Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: World Cup Final

Friday, October 19, 2007

World Cup Final - The Wait is Over

It doesn't get any bigger than this. The World Cup Final is upon us. On Saturday night in Paris we will see the champions of the world crowned.

I was going to say that we will see a new World Champion, but will we? If England win it tomorrow night it will be the first time that a team has ever won the World Cup on consecutive occasions, a great achievement.

The Springboks however, who are most pundits favourites after their 36-0 drubbing of England earlier in the tournament, will fancy their chances and will be hoping to repeat the successs of the 1995 tournament victory.

The group stage meeting between the two sides probably won't have a whole lot of bearing on Saturday nights final in Paris. The hero of 2003 Jonny Wilkinson wasn't playing. He hasn't had the best tournament by his high standards, but he somehow always seems to make a vital penalty or dropkick when it matters.

The English side also have a lot more belief in themselves now and will fancy their chances against a powerful Bok team that are unbeaten so far. Former Wallaby coach and current technical advisor to the Sprinboks, Eddie Jones, feels that we still haven't seen the best of the men in green and gold. They're an extremely well balanced side with strong forwards and speedy, talented backs.

If England were to win the World Cup again it would be an incredible achievement, considering everything that has happened for them since 2003, and in this tournament particularly, when they were written off so early on as nohopers. To come back from the pasting they took in the media and back home would be admirable to say the least.

South Africa on the other hand have been building up to this since coach Jake White took over in 2004. White was adament who his captain should be - John Smit - and he brought players like Percy Montgomery and Os Du Randt back into the Springbok fold.

John Smit himself was at Ellis Park for the famous final back in 1995 when South Africa last won the cup. He was there as a 17 year old schoolboy though, who had hitch-hiked from Pretoria with a mate to get to the game. He watched big Os Du Randt give it his all, and celebrated with the rest of the country at the final whistle, on a day that united a nation.

So, will Smit be celebrating again, this time in Paris with his hero Os, or will the likes of former World Cup winners Robinson and Wilkinson be the heros on the night?

We have a great final ahead of us. Lets hope it's a spectacle and the team that chances their arm wins it. Then again, it's a final - you don't get any prizes for the most attractive rugby. All you need to do is win, and if history tells us anything, we may well see a winning drop goal decide it.

One shot for glory.
Who will do it this time?

Labels: World Cup 2007

England will.

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2007 12:46 pm
BOK BEFOK!!!!!!!

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2007 1:17 pm
I'm going! I'm going! Well to Paris anyway!

Swing low! Sweet Chariot!

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2007 1:28 pm
go springbokke!!!!!

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2007 2:12 pm
It's like a trailer for a motion picture. I think Jonny Wilkinson is being played by Jude Law and Brian Habana by Gary Coleman

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2007 2:45 pm
LOL, good one, hey lets predict scores, but realistic one's plz, not like 100-0,
I have to go with the boks
23-17

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2007 3:28 pm
Its gonna be good, im hoping for a close game. must say Victor Matfields handling where he was holding the ball in one hand was very impressive!!!

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2007 3:30 pm
Boks over Roses
23-19 final score (2T,2C,3P vs 1T,1C,3P,1DG)

2 tries (Fourie, Habana, or Petersen) to 1 try (Sackey)

Real mettle will be tested by Montgomery and Wilkinson's kicking boots.

Steyn will try 1 long-range kick and miss, and try 2 DGs and miss both.

Schalk Burger will get talked to 3 times, but get no card.

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2007 3:48 pm
whatever happens what a great tournament, there may be those who say its bad that england are in the final, but its always good for rugby to have a norhtern/southern hemisphere element, just glad there was a few turns, and that the aussies aren't anywhere to be seen, thats the main thing!!!!!!

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2007 3:49 pm
Not sure how it can be bad that England are in the final? If anything it shows the true spirit of Rugby World Cup! England have showed grit, determination and desire! It has not been the most atractive display of rugby, but it does show what pride and passion can get you!
SA prob have the making of them in the final! But Wow what a final it will be!! And what a World Cup it has been! Another reason why rugby is the best sport in the world!

Enjoy Guy's!

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2007 4:09 pm
GREAT clip - awesome music - got the heart thumping all over again...cant waiT for tomorrow. Hope the Bokke bring it home.

MY BLOOD IS GREEN!

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2007 4:48 pm
I have to say England. I hope England.

Springboks win will reinforce that Laws of Stellenbosch University.

By Rui Silva, at October 19, 2007 4:54 pm
bokke to win 23 - 9

though wilko's kicking is obviously pretty good, i think percy's a bit better right now, and we've got steyn for some dropgoals as well!!

