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Season 5- Episode 12 Part 1- An All Timer (Rugby World Cup Finals & RWC XV of the Tournament)
31 Plays3 years ago
This Final was so good, we had to give it it's own episode. On this Ep of TRFY we talk about an all time final from the ages and if you say otherwise you are just a party pooper. We discuss the ins and outs, the different strategies and the afters of a match that will be an instant classic. Of course, we put together our XV of the Tournament, some honorable mentions and coaches to talk about too. Thank you to everyone that worked on this tournament in one way or another, you've done rugby proud. Kick back and enjoy Part 1 of this 2 part episode!
Check out the TFRY Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/TheFantasyRugbyYanks
Ask us questions via Twitter: Jarrod- jdyke8man & Ben- admrablsnackbar, and #AskTFRY.
Send us your thoughts for the show and questions for upcoming shows via e-mail fantasyrugbypodcast@gmail.com. Of course we welcome feedback via e-mail, twitter or by rating/reviewing the pod on Apple Podcast.
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Transcript
Introduction and Gambling Discussion
00:00:02
Speaker
It is The Fantasy Europeans. My name is Jared Dyke. I wanted to say it's stupid and let's move on, but then you kept going. I'm Ben Glauser. I don't like any way anybody gambled that. Collusion. Collusion.
Podcast Reintroduction and Rugby Geek Mention
00:00:27
Speaker
Hey, everybody. Welcome back. It is the fancy rookie. My name is Jared Dyke. I'm Ben Glauser. We're in. We have nothing to talk about again. Just absolutely nothing. Nothing. There's no prep matches this coming weekend. So what is there to to talk? There's nothing else. Nothing happened. Nothing happened, especially in New Zealand. Nothing happened. No. This weekend was fucking boring. Nothing happening at all. Smoking if you got them. All right. Oh, shit. I'm late. We have.
00:00:56
Speaker
Uh, or obviously our, we ask our friends to download great review, share on your favorite podcast app. And also.
00:01:12
Speaker
Please do go buy our good friend George, the fancy rugby geek copy and or beer.
Fantasy Game Challenges and FRD Format Changes
00:01:18
Speaker
Yes, I have him one. Yeah, we're halfway into the automation series, fancy game and as many of us saw, there'll be
00:01:27
Speaker
Fancy the fancy game for champions coming around the corner here. I believe we're gonna use we're gonna do both both because we used to agree last year and In place of frd and I personally don't don't mind it and I know a lot of people are just like it's trash It wasn't it's actually not that bad. Not that bad frd and then obviously we'll use frd as well
00:01:47
Speaker
Right. And FRD is changing their formats. Um, I saw that. Yeah. I don't, I didn't see which one won, but at the very least it sounds like the, there won't be, it won't be as problematic as it was the first time. I think there was a first time around that they used it. Oh man, that was annoying. Like, yeah, just so many people have so few players. It's like, right. Yeah. Especially at the end. It's hilarious. It's like you can maybe just cobble together, like three starters and two guys on a bench. Great.
00:02:18
Speaker
Yeah, so if they decide to use the semi file around, that'll probably look a little bit better at least. Right. Which I can get behind. I like that. I can get behind that. Yeah. Agreed. Agreed.
Criticism of Qatar World Cup
00:02:30
Speaker
Okay.
00:02:34
Speaker
As usual, there is no discrimination on our podcast, nor should there be in sports or in life. We hit on it before, but obviously we're gonna, it's around the corner now, the people woke up in the guitar and we've already had instances where just, it's very evident that this was a terrible choice. And I know Sepp Ladders came out and said, oh, I wanted to go to America. You're a lying sack of shit, so shut up. Point being,
00:03:02
Speaker
It's so bad for so many reasons. They're already harassing people that are legally supposed to be able to be there and permitted to do the things they're doing. And they're just doing it because they can. And I don't really want to know what's going to happen to people that are, you know, not white and or not straight and aren't dudes. Because that's when it's going to get real bad. And that's awful.
00:03:32
Speaker
And have you seen the hotels? No, I have not seen hotels. I saw a clip of somebody walking through a hotel where the walls were literally just like sheets that were hung. There was no door. It was just like a sheet. That really ain't gonna work. And then when they walked in and there were two double beds and without
00:04:00
Speaker
uh, pillows or, or, or sheets or anything like that. It's like, here's your bed. It's like, what the fuck? Wow. This is not going to go well. And, and, you know, obviously. Like there's so many, this is why, this is why like, you don't do shit like that too. Is that this is going to present soccer or football, whatever. Yeah. It's so bad. Like I did finally, it's not rugby. That's being a complete fucking embarrassment. Yeah. Fucking embarrassing.
00:04:28
Speaker
Fuck you, Razzie. But this is why you don't, we've been saying, we certainly, and others, obviously, we aren't the only ones. I've been saying how bad of an idea it is to have anything in a backwards ass shithole like Cutter is. Yeah, maybe they have some nice amenities, but they're horrific and horrible people that built all this stuff with slave labor and shit.
00:04:58
Speaker
I don't care about people as people. There's no right. Yeah, there's no civil rights aren't a thing like. No. Yeah. No, they will kill you for being gay. And this is why you don't you don't support countries like that, because it's going to end up being just a huge, huge fiasco for the whatever the equivalent of world rugby is in in soccer.
