Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: France thumped at home by rampant All Blacks

Saturday, November 28, 2009

France thumped at home by rampant All Blacks

The All Blacks, wearing all white, outclassed France in Marseilles as they ended their end of year tour with another win by beating the French 39-12.

Despite having a poor Tri Nations, New Zealand ended their northern hemisphere tour unbeaten after wins over Wales, Italy, England, and now France.

Tonight they showed a brand of rugby that’s been missing over the past few weeks, and lacking in their own game for some time. They got it back though, as they showed all the flair and skill that made them the most feared team in the world for many years.

Five tries were scored by the All Blacks, namely from Sitiveni Sivivatu, Mils Muliaina, Jerome Kaino, Cory Jane and Conrad Smith. Dan Carter was back to his best too, kicking 14 points.

Owen Franks was yellow carded late in the match after tempers flared between the two sides. The All Blacks played a few minutes with 14 players, but it made no difference to the result as they’d done more than enough to secure the great win.

Captain Richie McCaw has since been named IRB Player of the Year, a somewhat surprising choice as he beat out favourites Fourie Du Preez and Brian O’Driscoll.

"It's a huge honour," said McCaw. "One guy gets this but you can't do it without your mates." McCaw was also quite naturally delighted with the convincing display against the French.

"It was an incredible Test match between France and New Zealand and we appreciate that," he said.

The All Blacks play the Barbarians in London next weekend, a match which will see them up against a strong Baa Baas side. A win there will cap off a fantastic end of season tour.

Time: 09:52
Note: Better quality highlights will replace these sometime soon.

Ouch. Was hoping France would win this one...

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 12:16 am
Does anyone know the reason why the all blacks wore all white?

By Creatine Junkie, at November 29, 2009 12:33 am
NOW THATS WHAT I CALL RUGBY!!

Good to see both sides running the ball. Its about time.

By Isaac, at November 29, 2009 12:34 am
We got outclassed by a brilliant NZ team. Well done kiwis.

French forwards resisted well, but french backs were shite today. NZ were excellent everywhere, McCaw is a real pest in rucks, Carter is magic. It shows we have plenty to learn before 2011...

By Nathan, at November 29, 2009 12:36 am
Creatine Junkie said...
Does anyone know the reason why the all blacks wore all white?

http://www.allblacks.com/news/11744/Were-happy-in-white-says-Thorn

It's to avoid a colour clash with the dark blue of the French.

By The Other Phil, at November 29, 2009 12:41 am
points Highlights
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/3107159/Video-All-Blacks-v-France

By DrLurch, at November 29, 2009 12:43 am
Great performance by the All Blacks! Good to see them slowly pull themselves together from the woeful start to this season. I hope they take this form into the Barbarians match.

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 12:50 am
How mccaw got player of the year ahead of o'driscoll is a joke,grand slam winnin captain,top scorer in last years six nations,heineken cup winner,top scorer in heineken cup last year,arguably the best lions this summer,then probably best irish player again durin autumn internationals.And what has mccaw done?missed half the year through injury,lost three tri-nations matches to SA,during which he was outshone at the breakdown by brussouw,then led his team to a couple of easy victorys against northern hemisphere opponents.Whats happinin to the IRB?

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 12:55 am
They saved themselves for France that's for sure. Great game but I wanted France to win like always but this rivalry with the All Blacks (or All Whites tonight) is just getting better and better. Forget France/England it's France/New Zealand that's the game to watch at all times. Can't wait for next years tests with the AB.
Have a long long way to go for 2011 but I still believe France can do it (dreaming of FRA V NZ final already). Bring on the 6NATIONS.. France v Ireland will be an amazing game.

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 12:59 am
'"One guy gets this but you can't do it without your mates." cCaw was also quite naturally delighted with the convincing display against the French.'

LOL cCaw cCAWWWWWWW......

Anyway, sorry to be a bitch... thanks for the awesome website and stuffffff

By Mr. anonymous, at November 29, 2009 1:02 am
great game NZ , hard luck France any team would have failed against taht type of preformance but by in far the best match of the autumn internationals and kids see this and just want to play rugby. Yes france vs Ireland is looking to be one of the highlights of next years 6N ... France will recover from this I´m sure and I will definity watch the next NZ vs FR match ... they have been really good quality matches saludos desde España

By andy says, at November 29, 2009 1:20 am
Who cares if o'driscol didnt win the award you crybaby.

By the way what a game. All Blacks were on fire. Very entertaining.

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 1:46 am
Agree with anonymous, always enjoy NZ vs France because they both play a style of rugby I like to watch.

And the French team is always class, whether they win or lose.

By Jeremy, at November 29, 2009 1:50 am
McCaw isn't past it but hes definitely past his best. Like others of said he was outclassed blatantly by Broussouw and even Pocock is putting his name down as a better 7. New Zealand have been poor this year which is a shame because they seemed to be building a really nice squad last year. McCaw won nothing with his club or country whereas Du Preez and O'Driscoll both won the best club and international competitions in their respective hemispheres putting in regular stand out performances. For me O'Driscoll should have got it putting his body on the line time after time to make the disruptive big hit or creating something out of nothing to score a crucial try every time something special was needed he provides.

By Bonzai, at November 29, 2009 1:51 am
Did you see McCaws performance in the game Bonzai?

Brussouw and Pocock still have some catching up to do.

That was an awesome game, you can see longer highlights here:
http://www.3news.co.nz/All-Blacks-cut-loose-to-hammer-France/tabid/317/articleID/131772/cat/41/Default.aspx

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 1:55 am
Very impressive performance by the ABs and fantastic rugby to watch. Agreed that it was by far the best game of the autumn series. When the ABs have an off-day against France, they lose by a few points. When France has an off-day against the ABs, well, we bag 39 points... It shows that we're still a long way!
Well done ABs, France was outclassed in every department and we were never able to develop our game plan. Bloody looking forward to 2011!!!

By Nico, at November 29, 2009 2:30 am
I got to agree with a lot of the comments regarding player of the year.....

Im not trying to cause a problem on here, but i would have def picked BOD over mcCaw (because of recent performances....)

no doubt ill be accused as a cry baby aswell but the guy who stated BOD's year of winnings etc had it right....im sorry to Du Preez fans i didnt really see any of his club rugby so maybe he should have won ahead of BOD, but from my view point i dont think McCaw should have got it....

The term is 'Player of the YEAR' like it was stated, he missed large amount due to injury (not that it should rule him out) but then when he did play, he got thumped by SA and brussouw (sounds like a scratched record...already stated) yes brussouw may have a way to go but he certainly had the upper hand on Mc this year.

Yes you may comment on todays performance which was excellant but in terms of his yearly performance im not so sure, whereas BOD has had an all round hard worked year where he has really been the one thats made everything or anything work....just see todays game, i really was grimacing at the end because i thought any second now SA are going to score and it will be game over....and were it not for BOD and i truly believe if he had been off, SA would have scored.......yes he had a tired game and is perhaps getting on, but anything that counts BOD is there doing it, really!

But anyway, its done, so congrats to mccaw!

By No.7, at November 29, 2009 2:53 am
McCaw player of the year? lol

What a joke.

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 3:05 am
Shit, but fair play to Kiwiland great match

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 3:21 am
I guess the French didn't have a reggae singer do the NZ national anthem....

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 3:36 am
LOL ^^^

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 3:57 am
The IRB player of the year award is stupid anyway. It's never based on form, only on reputation.
However, if I had to pick between Mccaw and O'Driscoll to be in my team, I'd pick Mccaw every time.
He's twice as influential.
And he's no where near past his best.
Whoever said that hasn't been watching him this season.
Without him the All Blacks were lost, with him, close to unbeatable.
And I'm not a kiwi.

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 5:04 am
great effort from the ABs - what a cracking finish to the year: thrashing a french team that beat the boks only a couple of weeks ago.
Carter was great - it might be noted that he only played in one of the losses this year - the 32-29 to SA in Hamilton which he was still rusty for and could have gone either way - stephen donald was 10 for the other 3 losses. since he's been fit and playing well, NZ have been unbeaten: it shows how important DC is to NZ rugby!

