# England V France



## Nalu

Try to England in the first minutes!!


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## Nalu

Conversion missed. France replies with two penalties to take the lead 6-5.


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## JoT

Eng 5 - 6 France after 31 minutes

France just got the edge at present


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## Nalu

Pelous is off and Chabal isn't happy. The French scrum/lineout may be in trouble.


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## JoT

Half time

England 5 - 6 France

France still just got the edge, England making too many mistakes.

Josh Lewsey off looks like a hamstring


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## Nalu

France 6-5 at the half. Their pack set pieces did not do well over the second quarter & their kicking game is poor. If a different France doesn't show up in the second half, the English pressure will bear fruit.


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## Russ

Nalu said:


> France 6-5 at the half. Their pack set pieces did not do well over the second quarter & they're kicking game is poor. If a different France doesn't show up in the second half, the English pressure will bear fruit.


Hope you are right but I'm not sure, if English pressure is to bear fruit they need to exert more of it. France favourites for me at the half.


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## Nalu

France kick what sounds like a marginal penalty.

I agree that England need to apply more pressure by following up their kicks. But the charge-downs, drop-goals, and line breaks are challenging the French.


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## JoT

England 8 - 9 France

Jonny finally gets a kick over!


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## JoT

England keep making mistakes which is costing them momentum as do the French - stalemate at present


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## Nalu

JoT said:


> England keep making mistakes which is costing them momentum as do the French - stalemate at present


Agree.

Just listening on the internet and enjoying this match tremendously!


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## JoT

Nalu said:


> JoT said:
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> England keep making mistakes which is costing them momentum as do the French - stalemate at present
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> Just listening on the internet and enjoying this match tremendously!
Click to expand...

It's like watching two big Elephant Seals battering away at each other







..... love it


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## JoT

Jonny is not right only one kick from five is he going to be the match winner?

Edit:

penalty to England ...... kickable

England 11 - 9 France


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## Nalu

AAAGGGHH! I saw your post and the 'net broadcast hasn't announced it yet!


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## Mrcrowley

Reading your report is almost like a Stewart Hall/It's a knockout gig!


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## JoT

Rosbifs 14 - 9 France .....

Jonny drop goal


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## Nalu

Wilko is a hero again, unbelievable!


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## Nalu

France have nowhere to go! This musts be the last movement!


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## JoT

England 14 - 9 France

]*THAT'S AMAZING ........... STUNNING ............... STUNNED*


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## unlcky alf

Excellent, I can go out of the house now. Thankyou Mr Wilkinson.

What a fantastic game, on the edge on my seat the whole way through (except for the first couple of minutes, which I bloody missed







)


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## Nalu

Congratulations to les Rosbifs! I'll watch tomorrow's match live!


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## Russ




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## JoT

French Captain Raphael Ibanez (a renowned Anglophile) said in an interview with English TV before the RWC that he didn't think the English were written off because, and I quote, "the English never know when they are beaten"

Prophetic words


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## Stan

Bostin'!


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## Russ

JoT said:


> French Captain Raphael Ibanez (a renowned Anglophile) said in an interview with English TV before the RWC that he didn't think the English were written off because, and I quote, "the English never know when they are beaten"
> 
> Prophetic words


They are prophetic words, and true. We should take pride in that observation, coming back for more is what shaped us and makes us what we are.


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## Regal325

Les bleu.....who???

They just never learn do they??

Crecy, Agincourt, Waterloo, Trafalgar........Stade de France...

ou est le papier?


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## pauluspaolo

Well I'm just coming down from a massive high - I tried to stay sort of distant from the match to lessen the blow of disappointment but I got sucked into the match & sat on the edge of my seat for most of it. Just an absolutely bloody amazing turnaround - a month ago in the same stadium, same England team (allegedly), different opposition & a 36 - 0 drubbing. The writing's on the wall I thought, here we go defending our title with a whimper rather than a roar, out in in the firrst stages, the worst defence of a world cup crown by any defending champions ............. & then suddenly there's all this hullabaloo, we find some form, win some matches & we're in the ruddy bloody final














The "grumpy old men" have got belief from somewhere (Jason Robinson maybe??) & God-bloody- bless 'em for it!

I'm stunned by the turnaround the team has made & I'm immensely proud of them - bring on the next match I can't wait for it!!!!









Come On England - you know you can do it


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## simonlincs

YES, hopefully nails will grow back for next week, well done


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## JoT

That last drop goal from Jonny was class, especially as he hadn't been kicking well at goal (or out of the hand) all match.

Here's the first picture I managed to find of the winning goal


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## Nalu

Wow. I'm in no position to criticise Wilko, but I did play flyhalf for several years: that form is shockingly bad! He's leaning off and back from the ball, almost as if trying to 'pull' it away from the chargedown







When I do that, the ball rarely rises above a few feet and heads off towards touch









Wait, wasn't the winning goal a PK? That's a photo of a drop goal, isn't it?


