RWC 2015 Final - Australia v New Zealand, Twickenham, Sunday 1 November, 3:00 AEDT

[Joe Blow]

Nigel Owens didn't throw it into the lineout , slip tackles or drop the ball. He also didn't make the All Black players more skilled, which they quite simply happen to be.

I guess it hurts so it's natural that people would complain but Owens did not cost Aus the game. Not even remotely.

No he didn't blue. What he did do was aid the All Blacks momentum in the first half when they certainly did not need any help. A clearly forward pass, an accidental obstruction, a holding onto the pill penalty and a few other non-calls that could have stuttered their progress and prevented maybe 10 odd points.

They were the best side on the day and deserve their win but Owens had a poor first half. We cannot complain too much as we have had our fair share of receiving the rub of the green in this RWC.

 

[Dave Beat]

If Owens re watched and self assesses accurately im pretty sure it'll be a 4 out 10 based on GAGR player assessment.

 

[galumay]

Absolutely wonderful display of the highest quality rugby by what is clearly still the best team in the world. COngratulations to the AB's.

We were simply blown off the park by an accurate team, with a clever game plan to mitigate our strengths, playing at the peak of their ability.

We managed to score just 3 points when it was 15 on 15, thats a measure of their dominance.

Disappointing to see the whingers critisising NO for his refereeing, and blaming the outcome at least partially on him. Fact is the Wobblies are still not in the same class as this AB's team. There is no shame in that, Cheika has closed the gap considerably and the team did us proud.

It was a magnificent effort to make it to the final with so many good wins, winning games we have found a way to lose in recent times. Lots to look forward to I suspect.

I rarely criticise Richie MacCaw, but one thing I have critisised him for previously is his failure to even acknowledge the opposition team in his post match interview. It takes away from all the positives about the man, pity I will remember him for that as his last action on a rugby field.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

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[Inside Shoulder]

Wow the last thing I expected was there to be this much ref bashing, sure the obvious excuse brigade blaming the ref from the same peeps but certainly not to this extent.
Poor form, well played AB's, poor handeling, missed tackles and generally outplayed at the Lineout lost you the game.

you should more carefully.
As far as I can see no one is attributing the loss to the ref.
And it's fair o say the each questionable decision would have led to a different sequence of events that would have seen the ABs prevail.
The point of the whinging about the ref is to get people to look at what is going on so that Owens is kept away from big games - simply because he is crap.
They hung Joubert out to dry for far less cos he wasn't from a home union.
And if Barnes should have gone to the TMO for AACs bounce pass try last week what does that say about this week.
But not a peep - because the favourite won.

 

[whatty]

The point of the whinging about the ref is to get people to look at what is going on so that Owens is kept away from big games - simply because he is crap.
.

I rest my case.

 

[Omar Comin']

The ref bashing is a bit embarrassing. A handful of fairly minor calls went against us in that first half. They weren't calls that led directly to points. Every ref makes similar calls and similar mistakes in every single game of rugby ever played.

For mine:

Forward pass - looked forward, but Owens queried Barnes about it and Barnes was in a better position than he was (and for that matter, the camera). Looks bad because of momentum and because Milner-Skudder was tackled back immediately after passing. Referees are aware of this though. Was maybe slightly forward out of the hands, but not hugely so, otherwise it wouldn't have gone to chest. I'd say it was a mistake, but the forward pass didn't make Genia give away a stupid and needless penalty at the next ruck. That's what cost us 3 points.

Accidental obstruction - had no impact on any defender whatsoever. Hooper made the tackle easily. Would have been a pedantic call as it had no material effect. Without considering material effect there'd be 50 penalties blown in every match.

Holding onto the pill before the first try - possibly, but he could easily have pinged Fardy for not supporting his body weight, and he was cleaned out fairly quickly. Fardy won a penalty earlier for the same thing when he was not supporting his body weight. These are 50/50 calls.

He missed a knock on near halfway a little before that first try too, but the All Blacks kicked the ball through and we then kicked it out to half way under no chase pressure. It's not like they knocked it on and then immediately made a 30 metre break that led to a try.

These are all pretty small calls that people are blowing up out of proportion because NZ subsequently made a good play to score.

Before all this Kepu was arguably lucky not to be yellow carded after smashing Carter in the face a couple of minutes after he hit him late. There's hundreds of these 'what if' situations in every game.

 

[drewprint]

Replay is on now, haka just completed. Didn't realise the throat slit was back.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

I rest my case.

By selective quoting.
Top case that.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

The ref bashing is a bit embarrassing. A handful of fairly minor calls went against us in that first half. They weren't calls that led directly to points. Every ref makes similar calls and similar mistakes in every single game of rugby ever played.

For mine:

Forward pass - looked forward, but Owens queried Barnes about it and Barnes was in a better position than he was (and for that matter, the camera). Looks bad because of momentum and because Milner-Skudder was tackled back immediately after passing. Referees are aware of this though. Was maybe slightly forward out of the hands, but not hugely so, otherwise it wouldn't have gone to chest. I'd say it was a mistake, but the forward pass didn't make Genia give away a stupid and needless penalty at the next ruck. That's what cost us 3 points.

Accidental obstruction - had no impact on any defender whatsoever. Hooper made the tackle easily. Would have been a pedantic call as it had no material effect. Without considering material effect there'd be 50 penalties blown in every match: an unsuitability identified by kiwis he selves prior to the match.

Holding onto the pill before the first try - possibly, but he could easily have pinged Fardy for not supporting his body weight, and he was cleaned out fairly quickly. Fardy won a penalty earlier for the same thing when he was not supporting his body weight. These are 50/50 calls.

