I am also a South-African, and Springbok supporter, but I never miss a podcast from you guys. It's always insightful and entertaining. Great chemistry and energy between you guys.
Boks supporter here... Hard Luck England! You really brought a great effort and must say WELL PLAYED! Tip of Hat to you and really looking forward to future of English Rugby! ....AND LOVE the ABs!! May the best team win as BOTH deserve a 4th title - just love playing the ABs! #History #RugbyHallofFame
Hey guys, As a Springboks supporter I really appreciate your honesty and insight. With 20 to go, there was no way we could win and I was congratulating my English mates for the better performance on the day!
If props can't prop, you lose. S.A. might be slightly concerned that NZ's props have improved, so the big advantage S.A. may have is diminished. Genge and Sickler should be binned, and Steve got most decisions and tactics right, but one wrong, in that he needed Stuart on the bench not Kyle
By far and away the most balanced, accurate, intelligent podcast in rugby. Stephen Jones and co - and matt williams and co - should watch this and learn.
I find your discussions objective and realistic. It is a pleasure listening to you guys. I’m a Springbok supporter and most you had to say in this discussion is spot on.
This is honestly the best analysis of that last ten minutes and the scrums. I'm South African and we were REALLY shocked with the refereeing mainly in the 1st half. That doesn't hide the fact that SA were UNBELIEVABLY poor.
The shoulder charge on Mostert by Martin at around 15 minutes, with absolutely no attempt at an armwrap, going unpenalized was ridiculous. That was a yellow right there. Unbelievable.
Clear and informed discussion. All Saffa and English fans need to hear this to get an accurate perspective on the game and some of the more controversial elements that have fans letting loose on social media. The level of unbiased reflection is a credit to the presenters. Thank you.
These are the guys that should be on TV, objective a d unbiased. Bloodie hell those ausie and irish pundets just hate SA lol. So many pundits saying the way SA play is wrong and not good for the game but it's England that have been the kicking side for a while now. SA actually tries to score tries.
The ONLY reason they are bitching about the South African gameplan is because they cannot emulate it with success. Do you really think if the Aussies or the Irish had the physical strengths and gifts the Springbok side has at their disposal, that they WOULDN'T use it and play to those strengths? As long as what the Springboks do is not contrary to what is stipulated by rugby union rules, what use is bitching about whatever tactics or gameplans they employ? Those "pundits" are just ridiculous and sound like a bunch of nagging women more than anything else.
Howzit boys, Bok supporter here. Thanks for a fantastic podcast; I have been looking forward to them as much as the games on the weekend! There have been a few battles in this World Cup, but the Bokke have been at war! Man, this has been the craziest lineup for the Bokke, and to face the All Blacks at the end is like meeting the final boss in a Video Game. Win or lose, I am so proud of the team, and I also look forward to the Haka, as it makes the hairs on my arms stand up. The bigger the challenge, the greater the victory! On a side note I think the Argi's want the bronze more than the English, it is going to be ON!!
This channel has been so great all World Cup, Superb. The semi was tough, proud of England but SA did what they do best - grinding out wins. Congrats to them!
Thank you gents for the most balanced and insightful analysis of the game. Especially when looking at Ben O Keeffe - the man doesn't deserve what's come his way
I also thought O’Keefe handled both the quarterfinal and this semi quite well and has received way too much uninformed and biased criticism from French and England supporters. Like any ref, some of his calls may have been questionable, but in both matches I thought he got the big ones right and communicated them clearly. After Angus Gardner and the Georgian fellow whose name’s not on the tip of my tongue at the moment, he’s been one of the fairest officials, and the TMO he’s worked with, also a Kiwi, Whitehouse, has been superb and unlike some of the others, he didn’t needlessly interject himself into the game to review every rugby collision and helped the game flow.
