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WWOS staff12:00 AEST Mon Oct 8 2007
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The All Blacks' loss to France on Sunday morning has led to an unprecedented outpouring of emotion from die-hard fans, with one extreme case leading to a $1000 bounty being placed on the head of match referee Wayne Barnes.
In New Zealand, the belief that the All Blacks were going to win the 2007 Rugby World Cup since they were knocked out of the last tournament has been all powerful, and on paper most would have agreed.
Hot favourites with the bookies and with a confidence that included a huge clock in New Zealand that counted down to the World Cup final by the second, the 20-18 loss to France was just not on the cards.
Some sections of the Kiwi public are now pointing fingers after their disappointing exit, and following a few controversial decisions made by Barnes, the English referee has become a prime target in the blame game.
Barnes' profile on the Wikipedia site was doctored by fanatics so that it read he "suffers from a vision-related disease which results in him being unable to see forward passes" also said he gave up on his former profession as a lawyer because he wouldn’t read any "f...ing law books."
Disturbingly, a message was posted on the page as a call to arms saying that a monetary reward would be offered to the person who "finds him for me and keeps him under lock and key until I get there."
The page also describes a grizzly death whereabouts Barnes is "lynched by a mob of people with 20/20 vision" with "his corpse pelted with rugby passes in a backward direction."
The doctored page has since been removed.
This is one incident that underlines the disturbing depths to which the performance of the All Blacks can affect the New Zealand public.
In response to the loss to France this time around, maverick New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters summed up his country's psyche.
"If we had gone on to win the World Cup it would have been a big lift for our country psychologically and economically as well," he told newspapers.
"When people feel better, they produce more, they work harder, they just are happier, they don't beat up their children or their husbands or their wives, and so you know, it's a tragedy."
Following the 2003 World Cup loss, women's refuge organisations reported a dramatic increase in the number of women who had become the targets of violence from their husbands looking to release their anger.
Then, the National Collective of Independent Women's Refuges said in a statement:
"Refuge workers said they received calls from women wanting to leave because matters had come to a head with their violent partner due to the rugby. Women said that all the family money had been gambled and drunk away, and that their violent partner was even worse when he had been out partying with the boys."
80 Minutes, 15 Positions, No Protection, Wanna Ruck?
Ruck Me, Maul Me, Make Me Scrum!
Education is Important, but Rugby is Importanter!
A Thousand Dollar bounty![]()
The Kiwi's have gone all out with this one![]()
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Posted via space
Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.
Where's an average kiwi gonna get $1000 from?
-edit-
damn, was beaten to it...
It's only $847.63 Aussie
Posted via space
Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.
Hmm, the life of a RWC 2007 ref might only be worth that much, but still not worth the time involved...
Though most kiwis will have nothing better to do for the next four years.
wtf?
thats messed up...
get a punching bag...
Originally Posted by The InnFORCEr
I know this is not terribly PC .............but
Why do the Kiwi selectors keep picking them when this sort of thing happens happens?![]()
Angry angry people across the ditch at the moment
But not rich angry people.
900 bucks? I wouldn't kill a broken legged horse for 900 bucks.
BTW I thought Barnes was comparable to the standard of reffing we have seen so far this year, if they haven't got used to it by now, maybe the1000 bucks should be on a different head!
C'mon the![]()
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Thats the difference in being a Wallaby supporter, who excepts that we were beaten by a better team on the day, while All Black supporters accept defeat as a personal affront. We are reasonably gracious losers when it happens......Kiwis arent. We were both poor, especially us.
the punters friend..... stick with me and you will be wearing
i'm not so gracious about it thats for sure
with all due respect TLH we were poorerer.
But you're right Kiwis don't seem to be able to admit that their team ever made a mistake.
Shit it must be hard being perfect!
C'mon the![]()
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nah, it's easy ...Originally Posted by GiteauIsGunnaScoreTwenty
Dear Lord, if you give us back Johnny Cash, we'll give you Justin Bieber.
Part of the blame can go to the ref, but it was all Graham Henry's Fault because he picked a different side every week so the all blacks had no continuity.
*sigh* build a bridge hardcore kiwi fans...
Just do what Ritchie did... go out and buy Rugby08 and get really good at it so you can beat the pants off the French. (well he was beating the pants off the Wallabies at the time after 2003... but he looked like he was enjoying it.)
I made Happy sad...