There’s so much to say about Steve Hansen’s band of
marvellous All Blacks so I will just gather them in an essay that will lack
structure and is just a gathering of random thoughts after a memorable Sunday
morning.
Firstly, well done to Richie’s boys who in my opinion, had were
under just as much pressure to win this World Cup as they did with the last
when we were hosting the tournament.
In 2011, losing our home World Cup Final to France would
have been a calamity on a level that Brazilian fans would be familiar with in
the wake of their 7-1 drubbing to Germany in their World Cup semifinal in 2014.
In 2015, there were a multitude of pressures on Richie’s
side to win this World Cup Final – last hoorah for the captain and 5 other
players, underlining their status as the world number 1 side of the last 4
years; something that many ABs sides had failed to do since the World Cup
started in 1987, breaking the hoodoo of not winning a World Cup outside NZ,
etc.
Alas, if there is one thing the 2015 Rugby World Cup All
Blacks will be remembered for, it’ll be for breaking hexes like never before –
it was just apt that the Final had to be played on Halloween.
The day itself had not been kind to the ABs in the past
having suffered their most infamous losses to Llanelli in 1972, Munster in 1978
and France in that semifinal in 1999.
But after exorcising the demons of defeats to Les Bleus with
a thumping win over France two weeks ago, and then conquering the Springboks a
week later in a clash that the ABs would have lost in the past, it felt like
this was the time for all hexes to be vanquished for all time against a side
that had the most hexes on the ABs.
The Wallabies had never lost at Twickenham in a World Cup,
never lost a World Cup match in the United Kingdom and were 2-1 up on the All
Blacks in World Cup matches. And then there’s the fact that the big brothers in
the West Island had the edge in World Cups over their little brothers – remember
the cricket and netball World Cup Finals earlier this year?
Just as the ABs did against the French in Cardiff, the All
Blacks brushed aside past defeats and hoodoos with a dominant display against a
very good and spirited Wallabies side. Indeed, the only way the Wallabies were
ever going to match the All Blacks was when the ABs were a man down.
Kuridrani’s late try was eerily similar to Thierry Dusautoir’s
barrels against the ABs and given history, many ABs fans were probably worried
that history was about to repeat itself.
But the All Blacks were out to make history and Dan Carter, relishing
the World Cup Final appearance that his career and talent deserved, set the
record straight with his 2nd drop goal in as many weeks and a
massive penalty goal to take the game away from the Wallabies. Beauden Barrett’s
solo try was the icing on a cake that the All Blacks deserved to have.
This is one of the great All Blacks sides – it is difficult
to say if it is the greatest given the changes and evolution of the game,
although certainly in the professional era, this All Blacks side would win the
gong for greatest side ever.
Only Fred Allen’s All Blacks of the 1960s have captured the
imagination of world rugby in the same way this side have done with their
mixture of greats and youth.
It’ll be interesting to see how the ABs will now go without
Carter, Nonu, Smith, Mealamu, Woodcock and as expected, McCaw. Winning the triple
peat in Yokohama in 2019 without them would be probably a much bigger
achievement than winning in 2011 and 2015 – such consistency at a high level
has never been achieved in any sport, let alone in the Rugby World Cup.
Yet with the talent of Barrett, Fekitoa and Milner-Skudder
coming through, along with plenty still to come through provincial rugby and
the academy in the likes of Ardie Savea, Akira Ioane, etc., the future is just
as bright as it is now, even if the new guys might not have the same calibre as
McCaw and Carter.
But that’s another 4 years away. For now, let’s savour a very
fine team and the end of the most glorious careers in New Zealand sport.
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