Top 5 favourite rugby moments of the Noughties...

[cyRil]

Let's 'ave 'em 'en!

Sorry if this is a re-hashed idea, I'm just bored. Here's mine!! In ascending order no less!


5. GRAND SLAM 2008

Dynamic, free-flowing and structured rugby that no-one could live with. How I yearn for these days!

4. NEW ZEALAND 53-37 WALES

Might look like a tonking, but one of the greatest world cup games ever and the performance that put Wales back on the rugby map; instilling belief and a method of playing that had been forgotten for the 15 years prior to it. The most excited I think I've ever been about a sporting event.

3. KEITH WOOD'S DROP GOAL ATTEMPT v AUSTRALIA, 2001

f***ing brilliant.

2. NEW ZEALAND 18-20 FRANCE

The drunken plan was to go to town to pick up a rugby ball and have a chuck about in a park. What transpired was that myself and my mate George spent £60 each on tickets for this game. And I tell you what, it's the best £60 I've ever spent.

1. GRAND SLAM 2005

They say it wasn't as accomplished a feat as the one three years later, but for me our first Grand Slam in 27 years will probably remain my favourite rugby memory of all time, not just the last 10 years. It just felt like it was meant to be. I woke up on the morning of the game, the weather was cracking, not a cloud in the sky, it was boiling and you just knew everyone in Wales was thinking the same thing; 'We're going to win the Grand Slam today.'
We know we'll never be one of the top sides, and are invariably ****, but we always try to play good and attractive rugby. And when it works, watch out. We just make do with the good times when we can, cuz we know next year we'll probably lose to Fiji.

 

[shtove]

54321 ...0: greatest player who ever lived beats George Best by actually lifting some international silverware -

 

[Olyy]

The inevitable

 

[cyRil]

Gregan's force-pushing powers had waned since the late-90s.

 

[feicarsinn]

Sure I'll Give it a lash:

5) Leinster's Heineken Cup Win, 2009

A long time coming, but completely worth the wait. Struggled out of our pool, won through in bloodgate, the game in Croker and then finally doing the business against Leicester. Happy days for anyone involved in the province and it was great to see the likes of Mal, Girv the Swerve and Shaggy finally win some silverware of note.

4) The 2009 British and Irish Lions

Okay, they lost. But this tour wasn't about winning or losing in many ways. After the disasters that were the 2001 and 2005 tours, the Lions needed to prove that they could still compete in the professional era. And boy how they did. Perhaps with a few more games the boys could have got the selection bang on but still all credit to Geechs and Niger Davies for making the Lions roar again.

3) Ireland 43-13

I suppose I look at this game from a bit of an individual perspective, being (as far as I know) the only GAA man on the forum). It was great to see Croker opened up and proper respect shown to God Save The Queen and in retrospect a big deal was made over nothing. It was the manner of victory however, that really brought asong to every Irish fan's heart. 30 points against England just showed how far we had come over the last ten years. I loved everything about the game; from Jerry Flannery calling Steve Thompson a fat c*** to Isaac Boss' cheeky intercept try. I suppose it was the crowing achievement of the Eddie O'Sullivan era and should be remembered with pride, despite what was to happen later that year.

2) That Quarter Final

What else can I say about this game that hasn't been said before? Tense, exciting to the last and the biggest shock of the decade. It saw the greatest ever rugby team beaten by sheer tenacity and Theirry Dusautoir. Brilliant.

1) The Grand Slam

Well it was always going to be number one. Ireland, the second most consistand side of the decade were looking very likely to come out of it with squat. We'd had a poor World Cup, a poor previous 6 nations and a poor Autumn. Yet in the sping something clicked.The game itself was no great shakes looking back but dont you ever tell me that Tommy's try wasn't the best ever scored or that that drop goal wasn't the sweetest kick that has ever been struck. I think the much of the joy came from the fact that this team had finally realised it's potential. I didn't really care about the whole 61 years crap, but to see the likes of BOD and Paulie retire without a major ***le to their name would have been a travesty. What a day, summed up everything that is great about sport.

 

[Sir Speedy]

Wasn't a proper rugby fan in '05 so that Grand Slam will have to be missed:

5. Scarlets 24 - 15 Munster

My second favourite Scarlets performance. Munster didn't really turn up, and we should have annihilated them really, but to the semi finals it was. In Leicester. ****ing bull****.


4. Toulouse 34 - 41 Scarlets

God knows how many times I replayed this game. Toulouse definitely went home at half time, as we simply ran right through them after a first-half drubbing. Easily my favourite Scarlets performance; great comeback and some fantastic tries.


3. The Lions Tour

The belief that manifested about midway through the tour that they could actually pull it off was a great feeling. The first half of the second test was probably the best bit of rugby played against South Africa this year. The second half was devastating, and the final game irrelevant.


