RWC 2011: THE FINAL!!! France vs. New Zealand

[TRF Mr Fish]

We saw it the first time....

Weird, I don't remember posting it before...

 

[Bazzy]

Not posting any negatives about the match today, we finally are the champions! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

Credit to the French though, they were brilliant. It was very much a worthy final.

Queen Street has been going crazy for the last couple of hours , feel sorry for the guys who have to clean it up.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

He did a lot of work on defence, he would have had close to the highest tackle count and he came on in about the 35th minute.
Donald was all over the park on defence

He made 11 which was joint 2nd (with McCaw), behind Dusautoir/Servat with 12 each

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

He made 11 which was joint 2nd (with McCaw), behind Dusautoir/Servat with 12 each

Sky Sport said Dusautoir had made 19 tackles at one point - you'd think there'd be some sort of similarity between the two stats... Sigh

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Weird, I don't remember posting it before...

Sorry, must've seen it elsewhere :lol:

Sky Sport said Dusautoir had made 19 tackles at one point - you'd think there'd be some sort of similarity between the two stats... Sigh

Aye, that rings a bell - I took these from ESPN, so they could well be wrong, but they're all from the same site, so at least there will be some consistency player to player on what they counted as a tackle or whatever

 

[ZeFrenchy]

He made 11 which was joint 2nd (with McCaw), behind Dusautoir/Servat with 12 each

French TV showed Dusautoir with 21 with five minutes to go... ESPN always shows a surprinsingly low number of tackles, I guess that's where you're getting those from.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Maybe ESPN only count 1v1 tackles, and discount ones where another player joins in?

Shame Sky/BBC/anyone else don't do a stats view like ESPN do, as it's interesting to see, though ESPNs seems flawed

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

I wonder if they say anywhere what they count as a tackle - it's a bit ridiculous to see how different the counts are.

But yeah, Olyy, as long as they're from the same site they're comparable!

 

[Sam Owen]

Everybody!!! Come and live in nz right now!!!

 

[merlinux]

Everybody!!! Come and live in nz right now!!!

no thank you but congratz anyway

 

[shtove]

For New Zealands try, does no one else think that France's first jumper was pulled down before/ just as the ball was thrown in?

Shouldn't have left such a gap, but I'd like to see it again.

Not sure. Something happened. After the score Henry had a look that said, Right off the training ground.

 

[jaunard06]

They did play Wales with a man advantage and just won. That's the only real difference.

I believe you just missed my point: France should also have got, at least for ten minutes, that man advantage in this game ! But that's rugby, sometimes refereeing goes on your side, sometimes not. The referee is part of the game and you have to deal with it, France should just have put even more pressure in the end but the ABs defended really well.

 

[Larksea]

crazy game, I honestly dont really know what to think. I guess the french do have a case to be unhappy with the ref but I dont believe the bad calls were as one sided as people say the all blacks got stiffed by some bad calls too. The reality is it was a very even game and the players play the scoreboard and the All Blacks defended their hearts out and did what they had to do to win.

The strange thing for the All Blascks was how their stars who were expected to dominate the game didn't really fire. Weepu in particular, he's done a lot of good things for NZ over the last couple of years but this may go down as one of the worst games of his test carrier. He made some nice plays tonight but his kicking for goal was shocking, he fluffed a kickoff and who knows what the heck he was trying to do when he flicked the ball which ended in a french try. But he wasn't the only one, Kaino was very quiet, he took an injury out of last weeks game and I think he was still carrying it tonight, Mealamu wasn't great either and his lineout struggled. Been strange to see Nonu and Smith have a number of quiet games.

But some players did stand up. Dagg was good, Kahui was very good, Read was massive, McCaw was everywhere but the man of the momment for the All Blacks was Stephen Donald. Honestly I hoped donald would get on and get a chance for redemption but ~50min? After Cruden went off injured with Weepu struggleing? Donald came on and was arguably the most composed player on the field wearing black. Leaped at the chance to take points and they ended up being match winning points. I've said it for a long time that Donald is the only 10 in NZ who can come on and Defend at the same level as carter does and I believe he proved that tonight. Fantastic performance and it's a shame he wasn't on kicking goals earlier.

You can hate Donald all you want but he now has a big chunk of gold hanging around his neck and it wasn't as a passenger or a bit player or bench player in this team he was absolutely key in this victory. And for me, a guy who's tried to convince everyone of his quality. Read my sig. His performance was as good as the team vicory for me. Even better is that his story will now go down in NZ and world sporting history for his performance during the most important 60min in NZ sporting history.

 

[merlinux]

Ive never felt so happy after a world cup defeat ... I hope we keep it up. hank god for the top 14 that can keep bringing in world class players

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Just looked on Youtube for the Woodock try,
Look at how T-D gets the ball for his break before Dusautoirs try: Piri Weepu chips it right to his hands :lol: - Cooky: Is the ball not out when Rougerie kicks it? It looks like the players whos feet it was under (to still be in the ruck) falls away just leaving Nonu there about to pass the ball, so Rougerie kicked it. I don't know a massive amount about ruck laws though, so I could be well wrong, but I'd have said the ruck was over then






For Woodcocks try Read blocks Harinorodquoy and another 1 or two French players, however rather than a full on block it's more a clever running line - he's running in support of Woodock and just happens to go right in front of where the front lifting pod would need to go to make the tackle - very smart
This is the best clip i've found, and it's terrible quality, I had to watch the first few seconds a few times to see it:

 

[groga]

I hope we keep it up. hank god for the top 14 that can keep bringing in world class players

Yep you play the best you become the best.

 

[ZeFrenchy]

I don't think NZ did anything illegal in Woodcock's try. It was our fault for contesting in two possitions (thus involving six players) five meters awy from our tryline. That's a tactical mistake that even schoolboys don't do.

 

[Aout]

Congratz to NZ.

Did you guys have the same feeling that Yachvili's penalty kick was IN ? There was no replay on the TV (which is quite strange). Anyone who has access to the game video could confirm it was/wasn't between the uprights please ?

 

[merlinux]

Yep you play the best you become the best.

Was exactely what I was thinking I have to go to bed and face work tomorrow. Wished we d win this one but arg!, it went the kiwi way. Take care everyone and all of u kiwis enjoy ur win. I know how it feels like, I was 18 when we won the soccer world cup and it is one of the best moment of my life Never I will forget the party we had. Some say sport is meaningless, but it is still one of those things that gives you upright joy.
good night

 

[dragnetter]

if everyone is saying the french deserved to win then...uh then south africa shoulda played nz and not ozzie in the semi and wales should have been in the final...come on ppl its over , done and dusted...finito they lost nz won!