00:05:21
Speaker
them. Oh, that's right. Yeah. You need people who knew that was just the game. Yeah. Also, also that. Yeah. Slightly
Fantasy Rugby and MLR Schedule Leak
00:05:36
Speaker
better upside. We will have, I would encourage everyone to go get our Patreon. We will have
00:05:41
Speaker
a more up-to-date sheet coming up this week and with plenty of time for you all to make adjustments to your teams for the next game week, which is not until next Friday. Right. So we got a lot of time. Yeah.
00:05:55
Speaker
But I did get, I did get boom bust before, before the waivers ran. So Yahoo. Yeah, I was happy. I like, I don't know if any, everybody knew about the waivers or something. Cause like, I got a whole bunch of shit before anybody else that like went in there. I think people might have been thinking about waivers run until next week. So, right. So I was perfectly happy. I was like, Oh, Chris Harris. I was about, yes, I'll take him and him. Like it just, it's yeah, it was a good week to, so, you know, another unsolicited piece of advice. Um,
00:06:24
Speaker
Check the waiver wire today, because now there's no waivers or anything. There's no matches this weekend. And what, Scotland doesn't play? Like only it's England and Wales. England, Wales, Australia, South Africa. Right. In New Zealand. Next weekend. Yeah. So Scottish players are back. Some of the other countries, I can't really recall the top of my head. Italy, Georgia.
00:06:51
Speaker
Yeah. So, like, there'll be players available next weekend. There will be. So, like, that's why I was happy to get Chris Harris, because I'm like, oh, yeah, sure, he's playing this weekend, but he's also playing next weekend. Yeah, he probably will be. His cluster fucking need him. Yeah. Yeah, we'll get to that. Yeesh. Yeah. Yeesh.
00:07:13
Speaker
Uh, in better news, seems the squeaky wheel does get the oil membership has finally got off the rest and fixed the schedule. Hooray. Thank you. Now, maybe if we keep going down the same alley, we can get them to have a decent, fancy rugby game.
00:07:30
Speaker
Right. I know it's a lot bad. It is a lot to ask, but at the same time, fuck. It'd be like, yeah, hashtag engagement. That's all it is. You need some sort of engagement. And that brings the fans in. And again, making stats critical part of the discussion. I've even heard, they talk about that now on broadcast. They talk about fantasy rugby.
00:07:57
Speaker
I heard it at least on one of the prem broadcasts. They're talking about it. And it's like, OK, how can you have how can you keep talking about it? But you don't have your own game. I'm talking about you have some fucking amateur. And I don't know. I'm sorry. I'm not. No disrespect because we like we love the work that that it's being done at an F.R.D. But like it's it's amateur.
00:08:22
Speaker
It is. And, like, that's it, though. That's the only fan. Like, Prem doesn't have another fantasy game. Like, there's no I don't think there's a super boo for Prem. No, it's just so pick them. So. Yeah. What the fuck? Mm hmm. Like, the only option is at the moment. And that's that's not. It's not good for it's the same kind of thing as, you know, kind of the cutter thing. Like, it's not a good face for fantasy rugby.
00:08:50
Speaker
And the prem should, if the prem wants to buy it out, that's cool, good for them. But like, and really spruce it up. Cause it needs, it does, if that's going to be the face of your fantasy operation, it needs whatever. But they need some help.
Rugby Finals Excitement and Controversial Decisions
00:09:07
Speaker
So the schedule is a good start though. Yeah. Hooray. Speaking of schedules, MLR schedule was initially leaked and then they were just like, well, we're fucked. So just really release it. But here it is.
00:09:22
Speaker
Three Jacks will start on the 17th of February in New Orleans, returning to see the crime. And then yes, March 11th, they're home against, which means we won't see Ben till March 25th, but you know, that's fine. And they end with Houston at home. Better ending than last year. Yeah. And then hopefully, hopefully again, another playoff game.
00:09:51
Speaker
Yeah, and I'm I'm excited about the schedule release, but I'm not retweeting a picture with that fucking guy on it. No, that that's unnecessary. Yes. No, I don't I don't get it. You signed and I get that he's like kind of the face of the team, but like he's a clown. Yeah, he's a clown and he signed like 30 other props. So he's not on the team anymore. Really? Yeah, he probably won't take much. Well, so I saw this rumor.
00:10:19
Speaker
with the dispersal and the expansion draft last week that was behind closed doors. I don't know if it's been confirmed yet, but we may have got Justice Sears-Duru, the Canadian prop. Well, yeah. It might be the end of that life right there. Good. Because we've signed a couple of... There's another sign, yeah, and they picked up a couple from college. So that'll be... That's probably the end of his tenure as our starting recipient, thank God.
00:10:49
Speaker
And I think we definitely checked, kept the wrong prop out of him and Q, but Q is not from here. So that's probably, but they haven't been playing Clinton for a while. So that's understandable. I think that's unfortunate. Yeah, it is the guy anyway. And Joe, Joe Johnson did just reassign today, which I saw coming down the road. So nice. Yes. Very handy player.