2. Wales' 2008 Grand Slam

Out in the World Cup pool stages to the top of Europe in the space of four months.


1. New Zealand 18 - 20 France

The feeling during the latter stages of the game, the final whistle going and the aftermath that was Wayne Barnes receiving death threats, New Zealand humiliation and general elation from anyone outside of NZ is unmatched for me. Here's to hoping it'll happen again.

 

[gingergenius]

5) London Wasps 26 - 16 Leicester Tigers, 2008 Guinness Premiership Final

I was at this match, and at the time it became the highest ever attended club match. There was a lot of preamble - the previous year, Leicester won the Premiership but had lost to Wasps in the Heineken Cup final. Both sides were massive rivals with scores to settle. It was also the final game of Wasps and former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio - one of the greatest players of all time. So, it was set up to be a cracker. But if ever you want to see a more dominating and awesome performance from a club side, this was it. Wasps were outstanding - in particular Tom Rees, James Haskell, Simon Shaw and Raphel Ibanez in the forwards. Leicester were utterly dominated, but a brilliant game from Harry Ellis made the score look reasonable. The Guiness Premiership at its best.

4) France 18 - 24 Wales, 2005 6 Nations

The 2nd best game I've seen in the noughties. France away was a big test for a newly confident Wales side, so of course I was cheering the French. But put the two most naturally exciting teams in the NH at their best on the same field, and rugby is the winner. There may only have been 4 tries, but that does not reflect the flair and excitement of this match. The French scored 2 fantastic tries in the opening 15 minutes, and the Welsh were stunned. For the rest of the 1st half, the French battered the Welsh, but amazingly it was only 15-6 at half time. The 2nd half was almost a mirror image of the 1st - very quickly Martyn Williams had 2 tries and Wales were in front. The rest of the half saw more exciting and intense rugby, with the Welsh doing enough to secure the win. Awesome.

3) France 12 -17 Argentina, 2007 World Cup group stages

The stage is set - France playing the opening game of their own tournament. Pre world cup chat is all about how France are relying on a dependable home record, and many are tipping them to go a long way. The atmosphere in the build up to the game was incredible. But then Argentina went and spoiled the party. The team that was banging on the door of the international cliques suddenly burst through it. This victory inspired Argentina on to a 3rd place finish, with legends like Fernandez, Pichot, Contepomi and Hernandez among the players of the tournament. The single greatest achievement of Rugby Union in the noughties was the emergence of Argentina as a world power - and this match was their defining moment.

2) Wales 34 - 38 Fiji, 2007 World Cup group stages

The best game I've ever watched in my life. It had it all - victorious underdogs, flair, tension, a great comeback and a Welsh defeat. Perfect. The Fijians decided to play sevens. Fijians aren't human - they're crazy wizards, and they somehow managed to run rings around the Welsh for the 1st half, thanks largely to the likes of Qera, Bai and Delasau. Suddenly, Wales were 25-3 down and no one knew what had happened. However, the Welsh thought for a bit, and drew on their own crazy wizarding tendancies. They produced 30 minutes of scintillating rugby, including THAT try by Shane Williams, and wrested control of the game back. Everyone thought it had been a brave effort from the tiny island nation, but not quite enough. Until the voodoo came back out and Graham Dewes piled over with minutes to go. Amazing tension towards the end, but the Fijians held on and knocked the Welsh out of the World Cup.

1) Australia 17 - 20 England, 2003 World Cup

Quite obvious, but since so many others put grand slams as their No. 1, I thought I might rub it in their face a little with something maybe slightly better. Anyhoo, this was also a cracking game. With the incredible drama of the drop goal and extra time, people tend to forget the 80 minutes of normal time, which were tense and thrilling as well. England were favourites - they were the best team in the world, and by half time they had dominated the Australians and had scored a wonderful try thanks to Dallaglio and Robinson. Typically, the Aussies didn't give up, and fought back into the game to tie the scores. The rest is history. That England team beat everyone home and away in the year leading up to the RWC, which is an outstanding achievement when you consider the only others to have been as good last decade were Umaga's All Blacks. But a team containing the greatest forward pack ever assembled; an iconic 10, and one of the greatest backs to play either code of rugby - deserves number 1 spot.

 

[Sir Speedy]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (gingergenius @ Jan 2 2010, 02:39 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

3) France 12 -17 Argentina, 2007 World Cup group stages

The stage is set - France playing the opening game of their own tournament. Pre world cup chat is all about how France are relying on a dependable home record, and many are tipping them to go a long way. The atmosphere in the build up to the game was incredible. But then Argentina went and spoiled the party. The team that was banging on the door of the international cliques suddenly burst through it. This victory inspired Argentina on to a 3rd place finish, with legends like Fernandez, Pichot, Contepomi and Hernandez among the players of the tournament. The single greatest achievement of Rugby Union in the noughties was the emergence of Argentina as a world power - and this match was their defining moment.[/b]

Yes yes yes.

