alf101
09-05-2012, 10:04 AM
Just saw this article today.
I see South africa appear in 5 of them.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10759439
1 - ABDEL BENAZZI, 1995
It looked at the time as if Abdel Benazzi had grounded the ball over the tryline. It still looked like he had grounded the ball over the tryline on the slow motion action replay. But back in 1995, there was no Television Match Official. Semifinal referee Derek Bevan said the French No 8 was short and that was it - he blew for fulltime and South Africa were in the final.
The Springboks had gone through 19-15 and Benazzi's last minute lunge would have made all the difference, had it counted. It had the feel of a slightly harsh call in the hours after the game but took on a more sinister hue after the tournament. At the post-tournament dinner, South African Rugby Union president Louis Luyt thanked Bevan in his appalling speech for "outstanding refereeing". He then invited the Welshman on stage to accept an expensive gold watch.
Bevan joined the mass walkout, later saying: "It was something I could have done without. It came out of the blue: I have no idea why he singled me out.
It could be misconstrued and if that is the case, it leaves a bitter taste."
2 - FIJI v FRANCE, 1999
Fiji had France in real trouble during their pool clash at the 1999 World Cup. A disorganised French team were all over the place and Fiji reigned supreme in the chaos. It was their kind of rugby - no structure, high risks and plenty of mistakes to feed off. They were looking good to pull off the unthinkable and beat the pool favourites and turn the World Cup on its head.
That was until referee Paddy O'Brien intervened by having the worst game of his career and a performance so bad even he said it was a "car crash". First he denied Fiji a legitimate try. They had caught the French fullback in a pincer tackle, the ball jolted loose and they hacked on and scored.
O'Brien, though, saw a knock-on no one else in the world did. Then he missed three blatant forward passes in the build-up to a French try and, amazingly, with Fiji under pressure on their own line during a series of scrummages, he awarded a penalty try after French hooker Marc Del Maso popped up.
France won the game 28-19 - a result they could never have achieved without O'Brien's help. "I lost the plot," was the Kiwi official's honest assessment.
He went on to become the IRB's referee performance manager - Fiji were dumped out in the curious and never repeated quarter-final playoff round.
3 - ENGLAND v FRANCE, 1991
The last time England met France in a quarter-final, things finished up decidedly ugly both on and off the field.
The game itself was ill-tempered and full of unsavoury incidents that went unpunished. The French, as they are prone to do when they play England, smelled a conspiracy.
They felt the English-speaking New Zealand referee David Bishop was against them so after the final whistle blew to condemn France to an early exit - they had lost 19-10 - captain Daniel Dubroca manhandled the referee in the tunnel. He had him by the throat, pushed him around a bit and screamed in his face that he was a cheat.
Apparently this wasn't reason for the IRB to take any action and they did their level best to play it down and pretend it never happened.
There was no sanction against the normally sane hooker but he did at least have the decency to resign his post shortly after the World Cup.
4 - SOUTH AFRICA v SAMOA, 1995
It would have spoiled the story, a good book and fairly awful movie. But the South Africans needed to be taken to task for their actions in the 1995 quarter-final against Samoa.
It was only after the Boks had posted a 42-14 win that the extent of their work off the ball became apparent. Some of the Samoans were sporting bite marks on various parts of their bodies and there may have been all kinds of physical abuse inflicted upon them.
But the Samoans were reluctant to snitch - to go public with the accusations, even though there was ample video evidence to confirm that they had been subjected to things no team should ever have to put up with.
Perhaps because of the momentum the Boks had built in unifying the country or perhaps because they had already been in trouble for a nasty brawl that erupted earlier in the tournament against the Canadians, South Africa were never probed about their antics in the quarter-final. They were let off without a stain on their record.
5 - TONGA v THE IRB, 2007
Pretty much on the bones of their arse at the last World Cup, Tonga defied the odds to become the darlings of the tournament.
They so nearly beat South Africa in their opening game, then edged past the US and Samoa to leave themselves in a showdown with England for a quarter-final place. By this point, they had captured the imagination and probably because they were playing England, a number of people wanted to help them with their finances.
One such party was Irish-based bookmaker Paddy Power who tipped in a five-figure donation to help the Pacific Island side. The Tongans in return decided they would all dye their hair green to say thanks.
The IRB got wind of it and threatened them if they did. It didn't seem to matter that the French had grown beards and dyed their hair blond en masse at the 1995 World Cup or that the French had deliberately darkened their playing kit to enforce a colour clash with the All Blacks in 2007.