00:11:18
Speaker
All right, let's go to Eden Park. We'll start with a competition equal to MLM. No, not even close. Not even close. We'll go to third place game first, which was earlier in the day. I happened to catch it a good chunk of it before I watched the final just because I was waiting on something to go over and watch with. And unfortunately,
00:11:45
Speaker
Canada just ran out of gas. You got to feel the feel like that they just threw it all into. Oh, I'm sure they threw it all at England. And at that point, it's just a you. You party a little bit, you know, third or fourth doesn't really matter. I mean, you know, it's a nice thing, but it's also you're playing France who are it's like you can either run up the way you did against England and just throw everything at it again two weeks in a row.
00:12:16
Speaker
And maybe win, but likely lose anyway, or you can just have fun with it. I guess that's what I would do. Right. Might've gone with that. Just an idea. Yeah. Although still all that said, holding, holding friends to 36, I thought is, was impressive. Cause like, you know, you don't, you kind of, even if you're, even if you're, you're really want to do it, but you're flat.
00:12:43
Speaker
you could still get really boat raced. And 36 is just like, okay, you got spanked a little bit, but you didn't get like, you know. Yeah. You got to feel that France might've taken their foot off the gas once they got that first second half. Also true. It might've just been like, let's just have some fun. Yeah, that might've been neat. And they're like, okay. And that's the end. Yeah. And it's gone. And scene. Scene. So to the French's credit, uh,
00:13:11
Speaker
I'm sure a lot of people saw the stat that they were throwing up there. And I would, I had it in my head going into the semi-final and the final as well. Cause I'd seen it. They didn't allow a point inside the first 20 minutes of any match. That's how you come out, come out and put yourself in the match at least. Loads of credit to them.
00:13:31
Speaker
Yeah, for Canada, I mean, the only stat leader was the goodie and that was tackles. So shocker of the day. Yeah, right. You know, Karen Packman was right behind her and got a number of tackles. So always was going to be tough to just do it again. We have our own 15 in the 15 of the week, but or of the of the tournament, but I saw one published in
00:13:57
Speaker
I just really was aghast because the nine they picked wasn't Pelletier, wasn't Bourdon, wasn't Infante, who we'll talk about a little bit. It was Abe from Japan. I was like, oh, oh, I did see that one, too. I was like, nope, nope. See, I didn't choose either of any of them anyway. No, but just but I went a different direction. Right. It's still like. Yeah. Yeah. It was like for me, if you didn't make the knockout,
00:14:26
Speaker
You had to have been head and shoulders above everyone else in the match, all three of them, all three matches you played. And I didn't see anybody there. I didn't see, and there were two players that made that 15 that weren't that. Actually, wait, did I, I may have picked one that didn't make the knockout. Hold on a sec. No, I think they did make it.
Epic Final Highlights and Memorable Moments
00:14:45
Speaker
Let me see. Um,
00:14:52
Speaker
Shit, which, where was the, I can't, all right, whatever. It doesn't matter. We'll get there. We'll find out. Yeah. We'll find out a little bit, but yeah. Credit to France. Pretty sure they did make the, the knockouts though. This was this, you know, they, they could have let this be another disappointment to them. And it was, it was, you know, this is another year where they don't make a final, but they said, you know what, we're going to make the best of this and we're going to make sure we bring home a medal at least. Okay.
00:15:22
Speaker
Oh my. My oh my. All time classic. Absolutely. We'll go down in history as one of the best finals ever. Bar none. Bar none.
00:15:38
Speaker
And it doesn't, you know, we're talking all competitions, men, women, any, this was a match just for the age of shit. This was a, this was a doozy. I had a friend that was remotely interested in rugby came over and she's like, holy shit. That was hot. Cause she, she's fallen in love with as many of us have Ruby too. You know, so yeah.
00:16:05
Speaker
So right off the bat, we had, we had our holy shit moment to, before the kickoff, Advante going, going out of the team. I was like, she's played like, she played almost every minute for this team. And that was like, Oh, that is no good. And to, to Lucy Packer's credit, you wouldn't have known it, you know? No.
00:16:27
Speaker
Not at all. I thought, like, I thought she played a fantastic match. Right. I thought she was very good. Right. And if I'm not mistaken, they were winning when they took her out. I think so. I think so. I agree. Hold on, they didn't. No, no, I'm sorry. I'm wrong. Yeah, but I mean, that thing was back and forth. Either way. Yeah.
00:16:55
Speaker
Right. Crystal Murray was not Lucy Packer's fault. No. You just don't stop her. No, that was a freaking shoot house. So, yeah, let's just kind of go through it, you know, as as we as we went. So we had the Kildoon try and that was just like right off the bat. I was like, oh, boy, this could be a wild, a wild day for England itself. And I'm like, yeah, boy. Yeah, that was.
00:17:25
Speaker
That also was probably one of the better pieces of open play for England as well. I'm having a hard time recalling much more than I know there were a couple, but much beyond that, I don't remember much in terms of them being open play.
00:17:42
Speaker
So, but then we got, and then we had cocaine go over for her first. And then, and that, and that is like, that was a huge moment for New Zealand. They either needed to front this thing up, which we knew they were going to eventually at least step up and make this thing interesting. Right.
00:17:59
Speaker
It was going to take more than honestly, it was going to take more than 14 points to really scared the Kiwis because it's like, okay, well, we can get that there. Yeah. So, but they still had just like, I still think getting the next try after that was, was kind of a necessity. Yeah. So it's like, it's one of those, you don't need to panic, but you need to score next because damn. Yeah. And then.
