gomezcat

France won 20-18. Given that most people would have predicted a victory for New Zealand by 20+ points, it is pretty damn amazing. NZ dominated possession, to the point where France made 100 odd tackles to the All Blacks' 20 odd. (Rugby points are pretty similar to Football ones: 5 for a touchdown, 3 for a drop kick or penalty goal and 2 for a conversion)
It was quite a bizarre ending. Imagine the Pats having possession for 70% of the game, marching down field, running down the clock. Then, there is a minute or two left on the clock. They are down by 2 points, are about 25 yards out. Now, imagine that they keep trying to go for the go-ahead Touchdown. Why not go for the FG, you might ask?
It's a question that the All Blacks will spend the next four years asking.

Oh, and England (again, heavy underdogs) beat Australia by taking them on in the forwards (who do the heavy work equivalent to the O and D lines) and getting right in their faces. It wasn't pretty but to misquote terribly:"ce n'est pas magnifique, mais c'est la guerre".

__________________
The blog of our recent trip to The States (September and October 2012):


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Mike the Brit

You know, as far as I can see, there's no way to watch the Rugby World Cup in the U.S., any more than there was to watch the Ashes. You'd think that somewhere in all of those channels someone would put it on. But it didn't worry me that much.

Seeing the Southern Hemisphere teams over the last ten years (confirmed in the last Lions tour) I had the impression that I was watching players who were so much "stronger and faster" that it was like watching athletes competing against East Germany in the bad old days. It's a pleasure to see the European teams knocking them off their perch -- although I don't think that it will do much about the overall balance of power.

__________________
My prized possessions: Our family pictures; my dad and me getting doused by Bruschi in Super Bowl XXXIX [Shalize Manza Young Up Close with ... Bill Belichick]


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Well, Pats fans should be invincible by now. [Fitzy, 16 November 2009]

Still here to learn

gomezcat

The England game was great because the Aussie scrum was destroyed. They pulled down the scrum countless times and their ball was really scrappy. The All Blacks performance was tactically inept at times. In the last ten minutes, their tactics consisted of dig ball out of ruck, take into next ruck, recycle and, er, that's it. It was very strange to watch. I expected a lot more of them.
I don't think England will beat the French because they can bring guys like Chabal off the bench. Still, it's been a better performance than any of us would have expected so far.

As for watching the semi final, there is sopcast, but it is dodgy in legal terms.

__________________
The blog of our recent trip to The States (September and October 2012):


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

fleabassist1

I never watched rugby before and know nothing about it - other then its a mixture between soccar and football (I think).

__________________
GO PATRIOTS!!!!

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

gomezcat

It is very different to soccer, although its origins are similar. It is much closer to Football. The fundamental differences are that you can only pass sideways or backwards, you must release the ball when you are tackled and hit the ground (making it much less stop-start and meaning that people pile over the ball to protect it), there are no downs (at least in the more popular version) and there are things called lineouts when the ball goes out of play. There is a lot more tactical kicking than Football, but the tackling, sidesteps and so on are pretty much the same. There's loads of other stuff as well...

I'll see what I can find by way of introduction. I think most hardcore Football fans would enjoy it, as it has the same mix of violence, skill and drama. It's easier to learn the rules than Football (which took me a long time, as a Brit, to get to grips with).

Meanwhile, this video gives a great sense of the power involved with some of the players. The player featured is France's Sebastian Chabal. He's the guy with long hair and a beard. Don't ask about the opponents' jerseys.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWacp...related&search=

__________________
The blog of our recent trip to The States (September and October 2012):


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

fleabassist1

That looks like a sport I could get into

And since you said so... I must... what is up with the pink jerseys?

__________________
GO PATRIOTS!!!!

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

gomezcat

I thought you might like the clip. I have no idea why that team (based in Paris) wear pink. They are the only team that do.

__________________
The blog of our recent trip to The States (September and October 2012):


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Mike the Brit

Likes to pick up at the base of the scrum and run people over, does he?

__________________
My prized possessions: Our family pictures; my dad and me getting doused by Bruschi in Super Bowl XXXIX [Shalize Manza Young Up Close with ... Bill Belichick]


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Well, Pats fans should be invincible by now. [Fitzy, 16 November 2009]

Still here to learn

gomezcat

Nah, he's much more into sidestepping, the chip ahead, cut-out pass and so on. I saw him live for Sale against Leicester. He continually drove the Leicester pack backwards. There is a great article on him on the Times website. The rather unfortunate thing is that he is, erm, not English.

__________________
The blog of our recent trip to The States (September and October 2012):


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Mike the Brit

I couldn't get Sopcast to work, but I read the match report on the BBC web-site.

And I imagine that Mr Cat is celebrating as I type. Have one for me, Gomez -- but make sure that you've got some room left to do it all again next week!

__________________
My prized possessions: Our family pictures; my dad and me getting doused by Bruschi in Super Bowl XXXIX [Shalize Manza Young Up Close with ... Bill Belichick]


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Well, Pats fans should be invincible by now. [Fitzy, 16 November 2009]

Still here to learn