For some reason, the only time sport is ever mentioned around here is by P.P about cricket, but I really think it's far beyond time the World Cup got a mention, given that rugby's such an awesome sport an' all.

I know almost everyone I've spoken to recently has an opinion on the England or other teams, and since NZ got knocked out (which I was lucky enough to be in Cardiff to see first hand) this tournaments been wide open and far more interesting.

So, anyone into Rugby at all? Anyone any thoughts on the event? Discuss.

Seriously, we're finalists now! Has no one any opinions or interest?

Ireland didn't get past the qualifications...
Also, how the hell did England manage to beat France?
But it's the end of the line for you now though. You either have one of two opponents: Argentina or South Africa. Argentina came top of their league, beating and besting France (and Ireland...), and South Africa already wiped the floor with you before!

Actually, on a related matter, I was working in the stadium during the Connacht vs South Africa match, on the 21st of August. If you don't know, Connacht is a province that makes up 1/4 of Ireland. But we were only beaten 18-3, which is much better compared to your lousy 36-0 defeat against them!

bring it on! England actually rules, who have we got argentina or south africa, ooohhh no, we are quaking, NOT!

Ireland didn't get past the qualifications...
Also, how the hell did England manage to beat France?
But it's the end of the line for you now though. You either have one of two opponents: Argentina or South Africa. Argentina came top of their league, beating and besting France (and Ireland...), and South Africa already wiped the floor with you before!

Actually, on a related matter, I was working in the stadium during the Connacht vs South Africa match, on the 21st of August. If you don't know, Connacht is a province that makes up 1/4 of Ireland. But we were only beaten 18-3, which is much better compared to your lousy 36-0 defeat against them!

That England lost to SA so badly before neither means that they will always be so bad nor that they will always lose to SA. You only have to look at our last two matches to see how much we've improved in those few weeks.

For the record we beat France in the same way we beat Oz. We knew our backs weren't as good but our pack ruled the show, spoilt all France's ball and basically made their lives horrendously difficult. To add to that, the tackling was immense from our back line, so France rarely got much of a chance to run.

We were underdogs in our last two matches and won, I reckon we can beat the Argies and I definately don't think the match will be a cert for SA like last time, depending on who gets through. Looking at both their semis and last pool matches, they've both lost a lot of momentum too. SA were luckily to bear Tonga or Fiji, and Argentina weren't convincing against the Scots.

C'MON ENGLAND!

Seriously, we're finalists now! Has no one any opinions or interest?

[x] opinions
[ ] interest


would you like to hear my opinions

[x] opinions
[ ] interest


would you like to hear my opinions
do it i dare you

*words*
That's great and all, but you're still way out of your league for your next match!

That's great and all, but you're still way out of your league for your next match!

no way man , we are on a roll, people said we were out of our league for france and australia, the boys have done very well and us English are proud. Theres nothing quite as sweet as beating the French in the stade de france. az`zsssssss (sorry the cat was responsible for those last letters!, lol)

Well, South Africa won their match.
Place your bets: will they win by 30, 40 or 50?

az`zsssssss (sorry the cat was responsible for those last letters!, lol)
Conclusive proof that some people really don't know that you can erase letters when you're typing something!

Awesomeness.

Would have been more vocal, but I was in Scotland.

Well Plasma, the odds were well against us in both our last matches, and I really wouldn't write England off.

I don't think most people would disagree France or Australia are good enough to at least challenge SA, yet we beat them.

Well Plasma, the odds were well against us in both our last matches, and I really wouldn't write England off.

I don't think most people would disagree France or Australia are good enough to at least challenge SA, yet we beat them.
Tell you what: if England win the cup, I'll give you the Half-Life 2 subscription when I get The Orange Box!
Well, just as long as you already have Steam, but not HL2...

Which would be a no then.

But England will win. I believe!

And isn't blind belief what sport is all about?

Which would be a no then.

But England will win. I believe!

And isn't blind belief what sport is all about?

no its about money, yeah and believing, but yes i beleive england will kick some south african ****!

