Final match thread. The 2023 Rugby World Cup Final. 9pm @ The Stade de France
Well here it is folks. What a 2 months it's been, I've enjoyed every interaction on Lemmy and want to thank you all too
Tonight it's going for 4. The boks after back to back wins, both away unlike the All Blacks', and NZ looking to settle scores after that abysmal world cup warm up. I wouldn't read much into that though: SA have been through the ringer, and NZ have been building since that opening loss vs France
7-1 bench for SA again, with NZ staying pretty strongly in shape match to match, so a tale of squad management. Game management from the inspriational Rassie and his pushing the laws across the whole pitch. And I expect a tale of 80' not unlike the 1995 final
Head, heart, and arse requested before kick off. The BBC rugby world cup daily podcast worth a listen too for a preview too
Yeah I think that was a pretty fair red; surprised Kolisi didn't get upgraded given head to head is almost by definition the fault of the tackler for not being low; and there was just as much dynamic change with Cane's tackler as the ball carrier was dropping into the contact.
But I think the bigger question mark was on the Frizell foul play yellow. It wasn't a neck roll as he started on the shoulders; and really was an accident that he landed on the SA player's leg. And only a couple phases later there was a very clear neck roll on Cody Taylor that just wasn't looked at - why? Well because Taylor wasn't injured as a result of it.
Its the same thing with the micro analysis of the phases when a try is scored, but the same standard isn't applied to all of the other phases around the pitch - and given kickers can score from 55m out, plus penalties can take a team from their 22 to the opposing its a bit silly. I don't want the TMO investigating everything; but I think taking a lesson from League and having 2 referees in the middle would help to spot more stuff and just make a call at the time.