00:18:28
Speaker
And then we had the incident and I know, I know this was kind of skipping ahead, but we had the incident of Lydia Thompson and I thought, Oh boy. And I watching it, not even listening to Holly Davidson, I thought this is red card territory. And I didn't have a, I wasn't necessarily listening to Holly Davidson. I'm thinking she's in a whole lot of trouble. Sure enough.
00:18:52
Speaker
rings like oh boy and that was a huge thing because Leah Thompson up to that point has had a great tournament as well and that's just you know that don't let that be
00:19:03
Speaker
You know, Amara, don't let that be like what defines this tournament for her by any means whatsoever. A lot of people will because it was a final, but, you know.
New Zealand's Dramatic Victory
00:19:12
Speaker
But that it's such, this was to me, like you have to really weigh the fact that because there's such a, there's not much, the professionalism isn't fully, I shouldn't say it's not even fully developed in the men, but it's certainly not as developed in the women's as it even is in the men's game.
00:19:34
Speaker
This was, this game was at another speed. This game was something that like they, these players really were living on the edge the whole match because it's, because that's just the way it is. These are the two best teams in the world just doing what they do. And so it's, if this stuff happens, it's one of those, like somebody was going to get a card like that and it just, there was Lydia's day to do it. It sucks. It's one of those, like, I, I feel bad for her. Cause it's like, it's going to happen to somebody, but, um,
00:20:04
Speaker
And it just sucks when it happens to you. So that obviously brought up that obviously also brought up Woodman, which was a huge issue as well. But well, not so much. I used to like to say, no, we have no issues, girls. We're good. Right. We're good. She's ridiculous. Yeah, she was on fire when she came in.
00:20:26
Speaker
Yeah. So we had, so we had that and that was kind of a, that, that, that just turned into that little fuse, I feel like for the Kiwis as well. And then we had, you know, Marley went over and there was loads of problems with New Zealand kicking off the tee. So you knew they were just going to have to score tries to get into this thing. Cause off the tee, they were just not good. That's just how it is. Uh,
00:20:54
Speaker
But they showed a nice variety in the ways that they scored with, obviously, Ponsonby got over and Rule got over both off the mall, which is like, ooh, hello. That's not something that usually has to happen. That happens to England. So it was kind of a, oh, okay, this could be fun. And that's what I do like about New Zealand is they are able to, whatever you do well, they're able to do it well enough just to be like, yeah, we can do it too. Just well enough. Just well enough. So that was kind of cool.
00:21:24
Speaker
And then I think the try of the game came from Luller. Oh, it was ridiculous. I mean, just the movement and... It wasn't the one from Luller that she scored. It was the one she set up.
00:21:38
Speaker
oh that yes it was one of the other right she had the two best tries in this game handstand certainly you know or at least was involved in them no but her try that she scored the goal the try was huge i just i was screaming at the top of my lungs go right yeah definitely so much fun
00:22:00
Speaker
And then, so the whole time I'm watching this game and we know how deadly this England Mall attack and this piece is, I'm screaming at New Zealand, go up and cut it up at the source. They didn't have great success staying on the ground. And what happens for the final lineup?
00:22:23
Speaker
I mean, Nanwu goes up and takes it away and just says, no, our World Cup, our trophy, not taking it. Just all of that, every piece of it. This is for the World Cup, right? This line out. And if you're England, and so, yeah, here's the thing. If you went to these clubs, these teams, before the World Cup started, you didn't start it, whatever, and you said,
00:22:50
Speaker
if you get to the final and you have one last play to go and it's an England line-out on your doorstep, how are you feeling? England would be like, I'm good, let's do it, we'll get it. New Zealand would be like, I just pooped. And it was more than a little. This was the exact situation that England wanted and the exact situation that New Zealand did not want.
00:23:18
Speaker
No, not at all. Wow. Yes, when that hand shot out and snaffled that ball, I was jaw on the floor. Did you see Ruby Toohey's reaction? Yeah, she was fucking... Yes. She was celebrating. She waited until... She knew. She saw that Black Fern had the ball and she just started running the other... She's done. She's like, yeah, we did it. It's like, wait.
00:23:47
Speaker
I'm like, kick it out, stupid. Right. It's not over. But at the same time, it's like there's nothing for her to do. It's not her job to kick it out. It's not her job to win that rock. She's done. She did her job. She can celebrate.
Celebrating New Zealand's Win and Coaching Impact
00:23:58
Speaker
Jobs done, kids. That's actually really cool. We done, kids. What a finish. If you were sitting in a chair for that,
00:24:10
Speaker
Oh, I was out of my seat. I can tell you that much right now. How? How? Imagine your laziness. Yeah, that's pretty much it. It's ultimate laziness because I was out of my chair. So it was a wonderful showpiece for the game of rugby. And just if you need to show someone one game on the difference about rugby, the
00:24:41
Speaker
what makes rugby so great and how you can vary teams can play differently and still be successful and how we can all still be so exciting just right here. This was it.
00:24:58
Speaker
The, the afters were so much fun to watch. It was, you know, we're going to be singing with the crowd was, Oh, that was, that was just, that was what we're on a box of Wheaties. Like, come on. Yeah. She, she should be everywhere right now. And just, right. Like would do well to make her the face of the sport for many reasons.
