England will play New Zealand on Saturday while Wales will play South Africa on Sunday. Of the four quarterfinals matches played last weekend, three were blowouts, with England, New Zealand, and South Africa easily defeating Australia, Ireland, and Japan respectively by margins of over 20 points.
The one nail-biter was between Wales and France where France was ahead for almost the entire game and had a 19-10 lead at the 30-minute mark before Wales fought back and ultimately won 20-19, the last try scored just about seven minutes before the end of the regular 80 minutes of play.
At the 4:00 minute, France missed the conversion of their first try, a kick that players at this level could be expected to make. The ball hit the vertical crossbar and fell back onto the field. The missed two points was the difference between victory and defeat.
English bookmakers are favoring New Zealand to win the championship (5/6), followed by South Africa (10/3), England (9/2), and Wales (10/1).
Here are the highlights of the Wales-France game.
France beating Wales had a lot to do with a French player elbowing his opponent in the face in the middle of a maul (a tangle of pushing bodies where everyone is still on their feet) and copping a red card. This means he was sent off, and France had to play the rest of the game (25 minutes) a man down. France were leading at the time.
file thirteen, all part of the game.
I remember John Hopoate (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hopoate#On-Field_Sexual_Assaults). He was a champion of the game.
Hopoate was a League, not Union player.
Odds are South Africa will beat Wales, hopefully it’s a South Africa vs New Zealand final next week.
fentex, fingers crossed! A little over an hour until the England/New Zealand game, I’m getting hyped…
I think the odds just changed a little bit. Glad I stayed up to watch.
Bugger. Oh well, it’s only polite to share.
I have always thought that League seemed a bit strangej
England won. So now, naturally, you ungrateful colonials will be returning to the fold so we can hang you all.
We look forward to also teaching you how to spell correctly and drive on the proper side of the road.