France vs Wales match thread, Sat 20th March 8pm

Strumms

martingriff wrote: »

Is that not what a captain meant to do

It’s not what they should be allowed to do... second or third time if I’m a referee... “ it’s my belief you are coming over to me again with the intention of attempting to influence and impact the manner of which I’m refereeing this game. if I need to talk to YOU, I’ll call you, otherwise, stay out of it.”

Captain can ask for clarification on decisions, can’t try to influence their performance.

fryup

razorblunt wrote: »

That’s what they did? France ran it back from pretty much their own 5m line. Then knocked it on at halfway.

but they didn't it was well short of the 22

almostover

razorblunt wrote: »

That’s what they did? France ran it back from pretty much their own 5m line. Then knocked it on at halfway.

Wales then sealed off, when every French player was shouting for it and stated hanging out of rucks.

Drives a lot of fans crazy when a 9 box kicks it away when a team has a slender lead with time ticking down. The reason why is that referees scrutinise the breakdown very closely for going off feet. Wales went off their feet in the ruck preceeding the one they were penalised for. The refs will be very pernickety when a team tries to wind down the clock like that. Often times its better to move 30m down the pitch and let the opposition try to score from deep inside their own half.

BoardsMember

PhlegmyMoses wrote: »

The France game im France was a great game between two solid teams that didn't involve any luck at all, so weird take all round.

Was it a great game? I dont remember it as such. Brilliant finish for sure!

showpony1

Loved that performance from Luke & Barnsey.

Wearing of The Green

PhlegmyMoses wrote: »

Ireland beat Wales by 10 points in 2018 and an intercept isnt a lucky thing. The France game im France was a great game between two solid teams that didn't involve any luck at all, so weird take all round.

Wales were pressing hard the match was 50/50. An intercept is both skill and luck.

Stringing 40 odd phases together and getting the perfect drop, in the last play is skill and luck. Sexton's Crossfield kick etc. There's a huge amount of luck in crossfield kicking. It's a gamble plain and simple. I think if tried to play that whole sequence again 19/20 something would breakdown. Skill and luck. God knows we've had enough bad luck through the years.

When someone disagrees with you calling their opinion 'weired' is bad mannered.

Most great wins in any sport involve a slice of luck.

Wearing of The Green

BoardsMember wrote: »

Was it a great game? I dont remember it as such. Brilliant finish for sure!

Exactly. It was far from a great game. A scrappy enough first round encounter.

We played our best rugby in Twickenham that year. A game for the ages like NZ v Ireland in 2018.

Dubinusa

Delighted with that! Wales **** the bed. France looked ragged all match and still managed to pull it off. Edward's will be furious with the French defense. Great entertainment.
I am glad that plonker Williams cost Wales the slam. He's a feckin tinker.

Digifriendly

kilns wrote: »

Wales are either heros or zeros. If POM didn't have his moment of madness we would have beaten them quite easy actually and most likely Scotland would have beaten them too and they would be heading to Italy in crisis but instead they got a bit of luck and took full advantage.

Still an average team though where they have no certs to make a lions 15

Purely hypothetical that Ireland would have beaten Wales with POM on the pitch. Same with Scotland against Wales. No one knows for sure. Life is full of what ifs. What if Liam Williams had not been stupid and got yellow carded? No one can say what would have happened. What if French forward hadn't been stupid and got himself sent off?

razorblunt

fryup wrote: »

but they didn't it was well short of the 22

Ollivon caught the restart halfway in his 22, taking it up to just short of the 22.
When Ntamack caught the ball on a counter attack he was 6m from his own line.

kilns

Digifriendly wrote: »

Purely hypothetical that Ireland would have beaten Wales with POM on the pitch. Same with Scotland against Wales. No one knows for sure. Life is full of what ifs. What if Liam Williams had not been stupid and got yellow carded? No one can say what would have happened. What if French forward hadn't been stupid and got himself sent off?

I would be very very confident that we would have beaten Wales but for the sending off we were the much better team on the day but the extra man for such a long time took its toll especially with the Zammot try which was Ireland stretched to the max defensively

flazio

YouTube is great for video playback.
Have a look again at Wales 3rd try at 0.25 speed. 2:00 into this video.
The French hand was around the ball the whole time. Held up, no try.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb6o50M_6VM

Bridge93

3 red cards and more than a couple of dodgy at best try calls. The most undeserved grand slam of all time thankfully doesn’t happen. No issues with wales for the most part and it’s not their fault refs have made poor calls in their favour and teams discipline has been poor. But it would diminish the achievement of a grand slam for me if they’d win it this way.
I actually think it’s very impressive how their club game is a shambles yet pull together year in year out. They seem to either come fifth or challenge for honours. Get more of those lads back playing in wales and the pro14 will be all the better for it.

France certainly not hit the heights that the hype has suggested but the scary thing is their age and never say die attitude so unusual for recent French teams. They were poor defensively but wales were very good ball in hand.

