The Final: France vs NZ

[Hurricane]

Lets see you lift the cup Ritchie!

 

[Son Of Coco]

Congrats NZ!

 

[straw man]

Sarcasm surely?

The correct answer was 'no one'

 

[flibbertyjibber]

NZ are a bunch of homers then. We will wait for another 24 years for another victory for them when they host it again.

Seriously though, they need to win it away from home soil now to earn the full respect worldwide like the Aussies, SA and England have done.

 

[Hurricane]

Somers should have stuck with his 1 point victory prediction.

 

[Burgey]

The correct answer was 'no one'

Haha. I see.

A fair result on reflection.

The French get to go back to France, and the All Blacks have to stay in New Zealand

 

[straw man]

Oh well. The home team factor was the difference. The team bottled it like they've done for the past 20odd years. But the referee didn't want to call high tackles or a number of other things against New Zealand, the referee bottled it as much as New Zealand did. France are crap but they performed as well as they could. The best team in the tournament did win, but they didn't deserve to.

Were just being gracious hosts allowing the opposition to come within one point. "Good try" we say. Very well planned

 

[Hurricane]

Perhaps only the South Africans and the Welsh hold rugby as dearly as we do - everyone will walk taller in the office next week. Every tournament some team - usually France - plays the game of their lives against us - this year it seemed like we were expecting everyone to bring it to us. Henry told the boys to play the game of their lives tonight - he knew what France could do.

Well done France - epic game - you did yourselves proud - your day must come soon.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Well done NZ.

Probably the worst final ever but the best side in the competition has won it.

Nah, been a classic of its kind. Trojan defence from both teams. The dozen or so phases France had between the halfway and the NZ ten metre line about five minutes out was gripping. Such discipline from the ABs not to give away the penalty or concede the territory from which Trunh Duc would've fancied a drop.

Any final with a northern hemisphere team involved will usually be as boring as bat****.

As opposed to the classic, free-flowing final NZ & SA served up in 95?

 

[NUFAN]

Tremendous final. Both teams should be proud of their performance, before the final I asked if France were the worst team to reach a final, the answer has to be no know. Thought the ref had a solid game too, which was nice to see.

 

[Hurricane]

And so, it came to pass, that Sir Stephen of Donald led his people out of the Valley of Asphyxiation. And the people rejoiced.

That was nut-twisting, gut-wrenching, in-the-trenches stuff. What a brave, ballsy performance by BOTH teams. All Blacks squeezed, but didn't buckle. If kicks had only gone over earlier, we could have breathed a little easier. Christ, Kiwis have got their great national memory - the "where were you when …" moment. Great stuff! Congrats for putting the 24-year curse to bed.

**** it was ugly but man that feels good. Thought we were gonna get run down for sure. What an amazing defensive effort and huge ticker to not roll over when it got tough.
Special mention to Stephen Donald, nothing special but didnt make an error and slotted the goal that won it. he must have earned at least grudging respect of every AB fan and can go to the NH having gained his redemption. No one can say he didnt earn it now.

Some fan quotes

 

[Scaly piscine]

Perhaps only the South Africans and the Welsh hold rugby as dearly as we do - everyone will walk taller in the office next week. Every tournament some team - usually France - plays the game of their lives against us - this year it seemed like we were expecting everyone to bring it to us. Henry told the boys to play the game of their lives tonight - he knew what France could do.

Well done France - epic game - you did yourselves proud - your day must come soon.

Hmm France will probably develop a much better team for 2015 and then get knocked out in the quarter final to Argentina or the like.

 

[straw man]

Haha. I see.

A fair result on reflection.

The French get to go back to France, and the All Blacks have to stay in New Zealand

tres. Like the Gauls returning from Rome perhaps they can take a little culture with them

 

[KiWiNiNjA]

Never in doubt......


I suppose it's a good thing there will be no state of national mourning for the next month.

 

[Zinzan]

Obviously wrapped to get the monkey off the back but we were soooo damn lucky!!! we definitely had the rub of the green from the referee.

Still, I'll take the win after 24 years in waiting even if though it was scrapping through in a thriller.

 

[GotSpin]

Are high tackles allowed now?

 

[Spark]

Nah, been a classic of its kind. Trojan defence from both teams. The dozen or so phases France had between the halfway and the NZ ten metre line about five minutes out was gripping. Such discipline from the ABs not to give away the penalty or concede the territory from which Trunh Duc would've fancied a drop.



As opposed to the classic, free-flowing final NZ & SA served up in 95?

Yeah that passage of rugby was amazing.

 

[Zinzan]

Nah, been a classic of its kind. Trojan defence from both teams. The dozen or so phases France had between the halfway and the NZ ten metre line about five minutes out was gripping. Such discipline from the ABs not to give away the penalty or concede the territory from which Trunh Duc would've fancied a drop.



As opposed to the classic, free-flowing final NZ & SA served up in 95?

Good to hear that, I figured it might have been a dour affair for neutrals

 

[GotSpin]

Good to hear that, I figured it might have been a dour affair for neutrals

It was pretty exciting, especially with France kicking it up a notch or two in the second half

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Good to hear that, I figured it might have been a dour affair for neutrals

Was a bit dour, tense though so that made up for lack of great rugby on show. The defending was very good from both sides, amazingly both tries were incredibly soft given how good the defence was.