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| New Zealand victorious. |
Having gone into the tournament as odds on favourites the pressure was immense. Some classy performances in the group stages where they scored tries for fun only served to increase the expectation of a hungry home crowd. Argentina despite the final score put up stiff resistance in the quarter final and only a remarkable kicking display by Piri Weepu kept New Zealand on course. Australia in the semi final was always going to be a massive test and was won by a moment of brilliance by Israel Dagg and Ma'a Nonu. The French in comparison limped to the final, arguably the worst side to reach the final having been torn apart by New Zealand in the pool stages, struggling to overcome Japan and even losing to minnows Tonga. Playing a poor England side in the quarters where they played 30 minutes of excellent rugby, only to capitulate in the second half and almost throw it away, before somehow winning by a single point against a Wales side shorn of its talismanic captain to a contentious red card after only 16 minutes.
The French were written off by many, massive outsiders, just there to make up the numbers in this, their third final. This French side like so many others before it however thrives in the adversity, and the press inadvertently gave them all the motivation they were to need to take the game to New Zealand and give them the fright of their lives. Winning ugly is a term used by many others but not in the All Blacks vocabulary, until today. It was not pretty, but it was compelling. Like many finals before, it was tense, and hinged on a few key moments. As in 2007 when a Mark Cueto try was not awarded, the French at 0-5 down were not awarded a penalty that all bar the referee could see, only to award the Blacks on seconds later, from which Stephen Donald was to kick the games winning points.
Rejoicing captain Richie McCaw hoisting the trophy aloft at a packed Eden Park in Auckland will be the image taken home by the 60,000 capacity crowd and by millions watching at home, but the game itself was far from clear cut, right up to the final whistle. France started well, buoyed by the nervousness very apparent in the home teams ranks, they set about to disrupt as they had done to England and Wales in the earlier matches. Both teams lost the fly halves before the interval, New Zealand having to call on the fourth choice Donald, not even in the squad at the start of the tournament. Veteran Prop Tony Woodcock scored the only try of the half from an excellent set piece line-out, which the usually reliable Weepu failed to convert, a missed drop goal from France was the closest they came to troubling the scoreboard but in possession and territory they were far from being outplayed. Into the second half and having seen Francois Trinh-Duc miss an early penalty for France, Donald completed his fairytale by calmly slotting over his in reply a couple of minutes later. The relief was immense and perhaps lulled the Blacks into a false sense of security. France had to put points on the board quickly which they did as sub Trinh-Duc carved open the New Zealand defence, creating the opening for captain and man of the match Thierry Dusautoir to score under the posts. Trinh-Duc converted to leave France within a point. A 48 metre penalty fell shy for France and despite all the effort, the wall of black held off a final 18 phase attack to leave the hosts and favourites as the 2011 winners.
For many rugby lovers this was the right result. The team that had looked the best throughout the tournament, who had scored the most tries, had been victorious, but it was far from a polished performance. In France, somehow they got to a final that they scarcely deserved to be in, but once there they showed just why they are now ranked as the number three side in the world. New Zealand for all the facts and figures, remain at number one. But ask any local what they really care about, and that is New Zealand have won the 2011 rugby World Cup.
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| Unlikely hero's, Donald and Woodcock. |
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