When the choke gets beyond a joke

[Mica]

Anyway - my point again wasn't about this game but that nothing but a RWC victory can get rid of the 'chokers' tag whether it's a deserved tag or not.

Yep - I understand your point.......that's why I quoted antipodean as I was responding to his

 

[Patto.]

The Boks, the Wallabies, the Poms will just disappear

I note you didn't eliminate choking on Frogs legs.

 

[Mica]

3. Wasn't there a forward pass that denied the ABs a pretty important try just a few weeks ago? Most AB supporters (and the ABs themselves) agreed that the right decision was made.

Does anyone think that this was a fifty/fifty call??

 

[Rev Spooner]

Any close loss can usually be blamed on decisions made by the referee.

Was the pass forward? Maybe.

If NZ had thrown it for the winning try would you have said so? Maybe?

Was it an obvious bad decision by the ref?
I don't think so based on where he is on the ground when the pass was thrown it would have been impossible for him to call it forward.

Was it actually forward?
At first inspection it looks suspect/border line.
When I slow it down frame by frame it looks like Michalak is behind Traille when the ball is released and it is passed backward.
See below for frame (video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUS8FfW8hOg&feature=player_embedded)

So in my opinion a fifty/fifty call went against the Blacks and that ended up being the difference.
This kind of hard luck story can be told by any sporting team in any sport.
I have certainly seen teams lose from significantly worse decisions meaning other teams have won from them as well.

Can you think of any times when New Zealand have won games because of a bad call by the ref?? :fishing

Just asking ??? >

The startling, yet unsurprising, thing I get from that photo is that the AB is tackling the man before he receives the ball.

 

[Mica]

The startling, yet unsurprising, thing I get from that photo is that the AB is tackling the man before he receives the ball.

I think you'll find that it is Traille being tackled who is passing the ball to Michalak who is not being interfered with.

 

[Rev Spooner]

I think you'll find that it is Traille being tackled who is passing the ball to Michalak who is not being interfered with.

Oh, i see.

 

[Bullrush]

Oh, i see.

But we're still cheats??.....LOL

 

[Bullrush]

Yep - I understand your point.......that's why I quoted antipodean as I was responding to his

Sorry, this wasn't actually meant to be directed at you specifically. It was almost for myself....I promised my therapist that I was done talking about that game and I was defintely over it.....

 

[matty_k]

But we're still cheats??.....LOL

The French aren't cheats. They're dirty bastards.

 

[daz]

Not from that you tube clip, no way you'd call it forward.

But the ref did. So it was. Story, End of.

I'm sure the angst is still raw, but it was 4 years ago. Move on. There is a tournament about to start that will possibly provide yet another example of "bad reffing" that will send the Darkness home. That should keep everyone talking for another 4 years.

Lucky they won't have far to travel this time...

 

[Bullrush]

But the ref did. So it was. Story, End of.

I'm sure the angst is still raw, but it was 4 years ago. Move on. There is a tournament about to start that will possibly provide yet another example of "bad reffing" that will send the Darkness home. That should keep everyone talking for another 4 years.

Lucky they won't have far to travel this time...

If we don't make the final, we can't even pretend that we don't really care and that there isn't even a RWC happening...hahaha

 

[light]

If we don't make the final, we can't even pretend that we don't really care and that there isn't even a RWC happening...hahaha

At least when you lose, Bill will still be in New Zealand for a little while, just not for you.

 

[Baldric]

Looking at it again it was a fair call.
have a look at the NZ try around 1:06.
How does Sir Ritchie get there and not get pinged for not coming through the gate/going off his feet?
Must have been wearing his invisibility cloak again.

 

[Braveheart81]

Yeah, I think it was a fair call. It was line ball which is good enough.

Certainly not blatant like Kieran Read's knock on off the kick off in Auckland that led to Sivivatu's try.
[video=youtube;guDDUV0KM-o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guDDUV0KM-o[/video]

 

[Mica]

have a look at the NZ try around 1:06.
How does Sir Ritchie get there and not get pinged for not coming through the gate/going off his feet?
Must have been wearing his invisibility cloak again.

Yep the Ref was definitely lenient there - maybe there was a special side gate that he used

 

[What2040]

R. ecalcitrant E. xpectant A. mbitious L. ethal - however lets wait until the final

 

[Rebel rouser]

Any close loss can usually be blamed on decisions made by the referee.

Was the pass forward? Maybe.

If NZ had thrown it for the winning try would you have said so? Maybe?

Was it an obvious bad decision by the ref?
I don't think so based on where he is on the ground when the pass was thrown it would have been impossible for him to call it forward.

Was it actually forward?
At first inspection it looks suspect/border line.
When I slow it down frame by frame it looks like Michalak is behind Traille when the ball is released and it is passed backward.
See below for frame (video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUS8FfW8hOg&feature=player_embedded)

So in my opinion a fifty/fifty call went against the Blacks and that ended up being the difference.
This kind of hard luck story can be told by any sporting team in any sport.
I have certainly seen teams lose from significantly worse decisions meaning other teams have won from them as well.

Can you think of any times when New Zealand have won games because of a bad call by the ref?? :fishing

Just asking ??? >

I love reliving this. Haven't really looked at the game or incident in detail since 2007.

French played great rugby, put themselves in a position where the match was genuinely in contention, and made a stunning break to score a try, perfectly finished. The pass? Could have gone either way. But the fact of the matter is you play to the whistle, and the All Blacks simply weren't good enough to shut that move down.

The point is that it was an 80 minute game of rugby. That 10 seconds was not the only thing that happened in the game. Like every match, it was the responsibility of the All Blacks to play a great full 80 and put this game out of sight of the French, where one try either way would not have won it. They didn't - or couldn't - do that, and the rest is history.

 

[exISA]

Some people use the term "Climate Change Denials" ....

Others use the term "All Blacks Choke-nials"

 

[Athilnaur]

Let me say that ss the son of a 5th gen Kiwi the ABs are always a close second to the Wallabies for me. Having said that as far as I, am concerned there is only two tournaments they didn't choke, 87 and that game where 8 had food poisoning and Goldie was puking on the ground.

If it's any consolation as far as I am concerned Aussies choked in 03 and 07.

 

[daz]

If it's any consolation as far as I am concerned Aussies choked in 03 and 07.

Ah, harsh!

I'm willing to almost agree with you on 07, but that was more the caes of us not giving the Poms due respect and getting spanked for it up front. Not a choke so much as a lesson.

As for 03, well, the Poms were the favourites going in to the RWC and the Wobs were never meant to get to the final. I think we punched above our weight that tournament (a certain semi-final we were never supposed to win, if you recall...), but while "that drop goal that shall not be named" was as inevitable as it was painful, it was not a choke.

The Poms are our kryptonite. Pure and simple. We need to deal with that one way or another.