BOD lost both lions tests he played in - they won the 3 rd after he'd gone home! i'm not sure how many BOD fans watch the trinations but McCaw was playing on his own a times. He may have played in 3 losses this year but they could have been bigger losses without him. he's an outstanding captain and has revolutionised the game and taken it to another level in the same way michael jones did.
brussouw and pocock owe him a debt of gratitude for setting them such a high bar to test themselves against.

By Felix, at November 29, 2009 5:20 am
Im a kiwi and I reckon if we can keep this form till 2011 the cups ours. everyone says we always choke at world cups but last time we won it we were at home so im sensing deja vu ..

awesome game by every single starting 15 all black/white especially backline.

and i agree that mccaw doesnt deserve player of year, but then again least bod the shithead didnt get it lol

By te-tank, at November 29, 2009 6:18 am
Boo hoo to O'Driscoll. Yeah great player but he is a twat (see fake choke '06). Would NZ's running game today have worked against SA's kick-chase-block game? Probably not. The Boks will be back for 2010. Bad tour is all. SA-NZ-Fra at the top.

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 6:38 am
HOW THE HELL DID FOURIE DU PREEZ NOT WIN THE PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD!!! WTF MCCAW WAS OUTPLAYED IN EVERY GAME BY BRUSSOW AND BRUSSOW WASNT EVEN ON THE BLOODY SHORTLIST OF NOMINEES. MCCAW REALLY, REALLY DID NOT DESERVE IT!!!!

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 8:54 am
Total breakdown domination by the AB's. I think the french turned over maybe three breakdowns with their whole pack, but Ritchie, Read, Hore and Thorn totally dominated the tricolours by themselves.

An amazing game to watch for fast aggressive rugby. The French had no show after their headbutting celebration of the second scrum about five minutes in, after that they got torn apart all over the park. Conrad Smith, Siti and Carter put on some career best performances.

By Dan, at November 29, 2009 9:14 am
P.s Pu Preez and O'Driscoll combined aren't even half the rugby union player that Ritchie McCaw is.

Seriously, the man is breakdown machine. The AB's haven't had a try scored against them in the Northern Hemisphere since 2002, and it's largely because of him. GIVE UP!!!!!!!

By Dan, at November 29, 2009 9:18 am
usual game:
they trash us at home in test matches...
we (sometimes) beat them in kiwiland by a narrow margin...
and then it's choking time for the AB against us, during WC!
I like this.
BTW, kiwis were unstoppable yesterday evening, congratulations

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 9:38 am
That was a rugby game and a half! After so so long, the wait is over, the running game is back in action!

Richie Mccaw IRB player of the year aswell :) First player to win it twice, well deserved. Credit to the French though, didn't switch to the kicking game even though they were losing, really gave it to the All Blacks.

Seriously, this 10-12-13 of Carter, Nonu and Smith is just unbelievable.

By Cobine, at November 29, 2009 9:48 am
Okay, let me make this clear for all you idiots saying Brussow owned Mccaw, it makes me sick.

Brussow is a brilliant player, no doubting it, but look what happened against Ireland and France? His pack wasn't dominating so he couldn't dominate.

It is piss easy as a forward to play really well in the breakdown when you are on the front foot, but Mccaw was running BACK 5-10 metres then swerving around to hit the ruck, Brussow was running straight at it.

Can you bigots see now? It is much harder when you are on the back foot, Mccaw still out shone Brussow to me even though he was on the back foot, you just didn't see a lot of what Mccaw did because he is always deep at the ruck.

If anyone watched the France vs Boks game and the Ireland vs Boks game you will know what I mean. Brussow is only good when his pack is on the front foot (can't do shit on the back foot), Mccaw is good all the time.

By Cobine, at November 29, 2009 9:55 am
Well played, we've been outclassed, yesterday the best team won. See you in 2011 !

By LucasP, at November 29, 2009 10:47 am
Hi from France.

This game was great. What a rythm.

But big respect to the black because it was the victory of intelligence and they played as a true team that has benn built for months.

They did what they do the best : counter attack.
They were almost innefficient when carrying the ball for many sequences but all the tries they scored were on lost ball from french. In the pub, each time the french team lost the ball, everybody knew something would happen.

AB are masters in this part of the game and they gave us a lesson. What a beautiful passing game : fast and accurate, no time lost.

My opinion is many bad choices have been made by France : attacking, attacking an attacking again with no result. And giving the ball back to the AB by a kick play.

The difference is not that big but the AB shown something important (the most?) in rugby : 1 opportunity, 1 try. Great team on this day and I can't wait for 2011 anymore!

By K, at November 29, 2009 11:24 am
I'm a New Zealander, but bloody hell, you know what I love about the French? Their fans are so nice even if they lost, Bok fans would be making excuses, blaming the ref (cough Ireland game cough).

French supporters and players, you a gold sticker and my respect.

By Cobine, at November 29, 2009 11:44 am
You get a gold sticker and my respect*

By Cobine, at November 29, 2009 11:44 am
Cobine, just read all your comments, you really hate the springboks dont you. Your comments count for shit.

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 11:47 am
I'm French and I must admit the great superiority of the All
Blacks tonight. Their rugby is incredibly good. I think our number 9 was too slow. The real difference was made in my opinion at the offensive triangle (11-14-15). It is clear that Maxime Medard was not at the level this night. Damien Traille is not a real 15. I m waiting the come back of players such as Mermoz, Fall, Bastareaud who can bring strength, power to the backs. Désolé pour mon anglais.

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 11:48 am
I agree with cobine. French fans are the best, they dont gloat when they win & they dont make lame excuses when they lose.

They appreciate good rugby and that's what its all about.

Good game guys. From a NZ supporter.

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 12:17 pm
Anyone notice the shoulder charge on Sivivatu leading up to the second try?

By Phil, at November 29, 2009 12:25 pm
quick question for anyone who noticed:

after the first try, a kiwi pats Clerc on the shoulder as he runs by. does anyone know why? i thought it might be recognition of clerc's sportsmanship for not getting in an unnecessary tackle but I doubt it somehow in a big test match. Thanks guys

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 12:25 pm
The ting about McCaw is that NZ are 50% worse when he doesn't play. In American parlance he is the Most Valuable Player.

As for FDP, good player, he just kicks way too much....he never backs himself and runs like Joost for example.

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 1:16 pm
Alain Rolland should referee all rugby games from now on!

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 1:33 pm
Well done by the ABs. They were amazing + got a bit lucky on the rebounds... (carter's kicks or cory's).
In any case, they were well above the french. France w/out Picamole and Imanol kinda lacks power... Servat did the job though.

Now as for Rolland, I thought he was totally out of it. He used to be one of the best ref back 7 or 8 years ago, but watching the game, I tend to think he hasn't really updated his refeering... especially around the rucks (How many times did we see nz players, especially mc Caw coming from the side of the fringe ?)

As for the player of the year... I haven't seen Odriscole except for the past few weeks, so I really couldn't see him as man of the year... whereas Mc caw has had a good season with his team, and kinda soso with his national team...but I think it's justified.

By jay, at November 29, 2009 1:43 pm
Conrad Smith patted him on the back after the first try because Clerc swung his foot out after Sivivatu grounded it, as if he was going to try trip him up...basicaly saying what r u up to!

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 1:46 pm
Cory Jane is so good

By vinniechan, at November 29, 2009 2:01 pm
I felt that the french forwards were in good shape to face the NZ forwards, but from the off I thought that the French back line were defending too passively, not moving up with any intent to limit the NZ backline's space. The NZ backline seemed to be given way too much space and France just don't have the speed to catch Sivivatu for example once he's gone. It all seemed to be executed brilliantly. Once again we see the inconsistency of France, they did practically nothing wrong against SA, but that was a crushing defeat last night.

LOL at the NZ squad enjoying the fight at the end.

