England was robbed. It WAS a try. The fourth official was Australian?

Question

We would have won if it had been awarded. Your thoughts?

Answer 1

Yes it looked like a try to me but things like that happen. Well done both teams. I was hoping England would win because of the passion, resilience and determination they showed in the quarters and semi finals from an All Black supporter but in my opinion it was still the two best teams in the World. Congratulations to both teams.

Answer 2

Foot was on the line before he scored. Close, but clear. The video photo from behind shows it most clearly, as does the image frame to which I include the link. I still encourage viewing the life replay from behind. Cueto's foot did lift into the air at the moment he grounded (allowing for the cry-foul pictures in the tabloids), but the ball was dead then. This was evident in the stadium, where the replays were shown. Initially English supporters cheered, but went quiet when the back camara angle was shown, at which point the South Africans cheered. Something else worth noting, the ref was playing advantage to England at the time, who kicked the penalty after Cueto was ruled out. England could therefore have gained either four or two extra points had the try been allowed, not seven. The winning margin was nine points. Therefore the argument concerns either two or four extra points, on a nine point margin. It is really a far stretch to speculate with certainty what would have happened. No doubt people are arguing that England would have played more defensive, had they been in the lead (by one point). Judging on Jonny's (who had an excellent game) kicking form of late, he would statistically have been more likely to miss the difficult conversion, leaving England trailing by 1 point. Anyway, on a one point margin neither team, at the beginning of the second half, would have drastically changed their game plan, as both would have been motivated to score.
Objectively, the whole debate raised by English fans does not come accross very well. England definately did loose. It is extremely unfair to South Africans to rob them of their moment of basking in the sun because of claims this way and that way that England was supposedly better. South Africa stayed extremely calm right to the end. The usage of the bench is a good case in point. Failure to involve their expected match winning factor (Habana) is another. It would have been much more graceful if England accepted defeat, and cherished their progress from first round struggler to serious contender in the final. Even hearing the attempted try referred to as 50/50, and speculation that England would have won had it been awarded, has seriously damaged my respect for the English.

Answer 3

Seriously, from what i could see .. that was a try. I know i'm English, and so obviously i wanted it to be a try, but that really should of been alowed.

If we had been given that try .. England would of probably won the World Cup. We would of still been a couple points behind South Africa .. but we could of concentrated on scoring a drop goal in the last 15 mins on the game .. instead we had to get a converted try and a penalty ! .. We just ran out of time.

Personally i think England were the better team. We attacked more whereas South Africa just stayed back and defended. Our boys deserved it ! They put there heart and soul into that game and made England proud !

But oh well .. life goes on .. England are always cheated at every sport we play .. Remember the footie World Cup ? .. The Euro 2004 ? .. Even the Euro qualifier against Russia .. No way should of Russia been alowed a penalty .. Rooney was outside the box ffs !


England 4 Life !!!

Answer 4

OK so blame the fourth Official because he is Australian. How ridiculous. The fact is the call was correct, it was not a try. You need to accept the loss like we did here in Australia and NZ and stop blaming everyone for your own downfalls. You relied on Wilkinson to win the WC for you again. I was supporting England but its tiresome listening to you rag out Australia and other nations all the time because you feel superior or cannot accept that it wasn't your day.

Answer 5

It certainly looks like he got it wrong, but then mistakes are made. There have been a few in particular the AB's got it a bit rough. I think you have to look at it in the overall context of the game. We gifted SA 9 points and both sides missed a couple of chances. I thought England played as well as they could but the SA defence was world class. I am desperately disappointed we have lost but I think the best team in the tournament has won the trophy. We should not blame the 4th official for our loss. We did have some chances, plenty of possession work rate was top notch.
I don't feel any Englishman should ashamed of our efforts. Especially if you think back to how the football team surrendered in Moscow.

Brilliant England and congrats to SA are my final thoughts.
Good Night!

Answer 6

Julz I hate it when people ask questions like this -The try was n't given so why the inquest (inquests are ok in football where there is lack of respect) but it just makes us (English) seem like poor losers and bad sportsmen. We've got another 4 years to improve further, bring on some of the youth simmering just under international level and do it all over again. Let this match stand as one where our lads tried hard - did brilliant because they got into a final they were never expected to, and didn't get a whitewash like the last time they played SA.
I'm proud of our boys, and well done to SA.

Answer 7

Cuetos foot clearly hit the chalk. Accept it and move on you poms. As a New Zealander you shouldnt feel hard done by. Just cast a thought back to Wayne Barnes and his disgraceful refereeing in the Quarter Final. Stop thrash talking Stuart Dickinson (TMO) and start questioning your Barnes. NO TRY< LIVE IT< GROW UP. We did.

Answer 8

Could have gone either way, personally I would have given it just to make the game more interesting. They Bokke would have been forced to spark up and start playing some real rugby.

Why is it that when England play a boring kicking game people get grumpy, but when RSA (with arguable the best back line in the world) do it in the world cup final, people cheer ?

Answer 9

Too bad it wasn't given - it would have been a major boost to England. It was no try but so close!
Stupid mistakes early on cost England 6 points.

Answer 10

No try. Stop whinging.

If there was ever a World Cup for whinging then the English would win it. Everyone always cheats you. You never lose because you are the worst side. Must be terrible being cheated all the time.