Looking at that fateful lineout yet again (it’s at 2:47 on these highlights), the following points stand out for me:
Scotland have a slender lead and are just outside their own 22, so attacking doesn’t look like the priority.
Scotland have opted for a shortened lineout - only five forwards in the line. Presumably to have two extra defenders if the lineout fails, or two runners to cart the ball up in midfield? As there are two minutes left the plan is probably to run a couple of phases before kicking to touch to avoid Australia getting the ball at all.
There’s a lot of movement before the throw, making the timing harder for both teams.
Australia opt not to contest so Scotland have free ball, but the hooker fractionally overthrows it/the jumper doesn’t quite get high enough and it’s just out of reach for a clean two-handed take. I’m assuming slapping the ball back wasn’t the plan (there’s no need for quick ball in this context, and it adds unnecessary risk).
The halfback moves to were the ball is thrown to, but also moves towards the lineout, rather than hanging back to see where the jumper will deliver it to.
The jumper slaps the ball back a long way - it lands more than two metres away from the halfback, who has to turn and regather while two Australian forwards are in good position (because they weren’t tied up competing for the jump) to burst through and claim the loose ball.
The halfback does well to beat the Aussies to the ball, the bounce is a little unkind, going a bit high, he loses it forward, and after hitting another player it falls straight into the arms of the Scottish player.
Overall I’d say the Scots were guilty of over-complicating things. Opting for a shortened lineout rather than a standard 7-man line, going for a longer throw, using movement in the line before the throw to confuse the opposition all make for a more difficult play to execute correctly. The execution is nearly good enough to get them through regardless, had the throw been a little lower, or the jump a little higher it’d be a clean take.
It would have been far better to just line up as normal and throw it to 2 which is the simplest and highest percentage play to choose. (I can’t find any decent lineout stats for the game, but I don’t think the Aussies were stealing a lot off Scotland’s throws in this game).
…I planned on watching the game this morning: but I slept in. Woke up to loud yelling of “We won!” So I missed all the tense nail-biting moments that everyone else had to endure. Go the All-Blacks!
It was tense, but while the Springboks led at half-time, and were not out of the game until the final whistle, the whole affair had the sense of an inevitable All Blacks victory. At least, that’s how it seemed to me as i watched it.
If you had asked me, at any stage of the game, to bet on the final outcome, i would have picked the All Blacks every time, even when they were down by 5 points with a man in the sin bin.
South Africa tackled pretty well, but it was only ever the Kiwis who looked like breaking the line and scoring tries. There were stages, especially in the second half, where the Springboks kept recycling the ball in phase and phase, and just kept going backwards even while in possession.
Now i just hope that the Aussies can overcome the Pumas tomorrow, and book a date with the All Blacks next weekend. Go Wallabies! It’s actually quite amazing to me that there have been seven Rugby World Cups and the Wallabies and the All Blacks have never yet met in the final.
I watched the game today on NBC. For most of the previous games, i downloaded international broadcasts from the UK. I have to say that i found the US commentators incredibly annoying, partly because i’m just not used to watching rugby with an American accent commentating, but more because the commentators often dropped into Americanisms to describe the play.
They also, at times, took too much time explaining basic rules of the game. I understand why they do this—they’re trying to introduce the game to an American audience that might not have experience with rugby—but it got pretty annoying at times, especially when they described a strong South African maul early in the game as being a “big green choo-choo train.” :rolleyes:
Good game. RSA too many freaking lineouts, were almost never really close for a try, and couldn’t keep the pace the last 20 minutes.
I still don’t get why the stopped the interception-possibly-try by the Boks just to award them a penalty in their favor. The Kiwis didn’t look unbeatable, just better
As a matter of general principle, i agree, and if Argentina were playing New Zealand, South Africa, England, or France, i’d be right on the Puma bandwagon. But i can’t cheer against my own team, even if it is for an underdog.
It happened because the Television Match Official (TMO) saw possible foul play and notified the referee in his earpiece. The ref had to stop the game at that moment to find out what. It was ironic on this occasion that the foul was by an All Black on a Springbok so although the Boks won a penalty, they lost a possible try and conversion = 7 points.
However Pietersen was being chased by Savea who was gaining ground so there may have been no try. Its simply one of those interesting sporting moments to ponder.
Well, at half-time Australia look like the stronger team, but the Pumas have done pretty well to be only 10 points down, especially considering they were a man short for 10 minutes.
They made a couple of nice line breaks, and i thought they were going to score each time, but the Wallabies’ scrambling defence has been excellent. Argentina’s breaks seem to be coming from turning the ball back inside near the ruck, and Australia need to be more careful about that, although it did cost the Pumas right at the beginning with the intercept try.
Given Australia’s defensive strength, i think it will take a superhuman effort for the Pumas to win from here. The Argentinians also look more tired than the Australians, and it wouldn’t surprise me too much if that really starts to affect the game in the last 20 minutes or so.
Pumas are looking pretty damn good this half. Australia should have put the game away, but the Argies have made some strong attacking raids and are still within a converted try, which makes me nervous.
The Wallabies have also been making some questionable decisions and some silly mistakes in attack.
Well, i think that the stronger team went through, but the Pumas really made a good game of it, and if the Wallabies don’t improve next week they will get thumped by the All Blacks.
Argetina just lost too many ball on rucks and knock-ons. They got close to the 5m line, get 16 phases and lose the ball…again and again.
I’m still not sure about the call when the Argentinian intercepted the ball on the first half.
Good. It was clearly an incidental contact, and not at all intentional.
Plus, if Australia’s going to win this thing, i want it to be against a full-strength squad, or we’ll have the Kiwis crying foul for the next four years.