00:25:22
Speaker
I've only got I've only got a couple pages into her book but it is superb already so just, yeah, I haven't picked a book up go get it. And she just gets it, like, yeah, I'm. Yeah, I like listening to her talk it's fun and it's agreed, it's actually insightful in so many ways so yes, really, like, yes.
00:25:47
Speaker
Yeah. And then the heartbreak on like, Oh, on English side, you know, we, yeah, this is likely Sarah Hunter's last World Cup. And right. You know, there's a lot of players that probably won't be back around yet for the England one. Like, yeah, it's just, it's heartbreaking, but
00:26:06
Speaker
the singing team will be fine. They'll reset, they'll go again. And they themselves did so much to inspire so many young kids, so many little girls out there that they can play with the boys too and they can hit just as hard as them. Oh man, that was like...
00:26:23
Speaker
Those hits were some demolition work in there. I was like, oh, my ribs hurt just watching that. Right. It's yes, like that was a fucking shot like all over the place. So they're all over.
00:26:40
Speaker
It was just such an excellent representation of literally every aspect of rugby, the loose play, the excellent set pieces, the physicality, but also the talent, like all of it. Just, you know, as I said, like everybody's living on the edge because it's you got to go and you've got to go now. No time to think about what you're doing. You just, you know, you just throw yourself at it and hope it works. Totally.
00:27:05
Speaker
And just, yeah, you could see the just the and it's of course, it has, you know, the the happiness and the tears at the end. So that that's what that's a classic right there. If you know it for the for the whole shebang, as they say, and credit to England, they could they got that knowledge. They could have tied it up and just played back to China. They didn't. They went for the job. Yeah, I appreciate that. But that's that's why, you know, you have that mall. That's what you do. Right. Agreed.
00:27:34
Speaker
Good stuff. Yeah. And then the unfortunate afters, you know, we saw the great things that they did, they did, they did their hockey, they did the song, which was all really, really fun stuff to watch. And then, you know, the next day, unfortunately, it's really hard. We shouldn't stick coaches in front of a mic the next day that lost. Playing something like Simon Milton, park your seat, dude. You said some things you're probably going to regret.
00:27:57
Speaker
down the road like the 20-minute red card and you know intent that's stupid number one that was yellow it was a yellow right sorry it's yellow deal with it yeah okay so sorry England fans that was yellow I can appreciate that you feel heartbroken and like it was taken away trust me it's not like you know New Zealand didn't get you know probably a 50-50 call going against them too so just live with it right right
00:28:22
Speaker
Yeah, like I said, I don't think Milton's gonna look back on the interview and feel good about himself anyway. So yeah, yeah, it's not gonna be his most prideful moment. Nope, probably not. But in the end, but at least he didn't go back and make several videos. Oh, I know fucking about shit. And then I
00:28:49
Speaker
If you've listened to this for long enough, you know how much of a fan I am of Wade Smith. And I am just, this whole thing just kind of cemented him as my favorite coach ever.
Coaching Strategies and Player Performance Analysis
00:28:59
Speaker
Like as of right now. What a job he did. Yeah. Was on a beach and said, yeah, I'm in. And like, here's the thing though. Cause you can do this if you're, you know, if you have a little bit of experience and some talent to you, it's like,
00:29:18
Speaker
You just let the play, like you don't have to make it about yourself. Too many coaches make it all about themselves. The better coaches make it, it's the players. They're the ones who are going out there. So you find, you know, he found what his best mix was by playing everybody. Young and old and saying, okay, who are my best players? And you know, two of them were like 18.
00:29:41
Speaker
And it's like, these are the best ones. So they're going to be in my 23 and they work well with the others and they do the things that we need to do as a team to be successful, you know, for what we have. And so we let them, he found like, he just got the fuck out of the way, essentially. So it's like, yes, great coaching job. It's so hard to find.
00:30:02
Speaker
Like, give them the tools and get the fuck out of the way. They already have the tools. Give them a little bit of structure and get the fuck out of the way. Right. And for me personally, watching this game, I feel like Blackferns played the better ball in hand, open rugby in open play. Like, it was very good stuff. Was it a little loose at times? Yes. And I'm sure they understood that and they rained it in with a knee or two. Right. But to me,
00:30:29
Speaker
England just wanted to set peace in New Zealand at death. And to a point, it obviously obviously bit them in the final moment, but there were still other points where it kind of bit them too. So maybe that was their game plan the whole time, but you just have to be able to understand that it could be adjusted here and there. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know how you.
00:30:50
Speaker
It's really hard to beat any New Zealand team, just focusing on a set piece and like power in the set piece, not even, you know, your line out mall, really, you know, that that's, that's your, that was your weapon. And it's like, you gotta have a, you know, you gotta have something else too. Yeah.
00:31:09
Speaker
Really the, the, what we call the third set piece made a difference in a lot of ways because New Zealand tried to get that ball back more often than not. Right. It was pretty successful for the most part. And I know it's England had a couple of successful ones on their own. So yeah, it was just to me, it was the better playing team one simple. Yes. I agree. And that, and that's not taking anything away from England. I just, I test what I saw. I liked it better coming out of coming from the black brands.
00:31:37
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. It was like, how many championship matches do you come away from saying, you know what, like, this would have been great if the refs weren't blah, or like, as far as, you know, just making bad calls, like, or getting in the way.
