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, 14:31 pm
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-797:
Agree Skop with most of that.
But RWC seems to be not made for the best 2 teams in the world to meet, it rarely happens.
That is the downfall but i am sure its the same in Football as well.
Even if we win this RWC as i have been saying since i have been posting on Keo, its not the most important thing to me. Winning all games, all tournaments and all trophys.
Its a package, winning the RWC is just a journey to the next game/tournament.
I think to much has been put into winning the RWC and world rugby has suffered.
16 Oct 2011, 14:32 pm
What a bunch of bryces…
This Rigged World Cup has been a bryceup of note and you still cant see the wood from the trees…
All have their heads up their collective Bryceholes
16 Oct 2011, 14:33 pm
Ignore the pathetic whining of the lonely ‘heavens game’ and sheriff who live their social lives through this forum. Maybe one day they will actually find some friends in real life to watch a game with.
We were unlucky in the semi given we played above ourselves, but the AB’s deserved this win and ground it out in our style.
16 Oct 2011, 14:33 pm
@Porra the Fat and Clever Speedster(Porra)-798:
And deservedly not invited as well.
Or do you think you should have been at the first RWC?
16 Oct 2011, 14:34 pm
@Dex(Dex)-803: Bryce you you farken ugly bryceface.
16 Oct 2011, 14:34 pm
@cab(cab)-791: SA didn’t pick their best players, that much is clear but I’d question whether they could’ve overcome what was allowed to happen at the breakdown. Schalk was doing everything he could to get Pocock off but he was locked to the ruck like a honey-badger’s jaws, imo only the ref could’ve got him off and he refused to blow his whistle.
What’s done is done though, perhaps it will be a catalyst for SA to revamp their approach to rugby between World Cups as I’m hoping it is for England.
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-788:
Anyway hurricane, well done to your team today. They should win the World Cup, they have won all their games and you can only beat who is put in front of you. I won’t lie and say I won’t be backing France though, if they win the entertainment factor on here over the next 4 years will be through the roof.
Again congrats to the NZ fans on their first WC final since 1995. Later guiz.
16 Oct 2011, 14:35 pm
@Dex(Dex)-803:
lol
I have never seen so much childish rants and moans from anyone on this site.
But HG has gone off on a tangent and thinks himself as funny and Sheriff has lost the plot.
16 Oct 2011, 14:35 pm
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-801:
there was
something
seriously wrong
in the way
the keewees
got there
in the
end
you lot
are not
sportsmen
you are
cheats
i hope
the truth will
come out
someday
16 Oct 2011, 14:36 pm
@Dex(Dex)-803: Get you brycedup head out of your brycehole and open your eyes.
16 Oct 2011, 14:36 pm
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-807: You’re a real honest brycie aren’t you.
16 Oct 2011, 14:36 pm
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-804:
we won it
in 1986
16 Oct 2011, 14:37 pm
Dex. Ignore HG. he should be a lot happier considering the bryces are hosting a currie cup semi in Durbs next week.
16 Oct 2011, 14:38 pm
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-806:
lol i knew it, you love feeding them dont you.
Anyway BH thanks but your last line …… oh dont worry about it
16 Oct 2011, 14:38 pm
Yes a bit of a unbalanced tournament I feel as well.
16 Oct 2011, 14:39 pm
@Porra the Fat and Clever Speedster(Porra)-808: The truth will come out some day and consequently Rugby’s reputation will be as Brycedup as Cricket
16 Oct 2011, 14:39 pm
@Porra the Fat and Clever Speedster(Porra)-811:
You won nothing but against a washed up old timers cavalier team, yawn.
I have posted the cavaliers teams and the 1987 AB team so many times on here. Only 7 players from the 30 ABs 1987 side was there. You never beat the 1987 ABs. So bye
16 Oct 2011, 14:39 pm
@stormer in a teacup(stormer in a teacup)-812:
Farken Brycehole.
16 Oct 2011, 14:40 pm
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-806:
yes maybe u are right, the b/d was a disaster but dont forget bismarck also contributes an inordinate amount there and wouldve made a big difference especially with brussow going off so early too. Boks always get much quicker ball when bismarck starts, he ramps up the dynamism double, bustling agression – alberts by far the form go-forward player, yet they persist with spies who offers very little in these tight affaris? You are rights, its all over both SA and England’s campaigns turned out to be really anti-climaxes and could be some revolutionary changes as a result of the fallout. Not quite sure why england kept picking matt stevens, even tho Sheridan was a massive loss?
BH is right tho, congrats to the ABs you are the best team at this tournament and deserve to win it.
16 Oct 2011, 14:40 pm
Am out of here
16 Oct 2011, 14:40 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-810:
sorry what was that, all i got was
sob sob sob sob sob sob aren’t you?
16 Oct 2011, 14:41 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-800:
Nope we KNOW we would have won had your dumb fck cancerous clown got the FCK out the way.. while unpatriotic fcks like you were willing and compensating to CARRY your f’ng cancerous conundrum in your pathetic commiserate COMPROMISE .. and that is HOW we LOST.. due to your pathetic desire to carry ineffective passengers instead of playing the absolute BEST in ALL circumstances…
Thats how Boks lost.. by playing Smit over Bismark.. and carrying the likes of Spies and FdP as second best options where the best were playing cameo roles off the f’ng bench.. That’s how Boks were fckd out the quarters.. and that is WHY you deserve to Cry like the dumb fck LOSER you are..!!!
