Blood & Mud

SHIT/GOOD™ Ratings: RBS 6 Nations, round one

Our stab at who's worth your time and who's worth a kicking after the weekend.  Don't forget to add your nominations in the comments, or I'll send 

SHIT

Phil Dowson - After wanting him in a white shirt for so long, it hurts a great deal to have him in this section, but it cannot be denied that he was poor and outplayed by a child (see below).  Ben Morgan will likely start against Italy.

Scotland line-breakers - If any one of them would have made a single decision that was the correct side of "why the fuck did you do that?" then Scotland would have run out very comfortable winners.

Sean O'Brien - He justifies his 7 shirt thus; lack of fetching skills offset by carrying the ball like an angry rhinocerous who's just received a tax bill.  He's maintaining the former but failing in the latter. 

Ben Youngs - All at sea at the minute, and while this blog still believes that he still has an enormous future, he needs to be left out for a bit to get some form and confidence back.

GOOD

Mouritz Botha - It was a weekend when people with comical hair impressed greatly, and the erstwhile Saffer was among the best of them.  Carried and hit hard, and will cause some selection headaches when Lawes is fit again.  Could England select both?

George North - Let's just remind ourselves again that this lad is 19.  His basics are fantastic, when he carries the ball he is fearsome - as Fergus McFadden and Rob Kearney will testify, and that offload for the second Davies try showed a sublime level of skill and composure.  NINETEEN!  

Warren Gatland - Completely took the wind out of Sonia McLoughlin's journalistic sails by replying "yes" when asked if Bradley Davies should have had a red card.  Honestly like this from coaches is what every sport needs.

Luke McLean - On a day when Italy's pack did the decent job we all expect, the beardy winger was the only back to really show any kind of adventure or flair.

Louis Picamoles - If you're going to drop big Imanol, you'd best make sure whoever comes in is bloody good.  He was.

David Denton - Has civil servant's name and looks like an extra from Fast Times At Ridgemont High, but my word he can play, eh?

Conor Murray - Ireland's young scrum-half was lively all game.

SHIT/GOOD™ Ratings: Heineken Cup

SHIT

BIlly Twelvetrees - Found out terribly at Ravenhill on Friday night.  Haplessness of evening summed up by the Ulster quick-tap bonus point try, when he stood like a statue gawping into space while a player whizzed past him.  

Gareth Davies & Rhodri Williams - Not a great day for the young Scarlets scrum-halves.  Rhodri Williams in particular butchered good possession in the latter stages of the final Scarlets drive to the line and threw the interception for Foden that killed the game.  In his defence, he's not yet 19 and looks a decent prospect.

Bath - Redefining what it means to be SHIT this season.

GOOD

Andrew Trimble - Could have put any one of the Ulster players in here to be honest, but Trimble was exceptional.  Scored two and was also magnificent in attack, often popping up in midfield with a great run or to link play intelligently.  It's been a mystery for some time how the likes of Keith Earls start Ireland games ahead of him, after this game it become Sherlock-esque in its complexity.

Ben Foden - One of the most depressing aspects of the late Johnson era was how poorly Foden played in the white shirt, this display vs Scarlets is ample evidence of how this deterioration was about coaching rather than the player.  We all know of Foden's attacking abilities, but the most impressive part of this performance was how solid his defence was; positioning, tackling, high balls, all were dealt with with aplomb.  

Casey Laulala - Showed the only true bit of class in the game vs Irish.  His wonderful dummy and break, in and out around the full-back and calm offload to Warburton leading to the Blues try that ultimately made the difference in this tie.   Much of the midfield attention paid to the Blues is inevitably on Henson, but Laulala is the true class act in there.

Honourable mentions to Owen Farrell and Akapusi Qera.

Who caught your attention this weekend, for the right or wrong reasons?

Rugby World Cup: SHIT Team of the Tournament

We've had a look at the GOOD. now let's have a look uoder the toilet lid at the other lot.

15.  James Hook - Wasn't particularly great at full-back and was an enormous disappointment at 10 when Priestland was injured.  The Perpignan money-men will be casting each other nervous sideway glances after this tournament.

14.  Mark Cueto - Dropped, came back in, dropped again.  Looked rubbish throughout.

13. Mike Tindall - Looked exactly what he is: a lump of wood in shorts who has long outstayed his welcome at the highest level.  Add to this his off the field nonsense and you have the perfect storm of SHIT.

