Rate the match between Wales and South Africa in the Rugby World Cup quarter-final at Twickenham, and leave your thoughts on the game in the comments section below.
Loading ...Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
Rate the match: Wales vs South Africa, RWC 2015
Loading ...
I sat through that entire second half knowing that outcome was inevitable. Typical heroic bullshit.
Congratulations to the superb team of South Africa, by far the best team on the field in all aspects of the game. Despite constant and repeated faults committed by Wales (strangely not sanctioned by any yellow card) to avoid the inevitable, the Springboks have finally scored the try that brought a logically deserved victory.
Nice to see the faces of pro Wales commentators and pundits on TV (English, Irish, Welsh)….
Haha
Brilliant performance by a depleted Wales team. Typically inconsistent decision making by Barnes. Ironically ‘Winner’ you sound like a poor loser! Are you English by any chance?
You are obviously a shallow individual who knows zero about effort and result. Wales lost to a side that beat them fairly. The respect is due to both sides who worked hard in an environment that a worm like you would be cast aside as nothing more than a waste of time. Get your shirt on and compete on the field or shut your pathetic mouth.
Nice! In fairness my original post was directly after the final whistle where my disappointment was at its most heightened. You don’t win if you don’t deserve to win, but we’ve been here oh so many times as Welsh fans and led for so much of that second half the loss is hard. Given the injuries faced it was still a great effort.
I think he was replying to the wonderful Winner (Col in disguise) Anarky.
Oops. My mistake. I think Anarky had a point Tonyowl in the sense that we’ve seen this so many times from this welsh team. Cannot fault the commitment or effort from this bunch but we have been here so often.
The last was directed at Anarky. Dream on prick
Winner – who are you, English and defeated by any chance?
Heartbroken by result but lads held in the entire game.
Still unhappy cuthbert was playing but I doubt he’ll be called up again.
Trying to think where we need to go from here and discipline was our downfall. I like gatland but if we don’t have a good Autumn next time he may have to go. He has done good overall but we consistently fall short against SH and that needs to change if we’re to win a WC next time
No reply – gutless and empty
I think the injury crisis finally caught up with Wales today. Best team on the day won but it was closer than many had predicted & I am pretty sure that the Welsh nation will be immensely proud of their squad. Penalty count in the first half finally done for them.
Michael Clarke – We have to see that Wales have the ‘want’, the ‘passion’, the ‘balls’. But we don’t have the killer finish.
We are on the edge of full on international greatness and we have the people to move into the upper level.
I have always believed that our (Welsh rugby) way, has always been held back by the Welsh way of thinking.
We seem to celebrate Welsh success (Tom Jones, Anthony Hopkins, Shirley Bassey, the Welsh rugby teams of the 50’s and 70’s, Dylan Thomas etc) as lucky breaks.
We are as good as anyone in any part of the world.
New Zealand has a small population like us, yet their attitude is based on confidence and the recognition that they are good – so are we, we need to believe it!
Well played wales, they are a really good side reduced to a decent side with all their injuries but such heart. As a bok supporter I am very relieved but Wales have done brilliantly this WC and added such value. You guys should be proud of your team.
Cheers Brad. Kudos to SA for taking that second half by the scruff. It made the difference. Well played. The better team over the 80 won. I feel sick but proud.
Thanks Brad, we appreciate the sentiment. SA beat us and they deserved it.
Winner / duplessis – a multiple personality psycho troll. Looking forward to seeing the classy All Blacks cruise past the Boks in the semis without breaking a sweat.
Wales were outstanding. Very proud of them.
Barnes wants shooting. I really hope the the Welsh management make an official complaint about the substandard referring
Barnes does need need shooting, he’s always been the same – pretender not contender
Castrating then. Have no problem with the result but poor, poor, very poor referring decisions can and do have an effect on the outcome of matches where teams are equal. Come on Ireland and Scotland do not want to see a complete SH semi final. Gutted
Really gutted for Wales, thought you deserved the win, great effort and skill for a team with a lot of injuries. Don’t think this one should have got away…
Gutted! felt we showed some real quality at times, again heroic in defence just overcome by a huge amount of possession and pressure from an impressive second half bok performance, they really ground out the win.
