Re: Rugby Union
 

Here, here!!

Re: Rugby Union
 

But every other country does it - can you imagine the French commentators not mentioning their chances in the final if they'd won last night? Admittedly there is a difference with itv covering the UK and not just England but even so, if Wales or Scotland were the team in the final I'm sure the commentators would be talking about them.

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Don't be so sure about that.

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Well I don't think we'll ever know the answer to that one will we. :LOL:

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I see the moaning buggers are out in force again, it's just like the football world cup all over again. :D

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Yes, but its not been about the final, their first match had a descriptive clip of each England player....all the other UK teams and Ireland just got the usual positional graphic.

Greenwood took every opportunity to mention England where he could. OK, so its his first time, but I hope someone in ITV has picked this up and told him to cool off a bit....which he did appear to do in the second half.

He can do all the gushing he likes in the final, I don't care, nor will the rest of the UK.

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Doesn't mean that it's right though, does it?

I mean, I turn on to watch South Africa v Argentina and all I get is them talking about a different match???

Like I said, if they have a highlights match, that's where they should be discussing it. If I wanted a rerun, I would have taped the England match and watched that over and over again.

My opinion is not based on any argument between fans, it is based on the fact that I have decided to watch a specific match and I want the commentators to discuss that match, not a previous game.

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So you're watching the semi-final of the world cup in the UK, one of the home nations playing the winner, and you're moaning about them mentioning England?

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Perhaps it's not just them mentioning England but the way they're being mentioned, forgetting their supposed impartiality?

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I am actually English, so obviously this isn't an opposing fan issue, is it?

Yes, whoever wins in the match, they will be playing England in the next match. Not this one.

My point is that if I want to watch any match, whether it be Rugby, Football or Tiddlywinks, I want them commentating on that match, not doing a full match analysis of a previous match.

How many times did they mention England? Was is it once, twice? Did the mention of England end up in 30 minute discussion of the fitness of Johnny Wilkinson?

I do realise that I have more chance of seeing a squadron of pigs taking off from Manchester airport under their own power, than to see any commentator not ramble on about rubbish, but it is still a dream of mine.

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We don't play Arsenal yet, but then you might ;)

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So you saying it's some sort of rivalry thing, well I realise Wales would like/ strive to be as good but given your performances over the last 25 years it's like comparing Premier league with the conference and tbh it's a rivalry no one in England is interested in

---------- Post added at 08:46 ---------- Previous post was at 08:42 ----------

Still waiting for you to provide evidence of it before the start of the tournament or at the group stages

---------- Post added at 08:48 ---------- Previous post was at 08:46 ----------

Will Greenwood is a current World Champion who played in the same team as a lot of those players, he wasn't hired for his impartiality, he was hired to give us an insight into what they are thinking and what is going on in the dressing room

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It's tough to provide tv and radio clips from the past on here.

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Newspapers will do and you don't have to go that far back, just to the start of the tournament and the group stages

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What supposed inpartiality? Why should they be impartial? Other country's commentators aren't.

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Right, so scanned newspaper cuttings from more than a week ago will do? Seeing as websites rarely print actual layouts of pages which show England getting more columns than the rest of us (ie like you'd see for yourself if you'd get a copy of yesterday's People for example).

---------- Post added at 13:10 ---------- Previous post was at 13:07 ----------

I don't care about how other countries do it. Commentators are there to provide impartial commentary otherwise what's the point?

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IS there not a Welsh version of the People? I mean when I go to Scotland and read the papers there, all the sport relates to scottish teams, for example the football talks about the Scottish leagues and very little premiership stuff is reported.

I don't really see what the big deal is to be honest, so Greenwood went on about England during yesterdays game, but I bet a large proportion of UK viewrers yesterday were English, or would have had an interest in England, over SA or Argentina. Whats the point of greenwood just going on about Welsh or Scottish players when the're no longer in the competition?

England reaching the final this year is a big deal, no one thought they'd beat Austrailia or Frnce, given the pasting SA handed to them. In all honesty I think the coverage was justified to go on about the England players, its all part of the build up.

People have been going on about England winning the world cup in 1966 up until now, so you cant blame a rugby commentator for going on about them reaching the final, just one day after the semis.

---------- Post added at 13:17 ---------- Previous post was at 13:15 ----------

But I think you should accept that they dont, not just in England, but in England, Wales, Scotland , Ireland and most likely all over the world. So just live with it, its not that big a deal.

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Russ this competition has been going on over a month and was largely ignored before it started and during the group stages, mainly because England stuttered and the other home nations went out on a whimper in most cases

The commentators have been pretty impartial, it's the pundits if anyone showing bias and they don't have a mandate to be impartial

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You'd have enough to say if the commentators or 'pundits' were blatantly anti English.

