Don't know if anyone else saw the strange and perhaps 'dodgy' end to the European Challenge Cup Final?

Montpellier are winning 26-19, it's the last play of the game and Quins have the ball just inside their own half. They need a converted try to take it to extra time which of course is unlikely - but stranger things have happened.

Ben Botica (fly half replacement for Nick Evans) proceeds to kick the ball long and one of the Montpellier back three has loads of time to collect the ball and kick it dead, ending the match. Montpellier win!!

Botica is leaving Quins at the end of this season (i.e. tomorrow). Next season he'll be playing for a French club. Anyone want to guess which French club he's going to be playing for......?!

meh, too many rugby players are dumb when it comes to things like that. Its super not uncommon for players to just play the same way for the entirety of the game with just no knowledge of the score, time or scenarios. Just ITT I have a couple of posts about teams opting to end the game when losing and with equity. Think it was last year that Scotland scored a try in the last minute to bring them within 5 points, and instead of just taking the conversion quickly and getting back into the play., they start a fight while celebrating then milk the remaining 40 seconds off the clock to take the conversion so the game ends before the restart.

Also have instances like Matt Dunning slotting the sickest 35 metre drop goal a prop will ever kick off a delayed penalty. Except his team needed the 4 try bonus point, not drop goals

Dunning drop goal might be my favourite sports play ever

Fantastic games this morning. This Aussie/Eng game going to the wire.

I fear for Ireland later tho

Oh man - kinda love this call from the Aussies

never in doubt

Me, too. Only way they could potentially turn the game into a win. By giving up a draw as best outcome.

Still, not sure how they completely lost the plot after making England look like fools when playing wide in the first 20 minutes.

Scrum shenanigans were a tad odd, too. Would rather have seen both Aussie 1 and England 3 sin binned for being turds in just about every scrum.

I was loling at the british commentators with Wales leading by 3 vz NZ at half time

"The Welsh are only 40 minutes away from history!"

That was Wales' best chance to beat the ABs for many a year

First game of the season for us, lots of legends just retired, goodish Welsh team and they couldnt do it

Its been 63 years and 26 matches since they last beat us, pretty pathetic record but at least its not LOLIRELAND pathetic

lolireland made the mighty springboks look like **** and it was done in their backyard

Considering you've only lost to SA,Aussie, France, England and Wales and have a 100% or close to win % against everyone else it's not really that pathetic.

The all blacks are just **** hot at rugby.

Just beat the Boks away from home with 14 men mate. You just have a hoodoo on us. We should have won last time but we choked.

Just dropping in to lolWales for the loss to one of our average regional sides

Heh Ill give you that one, twas an amazing result

We don't get much chance to lol at the ABs, so let's lol at their U20 side for not making the semi-finals of the U20 World Cup:

http://www.planetrugby.com/news/u20-...nals-confirmed

Also, let's lol at the 'whinging Aussies' - nothing like a sore loser!!

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/un...14-gpipdq.html

And this - some particularly one eyed scrum analysis (for example, no mention of the Aussie #3's starting angle in the 4th clip) presumably in the hope that Joubert will read it before Saturday and just penalise England in the scrums.

http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/?p=96026

This was the most predictable thing to come out of that defeat. Personally I'd rather we'd won with some genuine cheating - to quote Mike Atherton "When in Rome, dear boy."

Aussies doing it wrong. England had a cry to the ref about WALES scrummaging BEFORE their 6 nations match, not after.

This has been an amazing test match between England and Australia. We really need more 3 match series.

That match might be my second favourite ever to watch (#1 being WC final win). England's defence was just incredible, particularly the first 20 minutes of the 2nd half. It would have been interesting to how it played out if Australia took the 3 a couple of times.

Same. Second best match after the wc final. Such a huge series so far. Looking forward to next week.

They would have gotten it overturned for some reason. Clearly.
Game tonight was exemplary of how a lack of discipline can easily cost a team 10+ points.

Edit: I mean, getting two penalties overturned by the captain being an idiot? Well done, sir.

How the **** did we throw that away? SA literally just walked in tries. Did we think it was over??? ****

LOLSTRALIA

getting swept at home for the first time in 45 years, this is the time where you guys usually say 'jeez mate, i'm more of a cricket fan' but you lost The Ashes too, you're dreadful

ALL THE CHUZZWOZZAS

Really want to see this England against the All blacks.

He'll have them ready to go by the next world cup.

Interested to see how Ireland play after they surrendered like they were French in the second half last week