Too many penalties, too many what ifs and missed chances
One positive of all injuries has to be a baptism of fire for the newcomers who really stepped up and will give this Welsh squad a much needed boost with their strength in depth
To all the broken hearted Welsh fans out there. Your boys were excellent today. I was truly gutted for them. The Boks just had too much power today but what else is new?
Don’t be too disheartened, you could be English like me!
Don’t debase yourselves and a great performance by Wales by blaming the referee. Barnes had a good game.
Barnes had an OK game but missed at least three offences which could have had an effect on the outcome, two when Wales were in the South Afican 22 on the offensive, and gave a penalty to South Africa in the Welsh 22 when three SA’s clearly fell on the ball killing the play.
Agreed, Egg Chaser. If every 50/50 call went Wales’ way, we’d beat everyone! (well, maybe not New Zealand). Yes, Barnes made a few dubious calls, but you should expect that from any referee and I expect they balanced out – in Wales (and I expect elsewhere) we always fixate on those that went against us, but forget those in our favour.
Am i the only one who thought the game was a bit dull? I didnt think either team were great and it could have gone either way. I know Wales fans are gutted but did better than expected with injuries etc. At least you made it out of the pool ????
I wouldn’t blame the ref for the result, back in 2011 I blamed the ref for red carding Warburton, not because what he did wasn’t a “red card offense” but because it hadn’t been for any of the other games just seemed to put the foot down at a bad moment. So inconsistency of ref’s infuriated me.
This time discipline cost us, not once but repeatedly. They got carried away and made silly mistakes, thinking about a 4pt loss we can blame the try in the last 5minute (which Cuthbert was a pillock for) but their were plenty of points given away that they could of avoided by listening to what the ref wanted. We can armchair ref all we like but on the pitch they make the rules, players must adjust. Wales haven’t done great at that in the last two games and it’s cost us.
I wouldn’t say the game was dull, it wasn’t all fire over the try line but their were sparks of it and a lot of heavy contests, showed how close the two sides are, i’d rather have all games that way than the Fra/NZ way with one team walking it.
Good effort. Shame Wales couldn’t score a breakaway try in the dying moments to snatch it from the boks. 5 points was all they needed! Hats off to the Welsh as the English were nowhere to be seen. (Speaking as a disappointed Englishman that is)
thought it was a brilliant game, hard, fast and furious , was mad when North got pinged after 5 mins after winnin the ball then dopped a knee to pass it , ….Barnes is a plonker , that said the best team won an entertaining edge of seat game , great effort boys , Wales is proud of you !
AlexD ‘the English were nowhere to be seen’, yes they were! Wayne Barnes!
Thought Barnes was rather good and extremely clear in his decision making.
Great effort from the Welsh but sadly an all too similar result to many matches previously
SA were just too big, too strong and too accurate at the breakdown. Welsh defence was immense to keep them out as long as it did in the second half.
Wales needed a bit of magic to break the game open but with JD2, S & L Williams all out, there wasn’t anyone to provide it. Cuthbert is a cart horse with no confidence, North still isn’t in his true form and Anscombe whilst he tried hard and never stopped, is not the man for magic.
Wales miss ‘ickle Shane badly
It was just a game too far for a squad/backline that has been patched up and sent out to play.
Gatland refused to blame the injuries but when you operate from a small player base and end up with the 4th choice centre, 2nd and 3rd choice scrum half, 4th choice winger (C++tbutt was criminal in coming off his wing like that at the end to let the Boks in to score), 3rd choice full back and then throw Hook and P++shand on at the end it was going to be very very hard to get a victory.
That said if Wales has scraped home yesterday they would be hammered against the ABs next week so perhaps it is better to out by 4 points now and not by 40 in a week.
People have commented on Gatland and Wales v SH sides.
Take a look at how any of the Home Unions perform v SH and it is almost always a loss.
Wales did much better in the RWC 2015 than any fans ever expected. They escaped the pool of death and with a bit thought last week v Aussies we’d have been playing Scotland today.
At least we weren’t out b 4 the pool stages had even ended and we pushed the Boks all the way to the end in this one.
Would we want this record as our RWC 2015 or the one France and England have had?
I think we all know the answer to that one.
