Blacks within reach of rugby heaven
16 Oct 2011
RYAN VREDE watched the All Blacks take a step closer to ending their World Cup misery with a 20-6 victory over Australia at Eden Park.
Surely now. Surely the suffering will end. Surely the team that has so often betrayed the faithfulness of their long-suffering fans, nay, disciples, will claim the one prize they most covet.
France lie in wait in the final. On the evidence of their woeful performance in victory over Wales last night they will not live with this flawed but formidable team and its superlative players – Israel Dagg chief among those.
On current form Dagg is without peer in the game, possessing every technical gift on offer, and, more pertinently, the temperament for the biggest occasions. All those qualities were on show as he crafted their only try, beating three would-be tacklers then defying the laws of physics to offload a pass to Ma’a Nonu while plummeting into touch. Breathtaking is a word too liberally used to describe mediocre feats. It is inadequate for that inspired action.
Dagg was the headline act in a play with a range of compelling sub-plots, none more so than the vendetta against a son of New Zealand’s soil, Quade Cooper. It took 32 minutes for the flyhalf to do something right (a drop-goal), the preceding period being spent chastising himself for errors or peeling himself off the canvas from statement hits.
While Cooper’s star waned, his counterpart Aaron Cruden’s shone brightly. In the context of his Test career – its genesis seeing coach Graham Henry hailing him as the natural successor to Daniel Carter, and its nadir coming when he was unceremoniously dumped shortly thereafter, before being recently recalled – his was a mature effort, particularly in light of the magnitude of the occasion and the quality of the opposition.
But in a game shaped by the principle of cause and effect, Cruden’s ability to rock rested heavily on the shift put in by his roadies in shirts one through eight. Immovable at the gainline on defence and irresistible on attack, the Blacks’ heavies were mighty. Their spirit was encapsulated in the superb performance of Richie McCaw, who excelled despite his foot being held together by hope and some items found in a mechanic’s toolbox. ‘I know he will try to be modest and give credit to the tight five [for laying the platform], but he was just outstanding,’ coach Graham Henry said of McCaw.
Australia boast a player of Dagg’s calibre in openside flank David Pocock, who appears to possess the supernatural gift of omnipresence. But he was rendered a non-factor at the breakdown thanks to the efficiency of the Blacks’ strike runners and cleaners.
It would be remiss not to acknowledge the Wallabies’ unkillable spirit in the face of incessant pressure. It was the outstanding feature of their game against the Springboks last week, and they exhibited that again tonight. To restrict the Blacks to one try is a notable achievement given the hosts’ surfeit of territory and possession. However, they lacked a clinical edge in the 22m, which was decisive to their fortunes.
That they were in touch at half-time – trailing 14-6 – bore testament to their resolve as much as it did the Blacks’ frequent impatience on attack. But they did little more than survive, when reopening the psychological wounds the Blacks sport from previous failures in this tournament required considerably more.
Just after the restart Piri Weepu kicked his third penalty to go with a Cruden drop goal, extending the lead to 11 points. There was a observable change in focus from the Blacks thereafter, with panache giving way to pragmatism on attack and granitic defence being the bedrock of their resistance.
Australia succumbed, albeit not meekly, to a team who have no equal in the game. France are vastly inferior opponents. For the Blacks, ending their suffering will be more a test of exorcising their own demons than it will be about vanquishing Lievremont’s mad mob.
By Ryan Vrede, at Eden Park
Follow Ryan’s World Cup coverage on Twitter
1,170 Comments
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16 Oct 2011, 11:51 am
@MG(MG)-429:
C’mon, Pocock had a great game, just didn’t have the same freedom Bryce allowed him.
16 Oct 2011, 11:51 am
2007 All Blacks got 1 bad call (forward pass) and cried for weeks on end, we got screwed at all the break-downs last week. Give it time, we’ll get over it. We will stand up, dust ourselves off again and head forwards again.
16 Oct 2011, 11:51 am
@Richie_7(p0ppa69)-445: Congrats man – you guys deserve it this year anyways. All Blacks well played and finally you have your ace loose trio combo in action.
16 Oct 2011, 11:51 am
What a boring, completely one-sided semi final.
Can’t help feeling SA – who deserved to be there more than Aus – would have dished up a better contest.