By John F, at November 29, 2009 2:13 pm
France forwards should have hooked cheaty Kiwis out of the rucks

By Ftyfta, at November 29, 2009 2:16 pm
All blacks played incredible rugby and accomplished an historic performance
i think France missed their game even if some crucial players were absent (picamoles, harinordoquy, mermoz) Servat injury was also a big turn

But the fact is AB's were clinical with sivivatu and smith where french weren't, congrats for that.

France will surely do better on 6 nations and next shock against NZ in 2011 will ba an other story.
everybody knows it...

By Flooz, at November 29, 2009 2:21 pm
This comment has been removed by the author.

By Flooz, at November 29, 2009 2:23 pm
Rolland is a good ref. Was Sivivatu hurt from the shoulder charge?
Wish I had seen the full game, sometimes France just don't turn up, they need a coach to manage their temperment and mindset.

By Lorcan, at November 29, 2009 2:31 pm
A great watch. Magic rugby by NZ.

AB's probably deserve the "choker" tag given that you've first got to be overwelming favourites to choke in the first place.

I'd say that Frances two (yes, two) losses to Argentina, at home, in the 2007 RWC must be famous chokes as well, no? How embarrassing. When will France win a RWC?

That aside, I like the French supporters, who appreciate good positive rugby. Good stuff.

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 2:34 pm
Dan Carter really showed his class.

If they can continue this form they will be hard to beat.

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 2:35 pm
It's not cheating if you can get away with it. Lol

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 2:36 pm
Totally outclassed.

Carter was in godmode. Brilliant back line.

But I'm sure we can do better. McCaw is a snake, and we let him do anything he want...

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 2:40 pm
"Who cares if o'driscol didnt win the award you crybaby.

By the way what a game. All Blacks were on fire. Very entertaining."

i definately do, he was by far the outstanding player of this year and throughly deserved. been a talisman for ireland for soo many years and first grand slam in 61 years. what the hhell irb

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 2:49 pm
back to reality!!!
like nathan said, the fowards did their job but the backs just let the ABs run throught on each of their opportunities.

But hey! Who could beat this team when it plays like that???!!!

ABs are just magic!

By kevdetoulouse, at November 29, 2009 2:53 pm
Sorry for being pedantic, but how does a kit including BLACK shorts constitute the All Blacks wearing 'all white'?

Seriously: thanks again for the video. Rugbydump rules!

By Chaosphere, at November 29, 2009 3:00 pm
ABs aren't half the team without McCaw and Carter. Even when they were bitch slapping everyone. Remember the RWC loss to France. Who was off injured? Their young guys aren't as good. And too many are leaving. It's a pity. I kinda like having them as the looming, great, unstoppable force. Adds a bitta mistique to the game.

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 3:04 pm
I really think french rugby will never change, inconsistency must be in our genes. i'm sick of that

By rodofle, at November 29, 2009 3:09 pm
Yeah, French fans are on the whole pretty good. The crowd even gav the ABs a standing ovation after. No booing during the kicking too. Sweet as

By MikeyMike, at November 29, 2009 3:11 pm
Amazing game from the AB, with Carter at his state of the art.

About us (the french), i think that having to change all backs due to injuries was really bad for us, we made some big defense mistakes...we progressively got out of the game, everything started to go wrong (especially very poor kicking, and giving the ball back far too fast to the AB). But still some good moves if we can have all players available next time we'll have a great show.

Congrats to the kiwis and looking foward to next game, i'm sure we'll see even better rugby.

By southwest, at November 29, 2009 3:12 pm
Dear northern hemisphere,

Please use the upcoming 6 nations to work on scoring tries. This is when the ball carrier is able to ground the ball on or behind the big white line the goal posts are on. Many regards, the Rugby Gods.

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 3:17 pm
HAHAHAHA at 4.50sec, carters drop goal hits the cross bar

Commentator "here comes the counter attack from the french"

AND THEY KICK IT 20M STRAIGHT TO A KIWI!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 3:25 pm
hahaha yeah and its results in a try! lol at france lol lol lol

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 3:27 pm
Oh yeah right so that's supposed to be very funny??? Ok...Get a life men...

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 3:34 pm
i can see the funny side of it, though its more really really unfortunate for france.
If any team was going to take a failed attempt at 3 and turn in into 7 NZ were it.

By Unknown, at November 29, 2009 3:43 pm
mccaw is a great player but he really shouldnt have gotten player of the year, O'driscoll led Ireland to a six nations win scoring a try in every game except scotland and he was beaten up against england but still scored a try from a metre out with three english players on him. Odriscoll should havfe been IRB player of the year.
Comment if you agree.

By Ooooo Driscoll, at November 29, 2009 3:47 pm
Jay said...
As for the player of the year... I haven't seen Odriscole except for the past few weeks, so I really couldn't see him as man of the year... whereas Mc caw has had a good season with his team, and kinda soso with his national team...but I think it's justified.

Jay, odriscoll's club won the heineken cup so he definitely had a good season for club.

By Seamus, at November 29, 2009 3:51 pm
allan rolland is the only decent ref, i really dont like nigel owens. The only thing is all the good refs are irish so they cant ref ireland matches

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 3:59 pm
Dan said
'Seriously, the man is breakdown machine. The AB's haven't had a try scored against them in the Northern Hemisphere since 2002, and it's largely because of him. GIVE UP!!!!!!!'

Amm, I don't know what sport you're following but the ABs haven't conceded a try in NH since France scored 2 in WC 1/4 in 2007, Portugal and Romania also scored against them. Now they have a great record here in NH, but since 2002 the only years they haven't conceded were the last 2. You want an example, Marcus Horan for Ire in Nov '05. Ok it was the only points that Ire scored that day, but still it wasn't 2002. And lets face it, we all know Italy should've had at least 1 penalty try.

Abs were incredible yesterday. Don't know bout you all, but I just love watching Sivivatu play. He looks like he plays in slow motion, his movement, power and running lines are the probably the best in world rugby.

I think ABs are peaking perfectly for 2011. Think about it, other than this, they've had a poor year, whereas before, they dominated every year outside WCs. I think Aus and probably Fra will be their closest rivals in 2 years time. Thats if France can find their best 15.

Can't wait for the NZ v Ire in June. Should be great. And Carter should pass the 1000 mark in that game. Pretty historic.

By Huh!! the 3rd, at November 29, 2009 4:07 pm
damn i hate those biased commentators

By sebastian, at November 29, 2009 4:13 pm
It's pretty churlish to say McCaw didn't deserve the player of the year award.....although weird that Brussouw didn't even get nominated.

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 4:43 pm
What is that French reserve hooker smuggling in those biceps, every time he holds the tacle magnet in the lineouts they just pop up and Boom.

WGMDelko

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 5:02 pm
great performance by NZ, they really targetted and attacked Jauzion and Clerc in the wider channels.

Really enjoyed watching this with a pub full of frenchies. :D

By godNumber10, at November 29, 2009 5:59 pm
on the irb player of the year thing, they probably got it wrong. HAve to say though, alot of people only see highlights and base their opinion on that. Its easy to have impressive highlights of O'Driscoll and Du Preez, but harder to show the all round impact Mccaw has on the unseen areas of the game.

By The Schpoople Master, at November 29, 2009 6:53 pm
Good to see the all blacks play well again. All blacks vs Australia would be a really good game to see.

By Freaky Naughty o_O, at November 29, 2009 7:52 pm
it would be great if rugbydump created a sketch of the best tries and hits about all the massive test maches!!!think about it.hug

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 8:09 pm
Sorry guys this is off topic but as this was the latest video i figure people might read this.

It is regarding the scotland aus game and the injury to palu.

i thought about this a while back and forget to comment on it.

I was glad scotland won and i was gunning for them, but when i saw palu get hit in the ruck and injured i thought it was a bit unnecessary and dangerous....or maybe not, but i thought ouch that looked painful, then i remembered Bakkies Botha got cited for his charge on jones that resulted in jones being injured.....

now when i watched that i thought it was unfair for botha, but the charge on palu did look similar (i think....it happened a while ago..)

so i dunno, anyone think anything similar?

personally i think nothing of it, injuries happen, but in terms of consistency....

