Seventeen sides have received cards in the tournament so far, with a total of 39 yellow or red cards issued. Most ill-disciplined/unlucky/dirty bastards/ref’s a cheat are Romania and Samoa with five each, Samoa edging the evil stakes with four yellows and a red to Romania’s five yellows (albeit two to one player). Chile and Namibia are next on four each, with Namibia winning the Excellence in Evil award with two reds and two yellows, to Chile’s four yellows. So three of the four most offensive sides are minnows and people want them playing more regularly? Pfft! Clean yer act up, you lot!
Portugal, Tonga and Wales are on three each, with the latter on three yellows and the first two with a red and two yellows. Of the QF sides, Wales are by some distance the dirtiest, dirtiest bastards, with their three cards of shame, Argentina have two (both yellow), and England, New Zealand and Fiji on one apiece, although the Flying Fijians have a paltry yellow, compared to the horrific reds that the other two have. Interesting to note that none of the big sides has picked up a card at all – Ireland, France and the Boks have been squeaky clean (as you’d expect, especially from the Boks).
Discipline is going to be absolutely key from here on in, especially in the tackle area (Karl, go home), with fine, fine margins likely to decide the Groups A & B encounters, whilst neither Fiji nor Argentina has a snowball’s against England and Wales if they are reduced to 14 for any length of time. So, to the matches themselves.
Wales v Argentina, Saturday, 4pm Marseille
Wales have had the best scrum so far in the World Cup, but the slowest at clearing the rucks, whilst for Argentina – once a feared scrummaging unit – it’s the exact opposite. Argentina have struggled this year, losing to England despite being a man up for the majority of the match, and not looking all that flash in their must-win encounter against Japan. Wales have been Gatball personified: well organised, fit and stingy on defence and this should get them over the line against the erratic, but more erotic, Argentines. If Argentina’s backs click (and they’ll need good, clean ball for this, and Wales without Faletau may be slightly weakened here) they are as good as anyone’s bar possibly France and Ireland and could sneak through in dramatic style. Wales though, play pragmatic rugby first and are likely to wear down Argentina and prevail in the end – with perhaps some LRZ magic to go with it. Wales by less than 10.
Ireland v New Zealand, Saturday 8pm, Stade de France
A massive, massive encounter with some wonderful recent history between the sides – most of it in Ireland’s favour. They’ve duffed the Kiwis in a series in Mordor and have had the rub against them more often than not in recent years (can’t be bothered to look at the actual stats, the cards ones were enough for one week). Ireland are the complete package, with a very strong tight five and probably the best balanced and most accomplished loose trio in the world at present. None of O’Mahoney, van der Vlier or Doris is a huge man – they’re all around 106kg – but they’re nimble, feisty and intelligent, giving their backs the platform to weave their magic from. Sexton commands his troops behind the marauding pack with aplomb, giving space and time to a very well-drilled and skilful back line. There really isn’t much you can fault in the side. The Kiwis have apparently been slipping in under the radar. I’m not so sure. Yes, they’ve been ruthless in dispatching the lesser sides, including an appalling Italy, but their last two Big Tests have been against teams that actually defend – and the Boks and France have both dispatched them with room to spare. Are they coming to the boil at the right time? I’m not so sure: they have a callow front row, an illustrious but fading second row and an unbalanced back row, with a captain many Kiwis don’t think should be in the side at all. The backs remain lethal, however, and give the All Blacks a puncher’s chance of creating an upset. Yes, an upset. Ireland by 7 or a bit more.
England v Fiji, Sunday, 4pm, Marseille
The Flying Fijians have been more a Sopwith Camel with a spluttering engine, than an F16 jet this tournament, and come up against the most ridiculed sporting side in the history of ridicule. A question of who wants it less may be on the cards. Fiji have lost a couple of key players and the bereavement in the camp may upset their rhythm – or it may spur them on to greater things. They’re still capable of breathtaking tries and length of the field gallops, but their final passes and general handling have let them down this year. Get it right, and they could pull off the shock of the weekend (yes, I know they beat England a few months ago, but still). England? They’ve picked the Venus de Milo at 10, with his unique interpretation of None Shall Pass! and Marcus Smith at 15 – not a familiar position for him and one that he may regret if a few 20 stone (not sure if that’s an actual, possible weight for a man) Fijians come flying through the defenders in front of him. England’s pack should have the measure of Fiji’s and I think we’ll see slow poison from them, with Farrell pulling the strings from behind, although I don’t expect a symphony of slickness outside of him. England by 10 or thereabouts.
