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, 13:02 pm
The great whine continues…to my fellow long time NZ KEO bloggers yesssssssssssssssssssssss
16 Oct 2011, 13:02 pm
@bluealligator(bluealligator)-639: I cannot imagine going through life a bitter little man like you
16 Oct 2011, 13:03 pm
@poppa69(poppa69)-646: Not hurting at all Poepol just stating the facts but then the truth hurts doesn’t it wifebeater.
16 Oct 2011, 13:04 pm
Today was a victory for rugby. The Aussies were stuffed after being completely smashed last week. The refereeing was outstanding from a ref with integrity…at last. The players know the laws, the refs SHOULD know the laws and they were applied brilliantly by Craig Joubert today. Not a single contentious issue to discuss . The players, and the players only, decided the outcome of that game, the fake semi-final. This should be celebrated by every rugby lover after the farce that has been the officiating in this WC. If the ref is doing his job correctly and with integrity, the dominant team wins DESPITE one or two errors of their own. That is why I am so heart-broken for the Boks. What happend to them was wrong and needs investigating. No, I and many others will not just get ovet it. It WAS an injustice and needs to be scrutinised. Our beautiful game deserves it otherwise people like me will simply start losing interest in this great game. Well done NZ and good luck in the final.
16 Oct 2011, 13:04 pm
@bluealligator(bluealligator)-650:
on your bike loser, you’ve been eliminated
16 Oct 2011, 13:06 pm
@cane(cane)-649: Tut tut inane, did your wife smack back this morning petal
16 Oct 2011, 13:06 pm
@cane(cane)-648: Come on cane be fair, most his post is over the top, but be honest there were a lot of people on here saying exactly that. The whole “Boks were lucky” c r a p
16 Oct 2011, 13:07 pm
@JEZ(DEE DAH)-643:
Its actually around somewhere. I remember Wilson spewing up in front of the camera.
I saw the game on TV, you miss alot at the game itself
16 Oct 2011, 13:07 pm
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-647: Get a freakin’ life old timer -we’re sick of hearing your twisted truths and repetitive posts. There was no script, there was no conspiracy; every WC there are potentially bad refereeing decisions that push one nation out of the running. But this whinging for the past week is starting to sound like the Samoan centre who thinks the ref blew poorly in the game against the Boks – a game he feels they deserve to have one.
He got a 6 month suspended sentence for his opinion
16 Oct 2011, 13:07 pm
@heboric(heboric)-657: Hypocrisy is strong here
16 Oct 2011, 13:07 pm
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-655: If you don’t like it wifebeater blog on a site for misogynists,
16 Oct 2011, 13:07 pm
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-651: yesssssssssss! I mourned for WEEKS after the farking sneakies knocked us out in 1991…. ditto 2003….. sooo fitting that the great Richie dealt to them this time around. I am sooooooooo haaaappppppy!
16 Oct 2011, 13:09 pm
@bluealligator(bluealligator)-661: blue, you upset because the Boks never made the semi’s, or because the Bulls didn’t either?
16 Oct 2011, 13:09 pm
Congrats to the Ab’s and particularly Paddy O’ B. Your job is done my wee son, come home to mama.
But how ordinary were these teams! I skim sham poo the snotvreter’s whines about F du Preez and M Steyn and think; how would he have squealed about wee poo? He was one to whine about the very Hougaard he’s now punting. He wanted some WP newbie. Bigot bru or tik eaten the memory card in your little pip.
One thing both teams were was well-drilled. SA couldn’t penetrate the Oz defence and the AB’s did really well to score the lone try of the match. Then how many pointless up-and-unders were there. All the NZ’ders who sneered about the Boks in 2007 and 2009, where are you now?
16 Oct 2011, 13:09 pm
@JEZ(DEE DAH)-643:
Try this:
No actual footage of the vomiting, but interviews of Fitzpatrick, Rush and Bunce.
http://youtu.be/D5iQBLgndTU
16 Oct 2011, 13:10 pm
@bluealligator(bluealligator)-653: hehehe you must be a bulls fan… all class
16 Oct 2011, 13:11 pm
As I have posted earlier, it is a terrible shame the boks and the Ab’s didn’t meet in the semi tonight. but hey, the result would have been the same. Franks, Kaino, Read, McCaw, Nonu, Smith, Dagg would have been too good for the Boks.