The argument vs SH is we should be 50:50 on results. We get close every time but can’t finish. That is something we need to address Asap
Even if we get an AB win its nothing if you don’t follow it up. Win a GS is great but you won’t win a WC unless you beat SH too
Monumental effort by Wales. They did better at the breakdown than I thought, with Lydiate outstanding. As I write this I am watching Argentina comprehensively beat Ireland. Australia will dispatch Scotland. Is anyone really, in their heart of hearts, surprised that the the 4 semi finalists are the SH teams. Barring a mental breakdown I can’t even see Australia beating the ABs.
I expected Ireland to win but not overly shocked they didn’t. Wales I thought would but right game. Scotland I expect to lose massively (more so than nz France) but I’ll still be cheering them on
Who’d have thought Scotland would come the closest out of all the NH teams! And robbed at the death, no less.
Banastre, your not blaming Wales’ loss on the ref are you!
None of the northern hemisphere teams have played well enough! SIMPLE! Irrespective of personal affiliations (Scotland unlikely to be the odd one out if I’m honest despite my tartan sitting in the wardrobe) Losing hurts – we all get it!
Here’s a proposal for you – The ‘Celtic’ nations of Britain (that’s Scotland, Wales and England) club together and form one team! A bit like Northern and Southern Ireland in Rugby union! The political walls come down for those 80 minutes and differences/prejudices don’t matter! Brilliant idea – maybe we should give it a go!
Why not just enter British and Irish lions into WC lol
I don’t like your idea Alex (Wales are more than happy being separate thanks) but I am curious as to why you’ve pointedly left Ireland out of the Celtic nations of Britain?
As an aside – Celtic nonsense. Bah Humbug. A load of misty eyed romantic nonsense from a bygone age. I have no more affiliation with the Irish than I do the Russians.
Nothing against the Irish just thought a pan-Celtic team INCLUDING Ireland would be unfair on the Southern Hemisphers nations (smaller player numbers et all)
All a dream as you say Brighty?
Mind you the Celtic exhibition in British Museum was bloody good! Gundesrop cauldron was in there. Amazing!
The constant whinging and ref bashing after a loss is just appaling and is really bringing rugby in to dis repute soccer style , ireland , england , scotland , wales and france were no where near good enough to advance in the world cup and ref blaming is only covering up for some serious flaws , barnes , joubert ,and owens were outstanding over the weekend and called it as it was , barnes let wales off the hook at least twice when he turned down 2 clear S A penalties and joubert saved the scots when he called back an aussie try in the second half , in fairness the irish and english are less prone to ref whinging than their celtic cousins , so give the refs a break and sort out the actuall rugby issues instead in all of the 6 nations.
Congrats. You’ve managed to write an entire post without a single true word in. You might have got humbled in the rugby but you Irish are the best at coping with ref decisions, aye Johne? How noble of you. Or total BS – shall we go back and read last weeks Irish papers about the travesty of Saint OBrien getting a ban when all he did was punch a guy who wound him up?
I guess we won’t know how Ire would have coped with some refereeing as Arg were so superior there were no marginal ref calls to have an impact in the match.
Brighty, what’s wrong with the Irish? Most hospitable and friendly bunch you’ll ever meet. Anyone who drinks Guinness has gotten be alright. Right?
That being said the Irish have settled in Wales almost as much as England. We’re All polyglots in these Isles. Whose a romantic Welshman now eh?
What are you on about Alex? Who’s got a problem with the Irish? I was responding to a post claiming the Irish were “superior” to their “Celtic cousins” when it comes to handling themselves after contentious decisions. I simply pointed out the BS that this is and can’t help noticing that the claim comes on a weekend after they had nothing to complain about. Cast your mind back to Mikey scoring with a different ball from a line out a few years back and I don’t recall a completely polite acceptance of the cock up from the Irish fans.
Sometimes Alex you make rugby points I struggle to get my head around but all of this recent rambling about Celts is just plain weird. If you are genuinely interested then look up the Etymology of Celtic. It’s a modern invention used as an academic label for a collection of disparate peoples and objects of a similar time, style and Northern European geography. The people themselves were all in seperate groups with no notion of a uniform Celtic identity. You may as well say all Europeans or all humans as all Celts.
I’m with Brighty the Irish have a terrible rep when it comes to moaning about the ref as do the English
The problem is its a minority of sensationalists who generate that rep not the mainstay of fans
As Clarkey says you need to play the ref in front of you and listen to what he wants. Its an old adage but if a ref sees 50% and penalises10% of the infringements in a game then he has had a good game
Mind you I go misty-eyed now and again whenever I go to the Brecon Beacons (nice beer – The Brains – and great countryside) Even if it is where all the pommies go.