France v South Africa, Sunday 8pm, Stade de France
It is testimony to my great skills set that I’m able to type this whilst hiding behind the couch with my eyes closed. For every moment of surging belief that the Boks are Back and have been playing possum up until now (there’s a lot of tinfoil speculation that this is indeed the case down here) and will now reveal their full hand, there’s a sinking feeling that this is as good as it gets and we’ve got no more gears. The Boks have picked a side that has surprised many – with Cobus Reinach preferred to Faf and Libbok retaining the 10 jersey over supposed saviour Pollard. Damian Willemse at 15 may be the number one kicker as well. All in all, it look a more enterprising back division (save for de Allende at 12) and the 5-3 split on the bench has two very good fetchers and link players in Deon Fourie and Kwagga Smith, as well as the monstrous presence of RG Snyman in addition to the two props. Faf, Pollard and Willie le Roux give the Boks more flexibility in terms of how the match is progressing – if we’re well up, Faf will keep France pedalling backwards; if we need points, Pollard to kick; if we need creativity, Willie to play first receiver. France? Well, like Ireland they have few weaknesses and some sublime players – it’s not just about Dupont, with Jalibert, Fickou, Penaud and Ramos they have stardust aplenty in the backs. France also have a pack that can match the Boks in every department, including the famed ‘physicality’, and have been extremely disciplined. The set pieces should be titanic and it’s an area in which the Boks have been curiously sloppy in this tournament. France also attack wonderfully – when it’s on. A curious note is that apparently France have kicked more than any other side in the last 8, which is strange for a side of supposed gazelles, but the Kiwis also did it in their pomp. Clever, accurate kicking is poison to opponents and France have been excellent at this. As the depression settles in reading this, I’m reminded that the Boks almost beat France in Marseille in November last year, despite having played most of the match with 14, so it’s not all over, yet. It should be a humdinger! The head is leaning towards France with their fantastic side and even more magnificent supporters, the heart is pure green and gold. I’m going with the heart. Boks by no more than 3.
Bokky sunshiny optimism by Deebee7.
Blog News
I’ve added a page to the site for help with Tech Issues (click on Other Pages at the top right). So far it addresses the issue of WordPress not remembering your login and not allowing you to recommend posts or comments.y
Also, I have heard from TomPirracas who has sent this fab video of great reffing.
Onna telly this week
Friday 13th October
| Bristol v Leicester | 19:45 | TNT Sports 1 |
Saturday 14th October
| Exeter v Saracens | 13:30 | TNT Sports 1 |
| Wales v Argentina | 16:00 | ITV1 / STV / S4C / iPlayer |
| Ireland v New Zealand | 20:00 | ITV1 / STV |
Sunday 15th October
| Sale v Northampton | 13:30 | TNT Sports 1 |
| England v Fiji | 16:00 | ITV1 / STV / RTÉ2 |
| France v South Africa | 20:00 | ITV1 / / STV / RTÉ2 |
Ovally Balls 
Dammit
So a SA NZ final then
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Terrific game though
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I can’t believe that ended at the same intensity as it started. What an effort by both teams. Barely a fag paper between them.
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SA deserved the win in the second half.
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All the congratulating/commiserating after the whistle is so wholesome.
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I’m a bit speechless. In my view, all this weekend’s matches have had the wrong result, but you certainly can’t argue that the better sides lost.
Well done to Deebee’s Boks, and they might just be the side I want to win from now on.
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Deebee, you deserve to be late at work on Monday. Don’t think O’Keefe 50/50 calls ever went for France but the best team won. Fewer errors, specially under the high balls and great defence. No complaint here.