12. Graeme Morrison -  Genuinely have no idea how he gets to play international rugby.   Probably something to do with Scotland only having approx four professionals who play in his position

11. Bryan Habana - Once raced a Cheetah.  SA would have been better putting the Cheetah in a green shirt.

10.  Jonny Wilkinson - St Jonny of Surrey has always defied his skillset with his near automatic selection for the national team, and this was mostly due to the one skill that has defined his career: kicking. When that deserted him he looked like what he now is; a static, creativity vaccuum with a tan in a white shirt.  Quade Cooper is lucky not to be in, never has so much hyperbole been so utterly devoid of substance.

9.  The Scrum Half Formerly Known As Fourie du Preez - Has fallen so far since his best in the world days that you have to wonder whether he's been taken by the body snatchers.

1.  Matt Stevens - In his defense he was playing on the wrong side of the scrum.  Not in his defence is that is no excuse for scrummaging like Gok Wan with a bout of dysentery.

2.  Leonardo Ghiraldini - Wasn't exactly playing well before he then tried to blind someone.  A 15-week ban picked up for gouging in Rugby World Cup is some going.

3.   Geoff Cross - The Scotland prop was humiliated by Romania and it didn't get much better after that.

4.  Courtney Lawes - When he wasn't trying to kill people who had gone into touch he was instead showing nothing of the promise we have seen so far.  Young enough to come back and do better, hopefully.

5.  Danie Roussouw - On top of having a not great tournament, he then had a minging game vs Australia in the quarters, giving away the penalty that allowed O'Connor to slot the Wallabies back in front.  

6. Rocky Elsom - SHIT is often a relative term, and when you've reached his heights being so utterly bullied by the Kiwis in the semi was quite a come down.

7. Lewis Moody - No surprise he has retired as even when rarely fit his performances were so far below par then he should have missed the cut.  Noticeable how every other team in the quarters had a seven that was top class.   Next worst after him was Sean O'Brien, which tells us just how pivotal the position was and how lacking England were.   

8.  Finau Maka - Big tournament in 07, one of the few Tongans was with a big reputation but was a big disappointment.  Have to think this is not unconnected to his not having an afro anymore.

Rugby World Cup: GOOD Team of the Tournament

Ma'a Nonu: Can pass a bit now, which helps

Which players have performed well enough to make the only team that counts?  Let's have a squint at it!

15.  Israel Dagg - A full back of rare class with a name to match.  Puts me in mind of Glen Osborne, minus the dodgy spiky fringe.  Dagg will hope the similarity doesn't stretch to a loss in a World Cup final to an underdog side.

14.  Cory Jane - Not only can he somehow turn two girl's names into a bloke's one, he is all pace, power and intelligence.  A bit like Mark Cueto, only with pace, power and intelligence.  

13. Jamie Roberts - Back to his 2009 Lions form.  Every defence shat themselves when he ran at them, except for Australia in the Pointless Playoff, when no doubt his mind had drifted back to learning about infarctions, oedaemas and the like.

12. Ma'a Nonu - Two-ish years ago he had nice eyeliner but couldn't pass, he is now the perfect modern powerful twelve.  Has beaten off the Sonny Bill Williams threat by simply doing the job better than anyone in the world, up to and including this tournament.

11.  James O’Connor - George North is unlucky to miss out, but O'Connor was better with his support running and general adroitness in all winger's duties.  The fact  this position was between a 19 and 21-year-old is indicative of their obscene levels of talent.  A bit like Mark Cueto, only with obscene levels of talent

10. Rhys Priestland - It's inevitable that if Carter had stayed fit he would be here as he is the Pele, Zidane and Cruyff of rugby.  In his absence no-one was as consistently excellent as Priestland.  Knew exactly when to pass and to whom, and his kicking out of hand was excellent also.  Only criticism is place-kicking, but given his second game at 10 was against SA in a World Cup, we can probably put that down as a "development area".  And he wasn't the only one who struggled in that regard. 

9.  Mike Phillips - Who knew that all he needed to get his form back over the summer was a ruck and arrest outside McDonald's in Queen Street, Cardiff?  Whether it was that or not that gave him back his mojo the game is better for it.  Showed craft and nippyness to go with his usual bustling physicality behind the ruck, illustrated by that gem of a touchdown vs Ireland.