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## pauluspaolo

Pretty sure that the penalty kick put England in front but the drop goal was the winner ................. though I may have got that wrong as I was stressing out at the time - meaning that if France were to win they had to score a try & convert it


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## JoT

Nalu said:


> Wow. I'm in no position to criticise Wilko, but I did play flyhalf for several years: that form is shockingly bad! He's leaning off and back from the ball, almost as if trying to 'pull' it away from the chargedown
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At least you kicked a ball Colin, I can't remember intentionally kicking a rugby ball in a match in the 28 years I played


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## Griff

pauluspaolo said:


> Pretty sure that the penalty kick put England in front but the drop goal was the winner ................. though I may have got that wrong as I was stressing out at the time - meaning that if France were to win they had to score a try & convert it


*Moments of deep joy!!!!!!!!*

Wilko is the dogs twitcher!!!!


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## Guest

Dead right Griff Wilco saved our bacon ,onwards ,say a few prayers for the final


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## Guest

Dead right Griff Wilco saved our bacon ,onwards ,say a few prayers for the final


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## Nalu

pauluspaolo said:


> Pretty sure that the penalty kick put England in front but the drop goal was the winner ................. though I may have got that wrong as I was stressing out at the time - meaning that if France were to win they had to score a try & convert it


Semantics - let's just call the last kick The Nail









I'm sorry to report that I'll be backing the Boks next week gents *ducks*. I understand their fans are very confident. England may be able to take advantage if the team itself is. But Jake White has selected a team of talent, backed by oldheads and they have shown a great deal of composure in every game. We'll see how they come up against the Argies. Now it occurs to me that some England fans are going to be in the uncomfortable position of cheering for the Pumas tomorrow - that's gotta smart!























C'mon John, I'm sure you kicked a 'ball' or three: "Honest sir, his head _was_ right next to the ball!" My time at first 5/8ths was the best I ever spent on a pitch, I wish I still had the speed and the knees


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## unlcky alf

Nalu said:


> Now it occurs to me that some England fans are going to be in the uncomfortable position of cheering for the Pumas tomorrow - that's gotta smart!


I won't be one of them, I'd rather we went up against the Boks, and lost the cup, than cheer for the Argies.

What site were you listening to the game on Colin? I know someone in Spain who doesn't have access to English TV, but they do have wifi internet access, and I'm sure they'd love to listen in.


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## Stan

unlcky alf said:


> than cheer for the Argies.


My experience of Argentinian combatants made me respect them. Their Air Armada reminded me of our own lads. They had the bottle and went for it.

They had a gutsy airforce, no doubt about it. Their best armed force, imo.

The Argentinians will play like their lives depended on it.

England will meet them and respect them as we have done in the past.


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## Nalu

unlcky alf said:


> I won't be one of them, I'd rather we went up against the Boks, and lost the cup, than cheer for the Argies.
> 
> What site were you listening to the game on Colin? I know someone in Spain who doesn't have access to English TV, but they do have wifi internet access, and I'm sure they'd love to listen in.


I have a variety of ways of getting games, but for RWC 07 I subscribed to an online service through Media Zone (I can't have a satellite dish in my current home or I'd be seeing the games live!). MZ broadcast the sound of the games live, then the matches are available for download 24 hours after full time. There are two pubs in Seattle (one hour drive) that show the matches live - we'll be heading up there tomorrow to watch the Boks/Pumas matchup.


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## pauluspaolo

unlcky alf said:


> Nalu said:
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> What site were you listening to the game on Colin? I know someone in Spain who doesn't have access to English TV, but they do have wifi internet access, and I'm sure they'd love to listen in.
Click to expand...

Aye up Alf - I listened to the Leeds Rhino's match on the internet via the Radio 5 live website? Could they not use this to listen to the match? Commentary was good too though I'd rather have been watching the game considering thaat Leeds won in such a convincing fashion!


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## MarkF

Paulus, how about that? 33-6, a scoreline I never expected, or wanted







. Well done Leeds Rhino's.

I really enjoyed the RWC game, more for the event and spectacle than for the rugby that was actually played.


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## unlcky alf

Stan said:


> unlcky alf said:
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> than cheer for the Argies.
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> My experience of Argentinian combatants made me respect them. Their Air Armada reminded me of our own lads. They had the bottle and went for it.
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> They had a gutsy airforce, no doubt about it. Their best armed force, imo.
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> The Argentinians will play like their lives depended on it.
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> England will meet them and respect them as we have done in the past.
Click to expand...