Oh well.
Well, it was pre-ordained that NZ would make the final, the refs have played their part in that… two of the better teams in Wales and SA had already been unceremoniously swept out of NZ’s path.
France, who lost to Mighty Tonga, await the RWC 2011 champions.
Australia, well tried. But you should never have been in the semi anyway. Good luck in 2015.
Viva les Bleus.
16 Oct 2011, 11:51 am
@Bod(bod)-449: LMAO!!!
16 Oct 2011, 11:51 am
@Slumtown(Slumtown)-436:
But that is how it goes in sport- it is not always the best team on the day that wins- take the boks/wales game for example.
Should have’s, would have’s, etc do not count- it’s all theoretical.
Most unlucky team in the tournament is Wales imo.
16 Oct 2011, 11:51 am
Congratulations All Blacks, no team would have beaten you tonight … no team will stop you from getting Bill.
16 Oct 2011, 11:51 am
great victory all blacks….showed the one-dimensional boks how to beat these convicts.
16 Oct 2011, 11:52 am
What a contrast between Joubert, Rolland and Lawrence…
What a fark up.
16 Oct 2011, 11:52 am
@Slumtown(Slumtown)-453: that’s the nick thief.
16 Oct 2011, 11:53 am
@Richie_7(p0ppa69)-445:
OMG, I never laughed liked that for a long time.
16 Oct 2011, 11:53 am
AB vs France Final…
Pre-ordained…?
or
Engineered…?
16 Oct 2011, 11:53 am
@Richie_7(Richie_7)-426: Jeez dude, you guys are still bitching about 1995 and 2007 so give me a farking break
Man up?
You are the idiot saying last week we could not win it. Well if we had a referee like Joubert we would have, because the penalty count would have been substantially higher for us, and Morne is a pretty good kicker.
I know, I know, this requires your little brain to correlate stuff, so I won’t bother any further …
The ABs won fairly and squarely, I’m perfectly happy with that. Good luck to them and hope they go all they way
16 Oct 2011, 11:53 am
@wooden spoon(wooden spoon)-454: ffs grow up!!!the boks contributed to their own down-fall.
16 Oct 2011, 11:53 am
@MG(MG)-452:
We had 75% possesion and only received 2 penalties the whole game, zero in 2nd half. Not crying over just 1 call.
16 Oct 2011, 11:53 am
@MG(MG)-452:
What All Black cried for weeks?
16 Oct 2011, 11:53 am
Wales against Australia for 3rd place should be a cracker.
And then the FINAL with not an arrogant ‘boer’ in sight.
Rugby Union is back in balance. It has been written in the STARS.
16 Oct 2011, 11:54 am
There’s a fake Richie_7 around.
Troll.
16 Oct 2011, 11:55 am
@mvk(mvk)-458:
By scoring one try?
16 Oct 2011, 11:55 am
@ET.(ET.)-467: It was written, commanded and engineered by Paddy.
After all is said and done…
16 Oct 2011, 11:55 am
Well, when NZ win the RWC it will have one benefit to SA…
South Africans will learn that the RWC is not the ‘be all and end all’, the one trump card we can hold over NZ.
Now, we need to focus on winning EVERY game.
Losing the 3N annually cannot be excused by “building for the RWC”.
16 Oct 2011, 11:55 am
@Robzim(Robzim)-456:
Tell that to Romania
16 Oct 2011, 11:55 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-462: engineered of course, we have agents every ware
16 Oct 2011, 11:56 am
Dagg Man of the Match?
or
Mealamu?
16 Oct 2011, 11:56 am
-462:
Bloodied m’aginal muffins will make you vomit like that, you sick puppy.
16 Oct 2011, 11:56 am
SBW won’t stay in Rugby Union for long.
16 Oct 2011, 11:56 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-473: Who’s your MoM?
16 Oct 2011, 11:57 am
NO COREY INTERVIEW!!!!!!!
16 Oct 2011, 11:57 am
If a chamion boxer loses a fight against someone – then that someone is the new champ! The Boks beat us in PE! so they stay World Champs! Oh we can never beat you Boks! Your always 1 up!
16 Oct 2011, 11:57 am
@ET.(ET.)-475: “Bloodied m’aginal muffin”…. Your Mum?