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2007 5:38 pm
great clip RD, keep them coming!
I cant support England because im french, but i still get the feeling the brits can do it. they are too strong mentally, even if not technically. they just want it so bad, and will go out there and prove everybody wrong.
wilko with another few game winning kicks too...

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2007 5:47 pm
Come on England!

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2007 5:49 pm
Come on England!!!

Swing Low Sweet Chariot!!!

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2007 5:49 pm
I think what's important is that England Stuffed both the French and the Aussies against all expectations and they got into the final. I don't care whatever people say about England I will always wear the white shirt with pride. England is where I was born and it is where I will die. England is home.

There can be only One!!!

Swing Low Sweet Chariot!!!

Game on Boks and England!

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2007 5:58 pm
Well You should remember... England GOT bulldosed 36-0 and there were like another 4 miss oportunities for the Boks to score...

Argentinia cracked thru the last minutes against France and Scotland... Springboks crashed thru them to...

England narrowly defeated both France and Australia and the Frensh beat New Zeeland.

Sorry to say to the English ......

Talk is cheap boys, the men will play... LOL

SA to win final by 25 points

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2007 6:12 pm
The Springboks are going to thrash the Bulldogs!!!

Sa 25
Eng 15

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2007 8:26 pm
its gonna be a close game though i predict south africa will just win

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2007 9:01 pm
I don't care who wins! Lets just see some great rugby. Hopefully both teams were able to get all the useless ping-pong kicking out of their systems in their respective semi-finals. I'd like to see a lot of running with multiple phase play and physicality between the two massive packs. I think the boks will just take it, even though I'm finding myself hoping England does. Thats strange for a wallabies fan...

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2007 9:22 pm
I hope everyone who is a real rugby fan just watched a stunning France-Argentina match. Best try in world cup history by Argentina.It should have been England v Argentina tomorrow. The nerves and the occasion clearly got the better of the Argies against SA. The bottled it, and the Boks got away. They won't against England. Robinson to be the first man to score in two world cup finals. England to win 24 - 15. Easter and Robinson to score. Penalties for Boks by Percy. Gritty game, a war of attrition won by the pride of English lionhearts. Swing Low. Swing Low.

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2007 11:00 pm
Please cover the smashing Argentinian win over the french and their supposed "flair"(wich should be called "referee's touch").

ARGENTINOS VIVA LA MADRE QUE OS PARIÓ. GANÓ EL "RUGBY QUILMES" AL "RUGBY CHAMPAGNE".

By Anonymous, at October 19, 2007 11:44 pm
Aynone else find the new banner highly comical in am immature way?

But seriously I like it, looks good.

By Anonymous, at October 20, 2007 12:25 am
To the guy that said it shoiuld be arg and england???
Wtf?
SA outplayed arg and why do you think they only scored one try against SA, we have the best defence. the reason arg looked so good was becuz the french defence was pathetic, alot of miss tackles.

By Anonymous, at October 20, 2007 1:34 am
RSA and ENG made enough merits to be in the final. Argentinians played some rubbish rugby against southafrica. Mostly because of a lack of mind control. Competitions are like that, if you don't believe it ask to the kiwis.

By Anonymous, at October 20, 2007 1:44 am
what do you think about the the third position of Los Pumas??

Saludos, Mosher_Franck

By Anonymous, at October 20, 2007 3:54 am
they are actually makin a movie about the 1995 world cup matt damon is gonna play piennar

By Anonymous, at October 20, 2007 11:32 am
Great win for the Agries last night - to the pillock that said it should have been Arg/ England final - sometimes it is better to keep them guessing rather than prove that you're stupd by opening your mouth! SA made Argentina look bad - like they did England in the 36/0 game. Please do us a favour and keep such comments to yourself!

GO BOKKE!

By Anonymous, at October 20, 2007 11:37 am
Can you put on here chabal getting smashed by a agrentina forward when they played against each other to see who will come third in the RWC or a big match video because it was a dosey with fights and hits

By Anonymous, at October 20, 2007 12:07 pm
you must put the leguizamon tackle on seabass ! what a tackle!!! go BIARRITZ OLIMPIQUE

By Anonymous, at October 20, 2007 12:31 pm
Pillock I may be, but I think that the Argies played better rugby throughout the tournament than the Boks, so would have been a better final. And England lost, at home, the last time they played the Argies, and that was a second string Argentine side. They have played with pride and passion, whereas the Boks have played cocky arrogant rugby, and yeah it might have got you to the final, but you played against England without vickery, sackey, wilkinson, started without tait, moody and gomarsall. south africa have basically the same lineup, apart from big schalk, who can be riled up, and has made good friends with the sinbin through the cup so far.
I can see the cocky smile being wiped of the Saffers faces this evening, and worried faces, and bitten nails being replaced as england push the Boks in their hardest match so far. Like England have said, "weve played four finals already this tournament, one more will be justt fine". Come on England. Bring back Bill.

ps. Im tthinking the people who said that im a pillock for thinking Argentina deserved to be in the final more than SA, are Boks fans. I think the neutrals and England fans, although relishing an awesome rematch final, will be thinking, especially after the Pumas won third place so emphatically last night, that im right and the Argies could easily have beaten the Boks, if only nerves hadnt got the better of them.
Peace out y'all. Good luck to South Africa, you'll need it. If you win, ill be first to say well done. If not, ill say well played, and see you in nz in four years.