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What as anti English as you perhaps? I haven't seen them be anti anyone, so what a couple of pundits went a bit OTT after seeing their ex team mates and friends reach the final again, I don't think the worse of them for it, they are ex rugby players first and foremost, part time hobby tv pundits second

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We get the same over here. For example the Daily Mirror today has an 8 page pullout on the Irish League and the headline on the back page is about Darren Gibson.

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But as you are fully aware I'm not anti English. My point was based on tin notion they should be more impartial.

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Thats why I dont understand why he's whinging about the paper coverage. Ifs its a welsh paper I can understand his point, but if its a English newspaper he should just buy the welsh equivalent.

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Maybe it's because there isn't a Welsh equivalent?

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Well then, as I said in my post, I can understand why you're moaning.

Russ, are all the papers in Wales the english versions? For example does the Sun on monday have an english premiership pull out or does it cover Welsh football?

If there are welsh versions of other papers then why carry on reading the People if you dont like their English bias?

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Not sure about the other papers, I just grab whatever is there. But it's not just the papers. When all home nations are playing on the same day you can be sure the national news will give the England result precedence. And before someone wheels out the line that most of the viewers are English, does that mean we should get a licence fee reduction? (come back Defiant all is forgiven)

---------- Post added at 15:27 ---------- Previous post was at 15:24 ----------

Back to the rugby - if England manage to beat SA in the final, regardless of the score or how they play, I'll be impressed. Can't see it happening though.

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I too think SA will be too strong for England. As much as I wanted argentina to win yesterday I am glad they didnt. could you imagine the buildup and the number of references to the Falklands war, oh and Deigo MAradonna, that would have been on the back pages?

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and if England won it would be down to Johnnys 'Foot of God'
I could see the back page of the sun now, a picture of his boot and a request to pray to the boot.

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I think they have been pretty impartial, anyway for whose benefit is this impartiality, the anti English, Welsh and Scots perhaps? Even if you are right, what do you expect anyone here to do about it, having a sly dig won't put right any perceived media wrongs will it, so why bother?

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Im sure if it was Wales in the final instead of England, ITV would have had Mr & Mrs Charlotte Church as their guest pundits gushing on about how good wales were tc etc , and I would now all the Welsh players names' by now. I bet no England fan would have been moaning about it this morning, like Mr Wales RussB has today.

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I apologise for having views which you disagree with and I also apologise for posting them on a discussion board.

---------- Post added at 17:09 ---------- Previous post was at 17:06 ----------

I'm pleased that you're impressed with my body after all the effort I've put in down the gym but I hardly think I'm worthy of that title yet :D

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trust me, having not seen your body, as well as having no desire to see it, the award was for your mental, and not physical presence...... :D

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that's actually a compliment too - 2 from you in ten minutes, sorry sir but I'm straight.

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think of it like a Darwin award..... ;)

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No no, I'll take it as intended, one man's admiration for another :) anyway back to the rugby....

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I am sure if by some miracle they managed to reach a final, the English wouldn't hide their contempt behind cheap shots and cries of media bias on the bloody internet, bleating on to people that couldn't do anything about it or give a damn in equal measure

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I wouldn't call it a miracle, after all we soundly beat England (and everyone else) to take the Grand Slam in 2004. Funnily enough the back pages of the papers weren't full of columns about Wales as they are for England when they win the tournament. Still, that's not media bias eh?

Mind you, I'll be sure to run any other views by you in future, just to make sure they qualify for posting on an internet discussion forum.

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I would, wasn't that when we took 2 years of to go on tour with the World cup

Probably a good idea considering the amount of crap you have posted in this thread, tell me all those not so sly digs, shouldn't they have been aimed at the media and not the team then?

Re: Rugby Union
 

Or back to the rugby commentary which by the sounds of things was much like your quote.

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No, it was when the England team (ie Jonny Wilkinson) was out with a long-term injury.

They weren't aimed at the team - they were aimed at certain England fans who read far more in to the result than was there.

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I must of missed those posts, don't think I have seen one that has gone OTT, mind you I missed the newspapers at the start of the competition when they were holding us up as potential champs as well

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Funnily enough I never said they were. What I said was the media was bigging you guys up and we were treated like the second class relations, as is the norm for when the home nations play in any tournament.

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If i remember rightly it was actually the Irish that were being 'bigged up' at the begining of the tournament by the press. Even if England were being 'bigged up' as you say they were it was obviously the correct team to do it to as they are the only home nation that has actually played well.

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That's a fair point, I'll grant you that but England always have had, and always will get the bigger share of column inches regardless of who plays well.

