SF1: Argentina v New Zealand

[canta_brian]

A disappointing lineup in the semis, due the seeding cock up means no Ireland or France in the semis but at least the winner will come from the northern hemisphere

I’m disappointed France are no longer in the mix. Not to take anything away from the Boks, but France have been playing the best brand of rugby for a while.

I’d go further. An NZ v France final would have seen the best possible rugby. SA were lucky. If the French wings had caught those high balls what else did SA have to offer?

[Cameo]

The one advantage of France being out is that the final is not a rematch of the first game. Always feels a bit wrong to have two teams who have already played each other.

All Blacks didn't need to be at their absolute sharpest today, but pretty impressive.

[Cameo]

Did I miss something? Just read the Guardian coverage and it is all about the referee! Will Jordan's chip and chase try gets half a line and there is paragraph after paragraph on Gardiner's failure to speak Spanish, his one sided refereeing, and his failure to sinbin an All Black for their one penalty conceded near their tryline.

[Lizard]

Did I miss something? Just read the Guardian coverage and it is all about the referee! Will Jordan's chip and chase try gets half a line and there is paragraph after paragraph on Gardiner's failure to speak Spanish, his one sided refereeing, and his failure to sinbin an All Black for their one penalty conceded near their tryline.

Ah, nature is healing.

I mean obviously it’s the referee that caused the Pumas to miss 51 tackles.

[Beasties]

Did I miss something? Just read the Guardian coverage and it is all about the referee! Will Jordan's chip and chase try gets half a line and there is paragraph after paragraph on Gardiner's failure to speak Spanish, his one sided refereeing, and his failure to sinbin an All Black for their one penalty conceded near their tryline.

Tis true that the ref was overly harsh on some decisions against Arg. One in particular where Montoya was wrestled to the ground whilst simultaneously letting go of a possible turnover, but ref blew up all the same. It even looked absurd in slow-mo. There were others too but yes, it really didn’t alter the outcome other than make it one sided too early.

NZ will be fresh for the final which will make it interesting. Whoever they face. Lol.

[canta_brian]

Did I miss something? Just read the Guardian coverage and it is all about the referee! Will Jordan's chip and chase try gets half a line and there is paragraph after paragraph on Gardiner's failure to speak Spanish, his one sided refereeing, and his failure to sinbin an All Black for their one penalty conceded near their tryline.

Tis true that the ref was overly harsh on some decisions against Arg. One in particular where Montoya was wrestled to the ground whilst simultaneously letting go of a possible turnover, but ref blew up all the same. It even looked absurd in slow-mo. There were others too but yes, it really didn’t alter the outcome other than make it one sided too early.

NZ will be fresh for the final which will make it interesting. Whoever they face. Lol.

Similarly the penalty against Jordie Barrett for not rolling away when he had rolled so far away the scrum half couldn’t reach the ball without stepping (tripping) over him. Decisions didn’t all go NZs way.

[Mikey Brown]

Did I miss something? Just read the Guardian coverage and it is all about the referee! Will Jordan's chip and chase try gets half a line and there is paragraph after paragraph on Gardiner's failure to speak Spanish, his one sided refereeing, and his failure to sinbin an All Black for their one penalty conceded near their tryline.

Tis true that the ref was overly harsh on some decisions against Arg. One in particular where Montoya was wrestled to the ground whilst simultaneously letting go of a possible turnover, but ref blew up all the same. It even looked absurd in slow-mo. There were others too but yes, it really didn’t alter the outcome other than make it one sided too early.

NZ will be fresh for the final which will make it interesting. Whoever they face. Lol.

Similarly the penalty against Jordie Barrett for not rolling away when he had rolled so far away the scrum half couldn’t reach the ball without stepping (tripping) over him. Decisions didn’t all go NZs way.

Rolling in the way of the opposition scrum-half, you mean?

[Puja]

Tis true that the ref was overly harsh on some decisions against Arg. One in particular where Montoya was wrestled to the ground whilst simultaneously letting go of a possible turnover, but ref blew up all the same. It even looked absurd in slow-mo. There were others too but yes, it really didn’t alter the outcome other than make it one sided too early.

NZ will be fresh for the final which will make it interesting. Whoever they face. Lol.

Similarly the penalty against Jordie Barrett for not rolling away when he had rolled so far away the scrum half couldn’t reach the ball without stepping (tripping) over him. Decisions didn’t all go NZs way.

Rolling in the way of the opposition scrum-half, you mean?

Which happened all the time in the first half. NZ were constantly interfering with the clearers and the 9.

Not that it made the slightest difference to the result, but Arg did get the worse side of the ref in the first half.

Puja

[canta_brian]

Tis true that the ref was overly harsh on some decisions against Arg. One in particular where Montoya was wrestled to the ground whilst simultaneously letting go of a possible turnover, but ref blew up all the same. It even looked absurd in slow-mo. There were others too but yes, it really didn’t alter the outcome other than make it one sided too early.

NZ will be fresh for the final which will make it interesting. Whoever they face. Lol.

Similarly the penalty against Jordie Barrett for not rolling away when he had rolled so far away the scrum half couldn’t reach the ball without stepping (tripping) over him. Decisions didn’t all go NZs way.

Rolling in the way of the opposition scrum-half, you mean?

So he shouldn’t have rolled away from the base of the ruck?

[Mikey Brown]

Similarly the penalty against Jordie Barrett for not rolling away when he had rolled so far away the scrum half couldn’t reach the ball without stepping (tripping) over him. Decisions didn’t all go NZs way.

Rolling in the way of the opposition scrum-half, you mean?

So he shouldn’t have rolled away from the base of the ruck?

I can’t tell if you’re being serious right now.

[Cameo]

I thought there was one obviously harsh call against the Argentina 6 for not releasing when he clearly did. Otherwise, I thought it was the usual mix of borderline calls. I don't think Argentina could have complained about a yellow either. NZ scored on an advantage where, if they hadn't, I think Argentina would have lost a man.

Anyway, just thought it was a weird take out from the game. But then I've long been convinced that the Guardian rugby writers don't like rugby.