Hey everyone, just to let you know that I've got a book taken from the main library here in Whanganui so this one is called Behind The Silver Fern: The Players Speak but this book is about behind the scenes with the world's most successful sports team:
31
A RUGBY WORLD CUP
'We all got fitness programmes, but I chucked mine away, I thought it was too easy'
The RUGBY WORLD Cup has become the pinnacle of the game, reaching a atmospheric level few could have envisaged on a showery May afternoon in Auckland, 1987. Eden Park was not even half-full for the opening match between the All Blacks & Italy, a game preceded by a modest 'ceremony' consisting of the great Waka Nathan & a group of school children. It had to start somewhere. The All Blacks were not the favourites. That tag bestowed upon the Australians, having claimed the Bledisloe Cup the year before. But this was an All Black team well-primed for the challenge. Coach Brian Lochore had enlisted the help of the country's 2 leading provincial coaches John Hart & Alex Wyllie, polar opposites, but whose attributes were cleverly harnessed. They picked a team to play an expansive, high-tempo game, & employed the Scottish-born Auckland fitness guru Jim Blair to ensure they were in the best possible shape to be able to play it. With the addition of the extraordinary young Auckland flanker Michael Jones, an excellent team was put together. The only glitch was a training injury suffered by captain Andy Dalton, & it was David Kirk who would lead the team in all of their matches. Italy were put to the sword in the opening game, an encounter that began with a penalty try, followed by the 1st individual touchdown of the tournament scored on debut by Jones. The most memorable moments however, were an astonishing end-to-end solo try by Kirwan, & a post-match interview by the Italian captain Marzio Innocente, who tearfully bemoaned the fact that 'they have ALWAYS the ball'. They ran up a second twelve-try, 70-point score against Fiji, & despite fielding newcomers, including Zinzan Brooke, comfortably accounted for Argentina 46-15.
Scotland were expected to provide sterner resistance in the quarter-final in Christchurch, but they too succumbed to the All Blacks' running game 30-3, & when Wales, the last survivors of the Home Unions, were laid to waste by 49-6 in the Brisbane semi-final, the All Blacks had booked a place at Eden Park for the final. The only sharp intake of breath came when Buck Shelford took exception to a flurry of punches thrown by Welsh lock Huw Richards & meted out his own justice with a single blow that left Richards prone. Once he came to, Richards was sent off by Australian referee Kerry Fitzgerald, Shelford altogether fortunate not to join him. Retaliation then was not the cardinal sin it is today.
The All Blacks expected to meet Australia in the final, & had watched the 1st semi-final the previous day as the Wallabies unravelled against an inspired French team in Sydney. In one of the greatest of all World Cup matches, the French stormed home to win through a late try by fullback Serge Blanco. Not only were the pre-tournament favourites out, the All Blacks would get the chance to avenge their bloody defeat in Nantes. In front of a heaving Eden Park crowd there would be no repeat of Nantes, & little of the brilliance that had swept France to victory against Australia. The All Blacks took control early when Jones crossed following a miscued drop goal attempt by Grant Fox. It was not until the middle of the 2nd half that the resistance was truly broken. A period of pressure finally produced a 2nd try when Jones ran strongly off a Fox inside-ball & offloaded to Kirk who darted over, thumping the ground in the knowledge that the game was, in all likelihood, New Zealand's. Moments later Kirk ducked around the side of a ruck that had formed from the restart, & shot off upfield, a brilliant pick up & pass by Shelford then putting Kirwan in for the clincher. The French got a late consolation try through skipper Pierre Berbizier.
The crowd poured onto the field at the end to watch Kirk hold the trophy aloft, & then call on Dalton to share the moment. It might be viewed in hindsight as a symbolic gesture, bringing together once & for all the leaders of the Baby Blacks & the Cavaliers. By today's standards the 1st Rugby World Cup was a modest affair...only 20,000 had attended the opening ceremony, a meagre 17,000 the fantastic semi-final in Sydney. But enough good had been done to ensure the tournament had a future. Almost immediately the Northern Hemisphere nations, amongst whose number had been many staunchy resistant to the concept, began to realize its potential. The biggest concern amongst traditionalists remained that it would set rugby on the path to professionalism, & whilst they would fight tooth & nail, in a relatively short space of time, lose that battle too. As for the All Blacks, no one would have considered it would be another 24 years before they held the trophy again.
44
WORLD CUP BLISS
'You'd better get a hold of Ted, he wants to speak to you'
As the World Cup finally kicked off, the All Blacks had to scrap for their opening night with a 41-10 win over Tonga. The 2nd game, against Japan, was preceded by emotional scenes as tributes were paid to the victims of both the Christchurch earthquake & the tsunami in Northern Japan, which have occurred barely a fortnight apart. When Japan's most capped player, Hirotoki Onozawa, scored there was a great cheer, but the All Blacks, with Richard Kahui & Sonny Bill Williams scoring twice, won 83-7.