By No.7, at November 29, 2009 8:19 pm
No.7 said...

Mate, I completely agree with you about the Palu incident, the British media blows things out of proportion.

Two more things happened, one in 2005 and one in 2009.

Firstly, Italy vs NZ 2009 in NZ, Sergio Parisse eye gouged Isaac Ross literally on the same day hours before the Luke Fitzgerald moment, Sergio Parisse got cited but everyone is complaining about Schalk Burger being a villian but not a word on Sergio Parisse. If anyone watched the Ireland vs Boks game, the commentaters even brought it up after Burger scored a try, it made me angry.

2005, the famous BoD spear tackle, again the Irish / British media making a MASSIVE deal out of this. In the NZ maori vs the Lions, Gordon Darcy spear tackled Rua Tipoki without the ball, it could be easily seen and he landed right on his head, a proper spear tackle but no one even mentions it.

This is more a rant at British media, but DAMN IT PISSES ME OFF. Bloody bias British! Never lets things go and is blind to things that they do, only things that happen to them.

By Cobine, at November 29, 2009 8:44 pm
right that's off topic and really not interesting

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 8:48 pm
ignoring the tool below cobines comment i will carry on.

Well i guess cobine that because im in britain and its sort of current affairs with having ireland linked to england linked to wales, scotland etc, via local cups and lions tours etc its probably more likely that we hear about fitzgerald and burger rather than parisse. Also as good as a player that burger is, its not like he keeps himself out of trouble, and it was a gouge or at least contact with the eyes.....im not trying to bring it up all over again, im just saying that the masses which turn on the tv when the lions tour will have seen that so an uproar will ensue, whereas not many british people will have watched the italy match so they wouldnt have known about parisse being naughty...

im not sure about the darcy incident, whether he was cited or not, the only thing i can say about the BOD thing is that people see BOD as a sort of talisman leader try scorer winner sort of person, and many people viewed it as an attempt to get him out of the game (rightly or wrongly) and it also went unpunished....

now i personally think, what works for one person must work for another, so if umaga was cited then so should have darcy!.....

same with burger and parisse, the same as Botha and the scottish player....didnt see who it was....

or vice versa, only because, yes i like adam jones but botha's hit may have been malicious but it didnt look particularly illegal in my eyes.....

would be interesting to hear anyone elses views on the palu incident thing.....

p.s i think the commentators bringing up burgers gouge is pretty low....he was found guilty and was handed a punishment....in my eyes its over....

By No.7, at November 29, 2009 9:15 pm
actually, i kinda remove that p.s......i think the commentators were only really trying to comment on why the crowd were booing...rather than slating burger.

By No.7, at November 29, 2009 9:23 pm
Fuck the IRB.

By SA, at November 29, 2009 10:01 pm
In the newspapers they had a huge picture of the eye gouge saterday, With the headlines, I think it was really low,As much as I hate wat he did, Just glad they dont show that bloodgate picture if there is a story of Harlequins.

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 10:02 pm
Thanks for saying that french fans are the best but you sould not forget that they (we) are rugby fans.
As football is the most important sport around our country it somehow keep a huge majority of brainless fans in its grasp.

To do as almost all the french fan did before me : AB's were awesome, i havent seen such a performance since... well good question.

An another interesting one : who would of won against these superheroes yesterday ??!!

I must admit that traille sucks, i wish that gem of medard go back to fullback, he would be a nice IRB player of the year to ;)

By Anonymous, at November 29, 2009 10:04 pm
I agree with Cobine.
When illegal play occurs and a British player is the victim, it's the end of the bloody world.
When it goes the other way or doesn't even involve a British player at all, you don't hear a thing from them.
The last three Lions tours, the British media has made the Lions out to be victims by highlighting three incidents, one per tour (O'Gara getting bashed, O'Driscoll getting his shoulder dislocated and Fitzgerald getting gouged).
In each of those tours there were similar incidents committed by Lions players, but you wouldn't know it if you listened to the British media.
Even just in the NSW vs Lions game, there were dozens of punches thrown by at least half-a-dozen players from both sides, but it never gets mentioned (the Lions that tour gained a reputation for starting fist fights).
In NZ D'arcy speared Tipoki, and no one even mentions it.
In South Africa none of the Lions players gouged, thank christ, but there were plenty of cheap shots, punches to the nuts and guys getting taken out in the air.

Thing is, that's rugby it happens, and you punish the player then move on.
NZ is a good example, they don't get too worked up.
When Tuqiri speared Mccaw, they had a bit of a whinge for a week or two, then got over it, and now you never hear of it. But we've still gotta listen to how BOD was evilly attacked by scary NZ thugs (there's a strong argument that he wasn't even speared, since he wasn't dumped on his head and his legs weren't really beyond the horizontal when he hit the deck - he was simply bodily slammed into the turf which isn't by definition illegal and he landed on his shoulder which suggests he wasn't speared at all).
Another one is
Parrise gouging Ross, no real outrage in NZ, Parrise gets punished, we all move on.
But when Fitzgerald gets gouged, well, we'd better launch an IRB investigation to stop the evil South African from hurting the poor British players.
Hypocrisy.

By Tommo, at November 29, 2009 11:27 pm
Agree Anon above, how Traille has 70 odd caps is a complete mystery, an average player who happens to play in several areas and has a monster boot. Medard, Baby, and Heymens are better options, and maybe the French posters can answer this, but where has the Clermont wing gone?, his name escapes me, but he scored against Munster in Limerick last season and Scotland in '08 6N.

No.7 (sorry to continue off topic AB and Fra fans, but at least its rugby chat and not nationalist shit), Spear tackles, although frowned upon, weren't actually illegal at the time, 05. It was only after the BOD incident that the IRB had to do something about it. Now I was disgusted with D'arcy for his tackle, Nonu reciprocated it that Nov on D'arcy as well, but remember the amateur footage didn't surface until months after and I actually thought the IRB's opinion until then was O'Driscoll hadn't been speared.

By Huh!! the 3rd, at November 29, 2009 11:37 pm
Spear tackles were illegal at the time mate, they've been illegal for many years.
The reason no one was cited or punished for BOD getting dumped on his shoulder is primarily because it wasn't captured on the official tv cameras at the time. As you rightly point out, the amateur footage which shows what happened clearly didn't come out till later.
Also, there's still a debate about it.
Firstly, it wasn't a tackle, BOD didn't have the ball, it was counter rucking, so it can't really be called a spear tackle.
Secondly, he wasn't dumped on his head or neck and it's debatable as to whether he was lifted beyond the horizontal, so again, was it really a spear?
If anything you could say it was dirty play or dangerous play, in that BOD didn't have the ball and was monstered. That'd probably be it though.
All in all the British media made far too big a deal of it.

By Tommo, at November 29, 2009 11:53 pm
Oh, sorry, and this was a great game to see.
Awesome to finally see NZ's positive attitude to the game rewarded with a quality win.
This is the way rugby is supposed to be, guys taking risks and making runs from deep, long range tries and great counter attacking play.
Too often this season we've seen teams rewarded for refusing to play the ball.

By Tommo, at November 30, 2009 12:00 am
Once again NZ are imo back to being the best team in the world.

SA have been for the past two years but they've gone off the boil recently (thank god because they are terrible winners)

SA woudlve been anihilated by NZ if they had played them this tour.

By The Inside Shoulder, at November 30, 2009 12:05 am
@Seamus : Really ? the H cup ?
Seriously, thanx for the update... and yet all I meant is BOD has been a great player and still is but as for the last year, I haven't seen him as good as in the past... His team is not only BOD and a bunch of anonymous...that's all I meant, lots of good teammates...

As for Traille, yes a lot of caps, but as a center most of the time (even 10 once or twice if I do recall). He still is a good center when he plays for Biarritz and was really promising when he first got selected...
As for him playing 15, I couldn't agree more...very average just a big old kicker but surely not enough for a national team... For some reason I had hope that after a certain game vs. England, this position would be ban for him but apparently not :(
Bring in Floch, Porical...(Medard being my favorite) we do have some young talents playing 15... so lez wait and see what happens for the 6 nations.

