Who's the IRB trying to BS??

[TRF_heineken]

http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/RugbyWorldCup2011/Exceptional-RWC-hailed-20111024

Words like "set the bar" and ""New Zealand 2011 will be remembered as an exceptional Rugby World Cup" does not fit into the Opinions of most of the rugby public all around the world...

"New Zealand 2011 will be remembered as a controversial Rugby World Cup" with numerous problems both on and off the field... Scandals by married men, humiliation to hotel staff, commentators and rugby experts being drunk on set, and then of course the NUMEROUS problems raised by different referees all througout the tournament, from the First weekend's matches (South Africa/Wales) throughout the pool stages (Australia/Ireland, South Africa/Samoa) to the knockout stages (South Africa/Australia, Wales/France) right into the Final (France/New Zealand). Controversy, controversy, controversy...

Now I must admit, as a South African supporter this might mean more to me than to others, but after reading plenty of remarks on our Forum, I think it's safe to say I'm not alone in feeling this way. Yes, my team was involved in a lot of on-field matters, but none of it was off-field... the Supporters took that step by calling and harassing an innocent man who also have the name of Bryce Lawrence and personally this is utterly moronic by my fellow South African fans...

Now they're trying to mitigate the financial problems that has been throughout the tournament a problem, how many times has a newcomer come on this forum to advertise extra tickets for sale to a match??

Now with all this being said, Every Single New Zealander which had a part in this tournament, no matter how big or small, Please stand up and take a bow!! Bravo, Bra-fu***ng-vo!! You guys were amazing hosts and deservedly got the trophy that has been out of grasp for so long. nobody can point a finger to any of you (except Bryce Lawrence, lol) and you should be proud, as I know all of you are!


The IRB should be held responsible, if they had stricter rules regarding officiating, and many other problems, then there wouldn't have been so many errors, which would result in more happy fans at the WC, which will mean people actually attending the matches and not refrain from going to the games a day before kick-off... I think the IRB should have a very long meeting and look past those eye-patches, because this can't go on much longer.

Once again, I would like to thank the whole NZ for making this World Cup as enjoyable as possible for me, and many others! thank you guys!! enjoy the victory parades!

 

[smartcooky]

"New Zealand 2011 will be remembered as a controversial Rugby World Cup" with numerous problems both on and off the field... Scandals by married men, humiliation to hotel staff, commentators and rugby experts being drunk on set, and then of course the NUMEROUS problems raised by different referees all througout the tournament, from the First weekend's matches (South Africa/Wales) throughout the pool stages (Australia/Ireland, South Africa/Samoa) to the knockout stages (South Africa/Australia, Wales/France) right into the Final (France/New Zealand). Controversy, controversy, controversy...

Perhaps you can elaborate on these for me, because I have heard nothing about any of this from any news source (and please don't insult my intelligence by calling Keo.co.za a "source".

EDIT: OK, I have just read the bit on "stuff.co.nz" about Mehrtens allegedly being drunk on a TV3 show, but how is that anything to do with the iRB? Surely that is an issue to be dealt with by the broadcaster concerned?

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

You can find the articles if you try hard enough - but they're hardly memorable, you really do have to try.

 

[Sam Owen]

I thought the world cup was very successful, we saw the rise of the minnows, we saw good crowd support, we saw the best of the best. IMO it was a good world cup but then again Ive enjoyed every single one.

 

[beerholder]

I agree with Sam Owen.

IMO the 2011 cup was far more spectacular than the one in 2007. And all those scandals about the players behavior off pitch isn't a responsibility of the IRB. Referees will always be under pressure and mistakes will be made in the future since all the best players of today try to bend the rules to the limit just like in any other sport. And until we get full TMO refereeing for 80 minutes or develop a robot to judge, we're left with the humans.

 

[Gavin]

Perhaps you can elaborate on these for me, because I have heard nothing about any of this from any news source (and please don't insult my intelligence by calling Keo.co.za a "source".

EDIT: OK, I have just read the bit on "stuff.co.nz" about Mehrtens allegedly being drunk on a TV3 show, but how is that anything to do with the iRB? Surely that is an issue to be dealt with by the broadcaster concerned?

Many issues concerned the English team, but I believe the media made them seem a lot worse.

I did enjoy this World Cup but didn't think it was as good as 2007.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Yes I agree, but what I was trying to establish is how the IRB's president never mentioned any of these things, jsut how brilliant it was... that is being very one-eyed IMO, and the sooner they address certain issues, the better it will be for Rugby as a whole...

 

[ZeFrenchy]

I think the pool stages were very, very good, with the minnows stepping up and with a few upsets here and there. The knockout stages were hardly memorable, IMO, bar Wales-Ireland and the final.

