Rugby Gilly

There was a little bit of justice in that though. I thought it was a bogus penalty against French after the Welsh forward on the ground who'd released the ball dragged it back away from the French forward.

I'm not sure justice comes into such things. Unless a burning sense of shame and unworthiness is in the mind of the kicker - which, to be honest, it rarely is in professional sport. (See Thierry Henry, etc etc) ~ What actually puts them off is rather a cacophony of jeering, if anything.

I'm not sure how far it is true to say Wales were unlucky. ...

You can argue about the red card - it certainly gravely affected the game, and Welsh chances. However, by dint of immense effort, especially by the forwards (and quite a bit of weak play by their opponents - once again: I am sure this was NOT because the French felt guilty or whatever, but because France have only had one good game all tournament ), Wales made plenty of chances, which they failed to take. The standoff missed the conversion of the try, which he should have kicked - and for some reason, the same player plainly didn't fancy the drop which was crying out with 4/5 minutes to go.

Halfpenny, whom I rate, WAS a bit unlucky with his kick - to fall just under the bar from 60 metres is good direction and a fair whack, though sadly just short of enough oomph to win the game.

I am not sure Wales are unlucky - but on the other hand, I am convinced France were massively fortunate.

Perhaps I would qualify that by saying the Welsh FORWARDS were unfortunate.

Faletau in particular. A massive game.

skully wrote:There was a little bit of justice in that though. I thought it was a bogus penalty against French after the Welsh forward on the ground who'd released the ball dragged it back away from the French forward.

It's a bit like getting the thinnest nick skully. Umpires/refs decisions go for and against you, but I do get what you mean.

Right, how to fill in the next 6.5 hours?

Phillip Island from 2:30 I see. Can I go to the pub & come back ......... I'll give it a try...............

Baseball on now into the MotoGP where Stoner just needs to stay on his bike to win the world title into the RL test into the RU Gilly.

Great day all round. Shame I have the kids while Mrs K is off shopping.

Here's what happened to Stoner's rival Lorenzo in practice.

The whole Grandstand program is based around the Rugby today. Consensus from fans, critics etc. is that this is the best staged RWC.

The quality of the rugby has been pretty average though.

Agree, too much reliance on penalties at the business end coupled with some problematic refereeing.

JGK wrote:Here's what happened to Stoner's rival Lorenzo in practice.

As a result of losing that finger, Lorenzo is out and Casey only has to finish in the top 6 to take the Championship. Tough "break" for the Spaniard.

Red wrote:Agree, too much reliance on penalties at the business end coupled with some problematic refereeing.

The same as every other WC then.

Yeah, it becomes very formulaic when the heat is on. The Frogs became very mechanical v the Welsh last night, but as they say, "It's not how, it's how many".

The quality running rugby may tend to dry up, but the knockout stages of the World Cup rarely disappoint in terms of nail-biting close matches. So often they seem to go right down to the final whistle before we know the winner.

ABs dominant but Wannabees hanging on grimly at 14-6. Classy first half from Blecks. Aus looks a bit shellshocked and Quade Cooper ordinary again.

Aus will need a miracle in the 2nd half to make the Final.

we suck!

Way too many fundamental errors from Aus. Only some poor passes and handling from the Blecks is keeping us in the game. We need a converted try quickly to have any chance.

You could tell after five minutes that we were struggling big time. Up against it last week too but luckily for us the Springboks are no ABs.

Congrats NZ. Even they will struggle to choke this one up I think.

Congrats to the Blecks. Too big, too strong, too talented. Aus needed to play the perfect game to win and were nowhere near it. Bad start with a kick out on the full and it was behind the 8-ball stuff from that point. Quade Cooper should be shot. That is all.

Great win by the ABs. They flogged us.

I now want them to beat France by 60.

Mick Sawyer wrote:Great win by the ABs. They flogged us.

I now want them to beat France by 60.

You're not alone.

It's the 87 Gilly all over again.

Christ JGK, every time you update your avatar I age another 2 years...

How old is she now?

At the end of the pool rounds, who'd have thought the Frogs would still be there?

I read that their coach has been at some of them again, this time for celebrating after the game. When a journalist pointed out that a couple of drinks after a narrow victory is, well, not too unreasonable, he said yes - but when they won their quarterfinal in 2007 they partied for four days...