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The biggest national sigh of relief at 80 minutes ever known. The Champions of Choke finally got the monkey off their backs ! Well Done All Blacks, but full credit to the French, that was the good team that turned up tonight. Only, where did the team that fumbled past Wales and England go ?
The other way to look at it was 16-15.
“The Champions of Choke finally got the monkey off their backs ! “
Nah, we can still accuse them of that until the win a Rugby World Cup outside of New Zealand.
Is it just me (and not a very PC thing to say, especially as an Australian), but is anyone else sick of the haka?
The Maoris didnt invent rugby, they aren’t even indigenous to NZ. The NZ team isnt exclusively Maori. And it is an unfair psyche up against the opposition.
The frogs will be kicking themselves – it was there for the taking.
“they aren’t even indigenous to NZ”: they were first there (if only by a few hundred years). If that doesn’t get you classed as indigenous, then no-one outside sub-Saharan Africa is (and presumably, if you knew enough, very few inside sub-Saharan Africa would be classed as indigenous either).
Anyway, I’d like them to dispense with the haka, and instead give a masterclass called Varieties of Obstruction.
“And it is an unfair psyche up against the opposition. ”
Nothing to stop the French responding in kind.
The sight of 15 blokes “Walking Against The Wind” in the style of Marcel Marceau could be pretty intimidating.
There I was, expecting Lievremont’s “spoilt brats” to get a spanking by the ABs, and what did I get? A great rugger match.
I didn’t actually start rooting for les bleus (and according to weather reports, hell didn’t freeze over today either) but all credit to them.
Did n’t anybody notice the refereeing?The French were penalised for “forming a scrum slightly too quickly”;the Kiwis went unpunished for at least three high tackles.
As soon as France open up and play with flair, or rather elan, (their second try against England was a classic /all the tries in this game were good) they get some jobsworth referee on their back.One move:an All-Black was not only standing off side, he handled the ball;the French back appealed to the referee who glared at him with contempt.
Also the French exemplify the value of mutiny and ignoring the management.
The Southern Hemisphere has evolved a game called Slugsby:they are doing for RU what they did for billiards.