Semi Finals

[StephenZA]

SA cricket could learn from the boks about winning ugly in knock out games.

 

[StephenZA]

That’s an interesting take on it. I’d suggest it was a shite game with little to no appeal to the viewer.

SA supporters used to ugly. Winning is the important part.

 

[Uppercut]

Even if they go out here I reckon it'll be more due to the Welsh playing well than us being poor. Which is incredibly un-South African of me.

Haha that doesn’t seem to be a widespread opinion.

Wales aren’t exactly good but when was the last time anyone had an easy game against them? Clearly inferior today but still only lost by a tiny margin. Not like SA were missing many big opportunities either.

 

[Heboric]

SA cricket could learn from the boks about winning ugly in knock out games.

I dunno mate, have you read the forums lately, its all about no look passes and dance moves for some Bok 'supporters'

 

[Flem274*]

Haha that doesn’t seem to be a widespread opinion.

Wales aren’t exactly good but when was the last time anyone had an easy game against them? Clearly inferior today but still only lost by a tiny margin. Not like SA were missing many big opportunities either.

i know you've been out of rugby for a while so yea wales are genuinely good now. they've been a bit off their usual this tournament but nz, england, ireland, sa and wales have opened up a clear gap between them and the rest in the past 2 seasons.

 

[social]

That’s an interesting take on it. I’d suggest it was a shite game with little to no appeal to the viewer.

Yep

Wales were poor

Should have been been beaten Australia & France and never have made SF

SA seemed content to mug them without worrying about scoreboard

Quality much lower than other SF

 

[MrPrez]

That’s an interesting take on it. I’d suggest it was a shite game with little to no appeal to the viewer.

It's a world cup semi-final that was dead even with 10 minutes to go.

Not good rugby but was still a nailbiter that could have gone either way.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Mike Phillips gamely trying not to sound bitter and failing.

Habana: Pollard is world class. We're lucky to have him.

Phillips: He's very one dimensional. All he did was drop back and kick.

Stay classy, Mike.

 

[Heboric]

There is no bonus points in knockout portion of the game

 

[MrPrez]

Haha that doesn’t seem to be a widespread opinion.

Wales aren’t exactly good but when was the last time anyone had an easy game against them? Clearly inferior today but still only lost by a tiny margin. Not like SA were missing many big opportunities either.

I guess "well" is not the right word. But they played hard and managed to hold a determined SA for most of the match, with SA looking for a while like they'd run out of ideas.

 

[Uppercut]

i know you've been out of rugby for a while so yea wales are genuinely good now. they've been a bit off their usual this tournament but nz, england, ireland, sa and wales have opened up a clear gap between them and the rest in the past 2 seasons.

Yeah tbh I did know they’ve been genuinely good, I just phrased that stupidly.

 

[Prince EWS]

i know you've been out of rugby for a while so yea wales are genuinely good now. they've been a bit off their usual this tournament but nz, england, ireland, sa and wales have opened up a clear gap between them and the rest in the past 2 seasons.

They were actually ranked second going into the tournament, yeah?

Rankings are a bit pfft sometimes but it still says a fair bit about their recent results.

 

[Bahnz]

WW1-style battle there. Endless aerial bombardment, men hurling themselves into oblivion over a yards of ground, casualties coming thick and fast on all sides, the triumph of efficiency, ugliness and brutality.

It was strangely riveting. That 5 or so minutes when Wales were crashing into SA bodies over and over on SA's 5 meter line, before finally breaking through was kinda awesome.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Mike Phillips gamely trying not to sound bitter and failing.

Habana: Pollard is world class. We're lucky to have him.

Phillips: He's very one dimensional. All he did was drop back and kick.

Stay classy, Mike.

He's in great form. "I know how ruthless Gats is. He dropped me on 99 caps."

Kinda refreshing to see a pundit actually sound human.

 

[Uppercut]

It's a world cup semi-final that was dead even with 10 minutes to go.

Not good rugby but was still a nailbiter that could have gone either way.

That type of game is a totally different experience when you really want one team to win.

I spend every United-Liverpool game chewing my nails and shitting my pants then go on Twitter and everyone is complaining about how bored they are.

 

[Flem274*]

They were actually ranked second going into the tournament, yeah?

Rankings are a bit pfft sometimes but it still says a fair bit about their recent results.

maybe even #1 during some of the warm ups.

it's very cliche to call them underrated but now i genuinely think it's true. they didn't touch #1 by accident, they've played excellent rugby against the 2 northern teams who can beat the all blacks.

 

[Jarquis]

but as a spectacle you couldn't ask for better.

Did you watch last night?

 

[Howe_zat]

Wales are excellent at making their opponents look rubbish.

They were also missing three of their best players today (four by half time)

 

[Spark]

That type of game is a totally different experience when you really want one team to win.

I spend every United-Liverpool game chewing my nails and shitting my pants then go on Twitter and everyone is complaining about how bored they are.

Knockout games/big games are often like that in any sport IMO. Both sides are terrified of losing, and so are the fans. So you get a real grind.

 

[Heboric]

Are the lineouts being watched, nearly every throw looked skew