Lose the halfbacks and you lose structure. The Samoans set out to target the french halves in a thuggish, cowardly way and it paid off for them plus the guy whose sole purpose is to stop this failed miserably. Yes they got away with it. Shame really as they probably had it in them to win fair and square.

It's like listening to Eddie and Stevo in here, game was physical and tough, everyone is ok, they all shook hands after the game and the best team won. Move on.

The players will always play the ref, if he doesn't deal with things they'll carry on, the French should have just reciprocated and threw in a couple themself.

It always makes me chuckle when Stevo gets shocked and outraged when there is biff,,, as if it didn't happen in the early seventies when he was playing..

Great idea! That'd double the chance of a player sustaining a serious injury, which is just the sort of publicity our sport lacks...

Disgraceful tactics by the Samoans, and the ref bottled it early on, which just encouraged more late cheap shots.

Actually better for England, IMO, to face France in the QF, but at times tonight that was just unpleasant to see.

Get over yourself

Ignoring the petty insult at the end (which seems to be the case when having a differing opinion on here)....

In RL as in all aspects of life are w@nkers which does not excuse what happened to you however once you are on a RL field your putting yourself in danger. If you were a builder... You know when you go to work there's a chance of an accident that could change your life. If your a boxer you go into a fight knowing it could be the last time your able to walk or worse. It's RL and sometimes late challenges happen and sometimes they are mistimed, sometimes deliberate..... Bosc copped a few shots tonight but ill wager he's given some too in the past, it's a tough game played by tough men who choose the career they want and they know the risks, let's not water down our product.

It was deserved, you belittled what I said when I told you a cheap shot merchant had caused me years of pain



Where do builders get cheap shots? A terrible analogy. Where do boxers get someone attacking them from an position they can't defend (the boxing ref comes in to stop a pugilist that is getting battered or a towel gets thrown in)



Are you saying the end justifies the mean just because someone may have done the same sometime in the past despite there being absolutely no evidence to back up your speculation?



You actually paraphrased my summation of you as a defence of the brutality shown. Bravo (Slow hand clap)

It's obvious your still too bitter about the incident to have a normal grown up discussion without resorting to petty insults and twisting words, may i suggest some form of counseling ???

There were hits to the head and neck on smaller players. The tactic appeared deliberate and cynical. Yes, rugby league is a tough sport and this was a tough match but during the first half Samoa didn't play tough, they played cowardly. Big men hitting late and high on smaller men? That's cowardly, and dirty, and I hope they all get bans.

The second half was much cleaner by Samoa and it was just as tough.

And you don't know whether everyone is ok by the way. I wouldn't be surprised if France had no play makers fit to play on Saturday.

Have you ever seen the film Million Dollar Baby? It's a good film, you should watch it.

The core skills of the French are very poor at times. Too many passes gone to ground and tackling techniques atrocious. Great spirit but missed opportunity for them - they should have had that one.

Personally I enjoyed the game, and just like Eddie and Stevo, people dwell on the negative, I'll leave it at that seeing as the thread is going in circles.

How have I twisted your words, I have reprinted what you typed word for word.

Not bitter about the hit, disappointed that you cannot tell the difference between foul play and fair play.

Grown up discussion? You are far beneath my intellect for such a thing.

People dwell on talking points, unfortunately the dodgy Samoan tackling was a big talking point!

But the dodgy tackling stems from weak reffing, so surely that is the bigger talking point?

Seen it, and yet people still box knowing things like that happen. It's like they have weighed up pros and cons of what they want to do and make an adult decision.... Amazing

Yed,

Everyone has picked up on perenara being rubbish and I think if he would have sanctioned properly when the second late hit came in he would have nipped it in the bud but he didn't. But at the same time it doesn't excuse the Samoans for what they did and I agree with the recent post about the second half, they were just as physical but no foul play. If they would have tackled like that in the first half this entire thread would have been about how great the game was but because of their ill discipline in the first half we aren't talking about a superb second half of rugby.

I played, I picked up shoulder, knee, head, jaw, rib and finger injuries. I stopped playing when it interfered with my work. You know the score and you make a judgement call.

you got the chance to make the call though. I have had other injuries caused by RL but the one that made the decision for me was done by foul play. Would love to have played on but didn't get the chance.

Using 132 minutes of fiction to justify your stance.

Priceless

Yep, we can moan some more about the ref as well if you like...

The point is, other people are taking the decision out of other peoples hands as to when they give up the game. Anybody should be able to pack in when they choose, not when some cheap shot merchant wants to shake his cock. I can't even manage a slow jog any more after 8 knee ops due a cheap shot. I can't even have a gentle kick about with my son just because somebody wanted to be the man.

I thought you were on a higher intellect Mr. Hawking ??? Leave us with lower IQs to converse by ourselves we can't keep up with you.

On some days I am actually in pain putting my feckin socks on. If that would have been a cumulative effect of knocks from playing I would have no problems with it, it would have been my call. But as Red Chemic says, someone (who Cas till I die seems to admire as some kind of enforcer) decided to be a pr1ck and that was that for me.

Point being, when you decided to play RL did you think that the sport had no cheap shot merchants ??? I'm not trying to be derogatory btw I'm just asking ....