Almost a year and a half of speculation on who would win what took place on this board prior to the tournament, and then Argentina just do that, as if it were nothing. I remember sitting there, stunned, as France simply had no answer to Argentina. The opening game in terms of drama couldn't have been better.

 

[Mr. Laxative]

5. 2004 Super 12 Grand Final. The Brumbies score 30 points in the first 20 mins and look like running away with the game. Then Mehrtens comes into the game and change the Crusaders fortunes. They dominated the next hour of play and clearly outscored the Brumbies. Thankfully they couldn't muster two more tries to win.
4. 2003 RWC Final. Sadly it simply has to be up there for the enormity of the occasion and Flatley's kick - only to be undone by Wilkinson 20 mins later.
3. NZ v France 2007 Q-Final. This has got to be one of the best defensive performances ever. France held on with something like 32% of the ball.
2. 2001 Lions Tour. The Wallabies had arguably the best team they could field and still were comprehensively beaten in the first match. Then the fortunes turned in the 2nd game. The series concluded with that last-gasp steal from Justin Harrison.
1. Brumbies v Stormers 2009. The Brumbies arrived home from there African safari only to be told of the horrible loss of Shawn Mackay. That week was the most tumultuous in the teams history and there was talk about the match being cancelled. The training sessions were low-key and the team was unsurprisingly under-prepared. This wasnt the greatest game ever, but to win in the pouring Canberra rain that night was incredible. Pat Phibbs, the former schoolmate of Shawn Mackay scored the match-winning try.

 

[Gay-Guy]

We lost two world cups this decade.

Anything else we won is not worth remembering.

 

[Charles]

Slightly different:

My LEAST favourite 5 momemts of rugby this decade

1 Losing to England in the 2007 RWC semi.
2 Losing to England in the 2003 RWC semi.
3 Losing to England in the 2009 6N
4 Losing to England in the 2007 6N
5 Losing to Wales in the 2005 6N

 

[Charles]

French rugby

1 2007 RWC qf
2 2007 Croke Park victory (6N)
3 2000 Victory over NZ in Marseille
4 2006 Victory in SA
5 6N ***les in 2002,2004 (slams) 2006,2007

Slightly different:

My LEAST favourite 5 french rugby moments of this decade

1 Losing to England in the 2007 RWC semi.
2 Losing to England in the 2003 RWC semi.
3 Losing to England in the 2009 6N
4 Losing to England in the 2007 6N
5 Losing to Wales in the 2005 6N

World rugby in no particular order

FIji win against Wales in the WC
2005 Lions
NZ choking at RWC
England beaten by Scotland in 2009 (8?)
Wales beaten by Italy
Japan and USA scoring 2 awesome tries at the 2007 WC
SA having their asses handed to them by Oz in 2006
Ireland smashing England in Croke Park in 2007
etc...


Edit: couldn't edit the post above. Sorry for the double post

 

[MunsterMan]

Such a great decade for Irish rugby, picking a top 5 is hard to be honest. From the epic Munster game in Toulouse in 2000, to the epic game in Perpignan in 2009, Munster and Ireland have been involved in some great moments, although the best game was possibly the Semi Final from 2004, Munster 32 - 37 Wasps, we losts so it isn't one of my faveourite memories, another not on the list is England 24 - 28 Ireland from 2006 with the dramatic last minute try by Shane Horgan.

5) Ireland 30 - 21 France

4) Leinster 6 - 30 Munster

3) Ireland 43-13 England

2) The Grandslam - Really should be joint first, but what a journey, would have been a travesty if that team didn't win one after all the near misses.

1) Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque 19 - 23 Munster

 

[King_D'Arcy]

I've decided to be different. Instead of making a list of my 5 favourite moments which anyone with a bit of sense could guess by just looking at my nationality and at the club I support, I've decided to make a list of my top 5 least favourite moments of the decade. i think we need constant reminders of how sh*t things can be.

5. 2003 Six Nations: Ireland 6 - 42 England

Johnson takes on McAleese

It was 2003, Ireland and England met in Lansdowne Road, both teams in a position to win the Grand Slam. England captain Martin Johnson kicked off the match in an unsportsman like fashion. In an attempt to give his team some sort of advantage he disrupted the order of the pre match niceties. Pedantic stuff really. It would've been nice to see Ireland punish Johnson's bad behaviour on the pitch. Unfortunately this didn't come to pass and England gave Ireland a thrashing. It was like watching a film where the bad guy wins at the end.


4. 2008 Six Nations

A testament to the fact that things really were as bad as they seemed in the World Cup for Irish rugby. A sad end to an otherwise illustrious career for Eddies O'Sullivan.