00:31:57
Speaker
This would have been great except for this team just didn't show up or, you know, like they both played like poo and it's just like whichever team didn't, you know, played the least. Yeah. A few of those. The referees did a good job. Sorry, Simon, but they did a great job.
00:32:15
Speaker
The teams fronted the fuck up. Nobody stepped down. There was nobody that you could point to and be like, that person really pooped themselves. Everybody stepped to the plate on the biggest stage. And the result was squeaky bomb time. Like, yes, yes. Give me. I'm like this all the time. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I agree. No argument on me.
00:32:44
Speaker
Yeah. So thank you to everyone that made this tournament so much fun to watch. And there was a lot of hard work put in by the teams, the coaching staffs, the freaking obviously the players and their families and the sacrifice that that took. Right. The journalists.
00:33:04
Speaker
I want to shout out to the announcers who I thought did an X just worked really well with each other. And, and, and broadcast like clearly cared. You know, sometimes you get women's announcers who are like, Oh, Oh, what's it? You know, like they don't
Tournament Recap and Media Praise
00:33:21
Speaker
know the names. They don't really not familiar with these guys and women all knew the players. They like clearly.
00:33:27
Speaker
It was like watching a men's match where even if you don't normally announce, say, the French teams, you know the names, you know all of them because you're just in the community and whatnot. It's good that that's coming to the women's game.
00:33:40
Speaker
Yeah. It was really well presented. Yeah. Kate and I think Katie, Ricky and, um, did a great job in the final, especially. Yeah. Just so, yeah. Thank you to everyone that made this such a fun tournament to follow. It'll not be forgotten anytime soon. Right. We still have our 15 of the tournament though.
Best 15 Players of the Tournament Discussion
00:34:02
Speaker
We do. We do. We do. Um, so diving in 15 of the tournament and start at loose head.
00:34:12
Speaker
Lu said, I have Sylvia Tarani from Italy. She was a popular pick as well. She's one I have no problem with. The thing is, it would have been easy to go with any of the England props, but none of them really showed up. No.
00:34:30
Speaker
Like they didn't they didn't do their normal thing. I shouldn't. They didn't show up. That's not fair. They didn't go for runs like we didn't see them out in the loose like we normally do. They were well contained. So kind of made it fun to to, you know, look elsewhere for I was shocked that I didn't have one England prop. Right. I mean, not shocked when I wrote it, but like before the tournament, if you told me that neither none of the England props would be on my 15. Right. Yeah. I was I was actually looking at this. I'm like, no, I went with
00:34:58
Speaker
pip love, although I could probably throw in her sidekick as well there too from New Zealand. But, you know, not necessarily a name people thought would be impactful because, you know, nobody thought that the Kiwis would
00:35:15
Speaker
be as strong as they were because they did have a really poor ball last fall and they were obviously not playing for a long time. And yeah, they got, they got wrecked, you know, but, and I thought she was one of the ones that just put her hand up and said, I am, you're starting to this head. No problem. Put it, get on my back. I got it. So I give her all the credit in the world. And obviously you said it on the World Cup. What excited about that thing either. Can't say boo about that. Nope.
00:35:44
Speaker
Who's your hooker? Does Pam Pooby ring a bell? Oh, wait, no, sorry. Cocaine. Cocaine. Yeah, I she was mine until I I realized that I should go with Emily Tatosi from Canada. She was my she she she would be on my bench. Trust me. I right. Exactly. Yeah. Right. Also, you know, had they both had six tries and
00:36:16
Speaker
But I yeah, I liked I liked to I felt like cocaine. You know, I didn't I didn't feel that cocaine energy outside of of the mall. So I thought like to Tosi had a better all around game. Yeah. So that's why I went with her. Although that was that was the differentiator was was cocaine was really good at one thing. Yeah. Right. Tosi was was a little bit more versatile, a little more versatile. So I don't get I'm not going to smash you that by any means whatsoever.
00:36:47
Speaker
Tight head. We don't. I went with Reciola or Ressalia. Ressalia. Yeah, from. See, she had one standout match for me, which was kind of why I was hesitant to put her in. I wanted to see her stand out a little bit more in the other matches, too, so. I don't disagree. Hawaii justified for myself. Yeah, I hear you. Who'd you go with? Yes, I went with Benin from Canada.
00:37:15
Speaker
Oh, fair. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I thought, you know, that was that's a lot to stand up to that to that that match. That's that's true. That's a lot to stand up to that England Scrum. And she did a great fucking job last week. So she did. And obviously they didn't back it up this week, but whatever the third place game, like we talked about. Right. So I thought she really did a good job of just.
00:37:36
Speaker
saying, nope, this is not gonna be that easy for you. I am gonna make life miserable for you all. And she did. So I give her a load of credit for her. So she gets the knock from me. Yeah, that's awesome. Love it. All right, four, engine room. So do we wanna just do them, you know, four and five together? Yeah, we can go four and five together. My four and five are Maya Roos and Medusa Fall.
00:38:04
Speaker
See, and I went with two others. Wow. We're going to be well represented here. Okay. And I had Bruce in there, but the steady, steady hand for both of it, for two teams in this final were Chelsea Bremner from New Zealand and Abby Ward from England. They didn't do anything super flashy, but they, more or less, they were running their line out.