Tell you what: if England win the cup, I'll give you the Half-Life 2 subscription when I get The Orange Box!
Well, just as long as you already have Steam, but not HL2...

quoting this for posterity

Tell you what: if England win the cup, I'll give you the Half-Life 2 subscription when I get The Orange Box!
Well, just as long as you already have Steam, but not HL2...Alternatively, if England win, download Steam in preparation for the gift. That's what I did with Dan.

Alternatively, if England win, download Steam in preparation for the gift. That's what I did with Dan.
Oh. I didn't know you could do that...

Being the pessimist that I am, I cannot say I believe it likely that England will win.
Sorry.

Although I'm damn impressed England are at the Finals.

Alternatively, if England win, download Steam in preparation for the gift. That's what I did with Dan.

I'd also need to buy a new, significantly better computer.

Not that I'm interested in winning any prizes anyway.

I'd also need to buy a new, significantly better computer.

Not that I'm interested in winning any prizes anyway.
There's no way your computer is worse than mine, and mine runs HL2 fine.

mine crashes everytime HL2 tries to load a new section! :( And it's a Pentium IV 2.93Ghz 1.24GB RAM! :(:(:(

What about the video card?

Intergrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 - UP TO 224MB shared memory :(:(:(

Hey guys, especially you dudes from england....

IM sorry but we GONNA WIN THE WORLD CUP....

WE CRUSHED ENGLAND already 35 - 0...

and there is no way that SOUTH AFRICA is gonna lose on saturday.

Glad to be South African... im sure you would too... (for our rugby at least)
hehe

i say 60 - 0 to us.... plus if johnny is not kicking , then england truly have lost.

SOUTH AFRICA # 1.... no one can challenge that.

Hey guys, especially you dudes from england....

IM sorry but we GONNA WIN THE WORLD CUP....

WE CRUSHED ENGLAND already 35 - 0...

and there is no way that SOUTH AFRICA is gonna lose on saturday.

Glad to be South African... im sure you would too... (for our rugby at least)
hehe

i say 60 - 0 to us.... plus if johnny is not kicking , then england truly have lost.

SOUTH AFRICA # 1.... no one can challenge that.I have to admit that South Africa are favourites, but come on. The team you beat 36-0 was demoralised, missing key players and tactically sub-par. England have changed massively over the last four games, rediscovering their spirit, regaining Vickery and Wilkinson and switching to a Plan B that should have been Plan A in the first place. Whatever happens on Saturday, I'm expecting a tight game.

South Africa's main advantage against England in this final is that they are a good all-round team with no glaring weaknesses, unlike Australia (rubbish scrum), New Zealand (too focused on playing pretty rugby than actually winning) and France (tried to play a tight, tactical game when it is clearly not their style). Having Bryan Habana helps, too.

Finally, as an aside, RANDOM SHOUTING endears you to no-one.

I'm curious to know where Spain was disqualified. Not that I follow it or anything.

If we actually are in the cup, that is :p

I'm curious to know where Spain was disqualified. Not that I follow it or anything.

If we actually are in the cup, that is :p
You weren't, although Argentina (who did very well, reaching the semi-final before South Africa knocked them out) have plans to rebase themselves in Spain so they can compete in the Six (and possibly soon Seven) Nations.

Portugal also had a team, as did Italy. Portugal lost all their games in the pool stage, while Italy beat Romania and Portugal, but lost to New Zealand and Scotland.

WE CRUSHED ENGLAND already 35 - 0...
What? No you didn't! Try to get your facts straight before posting!


-You crushed England 36-0!

As I said, I was at the France - New Zealand match, and the fans were uber-confident. I was supporting them, and I loved how they took the mick out of te Aussies, but in the end the team was as confident going into the match as the fans and it cost them the match, and I wouldn't be surprised if you were the same.

Not disagreeing that SA are massive favorites, but you can hardly compare the English team that started the tournament to the one that'll line up against SA on Saturday, and it's wrong to say we don't have a chance.

If the New Zealand rugby team and fans had the humility, sense of humour and tactical nous of their cricketing counterparts, they'd have a few more World Cups under their belt.

(Not that the NZ cricket team have ever won the Cricket World Cup, being perennial semi-finalists. But then, they don't have the talent and support their rugby team have)

Hey plasma.... yeah sorry 36-0 you right... hehe

I know England have got most of their act together.... and im looking forward to see the game. I wish England the best of luck. But i gotta stand behind my team, we have out proformed everyone so far in this world cup. So we expect ourselves to win.... BIG RESPECT TO ENGLAND...

sorry to say you got no chance, but just remember, you guys(england) are gonna be up against our BEST TEAM.... who are all in perfect shape... and ready to run over whoever stands in our way....