That's fair enough Stan, I have no doubt that many fine young Argentinians fought hard, and gave their lives for their country in '82. But I still couldn't support a nation that took hundreds of British subjects hostage, and I suspect might do so again, if they saw an easy opportunity.

Colin, Paul, thanks for the tips. The five live website sounds like the best option for him, we should have thought of it earlier but I guess that we're spoiled so much with live TV broadcasts these days, that internet radio just never occurred.


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## JoT

I would like to see Argentina win because it would give England a better chance in the final. I would also liek to see them win because it would turn world rugby on its head.

Here we have in the UAR one of the oldest unions who have had the temerity to refuse to go professional and whose top players all play in Europe. They have been refused entry into the Tri-Nations and have no way at present into the Six-Nations ... if they do beat the Boks tonight it would give the IRB a real headache.

Argentina, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa .... what now IRB?? Interesting times ahead I think.


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## Griff

Nalu said:


> pauluspaolo said:
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> Pretty sure that the penalty kick put England in front but the drop goal was the winner ................. though I may have got that wrong as I was stressing out at the time - meaning that if France were to win they had to score a try & convert it
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> I'm sorry to report that I'll be backing the Boks next week gents *ducks*. I understand their fans are very confident. England may be able to take advantage if the team itself is. But Jake White has selected a team of talent, backed by oldheads and they have shown a great deal of composure in every game. We'll see how they come up against the Argies. Now it occurs to me that some England fans are going to be in the uncomfortable position of cheering for the Pumas tomorrow - that's gotta smart!
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> C'mon John, I'm sure you kicked a 'ball' or three: "Honest sir, his head _was_ right next to the ball!" My time at first 5/8ths was the best I ever spent on a pitch, I wish I still had the speed and the knees
Click to expand...

The reason the nose of the English bulldog slopes backwards is so it can breath without letting go!


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## Nalu

Vickery, Regan and Sheridan might taken that characterisation personally Griff









24-13, Boks ahead midway through the second 40


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## JoT

Argentina dominating the scrum and the contact areas but made some bad mistakes resulting in opportunistic tries for the Boks.

Question Colin:

What do you call the 7th / 8th play-off in the RWC?

Answer:

The Bledisloe Cup


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## Nalu

Sounds like a lot of dropped balls by the Pumas. Boks up by 2 converted tries with 10 minutes left. ODR has just gone off! He didn't play a full 70 mins though as he had a blood substitute earlier.

That's very clever John







Doesn't change the fact that Bill is headed south


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## JoT

The Boks were lethal given the opportunity to break and / or capitalise on mistakes, the forwards to be honest didn't look like they were much to worry about unless they have got some reserves of energy hidden away. "Os" Du Randt looked very tired and under pressure and the tight five didn't impress generally. Interesting on the TV here Francois Pienaar has just said that the score doesn't reflect the game and that the Pumas really pushed the Boks.

My feeling is that the Pumas didn't play that well, almost trying too hard and being too adventurous, I still don't think they would have won but it could have, perhaps should have been a lot closer.

Bill will stay in London Colin


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## Nalu

I'm sure ODR was tired - I can't fault him. But DuPlessis will most likely start against England and he only played about 15 minutes today. I didn't get to see the match today, but did listen again. The announcers didn't do nearly as good a job as the crew did yesterday, so I missed out on a lot of the details.

True that today the Boks converted Puma mistakes and that presumably won't be a road to the in-goal area versus England. But the Boks can play multiple styles of rugby and are very good at all of them, witness the 3N matches this year and the S14 semis and finals. It'll be a good game, no doubt.

Sounds as if it ended badly, with handbags and yellow cards. The Boks have some of the dirtiest forwards in rugby (Smith, Burger and Botha chief among them), so it'll be interesting to see if the disciplinary board have anything to say about the match today.

As for Bill's fate, hmmmm, I feel a wager coming on. I'll have to think of something appropriate!


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## Griff

And I'll be keen to see whether some **** head Bok tries to cripple Wilko in the first 15 minutes!!!


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## Nalu

You're always a ray of sunshine Griff!

Of course, he'll most likely be opposite Butch James...


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## Griff

Nalu said:


> You're always a ray of sunshine Griff!
> 
> Of course, he'll most likely be opposite Butch James...


Really!.........To quote your own words:-



> .......The Boks have some of the *dirtiest forwards in rugby* (Smith, Burger and Botha chief among them), .......


You could try supporting England


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## Nalu

Yes, "some of". The group includes more than a few from the English pack - I'm sure John could name names as he knows them better than I do. Or you could ask the IRB disciplinary board - they know the names very well.

I learned rugby from southern hemisphere players and prefer that style of rugby, play for an OB side from Brisbane, am Irish by heritage and have more than a few Afrikaaner rugby mates. Why would I support England?


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## Griff

Because we talk proper.........why else!!!


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