You and the rest of the piffle arse Smittybumkin loser chorus singing your cheap songs of hero worship commiserating compromising songs of past glories…
16 Oct 2011, 14:42 pm
GO FRANCEE!!!
16 Oct 2011, 14:43 pm
frogss have a strangee habit of going againstt the tide of expectation
16 Oct 2011, 14:43 pm
Phew, professional whingers at work again.
16 Oct 2011, 14:43 pm
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-816:
you don’t
like it
that you
didn’t
won a
proper
world cup
back in ’87
do you
well
you’re not
gonna win
a proper one
now
keewees
can only win
by being keewees
i mean
cheaters
16 Oct 2011, 14:44 pm
@Porra the Fat and Clever Speedster(Porra)-825:
didn’t WIN
16 Oct 2011, 14:46 pm
@Porra the Fat and Clever Speedster(Porra)-825:
I really dont take you to seriously, you are harmless. Your like the class clown or village idiot.
Keo needs one and you have taken on that job and really have a full grasp of it. Gold star for you.
Looks out though, i think HG is after your job
16 Oct 2011, 14:47 pm
@greatest13gerber(greatest13gerber)-823:
Is that why you are backing them?
16 Oct 2011, 14:48 pm
@Porra the Fat and Clever Speedster(Porra)-826:
thats right you didnt
16 Oct 2011, 14:49 pm
yes…
16 Oct 2011, 14:50 pm
@greatest13gerber(greatest13gerber)-830:
lol yeah ok then
16 Oct 2011, 14:50 pm
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-827:
never mind
what you
take me
for
you guys
have cheated
yourselves
into a final
well done
this wc
will be worth
as much
as the 1987
one
16 Oct 2011, 14:52 pm
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-801:
Its a Russian Roulette type setup.. that is how these knockout competitions tend to unfold.. I wasn’t that happy at winning the last one playing the 6th and 7th rank teams in the semi’s and final…
Now you are meeting a French team that got taken in the pools by 13th rank Tonga…
Just imagine AB’s LOSE to France.. then it will put this WC shindig into REAL perspective…
That is how they are designed.. and strange results through a moment of a catalytic decision or consequence to a poor call by a ref or poor decision by a player.. determines the entire conclusion.
So I agree.. I’m not a great fan of this 4 year WC showdown as determining the be all and end all of rugby supremacy.. I’d far prefer Boks to develop a consistent winning culture throughout ALL the competitions and battles … this WC madness to my mind has actually ruined the overall desire to actually BE the BEST consistently in favor of a fluke through negotiating 5 weeks in a knock out competition..
16 Oct 2011, 14:52 pm
keewees
are useless
inbreds
and that
is a
fact
16 Oct 2011, 14:54 pm
@Porra the Fat and Clever Speedster(Porra)-832:
Were you crying when you wrote this.
But ty, and yes it will be worth as much as the 1987 RWC, cos isnt it the same cup?
Maybe if you take into count that gold has risen per ounce so actually this one could be worth more, maybe.
16 Oct 2011, 14:56 pm
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-833:
Right on the button skop.
16 Oct 2011, 14:57 pm
@greatest13gerber(greatest13gerber)-830:
Lol, are u atill not embracing the country that gave u a new life and ticket out of Despatch?
U OK otherwise?
16 Oct 2011, 14:58 pm
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-835:
convince
your self
if you
can
16 Oct 2011, 14:58 pm
@Porra the Fat and Clever Speedster(Porra)-838:
Ok??
16 Oct 2011, 14:59 pm
@Porra the Fat and Clever Speedster(Porra)-832:
ha ha f uck off loser, your now ranked 8th in the world and you still can’t keep your big cake hole shut
16 Oct 2011, 14:59 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-837:
lol
16 Oct 2011, 15:03 pm
@Porra the Fat and Clever Speedster(Porra)-834:
No man, c’Mon now, you might not like the fact that they are the world’s top rugby nation but they offfer more.
They also “produced” Edmunt Hillary, the Finn brothers and the incredibly sexy Rachel Hunter- give them some credit.
16 Oct 2011, 15:08 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-842:
i agree
with rachel
and some of
the rest
but they are
still
the biggest
cheats
in the
rugby union
world
they can never
get away
from it
they
will have to
live by
it
they cheated
themselves into
finals 2011
maybe they’ll
even be
world champs
16 Oct 2011, 15:11 pm
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-841:
He is old school die hard type
But once “won over” he will probably die for NZ.
It will take a while though
16 Oct 2011, 15:11 pm
Danny WHO ?
16 Oct 2011, 15:12 pm
Captain FANTASTIC !
16 Oct 2011, 15:12 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-844:
lol
Good to know.
16 Oct 2011, 15:13 pm
@Porra the Fat and Clever Speedster(Porra)-843:
and tears keep rolling
16 Oct 2011, 15:16 pm
Well done All Blacks. As an all black supporter I still say he best thing for us and our team is to get over this stigma and over ourselves. I believe Wales taught all us southern hemisphere teams and supporters to shut up and talk on the field.
16 Oct 2011, 15:17 pm
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-848:
and rolling
the cheats
are in the
final
together with
the worst
french team
in years
yes
the tears
are rolling
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