might just be doing their christmas shopping!


on that last play.... fifita knocked on... like mcgillvary moments before, they played on though as tonga got the ball baacl for that one... at least the ref was being consistent and correct with both decisions.

They can't [iboth[/i be stripped if the advantage is gained by Tonga in both instances.
You'd have to suggest one or the other is a loose carry, for me, they both were.
Dunno what Wilkin is talking about, would Fifita's try have been given in SL, no idea, its pretty borderline and nowhere near the shoe-in he says it is.
On the whole, the WC has been a breath of fresh air, its served to highlight everything that is 5h1te about SL reffing, the influence of manufactured penalties, grappling and general fannying about at the pob have been robbing us of our entertaining game for too long.

I agree though in bennetts interview he seems to suggest both were stripped. Either way, it would have been sent up as no try and stayed the same without sufficient evidence to overturn.

You've got to feel for that Fajita bloke. Not good enough for superleague so he has to play in some foreign league that's on TV on an obscure cable channel no one has heard of. Whilst watching his brother play in super league (I know it's only field and he probably won't come back because his wife might get sent down but still). Then isnt good enough to play for Australia so has to pretend to be a tongalese in order to play in the World Cup. To cap it off drops the ball in the last minute of the semi final when he has a chance to win it and go to the final!

As for the protests they are just showing themselves up. I wonder if they'll still be Tongans or will go back to being Kiwis when it's the next Four Nations and Pacific Cup?

agree with that ! hopefully the sl refs take note!! but they will fall back into their old ways ruining the game no doubt

Are you really saying a S.O.O. player & G.F. winner isn't good enough for S.L?



Oh, I see what you did there - genius!

Hey BOZO, the players are PRAISING the atmosphere. They were cheered by tongan fans.

It wasn't intimidating as was claimed it would be.

England prop James Grahamsome hostile atmospheres and some great crowds - the first game back at the new Wembley and all that - but never anything like this before.

The Tongans were cheering the Tongans.......I didn't see one Tongan fan cheer the English and I was there......!

It's all kicked off in Auckland now with the Tongan community taking to the streets en-masse to protest being robbed by the referee...Lead story on news bulletins here

A couple of the pundits here said that Tonga 'deserved' to win. Utter cobblers. England played Bennett style for 70 minutes and were clearly the better team. Had England not decided they'd won the game and it was time to think about the final that would probably have ended up 20-0.

As it was England took their foot off the gas, Tonga got a sniff and all of a sudden England's defence looks like a bunch of Under 9s, with players bunched and chasing the ball individually. There was one point near the end when Tonga moved the ball right where they were tackled, and anybody could see that they were going to try to move it left fast in the next tackle, but England's entire team were barley spread past the centre of the field. They were so congested there they had no chance to properly slide as a unit.

If I were Bennett I'd be very disappointed in the fact that none of the senior players took charge and got the team to regroup, especially after Tonga's second try. If we had as bad a five minute spell as that at any time vs Aus we'll also let in 2-3 tries.

If it takes 70 minutes to take hold, it can hardly be called intimidating.

All those moving hymns must have been terrifying for the poor English lambs.

Edited for accuracy. 2.14306640625:10