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Golly, I hate watching the Boks – they seem so ill-spirited (like a senior version of Saracens)
Sorry Deebs, well done to your team – they out-tacticked France,
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France paid for the mistakes they made fielding a couple of kicks in the first half, they could have been far enough ahead in this game to win it despite SA’s strong last 25 minutes or so. Bit disappointed – I would have liked them to win anyway, but also think they are the better side – but fair play to the Boks, they just keep going.
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France were losing a lot of possession through mistakes, they were sometimes mistakes under pressure, but as Flair says, SA made fewer errors and they were under the same pressure.
That should not have been a quarter final.
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I might not have understood some of the substitutions but the Bokke certainly deserved the victory in the last quarter. Fabulous game with both teams giving everything.
I feel the England semi will be a painful replay of the final from the last WC
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Who would have bet on England being the only NH team in the semis
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Very classy and gracious interview by Kolisi.
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“Who would have bet on England being the only NH team in the semis”
Not many, but mostly because they would have expected at least one of Ireland or France to make it. I think most people would have said England were a bit more likely than not to get there with the draw as it was (and that Wales had a reasonable chance too though were less obviously going to get out of their group than England).
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Shy Lurking, I agree about the substitutions. Its an odd and slightly dirty thought, because I don’t want any player to have a head injury,and I don’t want to take away from how awesome the Boks were, particularly their two wingers, from 1-23, but I hope that the substitutions were genuine, and not a chance for a breather.
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Now I come to think of it, also, was Sinfield coming on with the kicking tee to have a chat with Owen ? That type of coaching communication is not allowed, is it ?
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I was rude about the Boks – they just scare me ……….
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On reflection, it’s been said a lot because it’s true, the top four are very close and any one of them can beat the other without it being shock.
It’s a shame the games panned out the way they did, I know the fans of SA and NZ don’t think this way but it would have been better for the sport if France or Ireland had lifted the trophy instead of one of the other two notching up yet another win.
I’m writing off Argentina and England with no disrespect intended, I just can’t see them beating their opponents next weekend, that really would be a shock if either or both progressed to the final.
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Ticht – don’t worry, I’m writing off England too.
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Who’d be a referee? Every losing team except Ireland has a come away with a sense of grievance with the ref.
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Well, its a difficult job, Dab, but when you look at how long they can delay a game going to the TMO on what may or may not be a high tackle, to lose a world cup semi ( cos thats what it was for SA/France) because of a penalty given at the breakdown when Kwagga Smith was clearly supporting his weight on his right arm with the palm flat on the floor, and not just for a second, it is going to smart. Funnily enough, to me that is far worse than Bottia dabbing his paws down quickly and coming back up and then going for the ball for a second bite, which also may have cost Fiji the game, and would not have been penalised in the later game. On another day, with another ref, the Boks would have been penalised off the park for their ball slowing antics. The fact that they played to the whistle is more credit to them than an indictment of the ref, but there were numerous time when I wished the scrum half was allowed a quick stamp on the hand that is holding the ball in, or Graham Mourie, Murray Mexted and Buck Shelford where around to gently “shoe” a player out of the way when he is lying on the wrong side making like he is rolling away.
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@SBT – Agree with what you’re saying. I think a longstanding problem with rugby union is that too much rides on calls a referee makes, where the game is so technical that offences occur all the time.
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Hello, all!
That was a helluva weekend of rugby! All four QFs were excellent from a tension and drama perspective and I loved each and every one. Commiserations to all those on the losing side, and Flair, thanks for the gracious comments above.
Looking at the game stats, France were better or more prolific everywhere – except the scoreboard. I’m still not sure how we won that, given France’s superiority in so many facets of the game. Kolbe’s charge down of the conversion looks even more important in hindsight. We were a group of 10 watching last night and to a person thought France had it after an hour. France were winning the collisions, the aerial battle and looked stunning ball in hand. The subs worked well for us, and in retrospect, Etzebeth’s yellow didn’t cost us much and gave him an extra 10 minutes to freshen up and stew in his dark, dark juices. It showed when he came back on.