As Mrs Punishment always says, better to bow out gracefully than overstay your welcome…
16 Oct 2011, 13:11 pm
Aah getting a rise from the wifebeaters is as easy as pinching candy from a baby, that was fun, Inane, Poepol and NZinrectum are now all hopping off to do something of value if not quite as enjoyable!!!
16 Oct 2011, 13:11 pm
@husky(husky)-664:
If you didn’t enjoy that Test Match Husky.
To bad.
Your loss.
16 Oct 2011, 13:12 pm
@husky(husky)-664: Gearing up for a final
16 Oct 2011, 13:12 pm
@bluealligator(bluealligator)-650:
Ok
stade de france holds 81338 people.
Boks vs Argentina was played there in the Semi Finals
Attendance to that game was 77055, thats 4000 empty seats
The actual final in 2007 Bok vs Englad at the same stadium and attendance was 80430, thats about 1000 seats short.
So to be frank, your an idiot,spouting of rubbish that you have no clue about, do us a favour and piss off fool
16 Oct 2011, 13:13 pm
@bluealligator(bluealligator)-668:
Hey Bluey.
LOSER.
8)
16 Oct 2011, 13:14 pm
@husky(husky)-664: I was disappointed by the AB’s resorting to a territory and up and under game. I thought they could have pressed for another try. BUT the kicking game was working for them – Cooper was wilting under the pressure, the tactic was yielding points, so I can’t moan too much. I bought home the bacon (as Mrs Punishment likes to say)
16 Oct 2011, 13:14 pm
The consensus in NZ is clear: we cannot win this thing without stealing our way to the top
Sad, sad, sad.
16 Oct 2011, 13:14 pm
@bluealligator(bluealligator)-668: Bluester, have another brandy. You’ll still be ugly, but your wife and kids will look a helluva lot better
16 Oct 2011, 13:15 pm
@bluealligator(bluealligator)-668: a rise lmao.. I think you’re the one getting a rise because you think you got a rise…
16 Oct 2011, 13:16 pm
@Sheriff(Sheriff)-674: its all right sheriff, dry your eyes son…
16 Oct 2011, 13:17 pm
One of the biggest punishments is to have to listen to Tony Johnson and Ian Smith in commentary.
Justin Marshall must be careful – he may end up where Murray Mexted is right now; the environment is becoming increasingly hostile to honest commentators
If you take a step back you will realise just how pathetic this actually is
The blessing will not be forthcoming
16 Oct 2011, 13:17 pm
@Sheriff(Sheriff)-674: man up Sheriff!
16 Oct 2011, 13:17 pm
@Cane
So no actual footage or evidence just 3 players whinging? Seems a bit heavy on circumstantial evidence and hearsay if you ask me. I hear it time and again from Kiwi’s that the AB’s were puking up on the side of the pitch yet not one camera picked it up. Pull the other one!
16 Oct 2011, 13:17 pm
@bluealligator(bluealligator)-668:
You dont get a rise for being found out to be a bullshitter and a lier.
You have made a fool of yourself
16 Oct 2011, 13:18 pm
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-671: Inane, face facts this tournament has been a farce with bad refereeing and off the field antics providing more news than the rugby. There were probably 4000 empty seats today and that was for a home semi whereas Boks vs Argie were both away teams so really you are an idiot who is pissed off because his wife smacked back so why don’t you piss off and go on a ball sack website werfetter.
Most definitely not a bulls supporter but thanks for asking wifebeaters
16 Oct 2011, 13:18 pm
@Sheriff(Sheriff)-678: Sadly in the eyes of Bok supporters, anything not won by the Boks is either rigged, bent, or bought. After all, it’s the Boks God given right to win WC’s……………..even if they don’t win anything between WC’s
16 Oct 2011, 13:19 pm
You have been warned
Stealing will benefit you in the short run but in the end, when it matters most it will be disaster
16 Oct 2011, 13:19 pm
@Sheriff(Sheriff)-674:
Big girls don’t cry
Big girls don’t cry
Big girls don’t cry-yi-yi (they don’t cry)
Big girls don’t cry (who said they don’t cry?)
