RWC in the Spotlight

NICO SMITH THIS past weekend saw the competition for the most cherished prize in rugby narrowed down from four to two.

The first semi-final, between England and France, provided a bit of an internal battle for me. I really didn’t want to see England win and advance to the finals, as they have without a doubt been the most undeserving team of the world cup.On the other hand, France were lucky to beat the All Blacks and would not have done so without the help of referee Wayne Barnes.So it was with mixed emotions that I watch the game.I decided to back the French on the assumption that they would play better rugby than the English, and I just couldn’t bear the thought of another English world cup victory.With regards to the game itself, no one stood out, no one stuck up their hand or stepped up to the plate.Of the two teams in the first semi-final, I could not see a champion team.France dominated possession and territory, but unfortunately for them, that in itself is not converted into points (if it was, then they wouldn’t even have seen the semis, as the All Blacks dominated them in every aspect a week ago).French discipline was outstanding, except for one incident, the high tackle.Anyone stupid enough to give away penalties in such a situation deserves to be punished.The English try in the second minute of the game hit me as unexpectedly as it must have hit the French.Happily though, I’m not the one that will be having nightmares of the incident.Here’s a thought to the French fullback, “when the ball is rolling inside your five-metre line, you pick it up and run it out”.England capitalised and so the story went.To say the least, it was a bland game, with two line breaks, and nothing much to talk about, except if you’re leading England by two points with five minutes to go, and they get the chance, Johnny will get you every time.After that game, I’m more convinced than ever before that the English national anthem should be changed to ‘God save Johnny Wilkinson’.France lost by the narrowest of margins, a result that saw Chabal in tears.The French didn’t deserve it, and karma righted an injustice.With regards to Sunday night’s game, I was too afraid to make any predictions as the world cup had thus far proven to be plenty surprising.However, I remained quietly calm that the Boks would pull it off.The South Africans played well; their scrum was under major pressure and something that the English will be looking at to capitalise on.If I could offer any advice to the Boks, it would be to give Frans Steyn a sedative before the match.His inexperience and hotheadedness may prove costly, and may cost them the ultimate prize.Habana has equalled Lomu’s record of eight tries in a world cup, and deservedly so.The South African line out was impressive, and it’s something I’m sure they’ll be looking at to turn the game in the final.For Argentina, the fairytale has ended.Pichot, Hernandes and Contepomi each had a day to forget.Unfortunately for the Pumas, those are their star players, and in the event that they were going to cause another world cup upset, you’d expect those three players to be firing.South Africa pounced on the Argentine errors and made them pay, and at the half time break, I could not see the Pumas coming back and the game was all but won.One thing I will complain about and is not only relevant to the games of this past weekend, is that I’ve seen way too much kicking in this world cup.Just aimless kicking and giving away of possession.In my mind, if you want to win rugby matches and a tournament such as the world cup, you have to keep the ball in hand.In the words of the wise Errol Tobias, one cannot win if the other scores more points.Now all that remains is the final.I cannot see the English triumph as they already won their world cup in the quarterfinal against the Aussies.The French are out because their world cup victory also came in the quarterfinals against the All Blacks and the Pumas, because they won their world cup in the opening match of the tournament.Neither of the final two has ever lost in a world cup final, and after the weekend we shall see whose record prevails.Good luck to both teams, but come on Bokke, break the wheels off the chariot for Southern Hemisphere rugby supporters will never hear the end of it if England’s Roses ride their sweet chariot to a second consecutive world cup victory.I really didn’t want to see England win and advance to the finals, as they have without a doubt been the most undeserving team of the world cup.On the other hand, France were lucky to beat the All Blacks and would not have done so without the help of referee Wayne Barnes.So it was with mixed emotions that I watch the game.I decided to back the French on the assumption that they would play better rugby than the English, and I just couldn’t bear the thought of another English world cup victory.With regards to the game itself, no one stood out, no one stuck up their hand or stepped up to the plate.Of the two teams in the first semi-final, I could not see a champion team.France dominated possession and territory, but unfortunately for them, that in itself is not converted into points (if it was, then they wouldn’t even have seen the semis, as the All Blacks dominated them in every aspect a week ago).French discipline was outstanding, except for one incident, the high tackle.Anyone stupid enough to give away penalties in such a situation deserves to be punished.The English try in the second minute of the game hit me as unexpectedly as it must have hit the French.Happily though, I’m not the one that will be having nightmares of the incident.Here’s a thought to the French fullback, “when the ball is rolling inside your five-metre line, you pick it up and run it out”.England capitalised and so the story went.To say the least, it was a bland game, with two line breaks, and nothing much to talk about, except if you’re leading England by two points with five minutes to go, and they get the chance, Johnny will get you every time.After that game, I’m more convinced than ever before that the English national anthem should be changed to ‘God save Johnny Wilkinson’.France lost by the narrowest of margins, a result that saw Chabal in tears.The French didn’t deserve it, and karma righted an injustice.With regards to Sunday night’s game, I was too afraid to make any predictions as the world cup had thus far proven to be plenty surprising.However, I remained quietly calm that the Boks would pull it off.The South Africans played well; their scrum was under major pressure and something that the English will be looking at to capitalise on.If I could offer any advice to the Boks, it would be to give Frans Steyn a sedative before the match.His inexperience and hotheadedness may prove costly, and may cost them the ultimate prize.Habana has equalled Lomu’s record of eight tries in a world cup, and deservedly so.The South African line out was impressive, and it’s something I’m sure they’ll be looking at to turn the game in the final.For Argentina, the fairytale has ended.Pichot, Hernandes and Contepomi each had a day to forget.Unfortunately for the Pumas, those are their star players, and in the event that they were going to cause another world cup upset, you’d expect those three players to be firing.South Africa pounced on the Argentine errors and made them pay, and at the half time break, I could not see the Pumas coming back and the game was all but won.One thing I will complain about and is not only relevant to the games of this past weekend, is that I’ve seen way too much kicking in this world cup.Just aimless kicking and giving away of possession.In my mind, if you want to win rugby matches and a tournament such as the world cup, you have to keep the ball in hand.In the words of the wise Errol Tobias, one cannot win if the other scores more points.Now all that remains is the final.I cannot see the English triumph as they already won their world cup in the quarterfinal against the Aussies.The French are out because their world cup victory also came in the quarterfinals against the All Blacks and the Pumas, because they won their world cup in the opening match of the tournament.Neither of the final two has ever lost in a world cup final, and after the weekend we shall see whose record prevails.Good luck to both teams, but come on Bokke, break the wheels off the chariot for Southern Hemisphere rugby supporters will never hear the end of it if England’s Roses ride their sweet chariot to a second consecutive world cup victory.