The Tongans could be bullied so therefore they were.
..........
I see South africa appear in 5 of them.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10759439
1 - ABDEL BENAZZI, 1995
It looked at the time as if Abdel Benazzi had grounded the ball over the tryline. It still looked like he had grounded the ball over the tryline on the slow motion action replay. But back in 1995, there was no Television Match Official. Semifinal referee Derek Bevan said the French No 8 was short and that was it - he blew for fulltime and South Africa were in the final.
The Springboks had gone through 19-15 and Benazzi's last minute lunge would have made all the difference, had it counted. It had the feel of a slightly harsh call in the hours after the game but took on a more sinister hue after the tournament. At the post-tournament dinner, South African Rugby Union president Louis Luyt thanked Bevan in his appalling speech for "outstanding refereeing". He then invited the Welshman on stage to accept an expensive gold watch.
Bevan joined the mass walkout, later saying: "It was something I could have done without. It came out of the blue: I have no idea why he singled me out.
It could be misconstrued and if that is the case, it leaves a bitter taste."
2 - FIJI v FRANCE, 1999
Fiji had France in real trouble during their pool clash at the 1999 World Cup. A disorganised French team were all over the place and Fiji reigned supreme in the chaos. It was their kind of rugby - no structure, high risks and plenty of mistakes to feed off. They were looking good to pull off the unthinkable and beat the pool favourites and turn the World Cup on its head.
That was until referee Paddy O'Brien intervened by having the worst game of his career and a performance so bad even he said it was a "car crash". First he denied Fiji a legitimate try. They had caught the French fullback in a pincer tackle, the ball jolted loose and they hacked on and scored.
O'Brien, though, saw a knock-on no one else in the world did. Then he missed three blatant forward passes in the build-up to a French try and, amazingly, with Fiji under pressure on their own line during a series of scrummages, he awarded a penalty try after French hooker Marc Del Maso popped up.
France won the game 28-19 - a result they could never have achieved without O'Brien's help. "I lost the plot," was the Kiwi official's honest assessment.
He went on to become the IRB's referee performance manager - Fiji were dumped out in the curious and never repeated quarter-final playoff round.
3 - ENGLAND v FRANCE, 1991
The last time England met France in a quarter-final, things finished up decidedly ugly both on and off the field.
The game itself was ill-tempered and full of unsavoury incidents that went unpunished. The French, as they are prone to do when they play England, smelled a conspiracy.
They felt the English-speaking New Zealand referee David Bishop was against them so after the final whistle blew to condemn France to an early exit - they had lost 19-10 - captain Daniel Dubroca manhandled the referee in the tunnel. He had him by the throat, pushed him around a bit and screamed in his face that he was a cheat.
Apparently this wasn't reason for the IRB to take any action and they did their level best to play it down and pretend it never happened.
There was no sanction against the normally sane hooker but he did at least have the decency to resign his post shortly after the World Cup.
4 - SOUTH AFRICA v SAMOA, 1995
It would have spoiled the story, a good book and fairly awful movie. But the South Africans needed to be taken to task for their actions in the 1995 quarter-final against Samoa.
It was only after the Boks had posted a 42-14 win that the extent of their work off the ball became apparent. Some of the Samoans were sporting bite marks on various parts of their bodies and there may have been all kinds of physical abuse inflicted upon them.
But the Samoans were reluctant to snitch - to go public with the accusations, even though there was ample video evidence to confirm that they had been subjected to things no team should ever have to put up with.
Perhaps because of the momentum the Boks had built in unifying the country or perhaps because they had already been in trouble for a nasty brawl that erupted earlier in the tournament against the Canadians, South Africa were never probed about their antics in the quarter-final. They were let off without a stain on their record.
5 - TONGA v THE IRB, 2007
Pretty much on the bones of their arse at the last World Cup, Tonga defied the odds to become the darlings of the tournament.
They so nearly beat South Africa in their opening game, then edged past the US and Samoa to leave themselves in a showdown with England for a quarter-final place. By this point, they had captured the imagination and probably because they were playing England, a number of people wanted to help them with their finances.
One such party was Irish-based bookmaker Paddy Power who tipped in a five-figure donation to help the Pacific Island side. The Tongans in return decided they would all dye their hair green to say thanks.
The IRB got wind of it and threatened them if they did. It didn't seem to matter that the French had grown beards and dyed their hair blond en masse at the 1995 World Cup or that the French had deliberately darkened their playing kit to enforce a colour clash with the All Blacks in 2007.
The Tongans could be bullied so therefore they were.
..........