00:38:33
Speaker
for the both of them. And both lineouts were usually pretty good. Now, remember how bad New Zealand's lineup was at one point as well? Yes. And Bremner has definitely, she called her own number. She knew when to go to roost and all that. Right. So I give her a lot of credit for this, uh, line out solidifying itself. Ponce be obviously fixing her ship was also very helpful, but I think a lot of it had to do with her. So right. That's just me. And then Ward is, you know, she's one of the best partners in the world. So yeah, exactly. Nevermind that.
00:39:04
Speaker
Yeah, but I hadn't yet. Yeah, it was also the fact that I had enough.
00:39:09
Speaker
English players, so I wanted to go somewhere else. And then I felt like Bruce, everything but the final. She was not the better player in the final, but like I'm going by the full... No, I'm not disagreeing. Like I said last week, I think she did a great job this whole tournament of keeping Nan Wu on the bench for the most part. And that's no small feat because we saw what Nan Wu could do in that last minute. Loads of credit to her, but yeah, not dismissing that by any means whatsoever.
00:39:40
Speaker
Let's go to six. I cheated on the six because I want flankers. So I'm just picking, you know, a seven or someone. I picked Marley Packer at my six. Okay. Well, she's my seven. So for me, I know, but for me, she'd, she'd play six for this team. Yeah. Yeah. No, she's my, she's my seven. My six. Um, I went with Marie Managรฉ.
00:40:05
Speaker
Oh, yes, she was right up there. She was playing number eight for France, but my number eight is different. So she needs to be in my team. I'm sliding around to the side because she, you know, and you look at, look back at the semi-final, like the people that stood up for France. Right. She was, she, she scored a double no. Absolutely. Yeah. She was a nightmare for them. Yes. So yeah. And she, she's my number 20. Yeah. Not unworthy by any means whatsoever. Right.
00:40:36
Speaker
So Packard, my seven, who's yours? Okay. My seven is Sarah Harini. Okay. Yeah. All the praise we keep on her last week. I'm not going to say no. Right. Cause she had another excellent match. She didn't get over this week, but, um, but just to switch from sevens to two number seven and just like,
00:40:58
Speaker
she was undeniable for that team, which is, it's ridiculous. These are great 15s players. And she's like, yeah, it's like I've been doing it forever. Like no big deal. I mean, it's one thing for the Ruby two is, um, and the Porsche Woodlands who, yeah, they are basically doing the same thing that they do in sevens and 15s, just with a little bit less space.
00:41:17
Speaker
Harini is fucking in the pack and she is busy as fuck. Like to make that change to, you know, going for seven minutes a time to going for fucking 80 or 40 anyway. And she showed well, she didn't like she didn't like poop out.
00:41:33
Speaker
Nope. Like, she just played really well for the full, like, yeah. So for me, like I'm taking her with my seven. Yeah. Because I already have a Packer at six. Yeah. And shout out to Karen Paquin from Canada as well. Yes. Some more mold. Big. Yes. She, if I went for a six too, she'd be the other. Yeah. The other one. Yep.
00:41:58
Speaker
Number eight. We got the same number eight. We have to have to. Yeah, I would not accept you saying anything else. Talk about a, talk about a, you know, a talisman, a person just leave from the front as the captain, like on, and for me, she's my captain too. I'm denying when she is my captain as well. There's no, there's nobody else I'd want in there wearing that armband besides her and
00:42:24
Speaker
Oh, man, I am so fucking pissed. We have to deal with her for so much longer for the Eagles. God damn it. She's going to be a nightmare forever. She really is. Fuck. Yeah. Yeah. No credit to her. And I don't think I need to say we don't need to say a whole lot about her. No, just excellent. If she's not universe, you didn't watch the toilet. Yeah, you weren't watching things.
00:42:49
Speaker
Um, nine. This was freaking all over the map for me. I was like, Oh, pretty good ones. So, so here's where I picked another Kiwi, um, with Kendra Cox. Yeah. Just for, to, to, to, you know, recognize that's like a, you know, a little bit of a career accomplishment thing, but you know, she wants, she,
00:43:14
Speaker
She stayed on to win the World Cup at home and she got that was her goal and she got it. So yeah, she officially retired the other day, too. Yeah. Yeah, I'm not saying no. So I'm going to I went with Pauline Bordon. Yeah, that was actually she was.
00:43:34
Speaker
not the one that everybody thought would be playing here. Obviously we thought we'd see Senzu a lot, but what happened happened. France didn't miss a beat. I really don't think anybody thought of it. I don't think anybody thought they would because they knew we all knew we're almost good.
00:43:50
Speaker
The potential is still there to, it could fuck them up a little bit. Yeah. And we also, and everybody was talking about Sanzu coming into the same, like how good she, she was, you know, the equivalent of DuPont and in terms of, you know, Frances inspiration and she goes down in game one. And it's like, Oh, right. It's like, yeah. Plans changing immediately. Yeah. Fricking talk about turning on a dime. So yeah. 10.
00:44:20
Speaker
Steering the ship. So I went with basically because she took a giant step forward. We talked about her last week and.
00:44:32
Speaker
She was consistent the whole, the whole tournament, I thought. And, uh, I really liked her step up and really make becoming more of a player who's putting the fear of God into the other team, just from her. Um, and that's Carolyn Druin. She's a fucking handful. Yep. Good for her. Yeah. I thought she played so much better as the game, as this tournament went on too. I really did. So I'd give her loads of credit. Uh, I went with losing play half from the, from the final Zoe Harrison. She's been.
