Joubert to ref Final X(

a word of caution ...

The WCR final in years past (with exceptions noted below) have been close run affairs.

The 1987 result NZ 29 FRA 9 and the 1999 AUS 35 FRA 12 bucked the trend. It is interesting to note that this year, even with the inclusion of SA in the competition, that history has repeated itself from 1987. Perhaps the final scoreline will too.

The other winning margins have been 6, 3, 3 and 9 in the respective years. That's an average winning margin of 10.66.

It is interesting to note however, that the bigger winning scorelines have been with France loosing. If they drop their heads in running then NZ will be able to rack up a good winning scoreline. If they don't and play for 80 minutes the match will end with perhaps a 5 point victory for NZ. France winning this event however, is not inconceivable as some are suggesting above. The ball is not round and anything can happen.

NZ have a jockey (a brave one to be fair - most jockeys are) at flyhalf and an injured kingpin player at no 7. They are also under serious pressure because thay now are playing a side that has lost two games in the competition including one to them. Their nation and most of us expect them to win and win handsomely. France have nothing to loose (except the WC of course:)) and are also the NZ bogey team. Who can forget what happened in 2007!

IMO one should be cautious in ones approach to this encounter and not throw caution to the wind. For what its worth I have emptied out the piggy bank on FRA 11/10 +15.5. My predicted score is NZ 21 FRA 16. (9 - 6 half time)

Good luck to the AB's I really hope they win...they truly deserve to.

If the French win this, then i don't know.......

PeeKay Wrote:

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> If the French win this, then i don't know.......


lol.....

Interesting stats

France are the third-highest World Cup points-scorers of all time. They are also the third-highest try-scorers, and the second-highest penalty scorers in all.

Here is a glance at France's performance in the World Cup play-offs:
(From 1987 up to, and including, the current RWC)

Quarterfinals:
(Played seven, won six, lost one)
2011: beat England 19-12, Auckland
2007: beat New Zealand 20-18, Cardiff
2003: beat Ireland 43-21, Melbourne
1999: beat Argentina 47-26, Dublin
1995: beat Ireland 36-12, Durban
1991: lost to England 10-19, Paris
1987: beat Fiji 31-16, Auckland

Semifinals:
(Played six, won three, lost three)
2011: beat Wales 9-8, Auckland
2007: lost to England 9-14, Paris
2003: lost to England 7-24, Sydney
1999: beat New Zealand 43-31, London
1995: lost to South Africa 15-19, Durban
1987: beat Australia 30-24, Sydney

Third-place play-off:
(Played three, won one, lost two)
2007: lost to Argentina 10-34, Paris
2003: lost to New Zealand 13-40, Sydney
1995: beat England 19-9, Pretoria

Finals:
(Played two, lost two)
1999: lost to Australia 12-35, Cardiff
1987: lost to New Zealand 9-29, Auckland

This year is just different for me.........i see total points of around 50 and France will be lucky to be in double figures

The draw ended up with SH teams in the one half and NH teams in the other half. Yet every SH game was reffed by a SH ref and evey NH game had a NH ref. To ensure no advantage for any team it should have been the other way round.

remember our mediocre wc victory in 2007 we beat the useless poms by 30 points in the round robin and then laboured against them in the final..it wont be by more than 15 points at the most...tipster who is now sponsored by a tissue company yet again has his conspiracy theories

Pirates, France +15.5 @ 9/10 will suit you then

I HOPE 4 THE WHOLE OF NEW/Z. SAKE,THEY GUB THE FRENCH,BY AT LEAST 20 Pts.THE FRENCH DONT DESERVE 2 B IN THE FINAL.CHEERS

The boot is still better in RWC Final

New Zealand will host France in the seventh World Cup Final in Auckland on Sunday and if history is a yardstick we should not be expecting a try feast.

In the previous six finals tries were not at a premium. In fact, in most cases the boot won the day and in two finals no tries were scored at all.

In fact in only one grand finale - the inaugural RWC Final between the All Blacks and Les Blues at the same venue in 1987 - were more than two tries scored, when New Zealand won 29-9.

The Kiwis outscored the French by three tries to one, with Australia's 35-12 win over France twelve years later in Cardiff the only other blowout in the tournament's showstopper. The Wallabies outscored the Tricolours by two tries to nil, with seven penalties to four making up the rest of the scoring.

And that is another interesting statistic - the French have lost badly in both their appearances in the final.
Only one other RWC Final produced more than one try, but even then the boot triumphed. In 2003 a Jonny Wilkinson drop-goal in extra-time won the day (a 20-17 win for England over Australia) in a game that saw the teams score one try each.

Australia's 12-6 win over England in London in 1991 produced just one try - for the Wallabies.

South Africa, one of only two teams to have won the World Cup twice, have yet to score a try in a RWC Final.

In 1995 Joel Stransky out-duelled Andrew Mehrtens (Stransky with three penalties and two drop-goals against Mehrtens' three penalties and one drop-goal) for the Boks to mark their debut in the tournament by claiming the Webb Ellis trophy. Stransky's second and match-winning drop-goal came with seven minutes of extra-time remaining.

Twelve years later, 2007, South Africa beat England 15-6 thanks to five penalties from Percy Montgomery (four) and Frans Steyn, while England's reply was two Jonny Wilkinson penalties.

We bring you the scoring breakdowns of all the past finals of the 2011 RWC Final:

2007 - SOUTH AFRICA 15 ENGLAND 6

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Pens: Percy Montgomery 4, Frans Steyn

For England:
Pens: Wilkinson 2

2003 - ENGLAND 20 AUSTRALIA 17

The scorers:

For Australia:
Try: Lote Tuqiri
Pens: Elton Flatley 4

For England:
Try: Jason Robinson
Pens: Jonny Wilkinson 4
DG: Wilkinson

1999 - AUSTRALIA 35 FRANCE 12

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries: Ben Tune, Owen Finegan
Cons: Matthew Burke 2
Pens: Burke 7

For France:
Pens: Christophe Lamaison 4

1995 - SOUTH AFRICA 15 NEW ZEALAND 12
(Extra-time)

The scorers:

For South Africa
Pens: Joel Stransky 3
DGs: Stransky 2

For New Zealand:
Pens: Andrew Mehrtens 3
DG: Mehrtens

1991 - AUSTRALIA 12 ENGLAND 6

The scorers:

For Australia:
Try: Tony Daly
Con: Michael Lynagh
Pens: Lynagh 2

For England:
Pens: Jonathan Webb 2

1987 - NEW ZEALAND 29 FRANCE 9

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries: Michael Jones, David Kirk, John Kirwan
Con: Grant Fox
Pens: Fox 4
DG: Fox

For France:
Try: Pierre Berbizier
Con: Didier Camberabero
Pen: Camberabero

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