophiles started smiling. [/b]

Nah, it's pretty simple - to neutrals, Tonga's tries, Fiji's tries, Australia's tries, New Zealand's tries, South Africa's tries, France's tries, Wales' tries have been more memorable than England's ... try. How many have England scored?

[/b][/quote]

Ah right....So you were under the impression it would be like 7s rugby. Oh dear.

If anti-English pettiness means you can't get swept away by a much maligned team coming together & defying the odds to triumph through sheer guts and determination then I really do feel sorry for you.

"Y'gotta know when to hold them. Know when to fold 'em...."

 

[skateboarder]

For me, the best World Cup ever was in 2003 or this current one in 2007. However, England entered the tournament in 2003 as favourites, and they won it. Surely going in as outsiders like they did this year and reaching the final is a greater achievement, therefore a better spectacle.

Rugby fans should be content with all of the World Cup tournaments there have been. None of them could have been more of a disaster than the Cricket World Cup earlier in the year.

 

[RoyalBlueStuey]

Rugby fans should be content with all of the World Cup tournaments there have been. None of them could have been more of a disaster than the Cricket World Cup earlier in the year. [/b]

*shudder*

Good point

 

[polonius]

<div class='quotemain'> It's funny how all this debate about it not being a very inspiring world cup has sprung up the very moment us Anglophiles started smiling. [/b]

Nah, it's pretty simple - to neutrals, Tonga's tries, Fiji's tries, Australia's tries, New Zealand's tries, South Africa's tries, France's tries, Wales' tries have been more memorable than England's ... try. How many have England scored?
[/b][/quote]

But it's not all about scoring memorable tries, is it? If it were so, the USA and Japan would be top of the tree.

Rugby is about far more than that and one of the key things is to play within the rules and be penalised if you don't do so.

I'm sure the English team would love to score more tries. Why don't they? Because the opposition continually and persistently infringe to stop them doing so. Don't blame England or Argentina for kicking the goals, blame the opposition who give away the penalties. Imagine a game where no-one went offside, no-one came into the rucks and mauls from the side, where no-one made a high tackle, no-one handled the ball in a ruck, no-one collapse a scrum or pulled down a maul. Sadly this will never happen as long as the points awarded for a successful penalty remain less than that for a try.

 

[RC]

In my opinion this world cup has not been one of the best.
Granted, it's had some great games, but if this world cup had to have a ***le it would probably be down as the most remarkable.
I mean come on, after the past few years, hell, after the first 2 games of the pool stages there aren't many people here that would have nodded in agreement at the following stats: -

Aus and NZ out in QF's
England through to final
Every team put a try on the New Zealanders.

That is nothing short of remarkable. The only thing people aren't surprised about is that Wales were in need of the Heimlich maneuver (once again) whilst facing an Islander team to get to the quarters; and your run of the mill minnows went home at the end of the pool stages.


But as far as the best RWC ever, well, i think that will be totally subjective.
The argies will probably see this as the best one ever; if the english go on to win (and god bless let's hope they do) they will probably rank this one higher than 03 - so it's a really difficult call.

All i know is, i really enjoyed it and my only regret is that we had a bunch of <strike>inbred chimpanzees</strike> inexperienced coaches and <strike>retarded window-lickers</strike> off-form players representing Wales.