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They weren't though, next to no media interest in the competition, all the home nations were equally written of

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All may have been written off, but England had the more publicity and headline space. It's always been that way. Being English you don't notice it as it's normal for you however next time all the home nations (or England and another home nation in seperate matches) are playing, see if you can spot who gets the more space in the papers and gets mentioned first on the news.

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But there will be more English people reading those English newspapers and watching the news, it's like saying Man Utd get more headlines than Derby County, it's because they have more fans. And i'm sure Derby fans wouldn't start asking about having a reduction in license fees because their match is shown towards the end of MOTD.

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But just as Derby fans would be disgruntled, can you not see how the rest of us are equally disgruntled? In any case I'm sure Derby and co will understand that 20-odd teams being crammed in to a few pages or an hour's broadcast will mean the bigger teams will obviously get priority. However when there are just 4 home teams and England still gets the bigger publicity....

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When was the last time MOTD showed 10 matches? If it goes on comparing size of team, in terms of size and success Wales would be worthy of little more than a byline compared to England

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So I'm not to have digs at England but you can about Wales? Double standards boyo. But the media have made that feel normal to you.

Anyway it's not about success, it's about proportions. There are 4 home nations, that's a small enough number for all of them to get equal coverage.

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Taste of your own medicine, bitter ain't it

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Well I suppose you're pretty open about having double standards, I give you credit for that. But no, I'm not bitter :)

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I never actually asked you to stop having digs, just why you kept doing it ;)

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Oh that's easy, it winds you up no end ;)

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I suspect it winds me up no more than it winds you up ;)

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Back to whats actually happening in Rugby now. I found this and it made me laugh :D

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Back in the spirit of the game, I'll throw in this one, courtesy of Wogan on Radio 2 this morning:

Heard about the new French wonderbra? Plenty of support but no cups.

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Is that the same as the New Zealand one? :D

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Could be in trouble here and if that weren't bad enough, he can also do this

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that first clip quite similar to his try against argentina..... i'd love to see him and saky race

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There is always Jason of course ;)

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Not a bad way for the likes of him, Gomarsall, Catt, Kay, Ragan, Dallaglio etc to go out though, regardless of the score I am sure they'll not let anyone down

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One for Russ ;)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/rugbyworl...uld_bac_1.html

Re: Rugby Union
 

OK let's give it a try.

"swing low, swwweeeeee.........."

"sweeeeet..chaaaaaaaa"

"chaaaaaaaaa......."

Nope sorry, just can't do it :D ;)

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If it was any other British team or Ireland in the final against South Africa i would honestly support them but there seems to be an anti-england thing, which means anyone but England for the Welsh, Scots and Irish. Jealousy maybe? :) ;)

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No no, hang on, I've NEVER said 'anyone but England'.

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I didn't say you did, i said there seems to be, not just from you but from most Welsh, Scots and Irish, and it's shown by a lot of the comments after that article.

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I wouldn't even say there is from 'most' Welsh either. To be honest nobody I know has said anything negative about the Saesneg being in the final. Can't speak for my other Celtic bretheren though.

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Kudos for trying though.
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Comin' for to carry me home;
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Comin' for to carry me home.

I looked over Jordan,
And WHAT did I see,
Comin' for to carry me home,
A band of angels comin' after me,
Comin' for to carry me home.

Repeat chorus:

If you get there before I do,
Comin' for to carry me home,
Tell all my friends I'm comin' too,
Comin' for to carry me home.

Re: Rugby Union
 

And for you sir....

Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi, (I'll help you with the first line! "My Hain oo-lad va nar-dye un anool ee mee")
Gwlad beirdd a chantorion, enwogion o fri;
Ei gwrol ryfelwyr, gwladgarwyr tra mâd,
Tros ryddid gollasant eu gwaed.

Cytgan (Chorus)

Gwlad, Gwlad, pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad.
Tra môr yn fur i'r bur hoff bau,
O bydded i'r hen iaith barhau.


Hen Gymru fynyddig, paradwys y bardd,
Pob dyffryn, pob clogwyn i'm golwg sydd hardd;
Trwy deimlad gwladgarol, mor swynol yw si
Ei nentydd, afonydd i mi.

Os treisiodd y gelyn fy ngwald tan ei droed,
Mae hen iaith y Cymry mor fyw ac erioed,
Ni luddiwyd yr awen gan erchyll law brad,
Na thelyn berseiniol fy ngwlad.

Re: Rugby Union
 

Why do england sing a black slave song anyway?

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Yes I did Russ - but you were refrring to all the so called bigging up done in the weeks and months before - NOT the day after a remarkable victory and you still haven't come up with any of these have you. Do you seriously think that winning a final place in the World Cup isn't deserving of such press coverage ?