The match hinged on the smallest of margins and possibly those were two that made the difference – the charged down conversion and not taking full advantage at the beginning of the second half of being a player up? The Bok bench worked a treat as well, bringing on enough power in the tight five to keep France in check, but also Fourie and Kwagga to disrupt and link and change the tempo, which they did excellently. Pollard coming on to knock over a long-range penalty was also great. De Allende had his best game in a long while and Jesse Kriel his best game ever, for me. Our two wings are gems and Libbok really gets good value out of the backs.
A bitter pill for France to swallow, going out at this stage, even if this World Cup will be remembered as possibly the best ever on so many levels, with the French people being a huge part of that.
And so, to the semis and England. I really hope we haven’t played our ‘Final’ already and the boys are up for it again next week. And Flair, I did get to work on time, just about!
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Seen a lot of comments (here and elsewhere) about the Boks apparently cynical slowing down of the rucks by lying on the wrong side. It’s a charge I’ve read after plenty of Bok matches. However refs, in all matches, not just ours, generally disregard this if the player isn’t stopping the ball coming out: they’re in a far better position to judge this and you can often hear them saying to the 9 that the ball is available as they flap around desperately looking for a penalty.
The feeling down here is that we probably got the rub of the green on a couple of calls, but also could have had a couple more scrum penalties and we should have had a scrum when the ball hit O’Keefe and he simply called play on. There’s also been some moaning that France were allowed to clear players beyond the ruck and off the ball, creating more space for their attack. It’s in the eye of the beholder, I suppose. Who’d be a ref?
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The ball wasn’t playable when the ref kept telling players to leave it, they didn’t (at least until he told them three or four times) and he still didn’t penalise them even though they had ruined the attacking ball.
Thought during the yellow card SA got away with at least three very obvious penalties – an offside from the rush defence near the tryline, Kitshoff playing the ball off his feet and Faf playing the ball after it was knocked on straight back to him. Think that had a big part in the YC not costing the Boks.
On the flip side Dupont should have conceded scrums at least twice when he didn’t use the ball when told to and one of those was in a very good position. To my eye though France definitely did badly out of the ref this time and of course it was a one point game. It’s unreasonable to expect everything to completely balance out though and really they lost the game by dropping kicks and giving up soft tries as a result when they were otherwise playing much better and could have run up a big lead. The boks were really impressive in the second half, but I don’t think that would have been enough if they hadn’t managed to stay in touch earlier in the way they did.
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Thought the referees in the other matches all did pretty well. Don’t think Ireland can have any complaints (they did seem to be complaining though) and if anything they got the rub of the green. Farrell might have got a yellow at the end of England’s game, but it didn’t feel particularly wrong that he didn’t. The only really controversial thing in the Wales game was the possible sending off and opinions will differ on that, but the game as a whole was refereed very fairly and the team that played better for longer won.
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France didn’t lose because of the ref, although he certainly didn’t help them, specially with that Kwagga penalty that should’ve been reversed.
France lost because they didn’t play as well as usually, under SA pressure. And they didn’t play as well as SA. France had enough opportunities to take the ref out of the equation and they didn’t. End of.
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Again, it is playing to the ref, but the Boks are VERY effective at firstly managing to roll out of the way while still managing to flap and arm or leg about over the ball accidentally, repeatedly. They have also perfected the St. Ruchie method of slowing the ball with a failed pick. Leave it now- Who, me ? – yes, their ball – are you sure,isn’t it out ?- off the ball. -Off the ball now ref ? Ok , really sorry about that- play the ball scrum half, its available. By which time, the whole splintered defence has had time to have a cup of tea, saunter around a bit, have a chat about who to mark, and then get themselves ready to marmalise the next ball carrier. One of the constant images of the match was the way Dupont was constantly having to pick up poor ball, none of this arriving at speed with a hop and wazzing it straight out malarkey.
Well payed Boks.
