Just watched joost van der westhuizen on TV. Sooo sad to see any body with MND, let alone one of the best scrum halves I have ever seen. It kind of puts the whole who played best into perspective for me.

do you remember the film? THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES.

well i watched a remake of it this morning

THE FLYING MACHINES WHERE THE ALL BLACKS.

THE MEN THEY WERE MAGNIFICENT.

with 10minutes to go i was thinking we might see the first 100point score.

Nigel Owens made the game flow and it really made a difference on how we played, super fast and offloads a-plenty

Let me give my ranking of the QF referees:

1) Owens 2) Joubert 3) Barnes 4) Garces

Semis ... SA v NZ I hope Owens refs this, but might go to Barnes to appease the host stadium

ARG v AUS Joubert - he's more attuned to Southern-style rugby. If not, then Owens

Anyone know what the weather forecast is for next weekend in London?

UNBELEIVABLE, the world rugby association has agreed that the referee that awarded a penalty to OZ.in the final couple of minutes of play WAS WRONG.

tell it to scotland,and while your at it,can you explain WHY CANT THE REF.REFERE IT TO THE TMO.[RULES] CHANGE THEM.

instead of fair play to both teams by useing the TMO YOU ARE LEAVING IT WIDE OPEN TOOOOOOOOOO ABUSE.

not only robbing a team of success,the money involved is behond reconition.

do you remember the film? THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES.

well i watched a remake of it this morning

THE FLYING MACHINES WHERE THE ALL BLACKS.

THE MEN THEY WERE MAGNIFICENT.

with 10minutes to go i was thinking we might see the first 100point score.

Nigel Owens made the game flow and it really made a difference on how we played, super fast and offloads a-plenty

Let me give my ranking of the QF referees:

1) Owens 2) Joubert 3) Barnes 4) Garces

Semis ... SA v NZ I hope Owens refs this, but might go to Barnes to appease the host stadium

ARG v AUS Joubert - he's more attuned to Southern-style rugby. If not, then Owens

Anyone know what the weather forecast is for next weekend in London?

you cant be serious,you rank JOUBERT after what he done,RUNNING OFF THE PITCH was he guilty of ? or did he want a PISS.

he wont referee another match in this world cup,if the WRA.has anything to do about it.

UNBELEIVABLE, the world rugby association has agreed that the referee that awarded a penalty to OZ.in the final couple of minutes of play WAS WRONG.

tell it to scotland,and while your at it,can you explain WHY CANT THE REF.REFERE IT TO THE TMO.[RULES] CHANGE THEM.

instead of fair play to both teams by useing the TMO YOU ARE LEAVING IT WIDE OPEN TOOOOOOOOOO ABUSE.

not only robbing a team of success,the money involved is behond reconition.

To be fair, if we'd held the ball off the line out, he'd not have had the opportunity to make the mistake. I think he must've heard Big Eck ranting beside me in Sid's, and rightly feared for his life

SC

Sorry! Double post....

The replay's on the TV now, and the way I see it, it was so close on Sunday there's a chance we might win it this time

Sorry! Double post....

The replay's on the TV now, and the way I see it, it was so close on Sunday there's a chance we might win it this time

I don't see how he could award a penalty after so many knock-ons; it must've come off four shoulders before it was picked up. Anyway, Cheika's on, consoling his players, who look confused "never mind, lads, you still won"

Sorry! Double post....

The replay's on the TV now, and the way I see it, it was so close on Sunday there's a chance we might win it this time

I don't see how he could award a penalty after so many knock-ons; it must've come off four shoulders before it was picked up. Anyway, Cheika's on, consoling his players, who look confused "never mind, lads, you still won"

def lucky to get through, hopefully we will see the Argies beat them, the Pumas are the dark horses in this tournament and flying under the radar until last weekend, but i did mention earlier (i think) that they would probably go deep into the RWC

the week ends referee's will be wayne barnes of england and jerome garces of france.

hears a suprise the australian head coach michael cheika has criticised the world rugby over their treatment of craig joubert by not awarding him a place on this weekends games.OH DEAR.

WHY IS THAT THEN MICKY?

Hopefully he will get a goldwatch instead from Micky

i saw the all blacks team coach, trailer and all parked up in a lay by just up from Kempton park this morning not far from Twickenham, sat on it's own in the blustery pouring rain.

it looked kind of sad, hope thats not an omen for things to come, donnyboy ?

there's your weather report. bet the Boks wouldn't have it any other way, getting down and dirty.

how are the nerves holding out ?

Thanks for the report TG. Hope the track isn't too heavy, it will come down to a kicking game otherwise. Not the best for a spectacle.

I'm not too bad in terms of nerves, as long as we can do the basics well.

We all know what the Boks will bring, big bruising runs and bashing there way and kick chase game. It will be full of big hits no doubt.

Hopefully Milner Skudder is fit to play, he has that x factor that can change the game.

How's the weather forecast looking for the weekend?

looking forward to what should be some great rugby. this world cup has been a great success,good team spirit,by all teams,great support by all fans with sell out crowds.

one controvesty which has blightened the tournament by a so called professional ref.but the world rugby stepped in and suspended the ref.for the rest of the game. that is fair considering how important his blunder was.

but what has sickened most players and fans has got to be the statement from the side's coach who was on the right side of the blunder.

to come out and condem the world rugby was not called for.

so if you get stuffed by the argy's.i hope he will [coach] be singing DONT CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA.

looking forward to what should be some great rugby. this world cup has been a great success,

Especially successful that now all the northern hemisphere teams are out.

looking forward to what should be some great rugby. this world cup has been a great success,

Especially successful that now all the northern hemisphere teams are out.

