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Social media can't deal with the amount of kicking in #WALvRSA

By Ian Cameron
Moriarty takes a breather from watching all the kicking

One for the purists. Box kicking purists.

The amount of kicking and the lack of passing has been a feature of the first half of the Rugby World Cup semi-final between Wales and South Africa.

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The ball had been kicked 19 times by the 25th minute, with the Springboks having passed the ball just three times by the 26th minute mark.

It wasn’t lost on Twitter, where many were complaining about the lack of attacking play in what was a cagey first 40 minutes.

This is what was being said:

https://twitter.com/RugbyPass/status/1188390894275190784
https://twitter.com/ITVRugby/status/1188388379077029889
https://twitter.com/OwainJTJones/status/1188387401376436224
https://twitter.com/alistairjhogg/status/1188388498484666368
https://twitter.com/PeterEBurns/status/1188388306163240960
https://twitter.com/rpetty80/status/1188388087560364033
https://twitter.com/MattRowley/status/1188387789303238656
https://twitter.com/TheRugbyPaper/status/1188387671334408193
https://twitter.com/kayleetyla1998/status/1188389018427412480

Wales have won each of their past four test encounters with South Africa, after winning only two of their first 31 against them.

South Africa’s last victory over Wales came in the quarter-finals at RWC 2015. The Boks won the game on a 75th-minute Fourie du Preez try.

South Africa won each of the previous two World Cup meetings between these countries, 17-16 in the pool phase at RWC 2015 and 23-19 in the RWC 2015 quarter-finals. THe Boks and New Zealand are the only World Cup opponents Wales have only lost against.

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Rassie Erasmus’ side can make Wales the second World Cup opponents they have faced at least three times, while winning each time.

RugbyPass spoke to Welsh and South African fans ahead of the massive semi-final clash in the Rugby World Cup

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J
Jon 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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