By jay, at November 30, 2009 12:29 am
Ouch... Clearly outclassed... The Blues looked good against South Africa but the AB were in a different league.

By Gman, at November 30, 2009 1:39 am
This comment has been removed by the author.

By Keith_Percy12, at November 30, 2009 2:10 am
Only Sivivatu, Muiliana and Kaino were not born in NZ Keith Percy.
Just because they might be of Islander descent doesn't mean guys like Tialata aren't kiwi.
And it's always been this way anyway, because NZ has always been a nation of immigrants.

By Bill, at November 30, 2009 2:24 am
Only 6 were NZ nationals???

What the hell are you on about mate.

They were all born in NZ except Sivivatu, Kaino and Muliaina.

By Donny, at November 30, 2009 2:30 am
Sorry I could not let this tripe past.

"Also, there's still a debate about it.
Firstly, it wasn't a tackle, BOD didn't have the ball, it was counter rucking, so it can't really be called a spear tackle.

Secondly, he wasn't dumped on his head or neck and it's debatable as to whether he was lifted beyond the horizontal, so again, was it really a spear?"

Er, no there is no debate about it.

1) True it wasn't a tackle but it was still an off the ball foul. The fact that it wasn't a tackle is irrelevant. You can't spear people into the ground. In fact the fact that it was away from the ball and not a tackle makes it more egregious in my eyes. Sometimes ina collision at speed in a tackle things happen. There was no excuse for that.

2)Go the 1.47 on this video and tell me that he wasn't lifted past the horizontal you joker. He was lifted 90 degrees to the turf and not only was he not dropped, but he was driven into the turf. Very lucky he did not break his neck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsXJyDHFKn0&feature=related

No doubt the NZ team was far superior than the 2005 Lions.

But did you expect the media not be make a big deal out of the Lions Capatain and best player been illegally taken out of the tour after 1 minute of play?

""""""""""""

Spear tackles were illegal at the time mate, they've been illegal for many years.
The reason no one was cited or punished for BOD getting dumped on his shoulder is primarily because it wasn't captured on the official tv cameras at the time. As you rightly point out, the amateur footage which shows what happened clearly didn't come out till later.
Also, there's still a debate about it.
Firstly, it wasn't a tackle, BOD didn't have the ball, it was counter rucking, so it can't really be called a spear tackle.
Secondly, he wasn't dumped on his head or neck and it's debatable as to whether he was lifted beyond the horizontal, so again, was it really a spear?
If anything you could say it was dirty play or dangerous play, in that BOD didn't have the ball and was monstered. That'd probably be it though.
All in all the British media made far too big a deal of it.

By JPM, at November 30, 2009 3:14 am
JPM has a point.....

.....jpm....not jamie morris by any chance?

By No.7, at November 30, 2009 3:27 am
not Jamie Morris

By JPM, at November 30, 2009 3:57 am
"Amm, I don't know what sport you're following but the ABs haven't conceded a try in NH since France scored 2 in WC 1/4 in 2007, Portugal and Romania also scored against them. Now they have a great record here in NH, but since 2002 the only years they haven't conceded were the last 2. You want an example, Marcus Horan for Ire in Nov '05. Ok it was the only points that Ire scored that day, but still it wasn't 2002. And lets face it, we all know Italy should've had at least 1 penalty try."

No, you're wrong because i'm talking about the NOVEMBER TESTS. There have been no tries scored against them since 2002 on their NORTHERN HEMISPHERE tours. Fact.

And also Italy can fuck right off with their scrums, Dickinson was way off the mark with his reffing, hence Paddy O'Brien APOLOGISING to the All Blacks for such a fuck-up.

By Dan, at November 30, 2009 4:29 am
Interesting discussion. THANK YOU to guys like Tommo and Cobine for saying what you've said. I couldn't agree more.

For the commentator to go on about the Burger try/celebration as he did, and bring up the incident on the Lions tour, pretty much sums up the mentality. You can be sure that each and every Irish kid watching the broadcast listened to and believed what he said too ie: "Schalk Burger is a thug, and always will be. We hate him, forever."

Harp harp harp.

Regarding this vid, awesome by the AB's. Good to see some running rugby again. A bit of a rarity for the last few weeks. Novel concept.

By Dave, at November 30, 2009 7:15 am
Running rugby, where have you been all this time? The 4th Bledisloe match in Tokyo this year could've used your help.

By Anonymous, at November 30, 2009 7:18 am
Huh!! the 3rd,

You are almost certainly talking about Julien Malzieu yeah? The bearded left winger who I think you refer to did indeed score at Thomond Park in that game last season. You could certainly point to the lack of Malzieu, Rougerie and Floch (the Clermont back three players to add to Nalaga the beast!) in the French squad this autumn. Malzieu and Rougerie are far more powerful than Clerc/Heymans/Medard but they are more fashionable it seems as Stade Toulousain three quarters always seem to be! Medard and Clerc certainly didn't look too smart defensively on Saturday, done for both pace and power at times. Corey Jane was handing them off all night.

As for full back. Traille seems to be picked principally for his clearing kicks. That worked ok against the boks, but on Saturday, he like most of them was fairly poor. With Poitrenaud out of fashion, you would have to say that the two best full backs in France are Jerome Porical of Perpignan and Floch of Clermont. Both are consistent specialist full backs who could have great international carriers. Floch has got very little game time despite looking great for several years now. As people pointed out, the French probably missed Mermoz and David but most of all they were attacked directly by a really sharp back line and their defensive structure was found wanting.

The Northern Hemisphere hasn't really had anyone to compete with McCaw since Richard Hill retired. That guy was a genius. I admire David Wallace and Martyn Williams but I think the Northern Hemisphere sides always face severe tests to compete with the likes of McCaw and the up and comers Broussow and Pocock.

As for foul play in Lions series....

I'm sorry but the 2001 Lions tour to Australia, the midweek teams just tried to injure the Lions. It was almost openly done it was so uncandid. I'm not just talking about the guy attacking O'Gara for no reason, look at Howley and Hill injuries as well. It was pathetic and low.

By John F, at November 30, 2009 9:17 am
As for the O'Driscoll incident in 2005, he was thrown over a ruck. How can that not be above the horizontal!

Peopel talk about rugby going soft? Yes great so let's endanger people's careers just so we can guard our macho streak. Fantastic idea.

By John F, at November 30, 2009 9:19 am
John F, you're full of it.
The mid-week teams didn't try to beat up the Lions, they tried to outscore them. A couple came damn close and Australia A beat them.
There were quite a few punch ups, but in Australia everyone was shocked that the Lions kept starting them.
Amazing how your perspective alters how you view things.
The whole tour the Australian media were talking about how the Lions kept picking fights. You got the same crap in reverse in the UK.

By Anonymous, at November 30, 2009 9:51 am
Meh, the NSW game I think it was where there was the Duncan McRay incident yeah? Lions kept their discipline very well whilst the NSW team were pretty much openly trying to injure our players. Nothing to do with being full of it, just the fact that we weren't out there to try to injure the opposition. Maybe it is you who should doubt what your media told you?

By John F, at November 30, 2009 10:05 am
Or maybe you're full of it, like I said, and the first punch of the game was thrown by a Lions player in that game. Right before that O'Gara incident there was a huge fist fight started by the Lions forwards.
The way you make them out as angels is hilarious.

By Anonymous, at November 30, 2009 10:39 am
@JohnF : The Northern Hemisphere hasn't really had anyone to compete with McCaw since Richard Hill retired.

I agree with you on the whole 15 debate... but as for Mc Caw I tend to think that Dusautoir is not very far... Less dynamic and yet more powerful on tackles. Just a bit shy for on the offensive side and yet he showed us during the RWC that he was a good ball carrier...

By jay, at November 30, 2009 11:40 am
Dan I think you have overlooked the Munster game in which Barry Murphy scored against the midweek team. That was last years November tour.