16 Oct 2011, 11:57 am
motm was Corey Jane
16 Oct 2011, 11:58 am
@Richie_7(Richie_7)-450: difficult this connecting the dots stuff …
16 Oct 2011, 11:58 am
Jane was MoM !
16 Oct 2011, 11:58 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-470: its SIR Paddy soon
16 Oct 2011, 11:58 am
@Dawn(Dawn)-478: Corey your new Fancy? What happened with Sunny?
16 Oct 2011, 11:59 am
@wooden spoon(wooden spoon)-471:
Actually not winning the Tri-Nations will make a World Cup victory a bit incomplete for us IMO.
16 Oct 2011, 11:59 am
Thank god Robbie Deans was unsuccessful in his attempt to stick the knife in the back of NZ rugby.
16 Oct 2011, 11:59 am
Well, if any NH team can compete for 60 mins against NZ it is France. I reckon they will compete for a bit, then NZ will run away with it.
They can start engraving Bill now!
16 Oct 2011, 11:59 am
Corey is MOM
16 Oct 2011, 11:59 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-484: I’m sure it is.
16 Oct 2011, 11:59 am
Sonny Bill is Tarzan & Corey is Jane …. Jane better not choke on tarzan’s woodcock next weekend!!!
16 Oct 2011, 11:59 am
@MG(MG)-452: Actually, Barnes had much the same issues around the breakdown in 2007 as Bryce L did in 2011. He let the French infringe at the breakdown for a whole half without issuing a single penalty. I reckon that Bryce must have come on Keo and read how wonderful Barnes performance was in the 2007 1/4. That was probably the inspiration for his performance in this years 1/4.
Bottom line is that they were both totally inept reffing performances that decided the games, and it is only those who are the losing side of them that really feel the pain. I feel sorry for the SA fans to see them lose like that, but thinking about how many posters on here ridiculed the NZ fans for criticizing Barnes, it is hard to feel too sorry.
16 Oct 2011, 11:59 am
@Richie_7(p0ppa69)-479: lol
16 Oct 2011, 12:00 pm
kaino was immense, as always
16 Oct 2011, 12:00 pm
Well done to the All Blacks – a fully deserved win!
My only comment for the final is that at least Bryce CANNOT be the ref. Although, if he is then the conspiracy theorists will be coming all over themselves
I do hope we get a decent ref or it is going to be reduced to a morass of writhing bodies with all hands on the ball – a bit like dropping the soap in the communal shower at the *** Rights Convention…
16 Oct 2011, 12:00 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-470:
Still enjoying the nourishing and humid and warm centre of the cow-dung pat or are you now in the blood-soaked muffin?
Corey Jane is MoM.
16 Oct 2011, 12:00 pm
What a great performance from the ab’s. Logically I couldn’t see the Aussie getting into that game, but sneaky feckers can steal a game.
Pity piri didn’t kick a few more points in the first half, we would have been able to open up in attack a bit more
16 Oct 2011, 12:00 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-477: Kaino or Mccaw for me… cant split them…
16 Oct 2011, 12:00 pm
Hahaha do you see what happens to that curly head mother f-ucker Pocock against a fair ref? He tried his putting his hands in the ruck and raking it back trick only to be penalized every time. Thanks Wallabies for ruining what would have been an epic semi, thanks for wasting everyone’s time you pieces of sh-it.
With a fair ref the Bok scoreline would have been similar to this games.
16 Oct 2011, 12:00 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-456: Well yes and no – that was clearly a dangerous tackle and according to the IRB rules its a red wether he was driven into the ground or not. Now perhaps the ruling was a bit strict but the player did come down on his kneck. its a 50/50. If we´d have lost to Wales we would probably have faced New Zealand in the finals now. Perhaps wouldnt have been a bad thing. Cant say Wales were robbed in that 1st game either. They had plenty opportunities to take it from us and they didnt convert them. It wasnt a total reffing stuff up. Either way I think the Boks played magnificently against the Wallabies (barring the attacking display and losing the ball in contact on attack also cost them) but try or no try we were in the lead with 10 to go. We should ahve been further in the lead by then. But yep bygones are bygones. Just glad to see the Wallabies havent made it to the final because they did not deserve the win.
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