England will try the same thing and spend their afternoon sadly jogging back to the line out after the penalty, shaking their heads while Faz wails at the ref because Faf stole a bag of chocolate buttons out of his packed lunch.
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A social media post from the SRU has just told me that this would have been Bill McLaren’s 100th birthday.
I wonder what he would have made of the modern game? I think he would have admired the athleticism and the skills that we see now, I think he would have been very much less than impressed by the cynicism of modern players and coaches.
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When I hear ‘McLaren’ I automatically think ‘Marlboro’. The insidious power of advertising….
My dad and I went to the Detroit Grand Prix in 1982 where Norn Irish Marlboro McLaren driver John Watson won it from 17th position on the grid. We got the whole stand cheering for him. :-)
Marlboros are what I now smoke. Coincidence?
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I’ve just seen the Etzebeth “knockdown” for the first time – I joined the match immediately after it.
I have to say I think he was very, very fortunate. If, and I stress the if, that had been adjudged to have been deliberate knock on, you take the offending player out of the equation and award a penalty try, with the player sent to the bin.
14-0 after 7 minutes is a deferent kettle of ball games, especially since SA raced up the other end and scored, which was just where I started watching.
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Despite very much thinking that France were hard done by overall, in that instance while I’m not convinced the ref was right that it went backwards, I do kind of think he’d got so far into the French line that it was definitely a reasonable attempt to knock it backwards.
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I see the same complaints about the Bok obstruction and slowing the ball down at the breakdown week in and out on a lot of sites (largely NH ones, to be honest), but I haven’t heard too many opposing coaches speaking out about it and certainly it isn’t an area where we get blown off the park. So is it as egregious as is being suggested? I’ve heard more coaches muttering about our scrumming techniques than either the breakdown or the rush defence, the two key aspects of our defensive approach – why aren’t opposing coaches highlighting this if they’re such obvious and regular offences?
I’m not casting aspersions on those raising them, just maybe the refs have a better view, and maybe they also preemptively call situations. You can see it in every match where a player starts to go forward to a ball on the ground and the ref warns him off, or looks to move forward thinking the ball is out and the ref tells him to stay back – not just the Boks, in every match. The margins are tiny, the players want to react instantly and the refs, in my opinion, have a choice: proactively warn players off, or if they’ve already engaged tell them to release or roll away (like they do), or let it go and then blow the infringement. Is that going to improve the spectacle? You’d probably blow up the vast majority of rucks and mauls if you blew every technical infringement, every time.
As I’ve already said, the boards down here have their own complaints about BO’K (oh dear, maybe there is something to it?) missing things we should have got penalties for, so it’s pretty much in the eye of the beholder. There was also the non-award of the scrum when the ball hit him and allowing play to continue with France running around their own player being treated on the floor – how was play not halted there, when defenders couldn’t tackle for fear of colliding with a prone player and medical staff? Did the Boks get the rub of the green? Possibly. Was it BO’K subliminally adjusting to the febrile atmosphere in the stadium? I have no idea, and neither does anyone else – but the TMOs are not at the stadia, so aren’t under that pressure and scrutiny from, the crowd.
I’ll also say this, though, in balance: when Australia got away with absolute murder in 2011 with the breakdowns not being reffed at all and knocked us out, Bryce Lawrence was vilified here, when in fact the Boks played dumb rugby and should have won that match with ease. Did the occasion get to him? Possibly. Was it just incompetence? possibly. Who knows? It happens to all teams, and the higher the stakes, the more likely the microscopes will be out to analyse decisions, one way or another.
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Deebee, the people making decisions in the bunker have hardly covered themselves in glory during this tournament so I wouldn’t appeal to their authority.
To my mind there was a definite switch in outcomes after Tom Curry was sent off in that first England game.
The Fiji captain had, imo, a right to complain about what he called unconscious bias against the perceived weaker teams.
I think the game as a whole would be better off if there was open acknowledgment of mistakes being made by officials
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That 2011 game was a considerably worse example of the ref affecting the outcome than anything at the weekend.