Sporting rivalry is fine and some people (obviously far more magnanimous and intelligent than you) find themselves able to support their own teams with great passion withiout resorting to the sort of guff you routinely spout when it comes to England.

---------- Post added at 16:12 ---------- Previous post was at 16:04 ----------

As regards the final - sadly I believe England have played 2 of them already in the last 2 weeks and will find SA too much on the day. Hopefully it won't be a repeat of the 36-0 drubbing we received a few weeks ago but SA have played some great rugby so far and I wouldn't be unhappy to see them lift the cup.

Given all that's happened to England since the last tournament, World Cup Winners 2003 and World Cup Runners Up 2007 has a very nice ring to it. :)

---------- Post added at 16:25 ---------- Previous post was at 16:12 ----------

Which Grand Slam was that again ? I thought the French won in 2004 with England 3rd and Wales 4th (England 31-Wales 21).

In 2005 Wales won the Grand Slam beating England 11-9. Despite us being in the midst of our nadir as what you called 'zeros' we only lost away to Wales by 2 points, at home to France by 1 point and away to Ireland by 6 points. Not bad for such losers really.

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Oh stop letting facts get in the way of a good handbagging.

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As I've said it's hard to reproduce tv and radio clips on here, however I'm sure you're clever enough to come up with a way to do it. Feel free to drop me a PM.

oooOOOooooo, hark at her :D

Quite understandably you omit to mention we totally outclassed and outplayed you and we weren't playing to our full capacity. Not bad for such losers? 3 games lost - losers.

Re: Rugby Union
 

So you're saying it was only tv and radio who were 'bigging England up' and the written media weren't? That seems highly unlikely.

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No no they were as well but only in the papers to be sold in Wales

---------- Post added at 19:21 ---------- Previous post was at 19:19 ----------

3, that's the same number of World Cup finals we'll have appeared in, you know if we beat South Africa we'll be the most successful rugby nation ever

Re: Rugby Union
 

Won't you be level with the Aussies?

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Well yes but we woz robbed in '91 so should take precedence :D

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Of course I'm not saying that however there were plenty of headlines giving England precedence however I didn't record them at the time as I didn't know I'd need to.

Ah right, so you think I'm saying England aren't any good?

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No no just felt the need to point out how successful we have been, bit like how you feel the need to point out deficiency’s in the Champs performances

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Well to be fair you don't really need to do that, the media tell us that enough but I appreciate the reminder all the same.

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It'll all Johnny again really isn't it

Or at least that what everyone seems to think
http://www.blesstheboot.com/

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:rofl:

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Anyone received this on their mobile yet?

Gits :D

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A kiwi friend of mine acquired 3 final tickets at 800 quid each a while back, thinking that the All Blacks would make it.

He's turned down 3K per ticket cause he really wants to watch South Africa beat England :S

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Thats ridiculous, you have to be very stupid or very rich to turn down 3k a ticket to watch two countries that your not from play each other.

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He's not rich, but he is arrogant and stupid so it doesn't suprise me that he is refusing to sell them for a huge profit to people who will enjoy the game more than himself.

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http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/a...80_375231a.jpg

THE Queen is sending a special note to our Rugby World Cup heroes, urging: “Come on England.� :D

Now I wonder which paper this come from....
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...icle362611.ece

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Well done Argentina! :D

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At last a half decent game last night, bit of niggle, some great tries and Monsieur Chabal (my hero) nobbled just after he came on.

What more do you want have to say it has been a good tournament to watch maybe the cricket boys should take note on how to run a world cup properly.

Reckon Jonny will be targeted tonight by one S Berger?

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Well I was hoping for a slightly closer match....

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It was fairly close I thought, not really over until 70 minutes. It must have been a pretty dire game for a neutral though.

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Well, was closer than 36-0 ;)

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It would have been if the try had been given, can anyone work out why it wasn't allowed?

Still I am quite happy, many countries have never got near a final let alone won it and at least we regained some much needed pride for the home nations

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Looks like his left foot touched the line before the ball touched down, very very close but just :(

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Looked like his foot was in the air to me, shocking decision imo

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It wasn't the foot it was his knee in contact with the touchline.........I'd have given it looked ok to me

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There was one camera angle after the end which showed his foot touch barely a blade of white grass before he lifted his leg and before the ball touched down, was like a nano second in it but satisfied my despair. Could have have changed the whole game though but thats the way the cookie crumbles I guess.

Re: Rugby Union
 

I thought he lifted his foot just before it was going to hit the line. You would think they would give the benefit of the doubt to the attacking team, obviously not though. :(

I'm just proud how much we improved through the tournament and how much pride and passion they showed, they can hold their heads high when they return to England imo.