By Anonymous, at October 20, 2007 1:19 pm
apologies sackey did play, forgot that awesome deliberate knock on he did to stop the rampaging boks from scoring another try.

By Anonymous, at October 20, 2007 1:24 pm
Pure brilliance from Dan Collins, in the (Britsh) Daily Telegraph.
Dan, I hope yoiu don't mind me posting it here!

You can keep your awesome runners and your dainty miss-move play;
You can keep your jelly forwards, and use them as you may.
You can keep your decoy channels and weep your bitter tears;
And wring your hands in anguish for another four more years.

You can keep your swagman and your Outback and what's left of old Matilda;
For stony hearted Englishmen have laid her down and killed her.
The barbies and the tinnies beckon you to Bondi beach;
Suck it up, my southern friends... with Paris out of reach.

Across the boiling Tasman lies another nation strong;
With rugby talent, fast and fair, who always get it wrong.
You can keep your 1st 5/8ths and your 'unbeatable' back row;
Beatable they were, it seems, and so you had to go.

You can keep your stolen islanders, from Tonga and Fiji;
Samoans, too; the 'Southern Lions' is how you're known to me.
You can keep your lovely mountains and keep your long white clouds;
We'll take the Stade de France, my friends, and the singing of the crowds.

You mocked us and derided us, and not without just cause;
But we have stolen victory straight from the devil's jaws.
We may not beat the Bokke, they're a stronger team than you;
But our nation's streets are ringing, rugby passion to renew.

You can keep your all black jerseys and your precious green and gold;
for we.. we are England, slow, and ponderous, and old.
But, boys, we're in the final, the fight for death and glory;
To write another chapter in England's mighty story.

By Anonymous, at October 20, 2007 1:40 pm
Bokke, Bokke, Bokke ! Would be great to see a record-beating try by Habana, and a long range drop-goal by Steyn (so people will stop thinking Wilkinson is the one and only dropkicker in the world ^^)

By Unknown, at October 20, 2007 2:18 pm
Great trailer! Much better than the clueless quick-cut crap we get on ITV

By Paul Sutton, at October 20, 2007 8:05 pm
If anyone deserves to be replaced by arg in the final its england. ugly, ugly rugby - scraping through by the skin of your teeth. but anyway, you're there - good luck. hope its a good game for all.

go Boks.

By Anonymous, at October 20, 2007 8:14 pm
To comment above, do you play rugby? if its scrappy its not that big a deal, its part of the game. check out tonights game and also NZ vs FRA try's given/not given. SA deserve the victory tonight, but it shows how close it was. you must admit the favourites and most likely to win this RWC were definately NZ! well done to all the teams involved!!! well done to RSA! and also to England to get back into the rugby on a whole and back into the the finals!

By Anonymous, at October 20, 2007 10:46 pm
Well done South Africa. I was wrong. Chances taken, chances lost. Its what it all comes down to really. Hope everyone thinks that pitch invader was a prick though. South Africa deserved it in the end, but England can come away with pride still. Hope that referee doesnt officiate for a long time though. But thats not the point. Oh well, see you all in New Zealand.

By Anonymous, at October 20, 2007 10:55 pm
ah yeh and for the record i didnt think that was a try.......all i meant was if it had been given it would be just part of the game.

By Anonymous, at October 20, 2007 10:57 pm
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA THAT KID CRYING AT THE END THOUGH!!! FOOKING FUNNY, THAAAATS GONNA COME OUT ON HIS 18TH OR HIS WEDDING!!!!

By Anonymous, at October 20, 2007 10:58 pm
Well done all teams that made up this great world cup, 4 years from now lets hope we can all come back and have at least half of what we had this championship, it would still be one mighty tournament.

Well played England.

Boks world champions.

Boks Boks Boks

By Anonymous, at October 20, 2007 11:10 pm
CHAMPIONS!!! BOKKKKEEE

By Anonymous, at October 20, 2007 11:17 pm
Damn, the son of Jean Pierre Rives crying... He's not like his father, I remember an old game in the VI, the French played in their white jerseys, but at the end JPRives looked much more like he was playing for Wales, his jersey was covered by blood...