By Dave, at November 30, 2009 11:43 am
I do not think that this is only a French attitude, I speak
attitude of "rugby". Complain of the arbitrator, the rain,
coach, terrain, timing, bad bounces of no use
nothing. The best way to be world champion (I am sure we
(French) will be one day) is to be master of its destiny.

By Anonymous, at November 30, 2009 12:25 pm
@ Dan,

From 2006:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNhjlAULGVE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yl7nhuuC268

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxA5Xs1odA4

These are all from the same game. And I'm pretty sure it was in November as well.

Although in the last two years the All Blacks have been pretty dominant.

By Unknown, at November 30, 2009 2:33 pm
its amazing how the nz commentator saw lots of gauges that no one else did.

mccaw was clearly of his feet smothering the ball for the last try, thats prob what the french didnt like!

'there's a fight and its a beauty" lol

By mat, at November 30, 2009 2:35 pm
stupid French winger was too busy trying to tip McCaw up on his head in that last ruck he gave Smith an easy try. Same guy who gave Sivivatu a cheap no arm charge after the in pass to Mils. Great playing against these guys with such a big win.

By Anonymous, at November 30, 2009 3:25 pm
Sorry dave you are wrong, the commentators merely brought up the fact that there was speculation there was going to be booing...

i think every man women and child in ireland already know that burger and fitzgerald had an incident....

and im sorry if this hurts but burger was found guilty of that, so effectively he gouged fitzgerald......in the eyes of the law...

Think about it, commentators are there to COMMENT on the game and the goings on.....burger kicked the ball into the crowd, the crowd booed and the commentators commented on this fact....

By No.7, at November 30, 2009 4:05 pm
mat clearly can't see.

McCaw got to his feet, won the ball, and then was pulled down by the French.

They were more interested in trying to tip McCaw up than in simply driving through the ruck and regaining possession.

By RememberTheMer, at November 30, 2009 4:14 pm
Personnaly, i find McCaw makes left the players whom we like and whom we hate. Great player, great captain but too roguish. He's able to make faults without to be sanctioned (or in a lesser measure) by the referee like Paul O'Connel. And I hate that.

But well done ABs. It was an incredible game. For me New Zealand is the best team in the world thought they didn't win RWC since 20 years.

I think France is in the good way but still to fragile for the moment to create an effective game.

Sorry for my english

By French T., at November 30, 2009 5:25 pm
cobine, if anyone is left to do the breakdown work by themselves they will get owned no matter who it is

By rehanb, at November 30, 2009 5:57 pm
To the French guys trying to speak english : please don't try.

Les gars ça sers à rien d'essayer de parler anglais on comprend rien à ce que vous écrivez et vous vous ridiculisez.

By Anonymous, at November 30, 2009 6:10 pm
sorry but the anonymous telling french people to stop trying to speak english, SHUT UP!

i personally think its a breath of fresh air from the usual arrogant prick comments! and its nice to get an insight from another country whose rugby doesnt cause them to insert their heads ridiculously far up their own asses!

Keep up the good work french fans. Its good to hear from you and always keep to mind when commenting that your english is far superior to most of our french!

By No.7, at November 30, 2009 6:17 pm
that hit on sivivatu should be sighted ive seen players do less that that and be banned.
and no im not french or from new zealand

By Anonymous, at November 30, 2009 6:25 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LtwYOQ0mO4

Sorry, eight week ban, no penalty or yellow card in match though.

(Sergio Parisse eye gouge on Isaac Ross)

By Cobine, at November 30, 2009 7:27 pm
I'm French and i think Médard could ve been sent off for a while after this charge on Sivivatu.
Awesome performance by the way. And i really think no other team this weekend would have been able to win against the AWs ("All Whites", for those who will take this for another French stupid way of speaking/writing English). Too fast, too precise.
Naive question though:
Can AB No6 (sorry, forgot his name) really score the try after winning the scrum against us, considering he isn't linked to the scrum and ahead of a ball which will be kicked by a team mate just before he grabs it?
I not trying to get lame excuses, had i been the ref, i would have awarded the try. I'm just asking.

By Maximus, at November 30, 2009 7:40 pm
Anonymous who has consulted french textbooks, you have made at least one mistake in your phrase.

"ça sers à rien"

Should we start with this?

It would be "ça serT à rien"

You don't get much idiotic than telling people who are trying to contribute to a discussion in a language other than their mother tongue to stop trying to speak. The French who have contributed on this page speak excellent english. We all make mistakes as we would in french, but it's just thick to say what you said.

As for the other anonymous, I didn't suggest that the 2001 Lions were angels, but NSW were more or less openly trying to injure some of our important players to put them out of the test games. Did the "macho" southern hemisphere sports media feel no shame for the cheap shots that some of your players put out?

As for Sergio Parisse's eye gouge, it was shown on tv in the northern hemisphere and he was condemned for the gouge which is unacceptable and he received his ban after video proof clearly showed the attempted gouge.

Near the end of the french game, the NZ commentators claimed that Parra tried to gouge Woodcock twice without a shred of evidence beyond Woodcock looking angry and possibly pointing to his eyes.

Jay, I agree that Dusautoir is a very good player but France still lacked a player as skillful as McCaw to compete first up for the ball on the floor. I like Dusautoir and Ouadraguou but I'm not sure that either of them is that kind of flanker. I quite liked the balance of the french back row against South Africa. Harinordaquy and especially Picamoles were superb in the game. Picamoles showed real skill and I look forward to seeing him play again soon.

By John F, at November 30, 2009 8:52 pm
John F, i think you've just named our perfect back row with these three players: Dusautoir, Harinordoquy and Picamoles. And Dusautoir really seems to be able to compete with McCaw in no time.
Any idea about my "scrum-try" question, btw?

By Maximus, at November 30, 2009 9:19 pm
Well I suppose technically he shouldn't unbind from the scrum but NZ were well on top of that scrum and when the referee sees that they would have gone over the line anyway, he'll give the try whatever happens. Did some of the french players unbind from the scrum as well? I can't remember now.

I thought Lievremont should have started the game with Nallet. I feel that Chabal was good as an impact substitute against SA and Nallet provided plenty of muscle from the start as well as perhaps more leadership than Chabal can.

Bit disappointing overall from the French after showing so much potential against South Africa. I still that to combat that NZ attack, they should have shown more impetus in defence. I thought they stood back a bit and let Carter run at them. The drift defence really wasn't working on Saturday.

By John F, at November 30, 2009 9:43 pm
@John F

Parisse was condemned AT THE TIME but you no longer hear about the incident. In all the pre-match reports of the recent NZ v Italy match there was no reference to the eye-gouge.

Can the same be said about BOD or Luke Fitzgeralds Lions incidents when Ireland play NZ or SA? Highly doubt it.

Even you call it an "attempted gouge" WTF? It was a gouge for all money and you still can't believe it. Cognitive dissonance anyone?

As for the NZ commntators on the alleged Parra/Woodcock eye gouge - Tony Johnson was the sideline commentator for the match hence he was beside the incident when it occurred.

When a player says he's been eye-gouged and reacts in such a fashion I tend to believe them, unless you feel it's now a common occurrence in the game for players to cry wolf? I highly doubt this is the state of affairs.

By Maxwell, at November 30, 2009 9:55 pm
I called it an attempted gouge because if he was genuinally going for full on fingers in the eyes then he didn't really manage it, that was more in the area of the eyes.

If you want to know why people in the Northern Hemisphere are still annoyed about Burger on Fitzgerald, it's probably because they fell into the path of the camera to give a perfect glimpse of FULL ON fingers in the eyes, not some grasp at the face like Parisse. There can be 0% doubt that Burger was attempting to gouge Fitzgerald where as a lot of other claimed gouges you can't be sure. I'm not saying that Woodcock made it up and if clear video evidence proves that someone tried to gouge him then I will obviously condemn that as filthy play. The reporter sounded so sure of it though, I thought that perhaps he was just being a bit partisan. Unless it's really clear we use words like "claimed that he had been gouged" in the northern hemisphere, helps to clear some of that testosterone from sports reporting.

