Who was playing?
True story: I spent this morning running around a primary school dressed as a pukeko, then I got to work and everyone was grumpy about the rugby. When will they grow up?
Itās a hell of a shame, though. Anna and I have been working together on www.allblacksfanatics.com for the past few weeks. And when youāre reading hundreds of messages of support every day, itās hard to believe this outcome was ever possible!
Count-down to massive economic/social/political impacts.
turns out those programs to help people for gambling problems are also targeted at nations
Losing at the quarter finals for the second time in a rowā¦and to FRANCE there is no excuse, they choked, they are Punks, and the dont deserve to wear the black jersey.
Show-ponies the lot of them, they should stay in france.
[quote=āCarlā]Losing at the quarter finals for the second time in a rowā¦and to FRANCE there is no excuse, they choked, they are Punks, and the dont deserve to wear the black jersey.
Show-ponies the lot of them, they should stay in france.[/quote]
New Zealanders are such loyal fans.
[quote=āCarlā]Losing at the quarter finals for the second time in a rowā¦and to FRANCE there is no excuse, they choked, they are Punks, and the dont deserve to wear the black jersey.
Show-ponies the lot of them, they should stay in france.[/quote]
Dude, this is the first time the ABs have ever lost in a quarter final.
Itās also the first time theyāve played an in-form team in a quarter.
But that ref ! Seriously, he re-wrote the offside rules and handed France a 17-point swing. He was such a n00b, and it showed, to the ABs detriment.
Same here, it was the main topic for all talks today. Upsetting, yeah 
[quote=āCarlā]
Show-ponies the lot of them, they should stay in france.[/quote]
Iām proud of the ABās, they have the stones to get out there on the world stage and give it their best.
I went āhahaā in Nelson Muntz style to all the sullen faces at work on Monday.
Still I think the guy who had ABās winning the RWC 2007-2011 tattoed on his thigh is possibly the best & most silly example of counting ones chickens before theyāre hatched.
And worse, he was on the front page of the Herald, winner!
Ahhh Rugby fans (in case no-ones guessed Iām not a supporter).
All that build up, its like the hype for the Star Wars prequels, huge but doesnāt live up to expectations.
If Iāve offended Rugby fans, try not to cry to much, itās JUST a game.
Jared
[quote=āMike Curtisā]
Dude, this is the first time the ABs have ever lost in a quarter final.[/quote]
Are you proud of that or just stating the obvious.
FRANCEā¦FRANCEā¦??? They were beaten by Argentina in the FIRST game of the tournamentā¦France has never been a threat to us in all of the years we have played them, and we bend over for them in the QUARTER FINAL of the world cup.
that is just pathetic
[quote=āMike Curtisā]
But that ref ! Seriously, he re-wrote the offside rules and handed France a 17-point swing. He was such a n00b, and it showed, to the ABs detriment.[/quote]
The Ref was not the number one team in the world, and hands down favourite to win the cup.
Please let me state a couple of things before anyone starts accusing me of tall poppy syndrome.
I was weaned on all black history and lore and if you cut me I bleed Black, my Great Uncle was one of the first men to ever pull on a All Black jersey and kick the Piss out of the rest of the world, my grandfather coached Colin Meads in the King Country first 15 and the RNZAF rep team during WW2, and when i played school boy rugby as a nipper Tane Norton was my coach.
now for the rant
Rugby is in my heritage and in my blood, and I am disgusted with the effort the ABs put in at this world cup, they score 100+ points aganst Portugal (who should not be playing them in the first place) but can only put 18 on france (who sorry mike were not in form.)
the coaching and management staff need to stand up and put thier head on the block for this. You do not prepare for the World cup by not playing any rugby. (reconditioning program my arse MR bloody HENRY [size=75]pillock[/size])
the players need to accept the fact that they stood back and watched France stage a come back when they had the boot on them, you do not let a team like France score a try when you are less than 20 points ahead.
and the RNZFU need to realise that treating its top players like pampered super models is WRONGā¦ i mean come on Dan carter was out with a Calf Strain? Micheal jones played a full test with a Ruptured testicle, and when Zinzan Brook snapped his Achilles tendon he moved heaven and earth to be back on form, They deserved to be called All Blacks.
If we continue treating the All Blacks like sacred cows our rep as the strongest rugby nation on earth is in grave jeopardy. That Jersey means something to this nation, and it should be earned not just given to you because you have a six figure contract with the super 14. They arenāt playing for pride and the love of the game, they are playing to keep thier rock star lifestyles, I put them in the same league as David Beckham.
We were (supposedly) better prepared for this RWC than any other before it and we played like the Minnow teams we caned in pool play.
i repeat they are show ponies and they dont deserve to wear the jersey, flick the lot of them and make them work for a living, after all the only time we have ever won the bloody world cup was as amatuers.
i will not apologise for being sick to death of the all blacks choking in the RWC.
