Sunday, October 14, 2007

KARMA!

HAHA. last night i went to sleep not thinking about world cup (hasn't happened in a long time since before sept 7) and i woke up this morning, not thinking about world cup. i actually studied! for a while before i felt the itch to read the newspapers (a weekend morning ritual) then i saw the sports section and was like WORLD CUP! haha. then came online and yes! my 'ignorance' has paid off (cos i still kinda think myself as a jinxed supporter) and...

ENGLAND BEATS france!!!

14-9


England (5) 14
Try: Lewsey
Pens: Wilkinson 2
Drop-goals: Wilkinson

France (6) 9
Pens: Beauxis 3

Next up, South Africa vs Argentina. Argentina is slowly gaining my support. heh. even though i've yet to watch a single one of their matches (no cable! unless i camp at my cousin's house again). But I think if S. Africa loses.. wah. this world cup really turned upside down. HAHA. So i'm neutral about the 2nd semis. haha. I think.

I'm biased against france i admit. but can you blame me? =$

2 min: TRY England 5-0 France
Early success for England as the scrum collapses three times before referee Kaplan gives the free-kick... and it's massive for England!! Andy Gomarsall's box-kick to Traille sees the France full-back suffer a desperate bounce straight to the onrushing Josh Lewsey, and the Englishman forces his way over the line with barely 78 seconds gone.

Jonny Wilkinson misses the kick from wide on the left, but what a start for England.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/7043225.stm
sounds like a really close match.

"New Zealand's worst fears have come. England, insufferable England, the team all Kiwis love to hate, booted France out of the World Cup 14-9 in Paris and they will now defend their title in a week's time with Jonny Wilkinson again being hailed as the hero." HAHA I'm probably the only one happy that England won France. why? jason robinson will now go on for his 51 caps at the finals! then he really retires. haha. and that means france's win over nz was a fluke. muaha. =$ crap i'm going to offend many people. HAHA

http://rugbyheaven.co.nz/4237275a22459.html ENGLAND vs NEW ZEALAND (vs france)
The frustration for New Zealand is that they can be the best team in the world for virtually three years and 46 weeks in endless cycles and still come up short at the big one - the World Cup.

England are the exact opposite. To put it mildly, England have been crap ever since they won the World Cup in Australian four years ago... As you'd expect, it hasn't been terribly exciting, relying heavily on the boot of Wilkinson. But it has been mighty effective.

For now we'll have to marvel at the All Blacks consistency - consistency in winning matches season after season. But we'll also have to begrudgingly marvel at England's ability to grind out victories when it matters most.

want to be able to interpret referees' signals better? http://www.irb.com/mm/Document/LawsRegs/0/RefSignals070110LGLAWS2007red_752.pdf

Anyways, did you guys read yesterday's life section on RUGBY vs FOOTBALL? It's SUPER FUNNY. anyone got scanner can scan or not? haha. the following is today's. interesting 'trivia'

http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_166936.html
In the beginning, a touchdown was worth nothing. It earned an attempt to kick a goal, that is why it was called a try. Rugby had split with football, but it still thought of itself as football. The only way to score was with the boot. Since players could also score a goal with a drop-kick or a penalty, tries were really a rather complicated way to go about things.

Over time, rugby folk realised that running and passing the ball were more fun and exciting for spectators. Tries gradually increased in value. Penalties and drop-goals are now worth three points. Since tries are worth five points, and seven if converted, it would seem to make far more sense to score that way. (haha that's why touch rugby owns. cos there's no kicking. pure genius devoted to scoring tries. HAHA.)

But one of the paradoxes of this World Cup is that teams have won with kicking, even though the kickers have generally struggled, in part because of issues with the balls.

OKAY, I should really go back to studying. HEH. STUDY HARD EVERYBODY. If you allow me to remind you (and myself), 17 days to A levels, sounds damn close. FREAK.