1.  Tony Woodcock - The 'best loosie' world war between himself and Gethin Jenkins continues.  Woodcock won this battle.

2.  William Servat - Despite being 54 years old he continues to excel in all the basics of scrum and throwing, as well as having a decent amount of pace when carrying and strength in defence.

3.  Martin Castrogiovanni - Adam Jones transforms the Wales scrum when he plays, such is his class, which demonstrates what a good tight-head can do.  This fella is and was still better, even in a disappointing campaign for Italy he still destroyed everything in his path.

4.  Brad Thorn - As an aside to this tournement, this man's career has been exceptional in both the scope of its achievements in both codes of rugby and its endurance into his 37th year.   Of all the All Blacks out there in the final, he's the one we most look forward to hoisting that trophy above his giant, insulation-taped head.

5.  Luke Charteris - Prior to this tournament, most informed observers believed the long Dragon was nothing more than a giant pair of chopsticks in a scrumcap, and anyone who witnessed him in the last two years saw that, while he could catch a lineout, in the loose he resembled a drunken horse doing a cartwheel.  The last six weeks have seen him morph into a lock of the highest calibre - long may it continue.

6.  Jerome Kaino - Like a lump of concrete chiselled into a big, handsome man and then thrown at the opposition by The Incredible Hulk.  Repeatedly until they drop the ball, cry, give up, or a combination of the three.

7.  David Pocock - This is the tournament of the seven, and of all of them Pocock was the most destructive.  His demolition job on the Springbok breakdown in the QF was a thing of questionably legal beaty, but that is what sevens do.  Warburton was amazing given his age and experience and would be here if it wasn't for that one error of judgement that opened the door for Rolland's jobsworthness.  As if to prove the point, Pocock then completely owned the ruck in the Pointless Playoff.

8.  Imanol Harinordoquy - You want your Number 8 to be big, hard, clever and mobile in attack and defence.  The Basque has been all of these things.  Faletau was these things as well, but he can't catch one-handed in the lineout when fifteen feet off the ground.  Hence Harinordoquy wins.

 Loads of you will disagree, so let's have it in the comments...

SHIT/GOOD Ratings: Springboks vs Wallabies - SA Ratings

by Rennton

The Springboks won when they should have lost against Wales in their first game of the RWC2011. They were outplayed in almost all facets of the game and lost the territory and possession battles but sneaked a win. The same thing happened to them on Sunday morning and I now have a very distinct idea of how that feels to fans.

I am not going to harp on about the ref but will say that his officiating at the breakdown was simply not good enough for a RWC quarter-final. That is not the reason for the Boks losing but it was an average to fairly SHIT performance from the kiwi.

SHIT

Fourie Du Preez once again failed to find the magic that made him on of the best scrumalves in the world in 2009 and his slow service hampered the Boks time and again. He spilled the ball with the tryline beckoning in the second half and was outplayed by his opposite number.

Danie Rossouw gave away the penalty in the 71st minute which allowed James O'connor to put the Wallabies back in the lead. Dropped a couple of passes and was largely missing in the game. He has played well in this RWC but this was not one of his better games.

The Springbok's handling really let them down badly in this game. The ball was spilled far too many times and when it wasn't, it was lost on the ground.The Boks had more territory and possession than the Wallabies but if you cannot convert that into points, you do not deserve to win. Sad but true.

GOOD

Pat Lambie may be one of the least experienced Bok players but he has shown a maturity far beyond his years. Made 3 great offloads in the tackle and made good sniping runs throughout the game. Solid at the back and put in some big kicks. A long future a head for the young whipper-snapper.

Bismark Du Plessis showed once again that he is probably one of if not the best hooker in the world at the moment. He was solid in the scrums and lineouts and made some big hits on defense but it is his work at the breakdown that makes him so valuable. With John Smit retiring, the Boks will be incredibly happy with his replacement.

It was as if Victor Matfield actually knew the Wallaby line out calls and stole their ball at will. He was solid as a rock on his own ball all day and put in some telling tackles. The line-out king payed one of his finest games for the Boks and will be missed as he has now retired from all forms of rugby.

The lineouts and scrums by the Boks were sheer quality. They pushed the Wallabies back on a few occasions and stole 5 of their lineouts. It is soley due to a very good performance by Radike Samo that the Wallabies were able to get any sort of good ball from scrums.

Special mention goes to Schalk Burger, Jaque Fourie and Jean de Villiers.