You guys must not just be intimidated by only Bryan HABANA...
id be scared of Schalk Burger/Bryan Habana/Percy Montgomery/Pierre Spies
just to name a few...

and i know england will try and target and shut down Habana....
But remember we gonna do the exact same thing to Johnny Wilkinson...

Its gonna be a good game. thats for sure...

The first Northern vs Southern hemisphere Final.... but i gotta say..
South Africa has to win, my country is WAY too passionate.

Best of luck...

PLUS : both of our countries want to be the first country to ever win it TWICE!!!!
so the pressure is on...

Right now, our country, is pretty ****ed off... Did you know our STUPID government wants to change the SPRINGBOK logo and name....

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT.... they want to call us the F***ing PROTEAS.....

my cousin and I are starting a new website... called SAVE THE SPRINGBOKS....
They blame it on APARTHEID... but in 1906 there was NO apartheid.... We were a BRITISH COLONY... thats when the springboks began..... its so damn sad....
PATHETIC ACTUALLY....

The first Northern vs Southern hemisphere Final...

...

PLUS : both of our countries want to be the first country to ever win it TWICE!!!!
so the pressure is on...
Are you just deliberately trying to get facts wrong now? I mean:

1987: New Zealand beat France
1991: Australia beat England
1999: Australia beat France
2003: England beat Australia

In four lines of text I have shown four prior NH vs. SH finals (meaning that the only one that wasn't contested between the North and the South was in 1995, when you guys beat New Zealand), and also that Australia have already won the Webb Ellis trophy twice.

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT.... they want to call us the F***ing PROTEAS.....
Seems a bit odd to do that, the Proteas is the nickname of your cricket team. That would get confusing (Although I do remember with a smile that last England vs. South Africa test series, where you guys had a plant pot on your balcony as the mascot :)... not that I can joke too much when English rugby's symbol is a rose :p).

Hey Paul.Power

Hehe man oh man, i hit the tequila's a bit hard last night. Im actually just a south african fan, not a huge rugby fan. Plus all that info i said, was infact what was told to me by a buddy last night...

(ill never trust what he says again)

SO im terribly sorry, my mistake, my intel was flawed, i didn't realise Australia won twice... and that this was not the first N vs S final...

Well stupid me, or should i say stupid buddy of mine. He's gonna get smacked tonight... hehe.

Yeah the 'ol potplant... hehe we laughed too.

We also wondering what will our cricket team's name be changed too....
We think maybe it will be.......the Fairies..... ha ha ha...

Sorry we just angry... plus apparently our government wants ALL our SPORTING TEAMS... cricket/soccer/rugby/tennis whatever, to wear the EXACT SAME uniform.... now all i can say is.... doesn't this sound like COMMUNISM.... ha ha.

But what gets us most.. (we PROUD SPRINGBOKS)

Is our kids, when they young..... you can say.... What would you like to be when you grow up..... and usually they would say.... I WANNA BE A SPRINGBOK...

But now its gonna be... What would you like to be when you grow up..... and get a response like.... I WANNA BE A FLOWER!!!! haha.

its really sad... sorry about the FALSE intel... my buddy's gonna get a beating.

rugby is serious business

Fair enough then.

As I say, South Africa probably are favourites, and I'd rate them as having maybe a sixty-forty chance of winning. But then, Australia were favourites to beat England. France were favourites to beat England. With the right attitude, personnel and tactics, England are a match for anyone. They've just been failing depressingly at all three the past four years (think about your own team and its preparations for the 2003 World Cup). But they are on something of a roll now.

But yeah, good luck in the final.

I hope England win, oh and its not just this south african saying that no team has won the world cup twice, isn't the whole british media saying it as well? or do they mean twice consecutively?

All I want is for it to be a good game which is close and clean, if England win i'll see it as a bonus.