He missed a knock on near halfway a little before that first try too, but the All Blacks kicked the ball through and we then kicked it out to half way under no chase pressure. It's not like they knocked it on and then immediately made a 30 metre break that led to a try.

These are all pretty small calls that people are blowing up out of proportion because NZ subsequently made a good play to score.

Before all this Kepu was arguably lucky not to be yellow carded after smashing Carter in the face a couple of minutes after he hit him late. There's hundreds of these 'what if' situations in every game.

It is purely by luck that the result would have been no different had a competent ref been appointed.
Th right result was achieved despite Owens' unsuitability to the task.

 

[Dctarget]

I'll try and find it later when I have the time, but the moment that I will remember from this game happened sometime late in the 1st half I think.

Pocock and Hooper both joint pilfered, they were in great body position, the camera man had a beautiful shot of them, the Pooper doing what it does best. Got me a bit excited to say the least.

 

[pjm]

Forward pass - looked forward, but Owens queried Barnes about it and Barnes was in a better position than he was (and for that matter, the camera). Looks bad because of momentum and because Milner-Skudder was tackled back immediately after passing. Referees are aware of this though. Was maybe slightly forward out of the hands, but not hugely so, otherwise it wouldn't have gone to chest. I'd say it was a mistake, but the forward pass didn't make Genia give away a stupid and needless penalty at the next ruck. That's what cost us 3 points.

Momentum only works that much when you are at a full sprint, they weren't moving that fast. Genia wasn't even offside when he dove and tackled the half back.

Accidental obstruction - had no impact on any defender whatsoever. Hooper made the tackle easily. Would have been a pedantic call as it had no material effect. Without considering material effect there'd be 50 penalties blown in every match.

It had every impact. The Wallabies had two more defenders impeded which could of won the ruck.

He missed a knock on

He missed several NZ knock ons.

Before all this Kepu was arguably lucky not to be yellow carded after smashing Carter in the face a couple of minutes after he hit him late. There's hundreds of these 'what if' situations in every game.

Kepu launched himself before the ball had left Carter's hands. Intent to pass does not mean anything when you can dummy.

 

[Omar Comin']

Momentum only works that much when you are at a full sprint, they weren't moving that fast. Genia wasn't even offside when he dove and tackled the half back.

Rubbish, momentum works when you're going forward, they were going forward at a reasonable pace.

It had every impact. The Wallabies had two more defenders impeded which could of won the ruck.

Please. It didn't stop anyone from being able to get to the ruck. Watch it again, it's the most minor knock into your own player you'll see and the tackle was made basically simultaneously.

Kepu launched himself before the ball had left Carter's hands. Intent to pass does not mean anything when you can dummy.

It wasn't so much the launch, it was driving right through the tackle well after it had been passed that got him pinged. I think it was a fair call. And the 2nd one was an arm to the face. Kepu also smashed McCaw high and with dubious use of arms after he made the final pass for that first try. Could have been yellowed easily.

 

[cyclopath]

I think everyone should cool down about the reffing.
I'm sure the pass was forward (out of the hands) but these happen, and there was a knock on missed and plenty of those happen, and at the time I was pissed off about them (certainly mentioned it on Twitter), but as Omar says, Kepu pretty lucky not to be carded, and I'm sure we'd have fared worse with 14 men!
BUT - we were simply beaten by a better side playing better rugby, and the relentless harping just sounds sour. The better team won and won clearly.
Time to move on in this thread.
I will invoke Rule 10 if people feel the need to keep going in circles.

 

[pjm]

I see you are delusional and that any further conversation would be a waste of my time.

 

[Omar Comin']

It is purely by luck that the result would have been no different had a competent ref been appointed.
The right result was achieved despite Owens' unsuitability to the task.

Yeah alright, you know better than all the refereeing adjudicators and commentators who believe Owens is the best ref in the world.

A lot of the best test matches of the past few years have been played under Owens. That's no coincidence - he communicates well and favours the attacking team fairly consistently. There were no surprises and for mine he's a good ref.

 

[teach]

For mine:

Forward pass - looked forward, but Owens queried Barnes about it and Barnes was in a better position than he was (and for that matter, the camera). Looks bad because of momentum and because Milner-Skudder was tackled back immediately after passing. Referees are aware of this though. Was maybe slightly forward out of the hands, but not hugely so, otherwise it wouldn't have gone to chest. I'd say it was a mistake, but the forward pass didn't make Genia give away a stupid and needless penalty at the next ruck. That's what cost us 3 points.

Barnes seems to panic in big game situations. Not the first time he has done that. He sometimes seems unwilling to make a big call, or he makes a shocker.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

I'll try and find it later when I have the time, but the moment that I will remember from this game happened sometime late in the 1st half I think.

Pocock and Hooper both joint pilfered, they were in great body position, the camera man had a beautiful shot of them, the Pooper doing what it does best. Got me a bit excited to say the least.

Thought Hooper was the main bloke that won the holding on penalty for The Men In Gold.

Just been on the Foxtel Replay then. Game time - 38:02. ?? (Edit: Thought the game time was 38:02 but that wasn't the time).

 

[Omar Comin']

I see you are delusional and that any further conversation would be a waste of my time.

No, I just try to look at things objectively, not with one golden eye. Rugby is always down to interpretations and I suggest you should have more respect for those that differ to your own.

I think it's just bad sportsmanship to complain so thoroughly about every 50/50 call and minor refereeing mistake in a rugby match. There's dozens of calls and non-calls that could be debated in every game, and this game was not decided by the referee.

 

[drewprint]

Geez I think losing Douglas at the 15 minute mark was massive. He's almost been my fav player of the tournament.