All Blacks score the winner
Lads in Australia scarves laughing and cheering
Like going to the theatre for a night out
Apt way to finish the game. Australia’s handling has been shocking all day.
Number 8 for Australia
Jesus, those Aussies are fierce slow.
Thought Australia should have gone for a drop goal when the clock got to around 77 minutes. Would have made it a one score game and they possibly would have had one last chance to force extra-time. As it was New Zealand were much the better team.
Three decisions stuck the c®aw a bit however. Forward pass in the build up to the penalty that put them 6-3 up, non-sending off of Smith and failure to give the penalty for the high tackle by Kaino.
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Final standings
1 New Zealand
2 Australia
3 South Africa
4 Argentina
5 France
6 Scotland
7 Wales
8 Ireland
9 England
Is that official
Yes
Thought we did better than France in fairness
I suppose France going out to eventual winners boosted their position whilst Argentina’s performances post the Ireland game didn’t help heroic and brave Ireland.
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Doesnt really matter at the end of the day. Feel sorry for the Scots though.
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All Blacks look about as excited as Kilkenny after an All Ireland final to have won this.
Webb Ellis will be fucked into the boot of the bus on the way back to the hotel.
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Nonu will flog it for Coke before the night is out
Australia looked jaded from the off today. Having to peak in the pool stages in late September/early October was a factor there. New Zealand dominate rugby to an extent that has few parallels in any other sport. They should have been picking up 7 from 8 today instead of a meagre 3 from 8. Australia were the best side in 1991 - New Zealand through a combination of bad luck/complacency/choking messed it up every time from 1995-2007 when they were probably the best side on each occasion.
Bottom line is if you’re going to beat them, you need almost everything to go right. Australia needed their A game today but were dead on their feet from the start. They did hang in there manfully for long periods but a huge 4 minutes before half time and then just after half time, when New Zealand stretched it out from 6-3 to 16-3 courtesy of 10 points which shouldn’t have been awarded 3 (forward pass), 7 (accidental offside) and then holding onto their full compliment just after half time when Ben Smith should have been red carded for a spear tackle, were just huge.
Would have been interesting to see how New Zealand would have reacted if they were only coming out 6-3 after half time after all that territorial dominance. That was the pattern in the 2003 semi final when New Zealand dominated early in the game, failed to put points on the board and then buckled under the pressure.
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Fixtures certainly worked against Australia with the two tough pool matches at the end, even having one day less rest from the semi-final worked against them. Two injuries in the first half didn’t help either. New Zealand have suffered less from injuries than any team in this tournament.
I would like to see something done about the way fixtures are arranged in future tournaments and have it completely random, ie. done by draw for all non-first seeded teams, as happens in major association football tournaments, rather than having the glamour fixtures automatically fixed for the weekends.
Re New Zealand choking in previous tournaments, for me they were the best team in 1995 and 2007 for sure. 1999 is debatable. 2003 England were best.
Overall I think it’s been an excellent and thoroughly entertaining tournament. Flair has won out and that’s to the benefit of the game in general.
Well they were poisoned in '95 after all
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Rugby football isn’t a matter of life or death, it’s much, much more important than that.
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Its been a terrific six weeks of rugby and its really whetted the appetite for the big one in two years time when the British Lions tour the Land of the Long White Cloud.
Very busy thread too.
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How good am I? Knowing nothing about rugby and yet stunningly picking the winer from the off. How many of you did that eh, eh?
OK, all of you.