For more rugby thoughts check out Bowl Philosophy.

 

 

 

SHIT/GOOD™ Ratings: Australia 11 South Africa 9

Australia Ratings

by Josh Freedman

Wellington’s streets were flooded once again on Sunday evening but surprisingly it was not caused by New Zealand’s wretched weather but by the tears of thousands of Springbok supporters. 

The pressure of a quarter-final exit forced both teams into conservative tactics while Bryce Lawrence’s control of the breakdown was farcical at times allowing hands in the ruck and bodies flying in from all directions. 

A famous Wallaby win somehow won without the ball, without territory and without a fly half. It was a match that was rough on the eyes but also the heart.  

SHIT

Quade Cooper - there is no beating around the bush with Cooper’s performance tonight because it really was SHIT. A mere shadow of the usual calm, collected and decisive man we’ve become accustomed to. Playing behind the advantage line, hesitant, defensively poor, and sketchy at the back Australia will stand no chance against the All Blacks unless Cooper can find himself in the next seven days.

Wallaby scrum - no surprises here, even for stubborn Australians like myself it is quickly becoming apparent that the Australian scrum is a lost cause. Like a bad rash this problem seems to never go away.

Wallaby lineout - yes, the Wallabies were up against the world’s best lineout tactician in Victor Matfield but there is no excuse for not jumping on defence, it was not even a contest. 

First-up tackles - their line may not have been crossed but it was only thanks to desperate scrambling defence. The Springboks cut up the Wallabies through the middle time after time.

GOOD

David Pocock - simply irreplaceable, Pocock is Australia’s most important player. Securing Australia’s fickle inside channel and winning turnovers the Pocock/McCaw battle next week will be memorable.  

Radike Samo - a big game player Samo was at his best. Securing ball from the back pedaling Wallaby scrum and an enforcer in defence it was great to see the big man give the South Africans a taste of their own medicine. 

Will Genia - in the battle between the world’s two best halfbacks Genia made up for Cooper’s disappearance and made the most of Australia’s few opportunities. 

James Horwill - a heroic performance by the skipper and Big Kev finally showed excellent leadership in a tight game.

A special mention to whoever told Robbie Deans what the bench is for.

Follow this writer on Twitter @JoshFreedman1

 

MERDE/BON™ Ratings: England 12 - 19 France. France Ratings

This post has me confused: At once I feel dirty, yet am looking at the clear winners.  The team that were supposedly shattered by the Tongan defeat didn’t turn up.  

BON:

The French team spirit. The media have already been describing “Lievremont’s side” as a team to possibly beat Wales and the All Blacks. The thing is this isn’t Lievremont’s team any more. If rumours are correct they told Lievremont to encoulez off.  Dusautoir  led the team talk before the match, where the players all drank a gallon of magic potion brewed by Getafix the druid, who was later spotted sans beard, sitting next to Leivremont.  It will be a shame if any further French victory is in anyway attributed to his sheer mentalness.

French Discipline. Last week I said Italian indiscipline had been the major factor in deciding the game.  For that I had some people bizarrely claiming I had said Ireland could do no wrong. The discipline of one team and indiscipline of the other do not necessarily go hand in hand.  France for the first half did not give away a single penalty in Toby Wilkinson’s kicking range.  That’s right – France. One of the most volatile rugby playing nations, capable of imploding spectacularly, gave away no kickable penalties for 40 solid minutes. The fact that the wavy-haired, monobrowed England 1012 probably would have missed was neither here nor there. There was no opportunity available.

England for the most part failed to penetrate the French line. Tuilagi aside, the French stepped up forcing England to take the ball deep.  Wilkinson is still able to deliver quality, flat ball to runners at pace. Today he had to hit his men 10 yards from the line, allowing the French Choke-tackle to work simply but effectively.  It was effective throughout the game, right up till the last 10 minutes as they surrounded Flood and twice  stole the ball as he looked to offload in the French 22, destroying excellent England phaseplay and sending them back.

The moment of comedy gold where Lievremont celebrated the first French try. As the move built he had his hand covering his mouth but when the ball was grounded he raised his arms in triumph, to reaveal his pencil-thin moustache.  Across the world, Rugby fans coughed and spluttered out their beer, immediately logging on to Amazon, increasing sales of Kid Creole’s greatest hits exponentially.

