Another great couple of games have decided the two finalists for the Rugby World Cup with France kicking and defending their way to victory over Wales and the All Blacks dominating Australia.
Were Wales Robbed?
There is a lot of talk about how Wales were robbed by the red card after about 10minutes but I really don't think it would have made a difference. An extra man is not going to stop you from coffing up the ball and kickable penalties.
France did what every team has done to win in these and practically every World Cup playoffs: get ahead then defend like your life depends on it. Watching Wales go through phase after phase of attack, making very few inroads tells me they just didn't have an answer to the French passion. I only hope Wales keep Warren Gatland on for the next World Cup because he'll have learned a lot over the last four years and Wales will come back stronger for it.
Can Anyone Win Pretty?
France didn't win pretty and but neither did Australia against South Africa or the All Blacks against Argentina. I said France may just have played their final against England but I was wrong. I'm even a little concerned they may not have played their big game at all so far, but hopefully they don't actually have a big game to unleash on this World Cup.
Although the All Black performance was fantastic in almost every way, we only scored one try and scoring tries is supposed to be how the All Blacks win matches. Great to see Cruden take the initiative with a drop goal and although Dagg's attempt was poor it shows that the All Blacks have accepted that winning ugly is more important that losing pretty.
The Physical and Psychological Toll
Australia did play their final against South Africa and had little left to compete with the most passionate All Blacks performance we have seen in years. Everyone bar Sonny Bill stepped up but I wasn't surprised to hear Weepu has caught a bug.
He will not have prepared for the amount of high intensity rugby he has been asked to play. Throw in the stress of expectation and the loss of a family member, Piri was always going to suffer some over training symptoms. Most bugs are coming to an end after a week so unless his stress levels remain high this week we should see the new 'go to man' take the field in the number nine jersey.
So will the All Blacks brush off France as Expected?
Tough to say. We're starting to see some signs of fatigue in the All Blacks Squad but once again they had the depth to allow tiring players to sub out early where as France had to fight all 80 minutes to get their win. We all know the All Blacks are the better team on paper and they'll run France off their feet but there is still some chance France will get a lead and hold on to win.
My pick, based again on fitness is that the All Blacks will win and by a big margin.
What do you think?
Were Wales Robbed?
There is a lot of talk about how Wales were robbed by the red card after about 10minutes but I really don't think it would have made a difference. An extra man is not going to stop you from coffing up the ball and kickable penalties.
France did what every team has done to win in these and practically every World Cup playoffs: get ahead then defend like your life depends on it. Watching Wales go through phase after phase of attack, making very few inroads tells me they just didn't have an answer to the French passion. I only hope Wales keep Warren Gatland on for the next World Cup because he'll have learned a lot over the last four years and Wales will come back stronger for it.
Can Anyone Win Pretty?
France didn't win pretty and but neither did Australia against South Africa or the All Blacks against Argentina. I said France may just have played their final against England but I was wrong. I'm even a little concerned they may not have played their big game at all so far, but hopefully they don't actually have a big game to unleash on this World Cup.
Although the All Black performance was fantastic in almost every way, we only scored one try and scoring tries is supposed to be how the All Blacks win matches. Great to see Cruden take the initiative with a drop goal and although Dagg's attempt was poor it shows that the All Blacks have accepted that winning ugly is more important that losing pretty.
The Physical and Psychological Toll
Australia did play their final against South Africa and had little left to compete with the most passionate All Blacks performance we have seen in years. Everyone bar Sonny Bill stepped up but I wasn't surprised to hear Weepu has caught a bug.
He will not have prepared for the amount of high intensity rugby he has been asked to play. Throw in the stress of expectation and the loss of a family member, Piri was always going to suffer some over training symptoms. Most bugs are coming to an end after a week so unless his stress levels remain high this week we should see the new 'go to man' take the field in the number nine jersey.
So will the All Blacks brush off France as Expected?
Tough to say. We're starting to see some signs of fatigue in the All Blacks Squad but once again they had the depth to allow tiring players to sub out early where as France had to fight all 80 minutes to get their win. We all know the All Blacks are the better team on paper and they'll run France off their feet but there is still some chance France will get a lead and hold on to win.
My pick, based again on fitness is that the All Blacks will win and by a big margin.
What do you think?
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