I don't give a F... what people say, I watch this game now 3 times, England played very structured and bloody well. They keep all the South African gates closed except for one ( ONLY ONE MISTAKE ) mistake, and hereby I do not want to blame or shame, I want to highlight the gate that England open for the Boks to sniff a gap for the win. Freddy Stewardt should have NEVER kick the up and under and with this kick it to the stronger field position of SA. He should have kick it deep and in the middle. And that mistake / kick cost England the game and the final, So leave Ben o Keefe out of this, as he give 70% of the 50/50 calls to England. ( Especialy the first half ) England number 8 and Farrel and Stewardt were excellent so please give them credit. Saying this, if England win, Stewardt was hands down the man off the match. Now - Remember the Springboks have in every world cup since 1995 ONE BAD game, 95 France - Semis, 99 - Aussie Semis, 03 NZ - Quarters, 07 Tonga - Group, 11 Ausies - Quarters, 15 Japan - Group, 19 Wales - Semis and for sure now England in Semis,
I agree with all of that, but they were actually not attacking O'Keefe but voicing the fact that he was perfectly correct in his calls. Lighten up boet, we won fair and square and these pundits have just vouched for that.
@@noggintube He is just pointing out a strategic error, and not blaming the player. You can also argue that Farrel's belligerence helped his team to front up.
@@noggintube Maybe because I found his view interesting and not created specifically to belittle anyone. I am actually targeting YOUR POST, not defending HIM. Probably because I think it's just silly to be so defensive about a certain strategy that failed. We all agree that Steward did a stellar job. So maybe it all is silly.
As a Saffa, I appreciate the honesty here. I'm happy to admit that England was the better team on the day and the Boks, sneaked one by playing 12 minutes of rugby at the end.
Most of us are. With 12 minutes left to play, I was contemplating turning off the tv but was fixed by morbid fascination - luckily for me. We dodged a bullet big time, even though it was us who went and got the win in those 12 minutes. Scary AF!! I don't know if my heart can take another game this weekend lol.
I disagree that England were the better team. Man for man, on paper, SA were the better team. In a combined side, you have two or three English players, tops. What is true is that England played better. No argument there. But to say that England were the better team ... just, no.
“On paper” is irrelevant once the game has started…the comments above are referring to who was the better team on the day… And of course that is open to discussion…. England were the better team in the first half, but never looked like scoring a try…. South Africa can score a try at anytime from anywhere and definitely dominated all/most of the second half….
Huge appreciation for the honesty from you gentlemen. 🙏🏾 It's always a little more clearer when you watch the match again AFTER the emotional high 😂 One thing is for sure...England gave us hell!! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 As someone who's been watching the awful press those lads have had, I truly hope this made up for that a bit! 😊 Poor Ben O Keeffe has been very poorly treated...he explained everything EVERY TIME so I'm not sure why the negative press! Anyways...the finish line is here and it's gonna be epic! 🇿🇦🇿🇦🇳🇿🇳🇿
Good luck to South Africa, they were so good fighting back into that semi. If they can take the batterings that both France and England dished out, then come back and beat the ABs in the final, they will be the worthiest of champions. I'll be cheering for them this weekend.
@sozilla 🙏🏾🙏🏾 Thanks mate 😊 Here's hoping and praying and hyperventilating 😂 I totally agree, if they win it, they really would have earned the victory! 🇿🇦
As a Springbok supporter fair play to England. They dominated us for 65 min. Can be proud the team played with passion! I actually respected Farells will to compete.
Yeah, I thought he was outstanding on the night! 👌🏾 Needs to work on not letting his emotions be his own undoing (and his teams)... but everything else about him was sensational 😊
Obviously it was a devastating loss from an English point of view. The result wasn't what English rugby wanted, but it was the performance that we needed. I felt immense pride watching England during that game - a feeling that I hadn't felt since WC2019. It was a heroic performance. On another day, we could have edged it. For the first time, I feel Steve Borthwick is the man to lead us. I don't really have any concern with our backs, the talent is there and we will utilise those talents more going forward. Definitely more so when it's not as wet as it was on Saturday evening. We need some refinements in certain areas; i'd argue up front really. Our front row needs a lot of work, as does a succession plan for Jamie George. If England can get this sorted, I think that the forwards will considerably improve with decent coaching and continuity in selection. All in all, the future is very bright for England. Lastly, South Africa dug in brilliantly and deserved to win. If they do go on to beat New Zealand, (although I don't think they will), no-one could ever argue that they don't deserve it.