I know you're joshing and looking for a rise ... and fair enough ... but looking at this comment seriously, then it's a bit sad. I love nothing more than beating England, our old rivals for a hundred years, not to mention all the other pretenders to our throne (). But I'd rather we beat them in the final. Sadly, that's not to be (sadly for the England - and other - fans who've made this RWC simply brilliant). Still I'm sure the fans will be delighted to see the ABs win. I'm sure, they will.

In advance, well played guys. Do you need any more of our coaches? Players? I'm available - I'm still only 64, so plenty of rugby years left in me yet, and keen to help the NH.

looking forward to what should be some great rugby.

Complete with Thai commentary!!

looking forward to what should be some great rugby.

Complete with Thai commentary!!

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

and here we are...semi final weekend

who's got a prediction?

Last week,I managed to pick the teams, but the scoreline were somewhat out.

This week its another crunch week, with losers going home.

The talk is the weather and how its a leveler, 2 games played in 2 days at Twickers, will the pitch hold up if it keeps raining?

ABs vs Boks, battle of the old foes, both teams know each other quite well from all the games played in the Rugby Championships. It should be a hum dinger in terms of applying pressure from kicks and trying to force a mistake from the other team. It probably wont be played wide but up the middle and tight if the pitch is wet. I have a feeling the ABs will still make the big South African forwards move around for most of the match before trying to slice them up. Im picturering some massive tackles, some yellow cards but hopefully no one gets seriously injured. If the ABs can offload at will like they did last week, lookout!

ABs by 12

Arg vs Aus, in terms of momentum, you would have to give the edge to the Argies.with a v good performance last week, Australia only just squeekd in on the tightest of test matches last week, with many thinking that they shouldnt be here....

Australia do have a big game temperament thou and have a knack of winning the big ones, however, I see something special in this Argie side that has grown in confidence and they will be hard to stop. I do think they can beat the Wallabies. Argies by 3.

C'mon ABs!!

havnt they got a roof?

havnt they got a roof?

Whaaatt!!!! The richest union and they don't have a roof on their house???? Shame on them

havnt they got a roof?

Whaaatt!!!! The richest union and they don't have a roof on their house???? Shame on them

...like their home team, it doesn't have a top tier....

havnt they got a roof?

Whaaatt!!!! The richest union and they don't have a roof on their house???? Shame on them

...like their home team, it doesn't have a top tier....

Or foundation at the moment

Not very impressed by that game... from either side. Maybe a blip???

That was a test match heart in the mouth stuff, you couldn't get better that for a great contest played in wet conditions.

Not very impressed by that game... from either side. Maybe a blip???

maybe we were watching different games lol

That was a test match heart in the mouth stuff, you couldn't get better that for a great contest played in wet conditions.

It was a great game. You don't need tries for excitement, you need two evenly matched teams playing knock-out rugby

I kept wondering why they didn't contest the kick-off like they did last week, but then the penny dropped. The Boks were boxed, not having a good counter-attack. Great strategy. Great game. Pleased for Danny Boy - he's in a final at last.

That was a test match heart in the mouth stuff, you couldn't get better that for a great contest played in wet conditions.

It was a great game. You don't need tries for excitement, you need two evenly matched teams playing knock-out rugby

Too many mistakles for it to be anything like a "great' game. I expected better from both teams. You can get excitement at any level; even junior. You could see the appeihension in all the players faces at the end. neither team thought they were playing to the standard they expected.

The simple fact is that both teams played below par and the slightly better team won

That was a test match heart in the mouth stuff, you couldn't get better that for a great contest played in wet conditions.

It was a great game. You don't need tries for excitement, you need two evenly matched teams playing knock-out rugby

Too many mistakles for it to be anything like a "great' game. I expected better from both teams. You can get excitement at any level; even junior. You could see the appeihension in all the players faces at the end. neither team thought they were playing to the standard they expected.

The simple fact is that both teams played below par and the slightly better team won

I think both teams played well considering it was knock out footy, played in the wet and under immense pressure. OK it wasn't the same as ABs vs France in terms of execution and ball handling, but the Boks never rolled over or gave an inch. It was tight to the very end, that's what made it a "great" test.

That was a test match heart in the mouth stuff, you couldn't get better that for a great contest played in wet conditions.

It was a great game. You don't need tries for excitement, you need two evenly matched teams playing knock-out rugby

Too many mistakles for it to be anything like a "great' game. I expected better from both teams. You can get excitement at any level; even junior. You could see the appeihension in all the players faces at the end. neither team thought they were playing to the standard they expected.

The simple fact is that both teams played below par and the slightly better team won

I think you are being a bit tough on what constitutes a "great game", or even expecting a great game because of your sense of occasion.

This game in every other configuration could have been the final, but it was not. The technical aspect is part of strategy, gotta be to beat the ABs, but it does not mean the visuals were lesser for the lack of tries. It is the tension in finals and that was there. It was a great game.