Quade Cooper had a shit game. Pocock was the man. Don't understand why Bryce Lawrence was the ref.
But Wallabies Won.
My Predictions for the Semi's
Semi Final:
a) France vs Wales
Winner - Wales
b) Australia vs New Zealand
Winner - Australia
________________________________
Australia will win because Stephen Donald is on the bench. He sucks!
Wales will win because they look the better team.
Finals - Australia vs Wales
Don't even get me started on Bryce Bloody Lawrence dude... What an Ass...
Ok - so I’m obviously a SAFA and equally obviously I’m a little bias towards the Boks. But show me a genuine Rugby Supporter who isn't just a tad bias towards their own team...
That being said - I’m quite pissed off with the Standard (or Lack thereof) of the Ref'ing of the SA vs Aus game. Bryce Lawrence cost the Boks there slot in the Semi's. Now I’m not trying to take away anything from the Aus side, not at all - in the end, a win is a win and I personally feel that even though the Aus side didn't play to their full capabilities (mostly due to great pressure from the Boks) they still put up an Heroic match and defended very well. For that alone I wish them all the best of luck for the WC going forward. Also - there has been a lot of people flaming Pocock as a cheat... which anyone who watched the match would agree on... Let’s face it guys - coming in from the sides of a Ruck, playing the ball on the ground and not rolling away after the tackles is against the rules of the game. And in that aspect - I would agree with the rest of the world that Pocock didn't play the game as you would expect from a player of his caliber... But again - I don't really blame him for this either... Yes, it could be argued that he shouldn't have done so in the first place but I feel that if the Ref doesn't take firm control of the game and penalize the offending players, then what incentive does the player have of not trying it again? None... and that’s where the problem came in... Pocock was never brought up short for his misdemeanors and thus he was given free rein to do it time and time again. How Bryce Lawrence ever got to be the number one Ref for NZ I would never know... especially considering that 1) he was criticized by Aus for making poor key decisions during the Aus vs Ireland game - which afterwards he publicly admitted that he made poor decisions... 2) He was also criticized by British and Irish sides for his poor decisions during the Lions tour of SA in 2009... And now again with this shamble of a Quarter final. Do you see a trend here? And still his considered the best Ref that NZ has?! Come on! Seriously?!
I am however very glad to read that Bryce Lawrence might very well have blown his very last WC match ever after the Quarter final fiasco. Aus, SA, NZ and English news papers have all been flooded with the news that Bryce Lawrence will not be publicly drawn and quartered for is misdeeds (unfortunately), but Private sources has revealed that the IRB has removed him from any further Ref'ing during this WC and that there is a very good chance that he will never again Ref in any WC game... Let’s hope this rings true...
Ok - so now I’ve Ranted enough about this and I got it all off my chest... I’m now looking forward to the rest of the world cup.
Personally I believe that the Mighty AB's will take home the cup this year (even if SA did make it to the Semi's - I believe we would have had a very tough time trying to beat them). I am however going to be screaming my lungs out for Wales for as long as they're still in the running. They've had a brilliant WC so far and I feel that they are the most deserving team remaining for a final against the AB's...
Go Wales!