I'm happy the boks have won, as a french and as a bad loser (I think those 2 go well together ^^).

Anyway, has someone experienced heavy traffic jams (I mean HUGE) ? Cause I was at the 3rd place game yesterday and even if I left home at 17, I couldn't see the 5 first minutes of the match, because of those FUCKIN STRIKERS of the fuckin SNCF (french railway company) who think they deserve higher wages than surgeons...

By Unknown, at October 21, 2007 12:37 am
yes, i did play rugby. centre and flank - besides the point though. great tournament. unbeleivable come back from england who fought all the way to the end and truthfully did most of the playing in this one. Well done boks, well done england - can't wait for the next one.

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2007 3:09 am
Being a bok fan i'm extremely happy that we won, celebrations was huge tonight!
But WELL PLAYED England. was a good battle and a good match.
I think the England public put to much pressure on wilko, you could see it in the game.

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2007 3:09 am
BOKKE. BOKKE. BOKKE. BOKKE. BOKKE.

The guys deserve their win - for their hard work and thick skins - taking flack from a fickle public and even worse administrators! They kept their eyes on the goal. What gracious, humble people they are. Even with the bragging rights they were still humble. (Not sure I am going to be...at least not for a while)

Go Bokke! - My Blood is Green!

(Loved the Dan Collins Post)

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2007 10:16 am
There is someone above talking about pressure on Wilko....I would have to agree, im an englishman and i play rugby (flanker/second row) and i know a game is not won by one man alone. the English public make a good effort on relying on one person (i for one cannot stand football but....)

in the football world cups David Beckam MADE us lose the cup back ages ago when he got a red card.

Wayne Rooney was gonna win the last one for us.

and once again Wilko the one man army was gonna win this one.

the English public do put pressure on individual players, although i do think as proffessional sports men they should be able to handle it.

Well done Springboks....keep that cup nice and shiny, we are only lending it to you for four years you know, we want it back! lol

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2007 1:11 pm
What is that guy on about?:

"If anyone deserves to be replaced by arg in the final its england."

No one but the teams that were in the final DESERVED to be in the final. those teams got there through determination and good gameplay. its all the bounce of the ball, games are won by great play but also by mistakes. England and South Africa deserved a final place and RSA deserved to win. END OF!

im english by the way....wait for the it was a try comments....i wonder if there will be loads?! (personally i dont reckon it was a try!)

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2007 1:14 pm
Shut up to the bloke b4 me. I'm english to and the ref asked "is there any reason i can't award the try?" not was that a try so his knee might very well of been out but there is no conclusive evidence so it was a try!
i think that it was because it was an australian TMO trying to get his own back!
Mr Controversial

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2007 5:10 pm
Why dont you shut up shit for brains, his foot CLEARY touched the line....therefore it WASN'T A TRY.....if a player runs out one door of the stadium and in the other with a ball and puts the ball down is that a try?!?! NO IT ISN'T, because....hey presto HE WAS OUT!

LOOK AT IT AGAIN, HIS LEFT FOOT TOUCHES THE LINE, and if you know anything about rugby you might actually realise that is classed as out!

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2007 7:30 pm
To Anyone who criticises England's (or any other teams who have a forward based strategy for that matter) playing style:

"Rugby is for the Player, not the Spectator off the street."

- a fan, who is also very annoyed at "bandwagons"

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2007 9:59 pm
I second the above. if you have played the game, the types of games you feel great about afterwards are the ones you come away from battered and bruised that were hard fought and close. As a lock/flanker i prefer hard fought heavy contact games. its not exactly fun in my mind if the backs get the ball, spin it out run round and score.......i prefer actually putting some training and moves into a game scenario, if someone steals my lineout ball i like to think of something new so i dont lose anymore!

By Anonymous, at October 21, 2007 11:23 pm
To Mr Contreversial,
It may very well have been a try(I am English and I will not say wether I thought it was or not).
RSA have been the best team throughout the tornament, they had a huge advantage coming in to the final virtually unchallenged. Their route saw them brush aside Argentina and Fiji with ease, whereas England had to fight their way past Australia and France which picked them up injuries which could have just swung the game for them,(we really missed Josh Lewsey) however on the night the best team won. Enlgand did a fantastic job in just getting to the final after being written off before the tornament had even begun. Three cheers for Vickery and the lads who fought bravly in Paris unfortunate not to win.
Joe

By Anonymous, at October 23, 2007 12:13 pm
this is a really good video, the quality of the clips are awesome!

By Anonymous, at December 20, 2007 6:37 pm