Nothing to Crow About

Last week, the Pommies went head-on with the Frogs for the fourth time in Paris, Stade de France in the World Cup Rugby semi finals.

The two arch rivals also met in the 1991 quarter-finals where the Poms won 19-10, the 1995 third place play-off (Frogs prevailed 19-9) and the 2003 semi-finals, where the Poms again won 24-7 on that greasy wet pitch in Sydney.

So when the respective captains, Raphael Ibanez and Phil Vickery, lead their teams out last Saturday morning, little did I realize the humiliation the host were going to face.

The frustrating thing was watching the frogs played with limited imagination and a non existence ‘garlic flair’ that won my admiration in the past, watching them kicking away possession when they could have utilize their hard running backs. The much needed punch they had the week before when they defeated the Kiwis was grossly missing!

The Poms just took 78 seconds after kickoff to score their brilliant try with winger Josh Lewsey racing past his opponents and pouncing on the hesitant Damien Traille. After that, anybody who thought that the score would herald 78 more minutes of running rugby were to be left disappointed as the boot and staunch defence ruled.

Apart from conceding silly penalties within kicking range, the frogs could only convert 3 of them.

(a dejected French supporter)

Three minutes to full time, Wilkinson found himself in the pocket after a massive drive by the forward pack and slotted a magnificent 35-metre drop kick that sealed their victory.

Final score: England 14, France 9

Damn the Poms! They are in the finals….and I lost money. Perhaps the All Blacks parody best describe how I felt that day.

Never mind. I look forward to a repeat of the first round humiliating 36-0 defeat of the English by the Springboks tomorrow night.

# posted by Cocka Doodle @ 1:55 AM