They butchered some chances but by the same token, it was nice to see some dogged scramble defence - how Sleightholme got across to force the ball inside from BB is a mystery to me.
I have personally reckoned that any team using the pod system are illegal 5/10 times. France seem to be pushing it, and I put it down to how game has changed. Just know when I played you tried to never have a team mate with the ball behind you as you would get pinged for offside. I did think some of the French ones were extreme, even for whats allowed these days.
Ireland dined out on it for years during their recent golden age. Players ahead of ball carriers all over the place masquerading as bodies in motion.
It’s no wonder a geriatric sexton had an arm chair ride in his latter years.
He was basically walking around out there.
Yep we weren't adverse to using it either, don't know any team that was. Though some seemed to overdo it I agree.
I think rugby peaked around 2003-2007. The 05 lions tour was Rugby as I liked it.
Maybe I’m getting old (40) but the current overly busy refs, and skullduggery such as this du Pont stuff does nothing for me.
I preferred when backs were backs, forwards were forwards, and you could have a bit of a “sort out” without being sent off.
The TMO is a good addition for adjudicating on whether a try is scored but going back a couple of phases to see something technical that was missed leaves me cold.
Camel. Horse. Committee. Etc
TLDR : “games gone”
Old at 40??? But genuinely mate I perhaps 30 years older, but I agree wholeheartedly.
Scotland should have won that game twice over in the first half but didn't take advantage of a France looking very Old French without Dupont and Ntamack.
Yeah the last decision is going to be talked about, but don't put it in the ref's hands.
Christ I hate that line of thinking. The old “the ref didn’t cost us, we should have have put it away earlier”. It makes no sense. They did what they had to do to be in a position to win the game and the TMO screwed them. Both teams made mistakes prior to then, it’s called “sport”
No, this is a good point which is on the players.
Same point applies to lions 3 in 2017, and from a personal point of view, missing out my marathon time by 23 seconds.
Re TMO. His call was correct following protocols. He has to overturn the ref. Evidence wasn’t 100% conclusive.
New Zealand’s Chryss Viliko attended an independent Disciplinary Committee hearing for an offence contrary to Law 9.20(a) (dangerous charging in a ruck or maul) in New Zealand’s WXV 1 match against France on 20 October. The player was suspended for two matches subject to the successful completion...
I decided to re-watch this game to have a closer look at the lineouts. As per previous comments about not using Vaa'i as a lineout target, he was used as a lifter with one of the locks to lift the other lock. Examples being the first lineout of the game, and the lineout after Mo'unga made the try-saving tackle on Penaud. That pod worked well because of the extra height of the lifters. What was of more concern was how little the ABs challenged the French lineout. On one of the few occasions we did, the French lost the ball.
Christie wasn't the only ginga who had a shocker. Newell made de Groot look co-ordinated trying to roll away from a tackle. Zero impact.
Beauden actually played well for 60 mins until he and Mo'unga thought that the best option when chasing the game was to kick the ball away.
Eddie Jones: Le Bomb squad criticism 'plain daft', Ireland sorely missed their 'glitter man' and the 'elephant in the room' regarding Antoine Dupont
Independent Disciplinary Committee decision: Chryss Viliko (New Zealand) | World Rugby
World Rugby identify FIVE refereeing mistakes from controversial France-South Africa clash