 

[King_D'Arcy]

I thought it was a really enjoyable world cup... I think the refereeing thing woulda happened regardless. Losing supporters LOVE to blame the ref in tight matches to make themselves feel better. They always have and they always will.

 

[smartcooky]

Yes I agree, but what I was trying to establish is how the IRB's president never mentioned any of these things, jsut how brilliant it was... that is being very one-eyed IMO, and the sooner they address certain issues, the better it will be for Rugby as a whole...

But why should he mention these things? England's off field problems and commentators' drinking habits are not within the iRB's purview

 

[Logorrhea]

Thought the New Zealand public made this a pretty special tournament. They embraced it at a community level across the country and made it a special experience for all the travelling fans and teams. That will definately be remembered and should be the template going forward.

I think the tournament will be forgotten due to the poor rugby played by the teams and the poor refereeing. Personally I think there are too many teams in there. It should be cut right back to 10 or 12 teams with a plate running along side for the lesser nations.

 

[Sam Owen]

Thought the New Zealand public made this a pretty special tournament. They embraced it at a community level across the country and made it a special experience for all the travelling fans and teams. That will definately be remembered and should be the template going forward.

I think the tournament will be forgotten due to the poor rugby played by the teams and the poor refereeing. Personally I think there are too many teams in there. It should be cut right back to 10 or 12 teams with a plate running along side for the lesser nations.

Yeah rugbys really big here and the NZ public and media went all out. Like everywhere I go I see flags for support of their countrys rugby team, its just huge.

In a way I think the world cup has returned to its original home, after all it was here in Eden Park where it was first celebrated. New Zealand, France and Australia were the first ones and at the time the only ones to push the IRB to make this tournament so it adds to the irony of the world cup placings as all 3 teams make up the top 3.

 

[TRF_heineken]

But why should he mention these things? England's off field problems and commentators' drinking habits are not within the iRB's purview

I think they gave everyone too much freedom... which in some instances are bad...

if you take last year's Fifa World Cup in South Africa for example... Fifa had strict rules regarding the media and articles posted... the Media weren't allowed to come to the training camps of the teams on certain days, only had predetermined press conferences and so on...

also Fifa had rules for the teams as well regarding celebration parties and so on... there were so many scouts in my little old town finding places where teams could go and where they shouldn't and everyone was happy with that...

 

[superhans121]

A Poor World Cup...

Lets be honest, it promised a lot but was a pretty poor world cup. Very few memorable matches and New Zealand won it without ever really reaching top gear..

 

[nickdnz]

I'm pretty pleased with the tornement to be honest. Overall I'd say the rugby was more attractive than in 2003 and 2007, and the minow nations really made it enjoyable. I think almost everyone in New Zealand really tried hard for the RWC. I think it was a success, but I do think that it's time for us to step away from hoasting it for at least another 30 or so years. Whether we like it or not, we are too small and too isolated. I want every match to sell out, and while everyone was passionate and really cared about the tornement and the rugby, we can't afford to hoast a RWC, as a nation and as individuals. I look forward to 2015 in London and hope they really embrace it.

 

[LittleGuy]

Here is a link to the footage of Mehrtens for anyone wondering actually kind of hard to tell if he was drunk, or whether like the boradcaster claimed he was utterly exhausted.

http://dannews.co.nz/2011/09/16/video-is-tv3s-cup-talk-keeping-its-guests-up-past-their-bed-time/

 

[donmcdazzle]

The thong that made it so good was that the whole country embraced it and was behind it. Places like Palmerston North renamed streets after the teams playing there (Main St to Romainia St), and the whole town got behind it. Do you think a game like Georgia v Romania would sell out in a Japanese town of 80,000 people? Doubt it. The buzz around all the towns was something that was awesome, and something the people that weren't here can;t really appreciate. The WC in '99 had no vibe compared to this one.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

I think they gave everyone too much freedom... which in some instances are bad...

if you take last year's Fifa World Cup in South Africa for example... Fifa had strict rules regarding the media and articles posted... the Media weren't allowed to come to the training camps of the teams on certain days, only had predetermined press conferences and so on...

also Fifa had rules for the teams as well regarding celebration parties and so on... there were so many scouts in my little old town finding places where teams could go and where they shouldn't and everyone was happy with that...

so its more about stopping the media reporting rather than stopping these guys doing stupid stuff in the first place?...awesome

 

[Deadmonton]

I thoroughly enjoyed the World Cup, it was everything I hoped for and more. Great atmosphere, great performances.

 

[kovana]

The 2015 RWC will be better. It might even be better than the 2007 event.