English rugby is not in a good place, just as their play in the world cup surprised most, it is a knockout completion with a favourable draw. I feel England will return to struggle once the other home nations lock horns with the semi-finalists.
Definitely!💯 England Rugby (and Ireland Rugby, for that matter) is in a good place! And Borthwick really silenced the naysayers with this one! 😊 👌🏾 The only thing I would say, though, is that victories are earned, not deserved!...Each and every team that plays deserves to win.. but earning the win is a whole other thing 😊 And like you say, if South Africa wins against the All Blacks...it will have been a well-earned victory indeed! 🤞🏾
So much mud slinging between both set of fans at the moment..... I'm a Saffa... and so agree with you.... the way everyone was slaging England off before the world cup...and for them to get this far...and play like they did!!!!! And to lose a 50/50 game!!!!!! If I were English I would be sooo proud and stick my chest out as far as I could!!!!!!! Watch out Ireland in the 6 Nations!!!!!! These guys are coming!!!!!!!
Thank you!!! This is why I love watching you guys! You are the only ones that’s actually talking about that Ben clearly said he gave the penalty for the knee on the ground! That call was good 👌💥
Great discussion. Thanks. As a South African, I can say this, England outplayed SA for 60 minutes. South Africa outplayed England in 10 minutes, that mattered. Hats off to England, and respect to the team and the management. A game is 80 minutes, and what a game . Maybe next time England.
I'm English This is all well and good, heroic defence, fronting up to SA wonderfully BUT this was based around a game-plan that actively avoided ANY running with the ball 4 years on from the 2019 RWC final, England have no backs moves AT ALL, they weren't even prepared to run off 2nd or 3rd phase Until that changes, they won't beat the best sides
Great review thanks guys. Wish main line media were more impartial and realistic the way you guys are. As an Englishman I think my dark thoughts looking forward are this was Englands best performance. This was at something like 96% output, and we lost to an SA who were maybe ambling along at 75%. We have nothing more to give, and hence we are quite rightly down at no. 6 in the world. How do we get to no. 4 in the next two years? Who knows, but we will need at the very least 3 new props, 1 or 2 centers and 1 winger. Unless Steve finds them we have no chance of challenging any of the top 4. Steve and the English clubs have their work cut out.
If England looks at ways to score more try's and not just rely on the 3-pointers, then you have a team that can go all the way! They played an exceptional game in the semi's and as a bok supporter I can honestly say that I have a few more grey hairs after that game. But the try from Snyman pulled the rug from under the English. Your forwards are working way to hard just to have Farrel kick for post! If the English scored a try on top of those conversions they would have won.
When the boks played like that in 2019 it was bad for the game now its called spectacular,only people that where underestimating england saying their gonna get taken to the gutters where northerners,south africa was always cautious
I have to say you guys are brilliant. It is very refreshing to see three guys have a open objective discussion and are always fair and level headed in your feedback. It certainly is currently one of the best channels to watch. You guys are top notch in your feedback and passion for the game. To many people are ruining the love for the game and I know there are issues that need sorting. Rugby is awesome, and is played in many different ways. That makes it exciting and different. I feel for the referees today. They deserve so much credit, the stress and the abuse they deal with is not fair. Decisions will go for you and against you sometimes. I feel for England, they played brilliant rugby on the weekend and the Springboks had to dig deep. I think the Springboks have shown this Stronger Together belief and it has pulled us through. I fear for the final. I think we will be dead tired and battered and NZ are peaking and playing brilliant rugby again. This is a great rivalry and I hope the game is great on Saturday. Keep up this great channel gents, you guys are a great service for rugby and fair sportsmanship.
When Vunipola got red carded a couple of weeks ago, I thought England had dodged a bullet and would have to select someone else. Mercer perhaps? Lucky for us they didn't.