“allowing play to continue with France running around their own player being treated on the floor – how was play not halted there, when defenders couldn’t tackle for fear of colliding with a prone player and medical staff?”
This also happened in the build up to the England try when the Fiji player was subsequently yellow carded. In that case the player was prone because of the high shot that he got the card for, but I thought play still should have been stopped when it went back to the side where he was.
For my part I don’t know that SA generally do well out of referees, just think that on the specifics of the QF they got the majority of the decisions in their favour and that’s going to happen one way or another a lot of the time, just comes more into focus when the team that does better out of the ref on the day wins by one point (sometimes they lose, sometimes they win by enough that it doesn’t feel like it made any difference etc).
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England’s footballers have screwed up the rugby, according to the rule of the triad. Oh well.
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Yeah, but the English football team are good…
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Well, not terrible, anyway. Saturday could be bad, I just hope Jonny May gets a chance to show off a time or two. He is getting a bad press for attack, but really hasn’t had a decent chance, as usual. Never gets passed the ball in open space or broken field, and often seems to be looking for a pass or offload, when someone goes to ground with the ball and he is first one into the ruck. Story of the last half of his International career. He is usually the guy to go off before the dice get rolled in the last 20 with Steward in the side too.
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Tim – someone needs to put this on repeat, on Borthwick’s laptop. Remind him what May can do, given the chance.
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Don’t know why England should be worried. Ben O’Keefe’s been awarded a second consecutive game with the Boks.
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Ticht – I wasn’t holding up the bunker brigade as an example of good decision-making or not: they’re not subjected to the immediate atmosphere of the stadium so shouldn’t be unduly influenced one way or another by that, was my point. The head shots is a completely different kettle of fish, with almost every one being argued over ad nauseum in the media, BTL, on television etc, and is a mess, frankly.
CMW – I guess you’re right that in matches with small margins you’re likely to get more scrutiny of decision-making and was this or that the decision that changed the game, fair enough.
Meant to post this yesterday!
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Great try from Johnny May, there.
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@Deebee – I don’t think it’s in any way a scandal that South Africa won, I just think they were a bit lucky as well as being very good while France were only one of those things.
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England team up, Steward for injured Smith, Chessum and Genge to the bench with Martin and Marler to start, otherwise the same side.
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That looks to me to be the best England 23 for this match-up.
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Ha, yes indeed, and Smith to come back in for the final against Argentina ? You heard it here first.
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Boks unchanged from last weekend. #Consistencyandcontinuity. The last time we were unchanged two matches on the bounce was in the opening match in Japan in 2019. Which we lost. England by 13.
South Africa
15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Substitutes: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Handre Pollard, 23 Willie le Roux
England
15 Freddie Steward, 14 Jonny May, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 Owen Farrell (captain), 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Jamie George, 1 Joe Marler
Substitutes: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Danny Care, 22 George Ford, 23 Ollie Lawrence
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It’s a decent Bok side, and the bench is again pretty strong, with the ability to deploy two fetchers in the latter stages, if they decide to keep Bongi on at hooker for the full 80. So, you could see a second row of RG Snyman, with PS du Toit moving into the second row to accommodate both Deon Fourie and Kwagga Smith at some stage after the break. De Allende and Kriel will need to be razor sharp early on to stop Tuilagi getting any momentum, although he seems to fade as the match goes on.
England have slowly gelled as the tournament has progressed and I for one don’t think they’ll be a pushover at all. Not sure about Dan Cole starting. Tom Curry will need to be careful – he was treading a very fine line against Fiji last week. Don’t think it’s a particularly dynamic side, but they’re setting up for trench warfare, so that’s probably the best side to pick. Will we see Farrell going for drops in the Boks 22?
My hope, as is the norm these days, is that cards and injuries don’t pay a defining role.
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Smith to come back in for the final against Argentina ?
3rd place playoff is about right as England’s final. I don’t think the All Blacks will be up for it, so a plucky bronze for Steve Baldrick and the boys.
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I think the SFs might be a bit more close than most people think.
SA by 25
NZ by 18
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