I hope England win, oh and its not just this south african saying that no team has won the world cup twice, isn't the whole british media saying it as well? or do they mean twice consecutively?Probably twice consecutively, which would be true if England won (as the sequence of winners would be NZ, Aus, SA, Aus, Eng, Eng)

Well don't worry guys, if there is one thing about SOUTH AFRICAN rugby, is we NEVER play dirty... we trully don't. We play like true professionals...

I think South Africa has a very good chance...

But one thing is for sure, ALL the FRENCH support will be behind South Africa..
Because england knocked france out... (woo hoo go ENGLAND!!!)

Im sure it will be a true clash of the titans...

(i clashed with my buddy last night, he got smacked across the head. :) )

Well im dying for tommorrow to come... we all excited for the final...

I wish England the best of luck...

My country is going insane today, everyone is wearing springbok jerseys to work, and school ... EVERYWHERE.... its pretty cool...

GO BOKKE!

Hey HackerMan...

I was JUST wondering dude...

Why DO you allways...

Post LIKE...

This?

Because I'm ALLWAYS wondering this...

And you know...

I just WANTED to ask you.

Why?...

Just an old BBS Days habit we hackers used to do, so that guys could skim really quickly over our posts... There used to be thousands on a BBS a day, so it just sped things up a bit... sorry. Old Habits are Hard to KILL!

so

thanks

alot

man

:)

Does THAT also goes TO randomly SHOUTING words? (or CAPITALIZING them, but it DOES seem as if you were SHOUTING them)

No, it's just putting emphasis on certain words. Not shouting.

Once again old bbs habits... If you were around back in the day, you would understand... have you ever heard about the "Black Gate BBS"
thats where it all began.

Well don't worry guys, if there is one thing about SOUTH AFRICAN rugby, is we NEVER play dirty... we trully don't. We play like true professionals...

Ha. Aha. Ahahaha. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Sorry mate, but you really need to learn your own side's history. Under Jake White, yes, you've cleaned up your act significantly. But I still remember 2002 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/international/2525929.stm).

hehe i see what you mean. Yeah as you know my knowledge goes as far as....
Our win in 1995, and this world cup so far...

2002 i was too busy watching the Soccer world Cup in Japan!!!

yeah ol' Corne krige was a bit of a wild one.... he was.

Jake white is very against our guys smacking anyone or getting into any confrontations...

But if our guys get hit, they will retaliate!!!

about 2002.... well i did not watch, so i can't really comment. But fair enough.

All of my rugby lovin' friends agree that SA will get at least one sin-binning.

Ok, I take mack what I said about SA and the Argies, etc, but I stand by my original statement.

SA will inevitably win.

Argentina beat France 34-10 in the third place playoff.

Six tries, three sin-bins. Busy game.

Eng 6 - SA 15

I personally expected a greater gap, but we still lost.

Ridiculous decision from the video ref not to give England that try. Would have changed the game.

Bugger!

:(

Oh well. At least we can say South Africa were no less "boring" than us.

Ridiculous decision from the video ref not to give England that try. Would have changed the game.
That's exactly what I was thinking.

You know, they should put these videos up on YouTube and let the fans vote on whether it's a try or not..:p

Ridiculous decision from the video ref not to give England that try. Would have changed the game.
Well, it did go into touch first. You shouldn't just give a team an unfair bonus because it would make the match more interesting, especially in a World Cup final.

That's exactly what I was thinking.

You know, they should put these videos up on YouTube and let the fans vote on whether it's a try or not..:p
Hm. But wouldn't that only find out if there are more England supporters than SA supporters? Barely anyone's going to answer truthfully.

Well, it did go into touch first. You shouldn't just give a team an unfair bonus because it would make the match more interesting, especially in a World Cup final.I don't think so, it was definately down before his knee went into touch. The only doubt I can see was whether his foot grazed the line or whether he raised it in time, but I still don't think it did and that try would have put us 1 point ahead or behind, and definately would have changed the game, even if more due to the mental advantage than the score.

And I don't think anyone was arguing that it should have been just to make the match more interesting.

But, that was a very close call and could have gone either way. I can forgive the TV ref for that, but that last penalty for crossing was the really ridiculous decision (especially in light of a certain blatant crossing incident involving Habana which didn't even get an accidental offside) and possibly affected the game more, as it put us more than a score behind.