Great pod guys. Very fair, and you actually analyse the game and rugby in general. So much better than GBrugby from North and South. There's been a lot of talk about scums. Watched France England WC 2003... I was really surprised at how quickly the scrums went.. ball in ball out! Historically the scrum was meant to be a restart, not the ludicrously dominant part of the game it has become. Is there a discussion in world rugby to be had about this issue?? Anyway cheers guys.
Farrells discipline was poor although he had a good game otherwise. He also should have been sent off for cynical play, caused Damian De Allende`s pass to gte knocked out of his hands while having advantage 5m out from Englands line. Don`t now how the TMO didnt advise O`Keefe, clear as day he lifts his knee.
I was cheering so hard for England. You’ve got some excellent players, 3 brilliant first fives, best at drop goals and penalties and some great forwards.
Long term the Chessum brothers at lock for England with George Martin and Itoje covering lock and six to replace Lawes. Earl at seven and Mercer at 8 with curry able to cover the back row. England desperately need some better scrummaging props than Genge and Sinckler, being moody around the pitch doesn't cut it at test level, Ox Nche won that game when he came on and dismantled Sinckler.
You talk about the scrums but until the second half they were stable. I do agree with you that these decisions can be 50-50 and I've been saying this to my mates for a while but something needs to be done about scrums and especially not scrummaging straight and pushing before the ball goes in via technology as and when the scrum is actually happening because I don't see how scrums go from being stable to not without something changing. Now it could be England players getting tired or as you said replacements not being as good for England as those they were replacing, but I think instructions had gone onto the pitch to try more disruptive and it was kind of a throw of the dice in a game SA were losing and needed to get back into. Even as an England fan I'm quite glad the final is NZ v SA because I think it'll be a better game, but I'm still gutted we lost.
As northern hemisphere pundits .U the only guys that is transparent.Lots of calls went against the boks but i can guarenteed u if the pitch was dry ,it would have been a totally different game .i aplaud u for your honesty
England kicked 41 times and could not score a try against a "flat" bok side. Not a pretty game to watch at all. Curry was a beast and all bloodied but cries over Wit Kant😂😂
@@naughtiusmaximus5057 All the Boks are multilingual bud. So, it's possible he confused the Afrikaans words. The only way to solve this is to get both players to testify under oath.
I genuinely hope it's just a misunderstanding. It's a shame Bongi couldn't have cleared the air about it with Tom Curry and shook his hand after the game. Tom didn't want to pursue the matter, it was RWC who took it up on their own initiative. @@BanzLanda86
Genge going down on one knee is not an offence, unless it is deemed to be a deliberate collapse. How on earth can the ref conclude the action was “deliberate” ?. If not deliberate, it’s a re-set.
It's deliberate because once engaged he could not counter the pressure of the opposing prop/scrum - it's deliberate in that regard. And then begins pushing on the angle - it's clear as daylight
Thanks guys, love the pod. From the start I've had SA as favourites for the tournament so no shame in England losing to them. But your analysis of the last scrum makes no sense. If knee to floor is a penalty, why didn't Ben OK give it straight away, like he did with Kitsoff in the first half ? Genge bounced back up and Ben OK obviously thought it didn't affect the scrum so didn't give it. Therefore the knee is irrelevant. He then realises that he has to give something when Koch and Peter SDT are running away from him at 90 degrees, and he uses the knee as an excuse to give a decision that he had already made before the scrum even set. It's confirmation bias - human nature. He's only looking at one team to penalise. And actually the problem is because of an obsession of talking about dominant scrums rather than legal scrums. The only referee brave enough to focus on legal scrummaging was in the Ireland NZ game, to Andrew Porter's demise...
Why is it, (feels like every bloody team we've faced) they bring out their absolute best performance in the past 2 years!? And other teams, not naming names, gets a waaay easier time at it. This weekend, I will 100% be supporting and screaming for the "Groen Kant"! GO BOKKE!!
Great chat as always. Agree that there were a few decisions that seemed to go England's way in the 1st half. But nothing crazy to detract from the fact that the Boks were nowhere. A couple of times it seemed they got away with pulling down maul which I was surprised by.