00:45:03
Speaker
steady Eddie for England the whole time and just very calm guiding hand to that England team, pretty much throughout the entire tournament and never, never really relinquished that 10 shirt either. And there was plenty of options Simon Middleton could have gone to and never gave him a reason to whatsoever. So I give her a lot of credit and that's why she's my 10. Now the back one, this'll be fun.
00:45:34
Speaker
to where we start centers. Yeah, you want to go centers? Yeah. All right, go for it.
00:45:39
Speaker
I've by 12, I have Kelter because I'm fucking biased. I considered her to somewhere. I considered her to. I strongly considered her as well. So I don't blame you. Yeah, I'm not even trying to be objective on this one. I love Kelter is in my 15. Well, she was she was definitely hands down the best player from the United States. There's no exactly. And yeah, actually, I think I'd represented every every team that made the knockouts. I'm pretty sure.
00:46:08
Speaker
So I needed to at least one American. Well, there you go. So my 12 was she was just a cruise missile flying around everywhere as Gabrielle Vernier just like I loved watching her so much. Just knifing people in half and then cruising through freaking back lines when she gets the ball. I was like, oh,
00:46:33
Speaker
I want her on my team all day long, like all day long. That that is she's she's not big. She's just a little tiny freaking pack of dynamite. She is. She hurts, too. I was like, OK, yep. Give me that all day. She's yeah. So I want her on my team. So she's my 12. Good call. 13. I'm sure we have the same 13. I bet you we do. Emily Skarit.
00:46:58
Speaker
No, no, no. So yeah, well, there's only OK. I'm sorry. Yes, because there was another option, but I didn't go with you didn't know. No. And yes. Yeah. That is OK. So we wanted the best 13s in the world. There's only one name I want to hear come out of your mouth now. Stacey.
00:47:15
Speaker
Yeah. And yes, she missed two games in the pool stage, came back, came back and was rocking and rolling. And it was noticeable when she came back to. It wasn't like Stacey came back and, you know, things kept clicking along. She made a huge impact when she came back. So I, you know, that to me said, OK, she's definitely one of the best players at this tournament hands back. So she's got massive, massive in the semifinals, massive in the final, like,
00:47:45
Speaker
Um, yeah, just it was no, she was noticeable. So the, yeah, the only reason that I went with Scaz is because, you know, she's, she has a whole bunch of other points too, that weren't just tries and whatnot. So. Right. She was invaluable. Blah, blah, blah. She's really fucking good. Yeah. All right. Wings. 11 is because.
Best Backline Players Selection
00:48:13
Speaker
I mean, how could you not love?
00:48:16
Speaker
And especially the play last week where she fucking torched everybody coming back from a broken leg. Abby Dow. She's my 14. So, yeah. Yeah. She's out there. So, yeah. No, the first story is just incredible. And for her to be a part of that trial last week was.
00:48:36
Speaker
just seal. I was like, that's actually my cake right there. She's in. She is in. She's got to be in my team. So yes, she is my 14. My 11 is the.
00:48:47
Speaker
World Cup tri-setting winger for New Zealand, Portia Woodman. Yeah. And I was, you know, as a guest as I was that she left this game. I was like, oh, man, this was going to be so much fun with her. And it obviously it still was because I got I got, you know, my mouth put back on my my foot, back in my mouth.
00:49:13
Speaker
But still, just, you know, setting records and you could just see it was a different level for her out there for a lot of players. It's like, oh man, she's just shoving people off her and still going forward. It's just not fair sometimes. So yeah, Portions is my 11th.
00:49:33
Speaker
Yeah, because my 14 was the other Kiwi winger. Yeah, Ruby. I had to like, and that was for 15. So for everything. OK, well, yeah. My my yeah, my 15 minutes. Yes, OK. Yes, I would. And I would tell I would totally agree with that because she was fantastic for the Italian team and, you know, certainly made a huge difference. And there were other. Well, I was I was in my head as well.
00:50:02
Speaker
Yeah, she was there and then...
00:50:07
Speaker
There are a couple others that I was considering, but now I kind of wanted to, again, spread the love around, although I did already have an Italian, but they showed up well, so I thought they deserved to. No, I agree. I thought she was quite good for that team. And it was like, you know what? She's just so awake. So quick. Hits that line and she's gone. I was like, OK, that's a problem because she smoked a couple of teams. I was like, OK, that's that hand is up and you were noticed, man. You are noticed.
00:50:38
Speaker
Yes.
Praise for Coach Wayne Smith
00:50:39
Speaker
And then we're picking a coach. Wayne Smith's my coach. Like I said, he's my favorite coach of all time at this point. So Wayne's both my guy. Yeah. Definitely not Rob King. Who said that? He's definitely not fucking Rob King. Oh man.
Conclusion and Technical Difficulties Note
00:50:58
Speaker
World Cup comes to an end. So sad. I'm gonna miss it. I was like, I was thinking about it. I'm like, Oh, I'm looking forward to the women's matches this weekend. I'm like, Oh, wait, there are none. There's a man. Brownie face. Brownie face.
00:51:16
Speaker
Be on the lookout for part two of this episode. Also, side note, I'd like to say I apologize for the way my microphone sounds. I have no idea what's going on with it. So, bear with us. Thanks for your patience. You guys are awesome.