I don't think the refereeing was very good, but fair play to SA. Their defence was (excepting one break) rock solid and in the end we made more mistakes. Still, had one or two decisions gone the other way we could well have won and I think the team played excellently, especially the younger players like Tate and Flood.

Well, it did go into touch first. You shouldn't just give a team an unfair bonus because it would make the match more interesting, especially in a World Cup final.


Hm. But wouldn't that only find out if there are more England supporters than SA supporters? Barely anyone's going to answer truthfully.

well you're just as irish as the ref. That WAS a try i don't thgink theres any dispute about that, the only try in the game. It has been heralded as a mistake by most professional rugby players (primariy due to the fact that he didn't go into touch when he touched down the ball).

WHATS THE PINT IN VIDEO REPLAYS IF THEY AREN"T GOING TO WATCH THEM PROPERLY ? !

I think that's unfair, I think it was a very close decision which could have gone either way. Certainly though, there have been loads of more dubious tries than that given, and not many less dubious not, but in the end I can see where the TV ref was coming from (even if I personally disagree).

It was some of the decisions during open play that annoyed me.

That WAS a try i don't thgink theres any dispute about that,
If you say so, Ian-David Simpson...

It was some of the decisions during open play that annoyed me.
I wouldn't know. I stopped watching after the try wasn't given. I knew that England wouldn't be able to win without the lost morale.

Question here. What's a try?

:p

Question here. What's a try?

:p

It's like a touchdown except they actually have to touch the ball down.

EDIT: I'm mildly astonished HackerMan hasn't posted yet.

He probably woke up this morning with a head which hurt like hell in the middle of someone's lawn and hasn't found his way home yet.

He probably woke up this morning with a head which hurt like hell in the middle of someone's lawn and hasn't found his way home yet.

he's probably STILL drinking. (no joke) sigh its a shame the referee wasn't a bit better.

Just got back from seeing the replay frame-by-frame in my newspaper. His foot definitely went down first, no mistaking it.

Just got back from seeing the replay frame-by-frame in my newspaper. His foot definitely went down first, no mistaking it.

apparently so, i haven't seen the frame by frame, such a shame because it was one hell of an awesome attempt and a great 'try' and closer than SA ever got to scoring one. If it truly was in touch then thats fine, no try.

apparently so, i haven't seen the frame by frame, such a shame because it was one hell of an awesome attempt and a great 'try' and closer than SA ever got to scoring one. If it truly was in touch then thats fine, no try.
Yes, although SA weren't trying to score trys as much as they regularly would. They were playing it as safe as they could.

WOO HOO............... SOUTH AFRICA WON....

WE HAD THE GREATEST PARTY EVER.... yee haa...

Sorry England. WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HEY PLASMA... you said........"If you say so, Ian-David Simpson..." ????????????????

what are you talking about... i never posted that....

if it doesnt say hackerman... then its not me...

Yeah i woke up outside in the garden, hehe... with my cute girl next to me... WHAT A NIGHT!!!! hehe

I was a bit angry on saturday... I MISSED 90% of the game... the girl i was with HATES rugby..
and i was entertaining her... hehe... so yeah but it was still great the bits i saw... but im sad
i can't comment properly cause i was too busy checking her out....

BY THE WAY... the WORMS WORLD CUP.. has begun... check out my thread.. the first 4 matches are ready for download right now!!!!

HEY PLASMA... you said........"If you say so, Ian-David Simpson..." ????????????????
It was a sort of joke. You probably wouldn't get it though.

hehe its cool plasma...

by the way watch the worms world cup...

Im sure you will enjoy.... Northern Irelands... first match... (not trying to spoil anything.)

Yes, although SA weren't trying to score trys as much as they regularly would. They were playing it as safe as they could.

I'm not so sure that's true (actaully I'm quite sure it's not). That they normally score tries but didn't in the final doesn't imply they weren't trying to. No one's scored a try against England since the first half of our quarter final, that's not to say neither France nor Australia didn't try again, but England's defence stepped up a notch and has been, quite frankly, brilliant.
No team goes into a final not trying to score tries, and not when they had such a fragile lead as SA did for most of the match, but the same thing happened to SA as the others.

That's one of the reasons, despite us losing, I feel so proud of what my country's team did.