The English played some of the best rugby they were capable of and the Boks played close to their worst and they still won. Just shows you the insane difference between the teams that on their best day they couldn't beat us on our worst day!
Bud, England played the ugliest Bok rugby, out SA'd SA for 65mins, but its a 80min game which they seemed to forget... I really gave kudo's to the Poms untill they started with their sore losing and allegations. Bunch of dweebs.
@@rooftile883no line breaks the whole match for england, time in the Boks 22 measured in seconds. There was no luck here except on englands side to look like they were close. The score line flatters them and now with their ‘best’ players all retiring, england have another difficult 4 years in front of them, the blame lies squarely at england rugby hq!
Pity these don’t do the commentating. The commentators never mentioned O’Keefe favouring England early on which lead to the Boks looking poor and you couple the wet ball and they lost heavily in first 30min. After some strong talks by Siya, Ref was more balanced and the fight back was on. I liked ‘OKeefe but after this game, he is off my list, the referrals have been great in the 2023 RWC, he seems to refuse to use this fix for poor / unnoticed decision. I saw too many tackles that were at least a yellow card up to this stage of RWC. Great review, honest and knowledgeable.
The moment the Boks turned the scrum around I was pleading for England to kick deeper or kick to contest their catch, but not to contest for the ball in the air as those scrums were the only way they were looking to get close enough.
World Champions find a way forward, no matter how battered they may be. A true warrior allows his enemy to make mistakes, and when it is least expected, he strikes the death blow.
Yes you nailed it. I thought England played really well but the Boks showed their quality especially in their bench and closed the game . That's the mark of a good team and I wish them the best next week
You can't say England played well, because they didn't play any rugby. Kicking the ball 41 times is not really playing is it? I'd say they kicked better than us maybe or maybe recovered their kicks better than us. And that is about that. We attacked, tackled, scrummed and defended better than them. Anyway, England loves a "heroic" defeat more than a victory.
England did all of those things better than SA, for almost 70 minutes. They out - bokked the springboks and many SA fans and even players have said this much. As for building your game around scrum penalties, that's hardly heroic is it. Boks had the best bench, that's all. England matched or bettered them at everything else.
@@naughtiusmaximus5057 I just don't agree man. After watching the game again, we definitely tackled better than them. Whe are the ones that scored a try, not England. They disrupted our lineouts, I will give that to England. England got the 50/50 calls in the first half, so that also played into their gameplan to escape from their half and kick the ball back into ours. They just kicked the ball, that's all they did.
They had a game plan that was nearly successful. But the game plan just seems to involve the other team losing it themselves through mistakes, as opposed to England actually trying to win it. They ended up failing through a lack of creativity and ambition.
Love your channel guys!! I really have to say aomething ..... I also thought that the ref made some mistakes and that the Boks defitnitely played a flat game with the English did outstanding ..... yes, the Boks sneaked a one point win, but here is the thing. Everybody is praising the Enhlish for playing very well (well-desrved) BUT what about the Boks with such huge character to not concede a single try (boks scored one), scrums demolished England 70% of the time .... any other team would have succumbed to a HUGE loss. I am just sick and tired for a lot of people belittleling the Boks and making them look so terrible with "horrible" Rassie with "dark arts" (Gatland , I mean .... seriously??!!) And then Boni gets accused of racial slur against Curry .... WTF??? I was gutted for England after their loss, but how media, comments on you tube reviews and so called rugby pundits (not you guys) are ripping through the Boks, now I dont give a f@ck anymore! Its a beuatiful game and being smeared in sh1t because of stupid as$holes!! The Boks won with sheer determination, grit and genius decisions made by Rassie and Jacque! Well done Boks, screw you Gatland and Curry and all the f&cked-upped comments about the Boks ..... sick of it!!!! Thanks for a great unbiased channel!
Spot on lads. Couldn't disagree with anything you said. Vunipola and Sinkler did not front up and it was clear. I am just gutted for the team not getting to the final after that performance. They deserved more.
