Holy Grail is within our grasp
As commuters arrived late and dishevelled for work, the final against France seemed a long way off in the distance. In time, anxiety will creep in — France have an uncanny habit of producing their dazzling best against Nouvelle Zelande — but the early part of the week has been dedicated to celebrating the All Blacks first win against Australia at a World Cup.
It was not so much the win, but the scale of same that was most impressive. True, 20-6 does not immediately scream epic triumph, but it felt closer to a 30-point thumping than 14.
The All Blacks were dominant in every facet. In the air, on the ground and at set-piece. The only competition they lost was goal kicking.
They took the lessons of Ireland’s victory over the same opponent earlier in the tournament. Ireland taught them that Australia could be bludgeoned up front. The All Blacks used that bludgeon and added a rapier.
Richie McCaw, Jerome Kaino and Kieran Read battered Australia at the tackle area in much the same way as Sean O’Brien, Stephen Ferris and Jamie Heaslip did a month ago.
When they got quick ball, Aaron Cruden, Ma’a Nonu and the beautifully balanced Israel Dagg were ready to punch holes and slice through Australia’s backline.
The more observant among you will point out that for all the All Blacks’ dominance, they scored but one try. While they did spurn a couple of half chances, that was due more to Australia’s famed tenacity than All Black largesse. France are not renowned for such resistance.
If it all sounds a bit triumphalist, forgive us, these moments have been too rare.
We’re aware that it won’t amount to a hill of beans if the All Blacks turn around and flop against the French, but there is a growing sense that this team will simply not allow that to happen.
Perhaps Wallaby coach Robbie Deans summed it up best. He was assistant coach to John Mitchell when the All Blacks crashed out of the 2003 World Cup at the hands of Australia.
“What the All Blacks have is a group who have suffered on many occasions. The core of their group, the nucleus of their group, this is their third attempt and they’ve got that burning desire, that fire in the belly.
“They’ve also got that mental resilience... I can’t see anyone stopping the All Blacks now.”
There’s a danger that comes with complacency, you only need to watch a replay of the glorious France-New Zealand semi-final of 1999 to witness that. The big difference this time around is that the complacency is confined to the general public, not the team.
While the fans spilled out of Eden Park and made a brave bid to drink the city dry, the players had already turned their minds to rest and rehabilitation.
There was no excessive celebrations after the win. The party line was maintained at every opportunity.
“Do you think anyone will care who won the semi-final? No, no one will care,” man mountain Brad Thorn said yesterday. “It is what happens this weekend and we have got world-class opposition coming up against us.”
That final point is debatable.
While Sunday might have provided the global rugby community with a demonstration of some of the best elements of rugby, Saturday was surely the worst.
Too often in this part of the world there is a childish dismissal of northern hemisphere rugby. What Wales and France dished up would have only provided ammunition for those rugby ‘fans’ with small minds.
This wasn’t a failure of the North, however, just a failure on the part of Wales’ captain Sam Warburton to engage his brain and, arguably, a failure on the part of Irish referee Alain Rolland to keep a sense of perspective. Few argue that he didn’t have the rulebook on his side, but it seemed strange that in a tournament where there have been at least four or five such tackles, it took a semi-final before a match-destroying red card was produced for such an offence.
Warburton might not have deserved better, but Wales did and that’s a shame.
* Dylan Cleaver is a senior sports writer for the New Zealand Herald.
