Most impressive team?

[Bullitt]

Only you bloody aussies who <strike>want Union to be changed into League</strike> don't understand that Forwards have to ruck and maul in rugby.

 

[RC]

Surprised is different then impressed, I was surprised by England but I was hardly impressed...and I think it is well known many think the same.... [/b]

How can you not be impressed by a team that gets to the world cup final when some said they would barely make it out of the pool stages?
I mean, yeah, they might not have played attractive rugby, but considering their circumstances, considering how limited their team was, it's a hell of an achievement in my eyes. I was very impressed with the team morale; the fact that so many of the veterans put their hands up and took the weight on their shoulders; how the team closed down other serious threats (Aus & France anyone?) to make the game their own. I mean this was an England who - after winning the world cup 4 years earlier - had a horrific win-lose ratio considering they were world champs.

I'm not sure if it's bitterness on your behalf as an Australian and losing at their hands in a style that you would not have wanted to lose; i'm not sure if it's just you'd never want to give England the credit when it's due...but to say they didn't impress?

Seems a bit petty to me, that's all.

 

[Hamster]

ARgentina.. no questions.

Then Fiji.. added some life into the wc, loved there two matches against Wales and SA, beating one and so close to beating the other.. love watching them play. And Tonga too impressed me, they have some really good players.

Georgia nearly gave me dad (hes Irish) a heart attack.. wouldve been the same in the cricket (Ireland beating Pakistan) if Georgia won. Ireland were no doubt the biggest disapointment of the wc, beat team with the best chance ever, played crap compared to there performances in the 6 nations earlier in the year and didnt even make the QF when a chance of the semis and possibly final..

 

[Brodizzle]

Don't get me wrong, credit where credit is due, they played with the hard headedness which the English team often does, if news from your end hadn't been so dim on the English teams prospects then such a result would have seemed a pretty good possibility, all teams USUALLY lift a few levels above what they usually do...despite the truth in it all I know down this side of the world we saw the England threat as Wilkinson...and he was injured most of the time between the cups, look at the difference during the world cup when he played and when he didn't....it was always a possibility that England, with thier talismanic Wilkinson on the field would knock off a Wallabies team that no one expected to have any real chance of winning the thing(despite what our idiot media would try to drum up) and to win against France, well it's the French, who knows how they are going to play....

I think the more impressive teams are the teams such as Fiji, Tonga and Argentina. Tonga got smashed by Samoa in world cup qualifiers and the progress of Argentina since the last world cup has been astounding...

 

[Marco]

Argentina was really surprising. England too.

 

[sambãd5]

for me, the most impressive team was the pumas. you think how they have been shafted over the years and to get 3rd.

yes also to england since they were written off by everyone too.

however, if you were to ask who made the world cup. it would be a very close toss up between georga, fiji, tonga and chabal

 

[HarryPeters]

Argentina for me, what a great tournament by their standards.

 

[Stillknox]

Argentina, especially after the game versus Ireland. They were nearly perfect on this one...

 

[popdistortion]

In general the Pacific teams played really well, of course Argentina was the biggest surprise but England as well simply because no one expected them to get that far in the first place. Was a really great RWC.