Even if it hadn’t been knocked fwd, as you state, by the 1st Scot , surely the 2nd Scot was ‘off side’ when he played the ball (from in front of his colleague), which should have been a penalty?

But, as it was deemed that an Oz arm had ‘touched’ (? I couldn’t tell for sure from replays) the ball on it’s trajectory between the 2 Scots (and was apparently missed by Joubert), this then meant that the 2nd, ‘off side’, Scot (who last played the ball), wasn’t in fact ‘off side’… and this is what caused the fuss.

However, how anyone could have expected any ref in the world to have made a different decision from Joubert’s must surely have expected him to do so only if he (the ref) were wearing ‘X-Ray’ specs!?

Little consolation, but unfortunately these things happen. Joubert has been pilloried by WR who had NO process in place for an event such as this.

In real time how could any ref have been expected to see such an incident?

IMO Joubert was cravenly hung out to dry by WR. Shame on them and the game. Talk about disrepute! Darn right.

Still, time and all that… and Scotland now have a decent coach in place with whom you can look forward to the 6N and the future with a degree of confidence… unlike England?

Regds

@ Coops – there was no knock on, it came off Denton’s boot. Even if it was called as a knock on (which it wasn’t – see my first point) it was a penalty advantage to Scotland. They would have scrummaged again and they would have kept scrummaging until they got the result they wanted – the Samoa pack was as useless in the setpiece as their backs were deadly in the loose.

Also, I seem to recall that the only reason Scotland made the quarters was because the ref missed a knock-on by Laidlaw seconds before he scored the winner against Samoa? Maybe Japan should be in the Final?

Anyway my point is stop being bitter – it’s bad for your health – and be happy that it looks as if Scotland are well on the way to becoming a quality side.

Both sides can score TRIES… & both can also defend, but if Nigel lets the game flow & decides not to blow, we might be in for an epic? Maybe.

It all rests on the day of course. On who makes least errors & creates & takes their chances.

The breakdown will be pretty key & I was surprised that Hansen didn’t play Vito instead of Kaino more often. The former is quicker & has gas & guile in attack. Thought he might counter Pocock more effectively because of some these attributes. However, Kaino is plenty exp, strong & he was no slouch in scoring v SA.

Some have queried the NZ scrum, but it’s held it’s own & the bench can stiffen it up as v Argentina & besides, it’s a means to an end, not an end in itself.

If NZ play more footy than they did v SA, when they seemed to grubber every other ball into TOUCH, this might serve them better. Also, as they are unlikely to wilt as the game draws to its conclusion, they therefore have the potential to up the tempo & hit Oz hard as they again did v the Saffas just before & leading to Nonu’s try.

It’ll be a hard match. Cheika will ensure his team’s not lacking in this area, but neither will the ABs, as a few of the S. Africans can likely testify after the last game… like Etzabeth, who looked like he was crying at the end, or Du Preez, who had a pumpkin on the right side of his face at the post match interview. Rather them than me, that’s for sure.

Anyway, this is all speculation & predicting the result is a mug’s game. However, NZ & Hansen really want this one & have prepped for it & paced themselves during this WC, so barring the unforseen the ABs ought to close it out. Cheika & Oz will have their other ideas on this of course, but I hope the bookies have have got it right this time, with NZ by 5 – at least when I last heard.

The timing is all the more odd as it’s Halloween too? Surely 4pm will be prime trick or treating time for young children, who might otherwise be inducted into rugby if the final is good.

14 degrees and dry at Twickers – couldn’t be a better forecast for it.

Personally, I had a moment when I thought Aus could do it but now I’ve decided that I can’t see beyond the All Blacks.

They’ve been exposed to the Hooper Pocock axis already, so know what to expect. Their rucking and counter rucking is probably the best in the world, so I’d imagine their props and locks will have a busy day targeting Pocock and Hooper

Kaino will be told to get in Foley’s face as much as he can and if he does, he could well upset Foley.

As the last couple of matches have shown, the Aus defence, whilst on the whole pretty good does have moments when it goes missing. That’s ok against teams like Scotland and even Argentina as the scramble defence has worked well and the opposition have not made the most of their breaks. However, if NZ find the same gaps then the result will be tries

As for the set-piece. Although it’s clearly come a long way, the Aus scrum has been somewhat exposed by Scotland and Argentina – suggesting that their previous successes have been more due to the weaknesses of Wales and England (and successful social media campaigns) than to its intrinsic strength. However, NZ were outclassed in the scrum by South Africa. So the two sides are likely to cancel each other out here, perhaps leaning slightly to Aus

In the line-out, the Kiwis have stolen more than any other team so far, so no doubt they’ll attack the Aussies here.

Finally, I just can’t see the ABs sayiong goodbye to McCaw, Carter, Nonu et al without a win.