Ah the caketin. Big props to all the 30,000 rugby fans who are there tonight.
Megan and I could be there, but have decided to save our money to see the Tongan and Fijian matches instead. She's part Tongan, I was born in Fiji, blood is thicker... yada, yada, yada.
This is a very important match. The reigning World Champs are ranked 3rd in the world and they are taking on the 6th ranked Welsh.
After tonight, with all respect to Samoa, we will have seen the eventual winner of the tournament. The way things are going one of these two could be that team.
Prior to kickoff the Welsh destroy everyone else's anthem with a stunning rendition of Land of my Fathers. But when the South African anthem sounds, the rousing voices in the stadium signal that there are a huge number of South Africans in the house. There are an unusual number of South Africans living in Wellington, and there seem to be plenty of travelling fans.
The Boks will be wanting to maintain the momentum gathered at Port Elizabeth when they comfortably accounted for an understrength All Black side 3 weeks ago. After kick off they soon show they mean business. The inspirational Brian Habana makes a great break, whose surge continues to result in a nifty try to Francois Steyn in the right corner. 7-0 within 4 minutes!
Back in South Africa, Francois looked like he'd been on the spliff. He sported a bogan mullet that would grace any Bondi beach, but he's come to RWC with a crew cut, and his menacing look is a big improvement in terms of providing an intimidation factor.
While this is a set back to the Welsh they quickly gain some possession and soon play themselves back into the match. They gain field position and slot a penalty, before being bizarrely denied another penalty conversion by the touch judges at the 16 minute mark. In cricket the third umpire can confirm if a ball crosses the boundary for 6 - it seems crazy that you can't go upstairs to see if a team have been robbed of 3 points.
7-3 after 16 mins.
Next the teams trade penalties, both kickers Morne Steyn and James Hook, are having very steady games, unlike the shenanigans in Dunedin last night. The crowd are patently on the side of the Welsh, and with this home town advantage they front up for the rest of the half.
Amusingly both sides attempt drop goals before the break to extremely loud booing from the crowd. You are a long way from Johannesburg/Cardiff now Dr Ropata!
10-6 at the interval - it's anyones game.
Warren Gatland must have said something inspirational to his charges in the break because Wales are firing immediately in the second half. They press the Springbok line, but to no avail. Will the chinks emerge in 20 minutes time? When South African skipper Victor Matfield limps off the field, there is a clear sense the World Champs are vulnerable. Go Wales!
The first 10 minutes of the half are all Wales and they are awarded a penalty as they bombard the Boks' line. The score is now 10-9. It should be 12-10 to Wales.
Holy smokes! Toby Faletau scores a ripper try to Wales on the 55 minute mark, 16-10.
All of the games this weekend have shown that many teams at this cup have the ability to beat many others on a given day, especially when you factor in the pressure of playing in front of very vocal and impassioned crowds.
Faletau nearly does it again moments later. If this was a heavy weight prize fight, the Boks would be praying for the bell. If the Welsh can score again soon they may KO the World Champs in their first outing.
Please please please cut to Peter De Villiers - I would love to see his crazy face right now.
With 18 minutes to play, the Springboks are 6 points behind and playing without many of their go-to heroes; Habana, Smit and Matfield are all off of the park. They turn down an easy 3 with 15 minutes to go, will they regret that by the final whistle?
Maybe not, because replacement winger Francois Hougaard scores a 7 pointer to put them in front, with the best show-boat of the tournament thus far. He flings himself so far through the air, in his touch down he nearly goes over the dead ball line. A pretty try nonetheless.
Wales 16-17 South Africa after 68 mins. Great game here.
The New Zealand crowd prove themselves to be hypocrites because they cheer Wales's second drop kick attempt. The truth is we really don't like drop kicks because we can't do them - well we can't when it counts. It seems we'll make an exception this time because we want Wales to win. Sadly for the crowd and Wales it misses by a country mile.
72 mins. Penalty to Wales! Kickable. Unfortunately James hooks it wide!
COME ON WALES! remember they should be ahead 19-17 because they were denied a 3 pointer which went over the sticks.
78 mins We've seen this before. South Africa will just try to keep hold of the ball for the last 2 minutes to score a sketchy win.
79 minutes Turnover! Wales need to go end to end to win the game - they deserve to win this.
They don't. The Boks take it 17-16. But this tournament is alive and kicking.
The difference between the teams is one try and an error by the touch judges. A crying shame.
8 games 41 tries.
Tweet of the match "Greenpeace could save the wales by harpooning those touch judges" @daihenwood
Hey Hudsie, great blog! Even though I'm not into the games. I like the TOTM item. Keep it up.
ReplyDeleteThanks Vic! It is a big commitment but heaps of fun. I have several clashes coming up which will make 48 game coverage a real mission. I think the My Sky will be worth its weight in gold.
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