Rugby Semi Final...

[Neveracrossword]

I don't have any interest in rugby, but thought I'd start a thread to limit the chances of any spoiler posts appearing...

[Ellipsis]

Robbed by a penalty with two minutes to go ...

[Deskdiary]

England were fantastic. To lose by a single point hurts but given I thought we'd be stuffed, by god we took the game to RSA.

Now looking forward to a NZ win next week.

[jourdain2]

Disappointing.  T.B.H. both semi-finals haven't been good matches.

Yes, to lose by a penalty is tough, but there was only one Try in the whole score and S.A. scored that.  

Never really got  off the ground.  S.A. nothing like as good as they were in the quarters.

From what I've seen it will be N.Z. winning the World Cup.

[royfromaus]

What I witnessed at the end is why I don't bother much with rugby union.

[jourdain2]

royfromaus - I prefer League.

[jno]

sorry for England, ahead for 76 minutes, but they have no game except kicking and their captain just cannot keep his mouth shut.

[Zacs-Master]

Too much kicking. Should have gone for trys. 

[teacher1]

Even with all the ref's help in the first half, England still managed to lose. 🤣

[brainiac]

All Owen Farrell can do is kick - never seen him make a line break with the ball in hand, never seen him run at pace towards the try line, or score a try for that matter.  What a boring non-advert for rugby union this was.

And why did SA end up winning?  Some obscure infringement at one of the interminable scrums.

If you want to see a really good, energetic, inventive No 10, watch Damian McKenzie of New Zealand - and he's not even their first choice!

[Ellipsis]

I have been a lifelong rugby union fan. In recent years, professionalism means increasingly that games are often tight; and when a game is tight, more often than not, it's a refereeing decision that determines the outcome. It's spoiling the game for me. These days, rugby is more based on the "judges" than ice dance, rhythmic gymnastics or synchronised swimming ...

[douglas9401]

Fairly straightforward answer, don't give away penalties.

[Ellipsis]

It's a bit more complicated than that, douglas, especially when it comes to the arcanery of scrum penalties ...

[ichkeria]

There was nothing unfair or unsatisfactory about the ending: England kicked a lot but that was plainly a tactic and it almost worked. A proper contest unlike the non event of the first semi.

On a personal note I'm afraid I can't be doing with league. So one dimensional compared to 15 a side 

[Ellipsis]

> "The final scrum penalty came in the 78th minute. Ellis Genge was the player penalised by referee Ben O'Keeffe; Jamie George protested the decision, saying Vincent Koch had angled in, but the decision stood."

Not saying that Jamie George was right ... just making the point that there are so many results where how the referee see things determines the outcome. So we now have pundits talking about "painting a picture for the referee", which never used to be a thing.