It is somewhat ironic that the discipline of other teams nearly handed wales a grand slam. Yet in the end their own cynical play and discipline snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Couldn’t happen to a nicer bloke in Liam Williams

Paul Smeenus

flazio wrote: »

YouTube is great for video playback.
Have a look again at Wales 3rd try at 0.25 speed. 2:00 into this video.
The French hand was around the ball the whole time. Held up, no try.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb6o50M_6VM

I couldn't believe they awarded that. I know it's all about the phrasing of the question to the TMO, but that was on Barnes - should have overturned it.

prawnsambo

Paul Smeenus wrote: »

I couldn't believe they awarded that. I know it's all about the phrasing of the question to the TMO, but that was on Barnes - should have overturned it.

Has to have touched grass there.

Burkie1203

prawnsambo wrote: »

Has to have touched grass there.

Watch the build up. Brian Moore pointed out an offside. The Welsh scrum half was ahead of tipuric and has to stop or retreat. He doesn't and he eventually puts Adams in for the score

Buer

Paul Smeenus wrote: »

I couldn't believe they awarded that. I know it's all about the phrasing of the question to the TMO, but that was on Barnes - should have overturned it.

But, as you acknowledge, it's based on the question. The TMO has a remit. Barnes couldn't overturn it as he wasn't asked to look at the grounding. Barnes even clarified what he was being asked as he knew it was an issue.

Dave_The_Sheep

Barnes was actively trying to warn Pearce that the ball was held up without actually coming out and saying it straight, because that's not what he was asked. Pearce painted him into a corner there, nothing Barnes could do.

prawnsambo

Dave_The_Sheep wrote: »

Barnes was actively trying to warn Pearce that the ball was held up without actually coming out and saying it straight, because that's not what he was asked. Pearce painted him into a corner there, nothing Barnes could do.

I don't think that's correct. Joy Neville did exactly that a week ago,

pickarooney

Dave_The_Sheep wrote: »

Barnes was actively trying to warn Pearce that the ball was held up without actually coming out and saying it straight, because that's not what he was asked. Pearce painted him into a corner there, nothing Barnes could do.

He could have called a knock-on by Adams, whose hand is not on the ball there.

Lucy8080

I'm struggling to understand how some here feel that the loss of extra points from a conversion might cost France the title!

The clock was in the red, the game was secured with a B.P. and the only way to fcuk that up would be a rebound of the upright that would give Wales a last go at winning the game.

The kicker made sure that ball went dead.

thomond2006

Lucy8080 wrote: »

I'm struggling to understand how some here feel that the loss of extra points from a conversion might cost France the title!

The clock was in the red, the game was secured with a B.P. and the only way to fcuk that up would be a rebound of the upright that would give Wales a last go at winning the game.

The kicker made sure that ball went dead.

The game can't restart from a missed conversion that is blocked, is short or comes off the post. It's a risk-free attempt at two points.

joseywhales

Lucy8080 wrote: »

I'm struggling to understand how some here feel that the loss of extra points from a conversion might cost France the title!

The clock was in the red, the game was secured with a B.P. and the only way to fcuk that up would be a rebound of the upright that would give Wales a last go at winning the game.

The kicker made sure that ball went dead.

You can play on from a rebound of a conversion?!

BoardsMember

Lucy8080 wrote: »

I'm struggling to understand how some here feel that the loss of extra points from a conversion might cost France the title!

The clock was in the red, the game was secured with a B.P. and the only way to fcuk that up would be a rebound of the upright that would give Wales a last go at winning the game.

The kicker made sure that ball went dead.

France need to beat Scotland by 21 points not 19 points, having missed the conversion. And score 4 tries.

Lucy8080

thomond2006 wrote: »

The game can't restart from a missed conversion that is blocked, is short or comes off the post. It's a risk-free kick.

I stand corrected! I've mixed up a penalty kick (rebound) with a con. My mistake.

Some of the new rules about/ around the "dead ball" when the clock ticks over , must have puddled my brain.

Richie_Rich89

prawnsambo wrote: »

I don't think that's correct. Joy Neville did exactly that a week ago,

Barnes did his job correctly - unlike Neville, I would argue. I couldn't see a grounding from Wales, but without conclusive proof that disproves it, Barnes's hands are tied.

prawnsambo

Richie_Rich89 wrote: »

Barnes did his job correctly - unlike Neville, I would argue. I couldn't see a grounding from Wales, but without conclusive proof that disproves it, Barnes's hands are tied.

If Neville was incorrect in how she carried out her duties, the ref could have overridden her decision. Ref is the final arbiter after all. And I haven't seen one commentator say that she was wrong.

pickarooney

BoardsMember wrote: »

France need to beat Scotland by 21 points not 19 points, having missed the conversion. And score 4 tries.

It would have been 17 with the conversion. +2 to France, -2 to Wales.

almostover

pickarooney wrote: »

It would have been 17 with the conversion. +2 to France, -2 to Wales.

Will be interesting to see if that differential is significant next weekend. Great to have one more exciting game left to watch. France chasing a big score and Scotland capable of anything from the awful to the sublime.

Strumms

prawnsambo wrote: »

Has to have touched grass there.

Very possibly, but I never saw an angle where you could say conclusively that it did...

irishbucsfan

I think it likely did hit the ground but Pearce can't have seen it so the question should have been different.

As it turns out, I personally think they got the right decision for the wrong reasons