Medard. Picking Wolverine as your full back and last line of defence is always going to be controversial, but he led the attack constantly, intelligent running saving his forwards a lot of leg-power and giving a clear focus. Safe under the high ball too.  A quality try too after neat interplay with Alexis Palisson.

Imanol Harinordoquy. Firstly I like the name Imanol. It’s a bit like Cuprinol. There are far too few Imanol’s in the world.  Against Tonga he was one of the very few to come out with any credit. There he led from the front,  this week he led from the front.  If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Apparently he doesn’t like the English much.  Like the Number 8,the French Flankers were  everywhere.  Scrabbling for the ball on the floor, clearing out the increasingly frustrated English and gang-tackling Tuilagi.

Matt Stevens at loosehead doesn’t work at International level, much to my chagrin.  He was punished time and again – sometimes unfairly.  However the French Front-Row ripped Thomson and Cole apart too.   England were constantly on the back foot, and with Parra’s niggling, borderline interference, quality ball was non-existent.

The French Line-Out won several balls thrown in my Hans Moleman and nearly scored from an incredibly stupid ball to the back of the line by Mongo Hartley.

 

Merde

The French Front-row. But they’re up there aren’t they? Yep. But typical of the French, they can switch from good to bad in an instant.  After huge periods of dominating the English Pack, they switched off once the match hit 60 and Captain Birds-Eye went off in search of some fish-fingers for tea.  Wales and potentially New Zealand will rip them a collective new one if that happens.

Nick Easterislandhead’s moustache. It isn’t Movember yet Nick.

ITV Commentators. Again. With France in the ascendency in the final 5 minutes, not one, but two set moves.  “The French are sharpening their guillotines” he said. And this only minutes after he used the term “Coup-de-gras”, which he had obviously written down earlier. Phonetically.

 Thankfully, due to the French dominance of the game he didn’t use the “If wishes were horses, the French would be eating a lot of wish-burgers” line he got for Christmas.  The Harinordoquy “is no fan of the English,” line was trotted out 7 times before my ears began to bleed.  I’m still no nearer to understanding why though. He especially hates Dave Gilmour from Pink Floyd apparently.

That being said, Phil Vickery at least provided an interesting diversion from the game.  I can’t be sure if he received training from Brian Blessed or has simply taken Zoe Ball’s tactic of not actually having anything to say but shouting it anyway. “Men on THE RIGHT!!!!” he’d scream. “It’s just out of their GRIP ISN’T IT??!!” He’d whisper at the beginning rising to a crescendo.  None though, as good as “If they want to win, England have to get points on the board”.  Thanks Phil.

With Wales and France going through, it is difficult to call next week.  On paper Wales should edge it, but France can change their game so quickly they don’t realise they are doing it themselves. They can pulverise teams up front, or be ripped to shreds; They can run the ball from their own try line to score a dazzling try, or give away penalty after penalty just because they don’t want to do what the ref says;  They can create chance after chance with breathtaking, high-risk rugby or collapse through buffoonery of Clouseauesque proportions.

-

England Ratings are here

 

SHIT/GOOD Ratings: New Zealand 31 Argentina 10 - New Zealand ratings

by Richard O'Hagan*

 

The All Blacks sqeaked through against the Pumas, two late tries giving the scoreline a far more flattering look than they deserved.

SHIT

Ma'a Nonu - Although the All Blacks didn't play well there were few shockingly bad performances, but the usually reliable Nonu butchered at least three attacking moves simply by taking his eye off the ball as it was passed to him. Schoolboy errors from such a good player.

Sonny Bill Williams - Whilst accepting that New Zealand are a bit short of wingers at the moment, he looked utterly wasted out there and whilst he himself did everything asked of him you suspect that the game would have been more comfortable if he had been brought into it a lot more.

Mils Muliaina - Looks to have lost almost all of his pace and it was no surprise when he was brought off on halftime

GOOD

Piri Weepu - Put in the performance of the tournament so far. Superb passing, superb kicking from hand, superb place kicking. Why Graham Henry ever thought that Jimmy Cowan was a better option is baffling; it is akin to preferring a Pot Noodle to a twelve course Chinese banquet.

Cory Jane - The Pumas couldn't contain him and the fact that it took his side so long to cross the goal line was no fault of his.

Conrad Smith - Proved why he is the premier 13 in world rugby.

Handling - Nonu's errors aside, the speed and dexterity of the All Black passing was wonderful to see, especially in a tournament where so many sides have struggled to keep hold of the ball.