Absolutely spot Andy on about the physical and emotional effort English boys made and Vunipola did not want to be there. He was miles off the pace. You can imagine, he plays with Earl at 8 and for England he gets usurped. Turning point was the crap line out 8m out from the Boks’ line. Do the basics well. Why did Martin not play for longer. Sinckler has not been the same for a while.
England was the better team. I'd even say that Owen Farell was the MOTM for me. When OF slotted that drop over, I thought that's it for us. Springboks are going home and we are terrible at catching up from behind. We are not primarily an attacking team, we feed off scraps. We play defensive, negative rugby to a large degree, simply because of strategy. Rassie always seem to do what other teams aren't doing - and if other teams start doing it, he will start doing the opposite. It's a wild ride and it's mostly ugly. It's effective and it got us to the finals. This is what counts. I predict NZ will win the RWC though - SA is not playing well, we are lucky to be in the final. The upside is SA are the obvious underdogs going into the final - id take that over cruising to the final.
dankie vir daai boodskap julle , @ least weet iemand wat aangaan met wereld beker rugby en die wit kant beteken "white jersey side" vir julle mense wat dit nie weet nie ... Thanx for the best podcast in the world
Probably the best, most honest assessment of the game. As a Bok supporter I appreciate an impartial discussion that does not play the blame game. Where all comments on the Boks have been negative. Thanks gents.
I was at the game, I was disappointed that England lost at the end but have no problem with the Boks winning that game. The Boks found the way to win in a tight scrap and that is testament to the quality of the team. As for negative comments, I really think you have a point regarding negativity of the rugby media not only about the Boks but other sides and all for engagement. Then social media has allowed anonymity for some posters to make rugby content toxic and say things about teams and players that they would never say to someone’s face. As I said I was at the game and I spent a fantastic night celebrating the game with English and Bok fans.
As a South African I want to thank you guys for being so objective and honest England were a better team but the game is never won until the final whistle blow credit to England but at 15__6 they kept their guard down never underestimate your opponents love your analysis well done
I used to think that rugby players looks and thinking belonged to their wags. Apart from the looks this channel has changed my mind. The best most articulate rugby show on RU-vid. I hope you receive a world cup honour of your own.
Thanks so much for your measured take on the game. It's great to see some objective views after the vitriolic response from Matt Williams and Dallaglio. Maybe Matt should go and watch Rugby League if he hates scrums so much...
The fact that you still give a flying f*** what Matt Williams has to say is in itself a mystery. Some people just hate us boet, and will use every excuse in the book to put us down. Don't subject yourself to that drivel.
French, Irish and English allowed to complain about the ref but not other countries. Also France kicked 44 times v NZ and Eng. Saturday 41 times. But if SA kicks 20 times it is not okay. Then they brought on the BOMB SQUAD to inflict more pain and to finish them off. In the BATTLE England battered, bruised, bloodied and beaten - look at Tom Curry's face. He was in a war. Almost beautiful in its brutality ! In 2019 final Softy Sinckler faked concussion as he was to scared to scrum. He knew Beast Mtawarira was going to down his career. Instead it did this to Dan Coles. Did not play for Eng. more than 3 years. Then the English said, yes but our best scrummager was off the park. Now after Saturday they say Sinckler can't scrum. Do you remember how Sinckler last year nearly collapsed when Gregor Townsend brought on two SA'cans in Pierre Schoeman an W P Nel !
There is a vast chasm between the quality of this pod and the rest. Thank you. First it was the 10/14 .... then it was Squidge ... now it is the one Scot w balls enough to test Eben and the best of English honor and humility - Fair Play indeed!
I said it elsewhere. England dominated everything in the first 60 minutes - possession, territory, scrums, lineouts, mauls, breakdowns and in the air - but they didn't use that dominance to put the game away. They were too conservative to win the game. The Boks were dire in the first 60 minutes, their energy levels were low and their accuracy was non-existent. Once the bench came on, they upped the Boks' energy levels and accuracy, scored a try and were back in it. I get it. Borthwick has gone back to the basics, a la Rassie in 2018, and is looking to build up from there. But they really lost a great chance to be in the final
Im a bit old yeah, but ^Swing low" used to ring out when England were probably second half running away with a game. Nowadays 2min into a match it happens. I love the song it is what it is I guess.
