So confident was I in England's inability to reach the World Cup final that I booked a holiday over next weekend. So now I am trying to find somewhere on the internet that will definitely be showing the rugby; whatever happens thou I'm gutted to not be watching it in England.
Best part of the game on Saturday, other than than the final whistle going and the ensuing collective sigh of relief, must have been 10 seconds after Lewsey's try, not the try itself, but the pat on the head he gave Traille as he wandered past him.
Tackle of the match, has to go to Worsley for his tap tackle that saved the game, althou Stevens on Chabal would have won it in any other match.
Shaw & Sheridan awesome. Moody was quiet except for the charge down and gather. Easter too many penalties althou its been suggested he was unlucky with the one through the middle of the ruck. Gomersall not as good as last couple of games and his service and kicking from hand after the first 2 minutes was poor. Wilko looks a shadow of his former self and to be honest people were calling for him to be taken off - his penalty was easy but credit must be given for the drop goal which made it safe(!) Robinson looked better than I think I've seen him play before. It's a massive blow for Lewsey but I think the Tait/Hipkiss option which I think is what BA has to go for is a strong one.
But the French played poorly althou not as badly as Argentina who let themselves down massively last night. The French always knew that 1 point wasnt going to be enough but didnt go about scoring more in the right way. Hopeful kicks rather than probing corner kicks weren't enough to convince the English to roll over and go home.
So my predicted victors are in the final playing England who i turned my back on at the start of the tournament, dismissing them as Quarter Finalists and no better. If England win next week it will be one of the biggest sporting come backs in history and will leave me with a smile on my face for a long time to come
3 comments:
Who was calling for Wilkinson to come off? I'm no Wilkinson worshipper, but I think that was probably a unique view in the whole world(!) - Flood would have presumably come to fly-half? I know who I'd prefer, in terms of kicking penalties, kicking drop goals, marshalling the defence and specifically in tackling, which I thought Wilkinson did particularly well on Saturday (all be it that I was a bit emotionally involved and he may have missed some that I didn't notice!).
It's interesting that since Wilkinson has been playing we've conceded 22, 20, 12 and 9, in that order. I don't think there is anyone else in the backs who has the leadership to organise the defence as required without him so unless one leg is hanging off, I'd keep him on, even if his kicking isn't up to the standards of 4 years ago...
Thought Moody and Easter were quite good actually, Moody seemed to make lots of tackles, Easter made some good carries, before both made way for fresh legs and two players (Worsley and Dallaglio) who are good at closing games down.
you know my concerns about Worsley and late penalties!
Post a Comment