*The Editor was supposed to be doing this one, but he's off celebrating it being four years since he passed his GCSE resits, so you've got me again

SHIT/GOOD Ratings: New Zealand 31 Argentina 10 - Argentina ratings

by Richard O'Hagan

 

The Pumas put up such a fight that is seems harsh to single out any one player for either praise or criticism. But it isn't in the nature of Blood & Mud to let anyone off lightly, so here goes.

SHIT

Felipe Contepomi - Simply not an international centre and the weak link that the All Black runners drove at relentlessly. Also, if he had landed a first half penalty, the game might have been very different. By choosing to take it himself instead of allowing the mighty boot of Marcelo Bosch to do so he may have singlehandedly changed the course of the game.

Leonardo Senatore - If there is one skill that a Number 8 must have it is to be able to pick the ball off the base of the scrum when it is under pressure. Senatore failed miserably.

Nicolas Vergallo - Would have been in the GOOD category but for one of the dumbest yellow cards of the tournament.

GOOD

Mario Ledesma - Aged 38, looks 58, played with the heart and stamina of an 18 year old on his debut. Magnificent in his final game in the blue and white jersey

Juan Manuel Leguizamon - Was not overshadowed in his battle with Richie McCaw and superb in the way that he bailed out Senatore time and again.

Julio Farias Cabello - Dominated the lineout and showed well in the loose, was missed when he went off injured.

 

SHIT/GOOD Ratings: France 19 England 12 - England ratings

by Richard O'Hagan

 

England's World Cup campaign finally spluttered to an end with a woeful display against a French side who were clearly determined to put the embarrassment of last week's loss to Tonga well and truly behind them.

In fact, England were so bad that I am going to reverse the normal order of this column and start with

GOOD

Manu Tuilagi -  the best England player by roughly the distance from Samoa to Leicester. If England did something well, he was at the heart of it. The one player to cause the French any trouble with ball in hand, and so good in defence that even the referee praised him.

Nick Easter - On the one hand, it is a sad indictment of the English game that he is the best Number 8 in the country. On the other, he did a decent job today, by no means flawless but strong in the loose and in the tackle, and dealing well with the ball at the base of the disintegrating scrum.

Matt Banahan - Yes, England were so bad that the only other good thing I can say about them was that Banahananananan came on as a replacement, tackled well and made one storming break that only came to an end when he was dragged down by four Frenchmen.

SHIT

Grab a drink and a comfy seat, this might take some time

Tackling - England conceded two tries and could have conceded more by not just missing tackles, but by tackling with the sort of technique that would embarrass a schoolboy. When they were not going too high, or from the wrong position, or doing that curious thing where you try and tackle someone without actually using your arms, there were simply too many of them going after the same man. Both French tries came because England overmanned the tackle area, leaving a huge gap for the tryscorer to run into.

Back Row - I know I've praised Easter up there, but the failure of the back row to put any pressure at all upon France's half backs was shocking. Morgan Parra never looked like a proper fly half, but he was allowed to play pretty much as he wanted to because England practically forgot about him.

Lewis Moody - Largely anonymous during the game, but went completely missing when England needed a leader. Has to be his final game as captain.

Steve Thompson - It must be eight years since you could last rely upon him to find a lineout jumper. His throwing in today was woeful.

Jonny Wilkinson - May have remembered how to kick, but seems to have forgotten how to pass. Two very good ones, countless awful ones and completely butchered a midfield move that would have sent a runner straight through the French lines if he had got it right.

Matt Stevens - The second game in a row that he has been beasted at loose head. Should not be anywhere near that side of the scrum.

The Scrum - This was supposed to be one of England's strong points in this tournament. It was second best against Argentina and Scotland, only marginally ahead against Georgia and absolutely battered by France.

Substitutions - Why was Stevens allowed to remain on for so long? Why did Courtney Lawes come on as a blindside when Le Hasque was still on the bench?

AND FINALLY

A quick word about referee Steve Walsh. Is this really the same preening halfwit who refereed the last World Cup? He seems to have morphed into one of the most consistent referees in the world. I watched him referee the Super 14 game at Twickenham last season and had to go home and look at the game on television to make sure it was really him, and I felt the same today. It seems that a leopard can change their spots.

Speaking of referees, one bright spot of England's loss is that it increases the chances of Wayne Barnes controlling the final. Which would appeal to my sick sense of humour.