16 Oct 2011, 13:19 pm
@JEZ(DEE DAH)-680: I have to agree, the puking and sh*tting were most likely linked to heavy boozing rather than poisoning
16 Oct 2011, 13:20 pm
@Richie_7(Richie_7)-683: Is that what you say to your wife when she complains about another black eye?
16 Oct 2011, 13:20 pm
one-way traffic, had the kiwis by 20 against oz and 30 against frogs, who they already beaten in the pool. the only contender that could have taken the ABs arrived home earlier this week cos they did not select their best squad.
Deans must come coach the Boks (a team with a decent pack) and let McKenzie coach the Wallabies. What the Boks need is to add cleanout skill, dybnamism and refinement to an already muscular pack – the wobblies need something completely different.
16 Oct 2011, 13:21 pm
@bluealligator(bluealligator)-682:
This is what you said
“You are so unbelievably inaccurate ”
Now who is the idiot, oh boy you are just to easy.
16 Oct 2011, 13:23 pm
@Richie_7(Richie_7)-683:
Not so, but why do NZ always turn to a SA ref when they want fairness and justice
Bryce had no right to handle that game, he was sent there with very specific instructions
That is why: even though you are stealing it and have it in your hands – you do not deserve it
I assure you: if you had won it fair and square I would be the 1st on this blog to congratulate you and will sing your praises
A thief eventough he has the possession in his hands, does not deserve it
16 Oct 2011, 13:23 pm
@bluealligator(bluealligator)-687: No, I’m not from Pretoria
16 Oct 2011, 13:24 pm
@heboric(heboric)-657:
They were lucky Hebe.
The best Teams they faced were Argentina and England.
Argentina: Have never in the history of recorded rugby ever beaten SA or NZ. EVER>
England: This was the worst English Team in the history of English Rugby. From 2004 to 2006 England won 3 from 15 games against Tier 1 Countries.
However ……………………………………luck is part of the game. Ask any Frenchman.
16 Oct 2011, 13:24 pm
@Sheriff(Sheriff)-690: And when other teams are cheated out of WC’s and the Boks go on to win it? Then all is fair and life is good?
16 Oct 2011, 13:24 pm
@JEZ(DEE DAH)-680:
Get the game. It has said that they caught Jeff Wilson actually being sick, but anyway who cares. Why are you so intent to find out about something that happened 16 years ago.
Looks like we will get the RWC 2011 rip off from the South African fans for about 16 years, oh boy.
16 Oct 2011, 13:25 pm
Well done Kiwis and welcome to the elite 2X winner club:-) Handed us our backsides once again. Will be an absolute mountain for the wallabies to get up for next week’s game against Wales after the pounding they’ve taken the last two games. I’m glad Dingo Deans will have another two years to make a statement come the 2013 Lions tour – he was ill served with critical injuries for this RWC. That said, I’m also kinda glad his contract doesn’t run much past that too.
16 Oct 2011, 13:25 pm
@Sheriff(Lawman)-674:
Loser.
16 Oct 2011, 13:25 pm
@bluealligator(bluealligator)-682:
If the Kiwis are wife beaters, the Aussies convicts you guys have to be the racists?
16 Oct 2011, 13:25 pm
@Sheriff(Sheriff)-690: Sheriff, let me ask you this: between 2007 and now what have the Boks done for you to think they would have won this world cup?
16 Oct 2011, 13:26 pm
@cane(cane)-665: that is not vomiting, it is clear choking, no doubt about it.
16 Oct 2011, 13:27 pm
Bloody hell, can’t some of the **** coming out here. For my fellow boks supporters still carrying on about how we where cheated from beating the ABs.
Horseshite. We got knocked out in the QFs, partially due to bad refereeing, but also due to our teams own limitations. We’ve not been the no.1 team up to the RWC, no.3 actually and we’ve not been playing very well for 2 years. Whether we could have beaten the ABs in Auckland, if we had gone through is a big if, given the fact that we not beaten the ABs since before we came back to international rugby in 1994.
If you seriously want to claim that we where better then let’s beat both Australia and the ABs next year in their backyard, and then in 2013, 2014 and 2015 again.
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