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Written by Luigi
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Monday, 08 October 2007 |
I'm not trying to twist the knife - that's not my
style and hopefully a few people on the TSF will know I'm not like that.
All I'm trying to tell you is that if Kiwis put down the loss to a forward
pass then you are not going to get a lot of sympathy. Forward passes happen.
Forward passes go unpunished. It's a fact of rugby life. There are plenty of
examples of that. The emphasis on flat passes to put people through gaps makes
it even more likely that forward passes will go undetected as the speed of play
in traffic makes it hard to see what is going on.
The irony of this NZ outcry over a forward pass is
obvious to rugby fans from the NH who have often shaken their heads at the lax
attitudes to forward passes in the S14 and 3N. But it happens everywhere and it
shouldn't be a surprise.
More than that, it shouldn't be considered to be the overriding reason you
lost.
I think blaming the ref is wrong too. It's too easy to blame someone else
for your failings and the ref is too convenient a target. Again for me, he
wasn't enough of a difference to have lost you the game. Plenty of wise NZ
posters have said the same here. But, I feel that as time goes by the notion
that the ref was somehow 'bought' will become as enshrined in the collective
Kiwi consciousness as 'Suzie'. This feeling that there is some kind of global
conspiracy against the ABs at RWC-time needs to be kicked very firmly into
touch.
I've also read on here complaints that Barnes wasn't experienced enough
for the game and that Kaplan for instance should have got it. Again, I detect
the feeling that things should have been set up to suit NZ. The ref should have
been from the SH - because someone like Kaplan would have understood NZ's style
of play better. That smacks of a narrow, selfish attitude too.
Like I said, I think there are other reasons why you lost and I will try
and develop those in a different thread.
For now, all I can say is hard luck (as opposed to tough titty) and it
will be weird not to see the ABs in the last four of the RWC.
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