I award a special golden cup to Enoch. You are the world’s biggest b….shi….er when it comes to your own team Wales. You wouldn’t know the meaning of objectivity unless you were reborn as a dictionary (the politest way I could say it)
If it wasn’t the injuries, it was the ref, if it wasn’t either of them it alright because they got further! My heart bleeds for you.
That having been said you are obviously a PROPHET or latter day Delphic Oracle! Can I come to The Church of Enoch some time?
Very surprised by any suggestion that Wales proved themselves to be the best NH team in this WC (as I’ve heard from many and seen so much of on twitter).
Did any Welshman believe they’d win the game at any point? They must have defended for 40+ minutes of the first hour; they were never going to hold out in that game.
The Welsh have by far the best defense in the NH; but their attack has been consistently blunt throughout the whole tournament.
All NH teams, yes even the Welsh, need to change the way they look at the game of rugby.
The Springboks won, for which I am grateful. But all Welshman should be proud of what the Dragons have achieved over the last two world cups. Welsh Rugby is truly back. It is the foundation to build upon to be serious contenders in the next World Cup. Thank you for the wonderful entertainment, the spirit and the ethos in which you have played this Worldcup.
And Winner does not reflect the Springbok spirit or ethos.
Cheers Jan. Tough to look ahead for Wales but I appreciate the sentiment. It was, I expect, a brilliant game (I find it hard to be pleased with games we lose). Good luck to SA in the semis.
I have to take issue with any idea that “we” or “The Welsh” moan about the ref for this game. Show me where every single Welsh fan blamed the ref and then you can claim “The Welsh”. Otherwise it’s just sub-racist guff.
Barnes had some interesting interpretations BUT he was totally clear about them. Communication was excellent. Yes he interpreted mauls 100% differently to Joubert on Sunday but both refs were pretty clear about how they were going to interpret them. Yes I think the North pen was wrong but he shouted at North twice to stop so can’t complain. For the offsides he even let one go, said at the next ruck he wanted further back, then we did the same thing again – pen to SA. Cannot complain, he was 100% clear.
Interesting you thought the North pen was wrong. What was wrong about it? Tackled players knees had touched the floor, then North (the tackler), did not release him. Isn’t that a pen?
North had his hands on the ball – so I didn’t see him as part of the tackle, he was trying to rip the ball out of a standing players hands who then went to ground. It’s a fine one – can you avoid having a ball ripped off you by simply collapsing to the ground? I think it was a bit like the “choke tackle” interp that Barnes was using – knee on the ground == it’s a tackle not a maul. Now I am all in favour of that. It is correct for me and has been badly reffed for years (as it was by Joubert) – Ireland have made a weapon out of it because of incorrect refereeing. So anyway – I’m willing to concede, having only watched it once, that I may be wrong on the North one but I clearly remember Barnes telling North to let go and once the ref does that his interp is clear so you have to follow it.
The choke tackle is an interesting one – it is often treated differently by different refs unfortunately.
From my view, I was knees on ground at which point it is a tackle. That is only not the case if the attacker wishes to keep moving and it not firmly held. It is, like most rules, in favouring of the attacking side (rightly so really).
Brighty my post was written unclearly. Nothing was meant derogatorily/negatively in the ‘Irish’ post. My fault.
Being a quarter from the Emerald Isle that’s the last thing I would intend. Father’s side of family an O’Malley from Cork. As Irish as leprechauns!
Please re-read original post.
Incorrect Brighty. You’ve been doing some research!
There was a word to describe them – “keltoi” a Greek word used by them to describe the hordes who actually sacked Rome under Brennus.
You are correct in stating that they never called themselves it but the modern word derives from keltoi that WAS in then current usage (probably by the Romans too who said, did and copied everything the Greeks did etc. It matters not a bit they didn’t call themselves it – may have used the word ‘leprechaun’ for all I care.
What they did call themselves was tribe specific. So in Wales you had the Silures (Cardiff area). Further north the Deceangli, Ordovices, Gangani and Demetae. The word ‘Wales’ is a recent invention! Wealas would be the older word to describe yourselves.