A day later, roared on by most of the 60,000 at Eden Park, Ireland upset the Wallabies. That put the Australians on collision course for a semi-final against the host nation.
New Zealand hit top gear in the pool decider against France, Dan Carter in commanding form as the All Blacks won 37-17, although even more memorable was a poignant post-game presentation of a commemorative cap to Richie McCaw to mark his 100th test, by an ailing Jock Hobbs, the former All Blacks captain & NZRU chairman, who since playing a lead role in securing the tournament had been ravaged by leukaemia.
Then, at training before the final pool match against Canada, All Blacks rugby fans' worst nightmare occurred as Carter ripped a groin muscle, sending New Zealand into a state of shock. The trepidation levels rose further when it was revealed Richie McCaw was nursing a painful foot injury. Adding to the drama, an outbreak of stir craziness saw Cory Jane & Israel Dagg busted over a boozy night out, publicly berated by manager Darren Shand, & having to explain themselves to their team-mates. Colin Slade took over from Carter & Aaron Cruden was called into the squad, only for Slade to suffer a tournament-ending injury in the quarter-final win over Argentina. For many, it looked as if the wheels were coming off another All Black World Cup campaign.
With the management not wanting to burden Cruden with too much responsibility, the man who really stepped up to steady the listing ship was halfback Piri Weepu, who became both general & goal-kicker, landing 7 penalty goals against the Pumas. Dagg missed the quarter-final game against the Pumas because of injury, allowing Mils Muliaina to play his 100th test, the All Blacks walking off to learn they would be playing Australia in the semi-finals. The Wallabies had earlier in the day beaten the Springboks in a match controversially refereed by New Zealander Bryce Lawrence.
Australia had won their 2 previous World Cup encounters against New Zealand & were the reigning Tri Nations champions. The tension before the semi-final was palpable, losing to Australia seen by New Zealand fans as the worst possible scenario. After Quade Cooper, to the delight of the crowd, put the opening kick-off into touch on the full, the All Blacks took complete control, playing their best rugby of the tournament en route to a decisive 20-6 victory. There was 1 try, a thing of beauty laid on for Ma'a Nonu by Dagg, who atoned his social misdemeanor with a brilliant performance. The only time Australia really threatened was when wing Digby Ioane made a searing break - only to be abruptly halted by Jerome Kaino.
Against all expectation, France made it through to the final, despite losing pool games to the All Blacks &, astonishingly, to Tonga. Their progress had been helped by the controversial red carding of Wales skipper Sam Warburton in the semi-final. They were at odds with their coach Marc Lievremont & under a barrage of fire from the French media. Tailor-made for them, some would say!
In front of a nervous crowd the All Blacks took an early lead when Tony Woodcock scored from a lineout move, but with Piri Weepu having strained a mauscle in the warm-up, the All Blacks weren't landing their goals. The Cruden went down in a heap, & on came Stephen Donald, who had been called in from a white-baiting expedition on the Waikato River following Slade's injury. Donald kicked a penalty goal from near halfway which proved crucial as the French stormed back with a try by their outstanding skipper Thierry Dusautoir. The rest of the match was pure trench warfare, & with France not able to cash in on a penalty & dropped goal attempts, the All Blacks held on to win, marshalled superbly by McCaw, playing at the height of his powers despite a broken bone in his foot. Craig Joubert's final whistle exorcised 24 years of frustration, disappointment & recrimination, & a country went wild with celebration before slumping back in its collective armchair, exhausted. George Gregan's '4 more years' took on a whole new meaning.
46
THE HISTORY MAKERS
'You realize that no person is bigger than the team. Your job is to enhance & add to that legacy.'