Os Du Randt, Tendai Beast Mtawarira, Ox Nche... funny how every time SA makes it to a RWC final they have a LH which can dominate and turn things around. Wonder if there is something in that?
Wet conditions some Springboks not used to that Springboks energy was the worst I've seen it yes England played hard but Springboks where way below par. The energy from the bench Pollard made a massive difference right call during the game but needed to start Pollard. Easy 3 points at the start thrown away while England where playing for a win by taking any points to be taken. Springboks underestimated England you could see it. Credit to England putting South Africa under more pressure when they where sub par.
I think i will subscribe to this podcast. As a Boks fan this is one of the few overseas chat ive listened to when guys were honest and they were not biased
SA supporter here. The skewed pool groups detracted for me from this WC. They cannot do the draw 3 years before a WC. It can be safely said that we had the toughest run into the semi finals, and it showed on Saturday. Far be it for me to question our coaches choices, but we have 33 incredibly talented players and Im not sure if they were used to the full extent to maximise the team's success. England caught us with our pants down and we very nearly paid the price for a whole number of issues, some within our control and some over which we had none. I left a comment after France hammered England in the Six Nations in which I expressed the hope that England will straighten out a few things and get themselves back on track. I think they are getting there fast, which is a good thing for world rugby.
Thank you for a fair analysis. Been really frustrating seeing how the refs have dominated the conversations rather than the absolutely epic contests between the Boks, France and England.
This was a heroic effort by the team, and full credit to the coaches and players for getting themselves so close to beating the world #1s. It was always going to need to be a 95% performance to get the win, and for once 93% just wasn't enough. The game plan made the Boks sweat and it was executed so well. On the matter of Vunipola, he has been an incredible servant for the team, but I think the game now is at the stage of being so well-adapted to the "big guy run straight" tactic, that his game isn't effective any more. I would have loved to see Underhill in his place, coming on with 30 to go to just stop people dead on or behind the gain line.
South Africa fan here and I must say that there was a time when Billy Vunipola was an absolute beast on the pitch. I remember watching him play for the 1st time back in 2016 and you guys beat us at Twickenham. Billy was almost unplayable that day. He even dropped Eben Etzebeth. Not many can say that. But you’re right, the game has evolved so much that teams are getting smarter and as you put it ‘the big guy run straight tactic’ won’t work on the top sides anymore.
The most objective, fact driven rugby show on the planet. Good Ham are the best commentators and reviewers by a mile. England can definitely hold their heads up high and tbh I felt for those players at the end. They did give their all and probably deserved the win. SA were crap first half. Facts! They did pull three with huge decisions and real grit at the end.
We should be extremely proud of the lads!! I didn’t give us a chance! Marler, Itoje, curry, steward, cole all bloody fantastic! Hats off! Genge, sinckler and Vunipola especially were a disgrace. Vunipola ate Vunipola!
I noted during the game that Billy Vunipola looked uninterested when he came on as a blood replacement. Much as commentators and pundits are talking about one scrum costing England the result, I think Farrells discipline, or lack there of ws the real reason England lost.
Can somebody explain what kind of pressure Genge was under to force his knee to the ground? FDK hadn't even looked interested in putting the ball in at that stage, so there should be absolutely zero pushing. So why would Genge drop a knee? I spent around 12 years as an openside, so I never really got arsed enough about scrums to even push beyond locking out, but somebody must have been putting the stink on Genge to make him drop the knee. How? Happy to hear any thoughts, because it just doesn't make any sense, other than SA put a crafty shove on.
Think you guys nailed it. When you were discussing Farrell i was hoping for a comment about the dark arts 😂🙈 where he was lying next to the ruck and tripped Reinach causing a knockon 😂
