Haakon, I'm sure he had the time to pull up once the ball went dead. I'm always suspicious when the same player always has incidents, there's a point where it's no longer believable that actions are accidental.
But as a well known rugby philosopher once said, "Rugby is a tough game, if you don't like it go buy a tutu."
As for who I support:
1: South Africa
2: Argentina
3: Australia
4: Any scrappy underdog
5: Anyone that isn't NZ or England
Yeah, we didn't play well. The third quarter nearly did it for Wales. All due credit to them.
Hougaard saved our asses.
The USA played really well, they defended like Trojans. A bit too static on attack though. I think Ireland didn't look too bad, most of the bigger teams have had nervous first games.
*edit*
Concerned about Devilliers and Matfield being taken off.
So far I've been thoroughly enjoying the games. Russia/USA was entertaining. The better team won but Russia made a good account of themselves on debut.
I'm so happy with the shrinking gaps between the various teams. I don't see Japan conceding 100 points in a game again, but that theory is going to be tested tomorrow when they face New Zealand again. South Africa/Fiji is going to be a good one, a few changes have been forced by injury and will have interesting consequences.
And it seems that the citing commissioner agreed with me about Lawes' 'tackle' on Mario Ledesma.
England lock Courtney Lawes was handed a two-match suspension on Tuesday after being found guilty by an independent citing commission of striking Argentina hooker Mario Ledesma with his knee.The punishment means Lawes will miss England's World Cup matches against Georgia and Romania in Dunedin on September 18 and 24 respectively, but will be free to play the final Pool B contest against old rivals Scotland on October 1.
The incident happened during England's 13-9 victory over the South Americans in their opening World Cup match in Dunedin on Saturday.
Ledesma initially appeared to have been knocked out cold after the 22-year-old Lawes slid into the Argentine's head after the hooker had been tackled into touch near the try-line.
However, the Pumas forward recovered quickly to resume playing after receiving treatment.
A two match suspension seems suitable.
I don't see Japan conceding 100 points in a game again, but that theory is going to be tested tomorrow when they face New Zealand again.
Ouch, not quite half time and it's 38-0. Looks like I may be very wrong. Japan is cracking.
Springboks destroyed Fiji.
Aus v Ire about to start. The highlight of the pool.
The Boks were freaking magnificent. Even our scrum was impressive and it stayed good once we had loose forwards playing at lock. Every player put his hands up.
Fiji weren't even that bad, just outplayed at every point.
Ireland and Australia looking pretty even now, and the Aussies were one of my danger teams.
f*ck YOU QUADE COOPER YOU STUPID SHOWBOATING FOOL!!
God damn idiot.
Great forward pressure from the Irish all night and the Wobblies wilted.
That was a turn up for the books. The Irish did very much turn up ready to play though.
The problem is we can't seem to put weaker teams to the sword and for me that's the sign of a really good team. South Africa did that to Fiji today and considering Fiji aren't a bad side at all it bodes very well for the Boks.
Something I was particularly impressed by. South Africa has the tendency to take the foot off the gas against weaker sides, New Zealand is the one team that really annihilates weak teams as expected. We also tend to relax when we have a lead, but we played the full 80 today and that looks ominous for the other teams.
The Wallabies looked totally flat, the Irish played good old fashioned Union and out-muscled them. I know the Irish were considered to be out of the running before the tournament, but they are a team that plays tournament rugby well and I thought they would bounce back after a jittery first round game.
While I have a preference for Southern teams I was still pleased to see Ireland do well.
Yeah! Take that America!
Today will answer my burning question. 'With strict reffing at the breakdown can New Zealand win a game against strong opposition without cheating?'
*edit*
Jesus! 19-0 at 22 minutes.
Not as one-sided as it looked...the french had a number of chances but were particularly lax in converting them, and the Chokers had to work a bit harder than they would have liked against a team which was not at full strength.
The Frogs looked quite decent on attack, but their defence was seriously lacking. NZ could just counter at will.
Didn't watch the England Romania game, but it sounds like England managed to put together a complete performance.
With the Aussie performance yesterday the quarters look like they're going to be tough.
The Frogs looked quite decent on attack, but their defence was seriously lacking. NZ could just counter at will.
Didn't watch the England Romania game, but it sounds like England managed to put together a complete performance.
With the Aussie performance yesterday the quarters look like they're going to be tough.
pfft - We are still crap.
While I hope you're right Bruce I'm not writing anyone off yet. The USA did help us out by breaking a number of Aussie players though.
I need a trip to the physio after watching the SA/Samoa game. It was brutal. I think samoa was lucky to escape carding earlier.
Disappointed in how we played too, still too many handling errors.
Good game for a neutral. I was pleased to see Samoa push hard in the second half, as I really enjoy watching Samoa play in a broken field.
The red card itself was something of a joke, from where I was sitting. Not a particularly fair representation by the line judge. There was at least one clear punch to the face from the Saffer to Williams, and the Samoan's was more of a open-handed push that caused a larger man to fall over. Wasn't impressed with the reffing in this game, really.
All said, though, working at home on a Friday during the World Cup for the proverbial win!
The french game confused the crap oit of me at the end. The Frogs could have won with 5 minutes left, but kept going for the pushover. It looked like they didn't want to win.
I've never seen a wing so depressed to score a try.
And regarding the red card yesterday, Samoa spent most of their energy trying to provoke a fight, the cards should have come out earlier, the ref finally decided to take action.
As Axon says, Brussow was within his rights to try break out of interference. Hitting someone in the face is verboten.
I was hoping for a nice upset from Scotland, was not to be though.
*edit*
Just saw the news that Francois Steyn is out of the tournament with a shoulder injury. He's been great on the field, and we'll miss the 60 metre goal kicking option.
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