THE 2015 WORLD Cup was a massive success, played in excellent conditions promoting positive rugby - ideal for the defending champions. Their early form was questioned by a compulsively nervous sector of the New Zealand fan base, however. Their pool win was guaranteed after a hard-fought opening win against Argentina in front of a World Cup record crowd at Wembley, during which the All Blacks were reduced to 13 men at one point. Namibia, Georgia & Tonga all put up stirring performances, the scores 58-14, 43-10 & 47-9 a far cry from the landslides of the past. But, for the All Blacks, the tournament was only just starting. Their plan was to hit their stride in the final 3 weeks. A quarter-final with France in Cardiff brought back bad memories for Kiwi fans, but their nerves were soon calmed as the All Blacks produced a stunning performance. From Brodie Retallick's chargedown of a clearing kick which he gathered & scored, the All Blacks cut the French to ribbons, scoring 9 tries, 3 to an uncontainable Julian Savea including one that Jonah Lomu would have been proud of. 7 were converted by Carter, who played his best rugby in several years. That put the All Blacks into a semi-final with the Springboks. With heavy rain threatening at Twickenham, a different kind of strategy was needed. It was a tight contest, worthy of the best traditions of their rivalry. The All Blacks used their kicking game to great effect, but with Handre Pollard goal-kicking accurately, they were unable to put the Boks away. A crucial moment near the end, when Sam Whitelock won a crucial lineout steal, gave the All Blacks the field position they needed to close out a nerve-shredding 20-18 win to advance to their 4th final. The Wallabies won through the so-called 'Pool of Death', beating Wales & the tournament's disappointment England, before a controversial escape from their quarter-final against Scotland & a more convincing win over the Pumas in their semi. Given their form, & their less arduous path through the pool phase, the All Blacks were heavily-backed to win the final, & were on course early in the 2nd half. Milner-Skudder's try before half-time, & a brilliant scything run by Nonu from a Williams' offload had them out to a 21-3 lead. But Ben Smith's sin-binning for a dangerous tackle changed things. The Wallabies roared back with 2 tries to close to 21-17, before a dropped goal from an ice-cool Carter & a blistering kick-chase by Beauden Barrett restored the advantage, the All Blacks taking a memorable match 34-17 - the highest scoring World Cup final - at the end of a memorable tournament. They became the 1st team to defend the Webb Ellis Trophy, & the 1st to win it 3 times.
And so, 110 years after 1st arriving in the UK, the All Blacks took their place again at the head of the rugby table. The win in the 2015 World Cup final was their 413th out of 538, a success percentage of almost 79%. Richie McCaw would retire after a record of 148 tests, 110 as captain & having played in 131 wins, Dan Carter would step away as the highest points scorer in Test rugby, & other notable players Keven Mealamu, Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu & Tony Woodcock (Who'd been injured midway through the tournament) could end their careers on a high note. Almost as importantly to them & their fans, they'd be able to achieve the victory in style, playing the open, creative & yet still physical game that had, for much of a glorious history, been the hallmark of All Blacks rugby.
So that is my 140th blog of the year 2017 (MMXVII) & my 60th this year.
P.S. And here is the review of round 3 in the 2017 Mitre 10 Cup season:
It's a small move, but a move nonetheless, with a changing of the guard in New Zealand's Mitre 10 Cup.
That was dramatically hit home in the manner of North Harbour's 57-10 win over Auckland in Albany on Sunday afternoon. For so long the whipping boy of their big brothers North Harbour showed how when the floodgates are opened they can wreak havoc.
Auckland were on the backend of a 2-game weekend but their loss has left them 3rd from the bottom of the Premiership.
North Harbour meanwhile are on 14 points from their 3 games, a share of 2nd with Waikato who also had a 2-game weekend having beaten Auckland 35-27 on Wednesday at Eden Park but going down to Tasman in a thriller in Hamilton 31-29.
Tasman looked to be in for a big win before Waikato stormed home just missing gaining a draw when the final conversion attempt of their comeback missed.
Canterbury continue to reign supreme having proven too strong for Hawke's Bay with a 53-10 win Napier on Friday.
Taranaki sit in 4th from three games with their latest effort a 30-27 win over Counties Manukau in another thrilling contest in New Plymouth on Saturday.
In the Championship, Wellington continued on their climb out of the wilderness with a 31-10 win over Bay of Plenty in Rotorua. They have gained maximum points from their 3 games to sit 4 points clear on the table
Northland demonstrated how much their fortunes have improved when leaving Invercargill on Sunday morning with an impressive 44-13 win to their credit. They are in 2nd place from their three games while Otago are in 3rd after their 40-30 win, on the back of a strong 2nd half effort against Manawatu in Dunedin.
Wellington faces their 2-game weekend next week with Hawke's Bay on Wednesday in Wellington & then Tasman in Blenheim on Sunday.
Hawke's Bay will play Otago in Napier on Sunday.
North Harbour will head south to Pukekohe to take on Counties Manukau on Thursday.
Canterbury face a Ranfurly Shield challenge from the bottom side in the Championship, Southland at 5:45pm on Friday while Manawatu will host Bay of Plenty in Palmerston North.
There will be only 2 games on Saturday afternoon, Auckland v Taranaki at Eden Park at 2:35pm and Northland v Waikato in Whangarei at 4:35pm, ahead of Saturday's Investec Rugby Championship Test between New Zealand and Argentina.
Bryn Gatland moved to the top of the individual points scoring table with 46 points for North Harbour. Behind him are Jackson Garden-Bachop on 36, Mike Delany has 32 for Bay of Plenty, Otere Black 31 for Manawatu.
Waikato's Jordan Manihera still leads the try scoring stakes with 6 while on 4 tries at Otago's Jona Nareke and North Harbour's Shaun Stevenson and Tevita Li.
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