By John F, at November 30, 2009 10:06 pm
I do wonder about the people writing on here, there is a reason things like the parisse gouge dont particularly pop up in the UK (which is pretty much what any SH supporter thinks the NH is..) and that is because italy is a fair few miles, just the same as we dont tend to hear much about french controversy and fights.....now if someone up in a scottish premiership side beat the crap out of an irish player or vice versa or anything like that then we would hear it! the fact that it doesnt tend to float around our news when an italian does it to an all black doesnt really mean much....

I mean if an argentinian poked a namibian in the eye are the aussie news really gonna comment on it?

when it happens to a home team player it sells papers! so they put it in!

By No.7, at November 30, 2009 11:01 pm
Hi JPM -

Have you seen the footage of the spear on BOD? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsXJyDHFKn0&feature=related

You can see that not only was he lifted to more than 90 degrees to the ground, it probably was 180 degrees. If he hadn't broken his fall by sticking his arm out, he could have been paralysed. I don't know what is up for debate here - it is there in full colour for everyone to see.

I don't understand the attitude where guys defend 'their' players when they go in for dirty play. If it is wrong, it doesn't matter who did it. For example, if Jamie Heaslip was guilty of eye gouging, I would be very disappointed, but I agree he should be punished for it and condemned. If the footage proves it, there is no arguing.

Next point, the guys who have been the victims of foul play in the last few Lions tours haven't been British, they've been Irish. Just lucky I guess :)
I think the reason why the spear on Tipoki by D'arcy wasn't big news is because it was a dirt-tracker game, it wasn't as dramatic, Tipoki wasn't an AB, and he wasn't seriously injured. It doesn't mean it was acceptable, but you can see why it wasn't as big a story as the star player and captain of the Lions being taken out by two ABs in the first minutes of the first test.

Anyway, back to the real story - brilliant show by the ABs against France, it looks like they have reclaimed the title of best rugby team on the planet after SA's great year. I'd be pretty confident they will give Ireland their usual hiding next time we meet :)

By Gavin, at November 30, 2009 11:55 pm
We've talked about the BOD incident a whole lot since it happened four years ago. That video shows once again that it was clearly a crappy cheap shot.

Putting all that aside though, it's been brilliant to see him come back from that. Let's face it, if that injury hadn't completely healed he might not have been able to play again to such a high standard. He's consistently the outstanding individual in the northern hemisphere and one of the few very best creative backline players in the world. I find it really hard to name one single player "best player" above all others, but certainly his impact is as big for club and country as Giteau or Carter in the southern hemisphere. Those three for me are probably the three biggest backline talents overall to my mind. Really hard to say though, so many good players but for me those three are just that bit more special.

By John F, at December 01, 2009 12:26 am
gavin i assume jpm means that BOD was vertical and therefore 90 degrees to the ground..... L <-
like that L it has 90 degree angle....

but yes you are right...

By (:, at December 01, 2009 12:30 am
i really can't believe it people...
i just noticed there are about 130 comments on that vid and immediately said to mayself "christ, there's gotta be another BOD babble again" - and yes kids, i was right...

By opfazonk, at December 01, 2009 1:15 am
Lol @ opfazonk.. I think this website has been overrun by the irish.

By Anonymous, at December 01, 2009 1:46 am
Maxwell is 100% right.
These things happen in rugby.
I'm Aussie and many Australian players have been gouged or had foul play committed against them (often by South Africa - they used to be much more ill disciplined than they are now). Ever heard of the Battle Of Brisbane?
Anyway, the point is it happens and you move. It seems like it's only a few NH pundits and fans (and particularly Irish pundits and fans) who not only harp on about foul play as though it were the end of the world, they keep it going FOR YEARS.
It's been over four years since BOD got dropped on his shoulder. WE STILL HEAR ABOUT IT!
It's ridiculous.
Fitzgerald got gouged, yes, but you make a fuss then move on. Maybe the odd joke at Burger's expense, but you don't carry on every time Burger's name comes up.
NZ didn't mention Parrisse or the gouging on this tour did they?
Not only that but after the France game when Woodcock felt he was gouged (and it looked like someone had attacked his eye - have a look at the after game photo of the blood and scratches around his eye socket), the All Blacks tried to report it and find footage, couldn't and so immediately dropped it.
Woodcock came out and said he was just going to forget it happened, and that it could stay on the field.
This is the attitude of a real rugby playing nation.

By Jon, at December 01, 2009 2:40 am
Woodcock @ 3:15 Lol

By Anonymous, at December 01, 2009 3:09 am
Did anyone see 20 moments that shook irish sport?

They were going on as if o'driscol died or something lol

Anyways looks like the All Blacks are the best 'again'. We will see what happens against the barbarians.

By I Have Huge Quads, at December 01, 2009 3:19 am
"Woodcock came out and said he was just going to forget it happened, and that it could stay on the field.
This is the attitude of a real rugby playing nation."

Rubbish. It's the attitude of stupidity. If someone eye gouged Woodcock and there is video or other witness testimony then the player who did it should get banned for a long time. Lets get rid of the silly macho "what goes on the field stays on the field."

By JPM, at December 01, 2009 3:41 am
Agreed with some of the above -- very cheap shoulder charge on Sivivatu after he offloads for the 2nd try

By Anonymous, at December 01, 2009 4:13 am
JPM, certainly, if there was video footage and the player should be identified, he should be banned, just as the All Blacks said.
But there doesn't appear to be, and without conclusive evidence, the French bloke will probably get away with it.
So how does Woodcock react? He shrugs, and says, that he'll just let it go.
You know, take it on the chin, like a man.
Not complain and bitch about it for the next few years.

By Jon, at December 01, 2009 4:20 am
all blacks to lose to barbarians.....

sadly its true

By Anonymous, at December 01, 2009 6:56 am
Jon -

You are right of course - if there is no video evidence of foul play, there is no objective proof. It's just a pity nobody could prove that BOD was speared. Aside from all the video footage of course :)

I don't think that BOD is complaining about this (although he has every right to), it is just that it was pretty obvious injustice that soiled the reputation of the game, and ordinary fans like me are pissed off about it. If the IRB had dealt with it at the time, it would have been forgotten about, but they messed it up - so now people are still annoyed about the IRB (not about the All Blacks), and we end up talking about this stupid business instead of the game.

Lets hope they grow a pair in future - deliberate injuring of players is pretty nasty, and I don't think any nation has a monopoly on that stuff.

By Gavin, at December 01, 2009 7:46 am
The evidence of BOD getting hurt came out long after the game, and it was amateur footage.
Point is that justice won't be served this time for woodcock, no ban.
And he doesn't mind. NZ doesn't mind either.

By Jon, at December 01, 2009 8:45 am
I was delighted for Ireland as I have lots of Irish friends and I like Irish rugby, but I would rather see NZ vs France over Ireland vs SA any day of the week. More than any other nations, the Kiwis and the French play rugby like it was meant to be played and that's coming from an Englishman.

By Ted, at December 01, 2009 9:02 am
That's a fair comment from Woodcock, realising that nothing will come from it so it's best to forget it. Then again, he didn't get seriously injured from it. In the aftermath of a serious bit of foul play or a CLEAR/UNEQUIVOCAL gouge, people will feel much more bitter if the guilty party isn't given a ban.

Talking about the BOD incident is not the same as complaining about it. It's gone, BOD doesn't want to talk about it anymore and I don't think anyone else cares too much anymore, Umaga has retired, BOD has come back from injury etc.

As for the choice between France/NZ and Ireland/SA, I would still rather watch the Ireland/SA game as it was a well fought tight game. NZ scored some great tries but it was almost over as a contest after half time as the French backline were getting destroyed. As a neutral fan, a close, hard-fought game will always be preferable. Yes, Ireland didn't score a try but there was still plenty of running rugby.

By John F, at December 01, 2009 3:07 pm
Some people making the comments sort of take one side of the argument and say fans, then the otherside and say players....

