Don't normally watch RL.......

[iiyama]

.....But that English - Kiwi match today was excellent!

[FunkyGibbon]

Indeed. The kiwi try just before half time was tremendous skill whatever code you follow. Great stuff.

[oj121]

Just don't get the wiggling on the floor. Its pointless!

[Cardiff_Exile]

Neither do I however I found myself cheering for England towards the end

Very unlucky for them at the end though

[sawman]

It was a great match, pity about the result, the english lads must be gutted.

as for the wiggling on the floor, I cant see thats its any less pointless than the "all pile in" union approach, to say nothing of the endless punting of the ball from full back to full back.

My 9 year old is usually dismissive of league (as its not what they play as school and at his club) , but he was on the edge of his seat and impressed by the offloading and flowing nature of the game today.

[iiyama]

Thought the opening salvo of tackles were brutal. Hadn't realised that Sonny Bill Williams had gone back to league either.

[dav123a]

As a RL fan I was gutted to say the least , I thought we had done enough to get to the final. 67k crowd was a bonus , the final should be a sell out. This world cup has been one of the best ever hopefully it will bring more non RL fans into the game. Maybe even get the international side of the game organized from now on.

[ShortShift811]

As an RL fan I've had lots of similar comments from friends who don't follow RL, or some who don't follow rugby / sport at all. This match was a great advert for our game. As for the New Zealand try, I've never seen a ball passed like that in my life.

Just a shame that the RFL don't seem to be in a position to capitalise on the interest the World Cup has sparked and grow the game from here.

[ShawCrossShark]

The wriggling on the floor is in the attempt to get up and play the ball quickly (or to con the referee that they are holding you down and win the penalty if you are cynical)

Was absolutely gutted at the final whistle as England played way above what I expected. I think it unlikely that we could have performed at that level two weeks running so wouldn't have expected us to win the final. It was all a question of such tight margins - RH dropping the interception, GB with the stupid penalty in the last minute, Westwood dropping the ball over the line and Sir Kev missing a conversion that I would never expect him to miss

On the plus side, Sam Burgess and James Graham were immense in the front row, and Widdop looked excellent (better than bloody Rangi Chase by a mile)

We're catching up - it's just a pity that we are doing so because our best are playing in the NRL

Hopefully they will teach Ratboy Sam how to defend (although he was solid on Saturday to be fair). Otherwise he will get destroyed playing in Aus (IMO of course)

[ShortShift811]

ShawCrossShark said:

We're catching up - it's just a pity that we are doing so because our best are playing in the NRL

Interesting point this - I was debating the same on Sunday. I think for (Sam) Burgess & Widdop it's clear to see the NRL has developed their game, but you could argue Sam was always going to be phenomenal. I would say Graham was a pretty complete player at Saints too. The dynasty the Burgess boys are creating in Aus and they way they are playing / being received is fantastic though, which just goes to show that with the right skill & attitude level we Brits can do well over there. I agree that generally, playing in the Southern hemisphere gives our guys that extra 5% you just don't see in Super League in terms of awareness, ball handling and overall desire.

It was also good to see that England can clearly raise their game when called upon to do so. A big call for McNamara to play Widdop in place of Rangi at that stage in the tournament, but the right one IMO.

As for Ratboy, Aus will either make or break him. He certainly has the skills required, but he needs to shut up and just get on with proving himself.