3. 2007 Six Nations: Ireland 17 - 20 France

:cryy:

2. 2005 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand

Just an embarrassing, ugly, poorly exectued tour. Completely soiled the reputation of the British and Irish Lions that made rugby fans all over the world question whether it's even worth continuing the tradition. Luckily the 2009 tour was far more pleasing for the eye and helped us restore our faith in the Lions. But I'm not here to conjure up fond memories for any of you so that's all I'll say about it.

1. 2007 World Cup: Ireland 15 - 10 Georgia

The worst rugby match I've ever seen a top international side play. In reality Georgia deserved to win this match. They were vey unlucky to have what would have been a winning try disallowed late in the match. The match summed up Ireland's short campaign quite nicely. The Irish team was noticably troubled throughout their campaign. There was hostility within the camp that affected the team's cohesion. Excuses aside, I hope I never have to see an Irish side perform like this ever again.

 

[Air4life]

From Bulls/Springbok perspective
Random Order

-Bulls vs Chiefs Super 14 Final 2009
-Beating the Lions 2009
-SA Winning the WC 07, first game was my favorite SA vs Eng 36-0 was watching the game at Gatwick Airport before my flight to Ibiza, in the beginning i was the only saffa in the pub with 40 other people assuming most english, 10 mins towards the end i was the only one there
-This years Tri Nations and Beating the AB's 3 times.
-2000 South Africa 46 - 40 New Zealand what a game!

Worst moments:
-pretty much everything pre 2004. <_<
-2006 Australia 49 - 0 South Africa
-2002 England 53 - 3 South Africa
-loosing 5 games on the trot in 2006

 

[gingergenius]

worst moments... unsurprisingly these are all from an English perspective... maybe I need a top 50.

5) Losing to Argentina at Twickenham in 2006. I know the Argies are a good side, but it was a game even a crappy English side expected to win. And we lost.

4) Losing to Wales at Twickenham 2008. 1st game up after a good world cup, we were coasting up to half time. Then Iain Balshaw hands it to the Welsh on a plate, James Hook plays well for the one and only time in his life, and Wales get a bit confidence and go on to win the grand slam.

3) Losing to Ireland at Croke Park the first time. Thoroughly embarrassing defeat... in the wake of the historical context it would have been great to stick it to the Irish one more time just to show them who's still boss. Unfortunately not.

2) Losing to South Africa at Twickers 2008. Something like 40-3. We didn't deserve to lose that badly, but it said a lot about the way England were playing. Losing this badly at home is horrible. I can't remember saying anything as we left the ground.

1) Losing to South Africa in Paris, RWC group 2007. 36-0. A great trip to my 2nd favourite city in the world gets off to the shittest possible start. One England player stood head and shoulders above everyone else - Jason Robinson. Like the soldier he is, he plugged away and did nothing wrong. We thought when he went off injured that it was the end of his career, and he got a standing ovation, which was about the only thing worth seeing all night. I remember sitting in a square in Northern Paris at a bar with hundreds of England fans after the game. We all got ******, had a great time... but no one was talking about rugby.

 

[cyRil]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (gingergenius @ Jan 2 2010, 04:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

James Hook plays well for the one and only time in his life[/b]

 

[feicarsinn]

Ah, the five worst. The All Blacks will probably like this list a little more than many of the other lists

5) Ireland 7 New Zealand 45

What a horrible day. The All Blacks came up north after having destroyed the Lions earlier in the year. We were without the likes of BOD and Paulie but that's no excuse for the manner of the defeat. Breathtaking from NZ, disgraceful from us. Ugh.

4) Ireland 17 France 20

I don't want to talk about it. French ********

3) The Munster Gmae in 05'

Sigh. Outmuscled, beaten out wide and destroyed in the terraces. Even ROG scored a try. This one branded us as losers for the next 3 years. But we got them back, heh heh.

2) I was going to put the 05' Lions in but I decided to go with:
The 2003 World Cup



It was crap from an Irish perspective, we got hammered in the quarter final by France. It also introduced the English bandwagon fan to the game which was a right pain in the arse for quite a while. At least they're over the smugness now.

1) Ireland's 2007 world cup + buildup

Says it all really.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I also thought of a few more good ones:

Italy's first 6 nations win
South Africa bringing back the Club vs Country clash against Connacht
Fiji vs Wales 07'
Keith Wood's 4 tries against the US
Japan being awarded the world cup

 

[King_D'Arcy]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (feicarsinn @ Jan 2 2010, 05:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

4) Ireland 17 France 20

I don't want to talk about it. French ******** [/b]

I just wanna point out, I made reference to this match earlier but I simply put a distressed man's face as means of explanation, whereas you have found the strength to use some words. I have therefore come to the conclusion that you were somewhat less distressed than me about this result, therefore, making you a less devoted Irish supporter.

I don't want to get into an argument about this. I just think it's an interesting thought.

 

[feicarsinn]