...you mention woodcock shrugging it off...

well yeh, just as it happens in a game, someone does something to you in a game and you think 'you f*cker im gonna get you back for that' (you either thump them, or wait till they get the ball and hammer them.....hopefully the latter!) and if you do neither because of lack of opportunity then you end up shaking the guys hand at the end of the game and hopefully remembering it so you can get one up the next time you play them....(legally!)

but then you say about BOD and the lions tour and you mention the fans all complaining!.....BOD has said he has seen the incident and he is shocked nothing came of it, but it happens.....or words to that effect, e.g. it happened....the main reason its sitll brought up is because it was viewed as a cheap shot to get rid of probably the best player there...or at least the best lions back! and the fact its unpunished leaves a bitter taste in many fans mouths! its more the fact it went unpunished that people complain about because people dont go on about 'umaga'

I know its hard to distinguish between, 'angry at umaga' and 'angry it was unpunished' but there is a difference! and its mainly because he was the star player.

As for the burger thing, many felt his ban was too short, and i do admit it looks bad on the video. But someone mentioned commentators merely mentioned it with the booing, they didnt actually say anything bad! IMO burger did his time, and life goes on!

By Vic, at December 01, 2009 4:51 pm
There is no comparison between the Woodcock and BOD incidents as Woodcock has not been put of of commisssion, and, while a good player, is not a talismanic top player that is key to the All Blacks.

Would you feel the same if Dan Carter or McCaw had been illegaly speared and taken out in the 1st minute of the first test of a three test series v. South africa? Because that's a valid comparison.
Of course if that happened and the Saffa escaped any punishment and you went on to lose the series then NZ would be complaining for eternity.

+++++++++++++++++
"The evidence of BOD getting hurt came out long after the game, and it was amateur footage.
Point is that justice won't be served this time for woodcock, no ban.
And he doesn't mind. NZ doesn't mind either."

By JPM, at December 01, 2009 6:14 pm
Alright, how about when Mccaw got speared by Tuqiri (Ill stick with incidents the kiwis have been involved in for obvious reasons)?
Mccaw was injured, missed a couple games. Instead of being dropped on his shoulder, Mccaw was dumped right on his neck.
Mccaw is also a talismatic figure, the captain of the side and was taken out illegaly in an important game of an important series.
The kiwis certainly were upset immediately after the incident, which is understandable.
Tuqiri escaped any major punishment.
But after a week or two they got over it.
You never hear about it now, certainly it didn't tarnish Tuqiri's reputation.
The kiwis have realistic take on the situation, which is basically that sometime things like this happen on a rugby pitch, and while never justified, they can be forgiven and forgotten fairly quickly.
If the Lions supporters had got upset about O'Driscoll for a few weeks and then had shrugged it off (since Umanga wasn't punished simply because there was no footage), there'd be no problem. But they still moan about it, even now. It's ridiculous. I mean people still go on about O'Gara getting punched, and that was more than eight years ago.
Move on already.

By Jon, at December 01, 2009 11:59 pm
ah yes jon, but even mccaw had the ball in his hands just as he ran towards tequiri....

...BOD was off the ball picked up by two players who were supposed to be very disciplined....

...and we shouldnt forget BOD stood up to the haka before the game...

...also i think you'll find Cobine actually brought up BOD in this thread, everyone was talking about player of the year and he then mentions the incident in 2005....

and by the sounds of things he is a SH fan......

By Vic, at December 02, 2009 1:25 am
Again with brussouw? come on saffas, hes a chump who had 1 good performance against McCaw when he was coming back from injury.

And before you jump on your high-horse guys, you lost to Ireland/France/Gloucser/Leinster.

You suck.

By Anonymous, at December 02, 2009 1:40 am
NZ number 1 looks like a bit ok a cock giving the french lock a bit of a barge as he passed by at 3:16 ish.

By Anonymous, at December 02, 2009 1:49 am
^of *

By Anonymous, at December 02, 2009 1:50 am
oh dear to the anonymous commenting on SA losses....

im pretty sure it was ireland/france/saracens/leicester....

By Anonymous, at December 02, 2009 1:51 am
To anonymous pointing out who the springbok lost to... who cares?

They still lost 4 games (2 against club teams).

Ha ha

By jamie, at December 02, 2009 2:12 am
yeap

By Anonymous, at December 02, 2009 2:12 am
French were a little hot under the collar toward the end... I guess I would be too if I was rolled at home 5 tries to zero!

Any word on supposed eye-gouging? Or was it an accident like Burger's incident?? ha ha

By Tuia, at December 02, 2009 2:15 am
Jon at 12:59pm ... U say Tuquiri was not punished. Actually he was banned for 5 matches for his spear on McCaw in 2006.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2006/aug/21/rugbyunion.gdnsport31

I think most of us accept that sometimes in a tackle at speed a spear could happen. Bit BOD was speared off the ball....so you are comparing apples and oranges. This is more Akin to the off the ball assualt on Andy Dalton when the NZ Cavs player in South Africa in 1986.

By JPM, at December 02, 2009 2:58 am
I don't think a commentator has the right to accuse players of a serious offence such as gouging, without any proof what so ever. That guy was a dick.

By Fridge, at December 02, 2009 2:52 pm
Well he was the sideline reporter!

By Anonymous, at December 02, 2009 3:01 pm
To "Fridge"

Tony Johnson was the sideline commentator and had a pretty good look at what happened.

Obviously the french were up to no good... Im glad he reported what he saw insted of being diplomatic and allowing that little cheat to get away with it.

Everyone is so PC! Good work TJ, tell us everything!!

By CJ, at December 03, 2009 12:09 am
Of course the BOD incident should been punished.

Actually the closest parallel would be on the previous Lions Tour of NZ, when Dean Richards decided to test Frank Bunce's hearing with his left boot. Worst stomp I've ever seen. Nasty, pre-meditated and resulting in Bunce needing 40 odd stitches.

Richards's punishment? Made captain next match. Strangely that one never comes up in these comments.

By RememberTheMer, at December 03, 2009 5:56 pm
To the above, i think BOD incident should have been punished and i think the richards incident should have been punished......

.....tbh any sort of foul play like that, no matter who did it, what team it was, what time of day/month/year or whatever deserves punishment.

....just so long as i dont get caught...

By :), at December 04, 2009 8:01 am
wrong bloody team showed up for france

By zacaria, at December 05, 2009 7:36 am
mccaws ability to lift the team is similiar to cavemans ability to lift the french when he comes on as an impact player, world cup winning teams must have a player liike that, elsom seems to becoming one of those players himself and of course old johnny wilko, as annoying as he is

By zacaria, at December 05, 2009 7:42 am
mccaw and co better start changing their tactics before its too late and the irb start cleaning up the rucks

By zacaria, at December 05, 2009 7:44 am
Mccaw's the best flanker I've ever seen. He can win the game by himself.
Respect that.
And I'm not kiwi.

By Anonymous, at December 05, 2009 3:50 pm
I myself respect McCaw as a player but you must admit hes a fukin cheat

By Anonymous, at December 06, 2009 4:21 pm
Take conrad smith try as a proof

By Anonymous, at December 06, 2009 4:22 pm
Nice to see France getting beaten :) I guess NZ wore white to reflect the fact that they represented the Sout Sea Islands too. 3 of the try scorers were from Fiji(Sivuvatu) Western Samoa (Mils Muliaina) and American Samoa(Jerome Kaino), they rested another Samoan (Rodney So'oialo) 'All Black' for this match. If NZ is so good at rugby, why do they need to pack their team with players from other nationals? Maussie

By Anonymous, at January 07, 2010 5:12 am
Suck shit french faggots.

By Anonymous, at January 29, 2010 3:11 am
people always complain that the All Blacks a re full of islanders and why can't we just find out own..

Why do people always over look the fact that the majority of pacific islanders who play for the All Blacks were born in New Zealand.

stop complaining world.
What's next?

We bribe the referees?
our players have already been accused of cheating haha.

get over it

By Waka, at February 06, 2010 9:11 pm