Good luck to the Black Caps.
A test series victory against England (and a comprehensive one), would really give me a spring in my step today. Make all the other problems go away, for the moment anyway.
6 wickets to go….
The Al1en5.1
Good luck to England.Backs against the wall, bulldog spirit to the front, and fight it out for an against the odds draw.
Won’t make all the other problems go away, but will give me a laugh all the same.Three sessions to battle for…- Snigger
tc5.2
Delicately poised, a win would paper over the cracks in NZ Cricket till we lose to Zimbabwe or similar.Morrissey5.3
Now if only we could GUARANTEE the victory by installing Craig Joubert as (non-) umpire for the day…Chris5.3.1
You always bring up Craig Joubert yet never bring up Wayne Barnes – why is that? Either way is just as pathetic.Apologies if this is the first time you have mentioned him but I’ve noticed it a few times on this site and assume if you are bringing him up this long after the world cup it is not the first time.- You always bring up Craig Joubert yet never bring up Wayne Barnes – why is that?That is because there is no valid or credible comparison between the two. Barnes missed a forward pass in the first half and the All Blacks scored a try from that. Then he missed a forward pass in the second half and the Tricolors scored a try from that. In other words: Barnes made a couple of honest mistakes, which cancelled each other out. Joubert on the other hand steadfastly refused to penalise the blatant cheating by the All Blacks, even though the home team was fouling flagrantly and systematically.Either way is just as pathetic.It was and is pathetic and stupid to complain about Barnes’s honest mistakes. And in fact nobody respected and knowledgeable did complain. “Sir” Graham was cajoled by silly old Bob Howitt to insert into in his dull co-written autobiography a ridiculous chapter full of fantastical complaints about Barnes. It is worth noting that nobody—i.e. NOBODY—who knows anything about rugby took Sir Graham’s book seriously.The disgraceful display by non-referee Craig Joubert is an entirely different matter, of course.
- He missed a forward pass and didn’t award the all blacks a single penalty in the second half. Which had never happened before in the history of rugby. But yeah obviously no comparison between the two.
- He missed a forward pass…He missed TWO forward passes. One directly led to a try for New Zealand, one directly led to a try for France. In other words, they cancelled one another out. Why are you choosing to say he missed ONE forward pass?…and didn’t award the all blacks a single penalty in the second half.The Tricolors did not offend in the second half. Please view a tape of the match some time when you are sober.But yeah obviously no comparison between the two.We’ll ignore your desperate resort to sarcasm, and reiterate what you already know to be the truth: there is no credible case to be made that Barnes’s refereeing “robbed” the All Blacks of victory over France.There is ample evidence that Craig Joubert’s egregious display of partiality in the 2011 final was THE crucial factor in the All Blacks’ win….
- To clarify I don’t blame Barnes for the All Blacks losing, the whole thing was ridiculous. Just as claiming Joubert is the reason the French lost is ridiculous.You’re right he wasn’t blowing up the All Blacks, but he also wasn’t penalising the French. The penalty count ended up being 7-10 in favour of the All Blacks (for reference 2007 was 7-2 to France). That’s hardly evidence of a huge bias.However, now you seem to have moved onto some peoples favourite conspiracy theory that somehow the IRB (which is mainly comprised of Northern hemisphere nations) convinced a South African ref to intentionally gift the game that is meant to be the sports show piece to the All Blacks. Sounds reasonable.If that is your belief have fun with that. Meanwhile the rugby loving people in NZ will console themselves with the fact that whatever you believe it still says NZ on the trophy. No matter what you say the fact that you are still bringing up Joubert 18 or so months later shows that that really pisses you off.
- To clarify I don’t blame Barnes for the All Blacks losing, the whole thing was ridiculous.Good. You are a rational human being. That’s good.Just as claiming Joubert is the reason the French lost is ridiculous.Sorry, but your logic is grossly flawed. There is simply not a case that can be made that equates Barnes’s two honest errors in 2007, one affecting each team, with Joubert’s systematic refusal to penalise the flagrant cheating of the home team in 2011.You’re right he wasn’t blowing up the All Blacks, but he also wasn’t penalising the French. The penalty count ended up being 7-10 in favour of the All Blacks (for reference 2007 was 7-2 to France). That’s hardly evidence of a huge bias.Abusing statistics like that is misleading at best, utterly spurious at worst. The fact that the final penalty count was roughly even completely obscures the fact that the All Blacks were not penalized, despite the most flagrant fouling, ALL of it committed right in front of the (non-) referee.However, now you seem to have moved onto some peoples favourite conspiracy theory that somehow the IRB (which is mainly comprised of Northern hemisphere nations) convinced a South African ref to intentionally gift the game that is meant to be the sports show piece to the All Blacks.You are attempting to trivialize this argument by casting me as a conspiracy theorist. I’m not. There is no evidence that Joubert conspired to destroy the final. Whether his failure to do his job was deliberate or due to stage-fright is something that has not yet been, and may never be, determined for sure. What IS certain is that he repeatedly ignored the most outrageously flagrant and systematic cheating ever seen on Eden Park, or any other stadium for that matter.Sounds reasonable.No it doesn’t. There is no evidence to suggest Joubert colluded, although you can understand why so many French fans are convinced of it.If that is your belief have fun with that.Again, you are trivializing this issue. It’s not a case of my “belief”; it is an objective fact that Joubert failed grievously to do his job and referee fairly and impartially in the final of the 2011 RWC. That’s not my “belief”; it’s a gruesome truth. Here, see (again) for yourself….Meanwhile the rugby loving people in NZ will console themselves with the fact that whatever you believe it still says NZ on the trophy.Actually, most rugby fans in this country try not to talk about that final. It’s very much a guilty open secret. They know—as you know—that the All Blacks probably would have been beaten in a fair contest, just as they were in 2007, and 1999.No matter what you say the fact that you are still bringing up Joubert 18 or so months later shows that that really pisses you off.I don’t like to see the game I love being trashed by the incompetence or corruption of a non-referee. Yes, it does kind of “piss me off”.
