Well done to the Kiwis and best wishes to their fans to whom the RWC is so important to them - as a nation.
They were far too good for us. It was a bit like the 1st half at Eden Park last time - they were irrepressible and they made us look like any other wannabee team when they play them. They wanted it more and it showed. To be fair I thought the Wobs would be affected by the mental and physical effort from the week before, and wrote to that effect, but that is the challenge you get in a RWC and you have to overcome that if you want to win the thing.
The Blacks were superior across the park whereas the Aussies, even taking into account the class of their opponents on the night, showed a lack of skill, and grunt in the physical contest as we see time after time. The Wobs won a game last week with similar drawbacks but the Blacks are a better team than the Boks and Oz was never going to escape as the South Africans let them.
Well done for young Cruden for how he played. I saw him at ANZ last year and he had an unhappy night but he rose above it. MOTM Jane has also had some bad days, even this year, but he also rose above that and was a colossus. Who would have thought that long haired hippy looking guy I saw for the Wellington Academy at TG Milner about 6 years ago would go so far?
The poor skill the Wobs showed last night was almost breathtaking in it's regularity. It was only when they had a go that the freedom of it permeated the whole team and meat and potatoes stuff which was simple, became simple for them. Cleanouts, passing and catching the ball, being alert for unexpected stuff and most other things, became possible and it transferred mental pressure to the other side - but oh, too briefly.
It was brief because the right to do it was not earned. The old bugbear for Wallaby teams, their forwards not showing up to get at least parity in power and in timeliness of effort, has plagued our rugby for over 50 years. There are technical deficiencies also, particularly at scrum time. There is also doziness.
The frustrating thing is that we have too many days like at Eden Park this time and last time, at Twickenham on the EOYT, and in the RSA until recently, and even against Ireland a few weeks ago. One could understand it if we didn't have top physical and mental games against the same opponents from time to time, but we do.
The Wobs look like a poorly coached side last night but the same coaches prepared them when they won 3N.
I have been disappointed in the performance of the Wallabies in this tournament notwithstanding that they were the youngest team at the RWC and got to the semi. I said before the comp that they should do well next time but they hardly played a good game this time, though their opening game against Italy was decent.
I doubt if many teams would have withheld the Kiwis last night and the Wobs should at least be given credit for keeping the score down. Even if the Wobs had played their best it probably wouldn't have sufficed. Sometimes you have to take your hat off and recognise an outstanding performance.
The 6 teams that have been knocked out will all rue that France is in the final because they are better teams. And they would also be thinking that they could win it if they had a chance to play France. Well, that may be true but is whimsy. You have to win the games that matter.
I thought Joubert has a splendid game. I haven't read any of the other posts, deliberately, and no doubt their are some criticisms. Sure like any other ref he missed things for both sides but he was superb. I thought that he and the other young ref, Barnes, were the best refs on the planet before the RWC and during the tournament he has superseded the Pom.
I didn't read any rugby stuff today before I wrote this, and the ref for the RWC final may already be appointed, but if not, I hope he gets the gig.
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