Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Rugby World Cup Finals

Sitting at the end of my chair waiting nervously for the game to start not knowing if the Mighty All Blacks would take it out in the end or having a major upset against the fearsome team France.

As Richie Macaw and Thierry Dusautoir (captains of France and All Blacks) led their teams out of the holding rooms and into the end of the tunnel where they would experience the last 80min of the Rugby World Cup and battle out in the final for that William Webb Ellis cup. Lining up together you could see the determination of both teams eagerly wanting to win that cup and take it out to make their country proud. Soon as both teams came out the camera went straight to the crowd, you could see a sea of white and black backing up the All Blacks. Excitement was really in the air.

After the National anthem both teams ran out onto the field as the All Blacks were getting ready to perform the Haka. The Haka was led by Piri Weepu the scrum-half. The All Blacks performed the haka with pride and dignity. But the french weren’t afraid to put up a good battle.

The whistle blew and Piri Weepu kicked off to the french. That’s when I knew that the game was going to be really intense. Seconds after seconds then minutes after minutes nobody was scoring. I guess my parents finally knew I was quite not together with me screaming and yelling at the T.V yelling “pass the ball or are you serious reff” I guess I couldn’t help it. Finally the All Blacks tried. An outstanding try by Tony Woodcock. It was amazing. In the second half France scored by that wasn’t enough for them to win the Webb Ellis Cup and take it out.

Richie McCaw led his team to victory and was very proud of his boys. They made history. It has been 24 years since the Rugby World Cup has been to New Zealand and 24 years since they have won it.

Champions!

The most important game in New Zealand Rugby history was about to begin. The game that would really show who was the the real number one team in the world. The All blacks were in the final showdown with the very fortunate French side. The All Blacks were heavy favourites with undefeated streak, while France had already lost two pool games against New Zealand and Tonga!

I was watching the event on tv. The atmosphere was huge! Even I was getting nervous just watching the crowd build! The crowd roared before and throughout the game. The game was about to begin. The two teams were about to jogg onto the field. They came onto the field and sang their national anthems (I stood up and sang it too!). The All Blacks performed their fearsome haka and the match was about to begin.

France came out flying quickly getting the ball into their possession. Surprisingly the French were not kicking the ball away as they normally did in their recent games. Instead they were using the ball spreading it quickly around the park trying to counter the might of the All Blacks defence. France were on the front foot in the first 20 minutes, dominating the set pieces with strong scrums and decisive line outs.

The All Blacks needed to establish themselves as the dominate team in this game. So they capitalized on a chance close to the Frech try line with a beautiful set piece move ending up with the prop Tony Woodcock cashing in for the first points. This was a big kick coming up, Weepu was given several chances to take the lead for the All Blacks but was denied both times. This kick would give the All Blacks a bit of breathing space but unfortunately Piri Weepu failed to convert. They went to halftime with the lead being 5-0.

The All Blacks were struck with yet another injury to young gun Aaron Cruden forcing Stephen Donald to come on and make his debut in the World Cup! Fortunately Donald stepped up to the challenge and converted what would be the winning penalty! I was ready to faint in the dying minutes of the game with the clock ticking and the French behind by 1 but having the ball inside the All Blacks half. I nervously watched on as the clock ticked....... YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The All Blacks were given a penalty, all they needed to do was win the line and hold onto the ball. YEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!! THE PLAGUE IS FINALLY OVER!!!!!! 24 YEARS OF WAITING HAVE FINALLY COME TO AN END!!!!!!!!!

by Tanielu

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