RWC Final 2007

south africa 15 : england 6

yawn!…..still feeling the effects of staying up until the wee hours of this morning watching the final & going off to work almost straight afterwards. though i suspect there will be fans mainly in old blighty who will be having a far worse hangover today.

anyway regarding the final, not a classic by any stretch of the imagination but a result that (to be honest) was totally expected. the springboks dethroning the grumpy old men of england to win the rugby world cup for the second time.all fairytales had to end sometime and try as they might, england just didn’t have the required amount of discipline, luck & skill to overhaul their superior opposition. england’s inability to control their own line-outs, the various infringements & penalties conceded, that disallowed try effort by cueto & rock solid kicking by percy montgomery all contributed to south africa ending england’s reign as the rugby world champions.

for england, the journey is over. no ticker-tape parade in central london holding the webb ellis trophy aloft. still they could be mighty proud of their efforts. not many people gave them a chance at the beginning of this tournament but here they were challenging south africa in the RWC final…

for the south africans, the culmination of a dream. all the problems & issues of previous years (including the much talked about selection policy) for the moment has taken a backseat. they truly deserve this title as they were the only team who in the end remained undefeated during the entire duration of this tournament.

all hail the mighty BOKS!

i miss the RWC already!…anyone else?

(originally posted on 21/10/07)

England vs France

england 14 : france 9

brilliant match that was. jonny wilkinson’s kicking efforts (although not completely up to scratch) once again proved decisive as england edged out a gallant french team for a place in history…if anyone told me ’bout 2 weeks ago that england would advance to the rugby world cup finals, i would suspect that they must have been smoking something suspicious. sure, they were the defending champs but c’mon, england were never the bookmakers favourites to begin with. their squad, made primarily out of those on the wrong side of 30 and derisively dubbed as “dad’s army”, didn’t look the part of world champions during their recent dismal performances…

england’s first encounter in the tournament (against the lightweights u.s.a. mind you) didn’t exactly inspire confidence among the faithful. whatever hope that remained were further dented by the hammering received courtesy of south africa. but england persevered. they somehow managed to squeeze into the last 8 and their stunning victory against australia only last week restored belief that maybe, just maybe this england team has what it takes to go all the way…

anyway, the argentina vs south africa second semi final is on tomorrow but with respect to argentina, it looks more like it’s gonna be an england vs south africa final. my money’s on the springboks what with their heavy defeat of england only a few weeks back. but wouldn’t it be nice to see the underdogs triumphing once again?

i seriously doubt that “dad’s army” has enough gas left on the tank to pull off another upset but wouldn’t it be wonderful if they could manage to pull it off?…

France vs New Zealand

france 20 : new zealand 18

feeling really depressed today. reason being that last night, one of my favourite sports teams, the new zealand all blacks got knocked out of the rugby world cup prematurely (once again).

it wasn’t supposed to end like this, not this time at least. they were the pre tournament favourites, a team both admired & feared for their prowess inside a rugby field. during recent encounters, the all blacks blitzed just about every opposition to smithereens (with their solitary defeat to australia just being a minor blip in another wise spotless performance). they were determined not to repeat the mistakes of their previous campaigns & go back home this time with the world cup firmly in their grasp. however it was not to be…

france were supposed to be a non entity, another minor roadblock along the way to new zealand’s world cup glory. the french were humiliated during their last tour of new zealand & their world cup opening round defeat to argentina made the “le bleus” look a side out of sorts & demoralized. sure, they made some huge improvements since then but before yesterdays quarter-finals, they were pegged as “easy meat” and during the first half of the match it looked as if all the predictions about the all blacks easy passage into the semi finals were about to come true.

then the french decided to change the script… two tries, one albeit a tad controversial (how did they miss that forward pass?), and some accurate goal kicking helped the french to overhaul nzl’s total. luke mccalister’s missed spot kick turned costly as the “le bleus” held on grimly against some ferocious all black attack plays to claim a famous victory & stake their place in the semi finals..

for new zealand, it was a case of once again so close but yet so far. perhaps echoes of ‘99 against the very same opposition ringing in their ears? whatever the case it was a sad & dramatic end to their 2007 campaign. they were clearly the best team in the tournament barring yesterday & it must be gut wrenching to finish off like that…

a whole nation will be in mourning today. and no, it won’t be the nation of france…