Unable to vote from behind a VPN so will have to do that when I get home, but voting Fiji-Portugal. The Ireland - SA game was undoubtedly the “better” game and had potentially higher stakes, but the former was just loads of fun from a neutral pov.
this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2023
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Definitely Ireland vs SA for me! What an intense game
If the final is a repeat I'd be happy
See that's where I sorta disagree, tense games are heart racing if you're invested in the stakes, but if you're not and the rugby being played is the brutal attrition sort they're not really fun to watch.
I can definitely understand that viewpoint. As a Springbok supporter, my view on that game is definitely biased. As a neutral, something like the Fiji-Portugal game yesterday was also insane, however that would never get my heart pounding like a Springbok game, no matter what style of rugby is being played.
Yeah an ABs game gets my heart racing more for sure; but i'm getting old - I don't need that, lol!
But also I think as I get older, I want to watch sport as a fun escapism thing, much different from my 20s when I watched sport more like it was war. As i've switched my reasons for watching i've actually found watching more enjoyable, and a lot less stressful. Results also don't get me as fired up or down as they used to either, and on the whole I feel like its a better way to enjoy sport for me.
ie, enjoy the spectacle and the journey as much as the result; before i'd be all result, who cares how.
My favourite and most fun matches to watch have all been where the lower ranked teams played each other. So I went with Fiji vs Portugal from yesterday because it was pure bonkers silly fun. Hoping for Fiji to get through to knock Australia out, but also wanting Portugal to get a win for how much it meant to them.
Also thought Italy v Uruguay was a sleeper, and if we're all being honest maybe we could have seen the likely results against NZ & France from that match. Of the other Tier 2 matches, Japan v Samoa was pretty good, and Wales v Fiji was fun too.
Ire v SA was probably the "best" of the Tier 1 matches, but that sorta attrition, finals footy, result hanging on a referee decision rugby holds near zero appeal for me, even if it was the ABs involved in it. Now that the pools are done and the fun matches are gone I'll probably not bother watching much of the rest, and with the NPC hitting Semi's this weekend I won't need my Sky pass soon too!
Yeah, the chance to watch outside the 6n + rc is appreciated. And the ire v SA felt closest to a 6n match to me also. And surely the URC is worth the sky pass?
SkySportsNow is NZ$45/mo so not cheap and given the time those games are played it's not easy to watch. I don't even pay for it for Super Rugby - only reason i'm watching the world cup is because I bought it to watch the NPC.
Ireland vs South Africa just winning here, seems we like our rugby brootal here