Wow, your really upset by this game.
How can you tell 
to be honest it has been coming for a while, the passion and pride that was once the hallmark of the All Blacks has been lacking for a while, and I miss it.
I would love to be excited by an All Black game and I have not been excited by them since the first world cup.
think about this, this year there are rugby fans who were not born the last time we won a World Cup, now by the time the next RWC comes around there will be people who were not born the last time we were in a RWC final.
that sucks
It was a great sporting tragedy on the weekend.
Lewis Hamilton almost won.
If he hadnāt spun out he would be the first rookie world drivers champion.
Oh yeah, there some rugby or something on that weekend too.
Yeah, itās really hard being proud of a team who:
- win 74% of their games
- have a better than 50% win rate against every team in the world
- have never been defeated by 50% of the teams in the world
- lose, on average, less than one game per year
NZ has played France 46 times and won 34 of them. We beat them less than 74% of the time.
The only countries who have beaten NZ more than France are South Africa and Australia.
And have a win rate under Graham Henry of 93% (excluding the world cup)
[quote=āTroll Feederā]Yeah, itās really hard being proud of a team who:
- win 74% of their games
- have a better than 50% win rate against every team in the world
- have never been defeated by 50% of the teams in the world
- lose, on average, less than one game per year
NZ has played France 46 times and won 34 of them. We beat them less than 74% of the time.
The only countries who have beaten NZ more than France are South Africa and Australia.
[/quote]
I am sorryā¦ are you trying to make the statement that they are good boys and they tried thier best Bless thier little hearts.
or just highlighting the fact that LOSING THE QUARTER FINAL AGAINST FRANCE IS BLOODY PATHETIC!!!
Dress it up and make it look pretty all you want the fact remains that it was a Piss Poor Performance from a team with so much strength, talent, and depth as they have shown throughout this year.
Portugal and Japan played with more heart, passion, and pride than they did, All your Stats show me is that we have gotten too comfortable with winning and need to spend a couple of years at the bottom in order to get hungry again.
Like Argentina, who By the Way got into the Semi Finals.
that is the Stat that says a whole lot more.
nuff said
You know, I expect Iāll get deported for even saying this on New Zealand soil, but thereās also the outside possibility that the French really upped their game. Just sayinā
Many Kiwis can lay claim to having some kind of rugby heritage. Certainly, I can. The fact is the France made 187 tackles vs the ABs 36. This is simply a staggering display of defence. Henry is right: France defended superbly, hence my āin formā characterisation. And they capitalised on their (often ref-driven) chances. Sure they were crap in the pool round, but when they faced the ABs they pulled finger and played world-class rugby.
I disagree entirely. I think a big issue with the ABs is that they get a new coach after every world cup failure and then they have to learn a new coaching and strategic approach. Iād like to see Henry stay on. His record is awesome, and he really only has two major issues to iron out:
- Hardening the All Black ingame psyche.
Apart from France, they have never faced an in-form team in the quarter finals. They will always face the prospect of having their first testing world cup game in the semis as their pool teams rest their key players (a la Scotland) when facing the ABs. They need to learn how to face a hard game and make the right decisions (like dropkicking in the face of tight defence) without losing heart.
- Dealing with out-of-game pressure
Rugby is the national sport and the ABs will always be under pressure to perform in the world cup. Not since 1995 have we performed as we should have (food poisoning was our downfall, not capability). They need to find a way to keep the pressure from getting to the team.
This is a totally simplistic analysis of the game. Did you know that France did not concede a penalty during the last 60 minutes of the game ? This is simply unprecedented, and a testament to the embarrassing performance of the ref, Wayne Barnes. There were plenty off times in the second half where France was offside, but the ref did jack shit about it. During the McAlister sendoff he blew his whistle 9 times before speaking with the players. He was off his rocker ! France had carte blanch on the offside rules, plus Barnes missed an obvious forward pass that lead to a try. And it was only his 6th test match. I mean, WTF ?
You are comparing amateur rugby with professional rugby. Hardly apples with apples. The main problem in the game is that BOTH 1st Fives went off injured in the space of minutes.
The only amateur team in the cup was Portugal. Didnāt notice them make it to the quarters. Maybe the heyday of amateur rugby is over ?
The All Blacks of 1987 were a class above anyone else in the game at the time. So, I suspect, were the team of 1995. But thatās all changed. All teams are now professional, and the gap has narrowed.
Unlike you, I do not agree that the answer is to heap scorn. The crowd that greeted the All Blacks in Christchurch today had the right idea. Support, celebrate and forgive. They did their best, and we need to thank them for it. Was the team of 1987 under the same kind of pressure ? Not at all. We let them get on with the job.
And you should too.