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NEW ZEALAND WINS RUGBY WORLD CUP!


Strider

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Not a bad year for New Zealand...first they made the semi's at the Cricket World Cup. Now they've won the Rugby World Cup after defeating France 8-7. CONGRATULATIONS! :cheer:

Hey Preetha, is the entire country still partying?

I would have posted this earlier, but this new board is causing chaos with my computer...I've lost 4 posts already because this new board keeps signing me out while I am writing a post, so when I hit the "post" button, it redirects me to sign in and all my previous work is gone. I'm having other issues with this new "upgrade" as well...maybe it doesn't like Windows.

Anyway, I'm trying yet again to post this article...read on for more about New Zealand's victory.

New Zealand 8, France 7

For New Zealand, a Rugby World Cup on Home Soil

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David Rogers/Getty Images

Kieran Read of the All Blacks, center, celebrated at the final whistle.

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Greg Wood/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Richie McCaw, New Zealand's captain, hoisting the Webb Ellis Cup with his teammates after the All Blacks edged France. It was the team's first World Cup rugby title since 1987.

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Sandra Mu/Getty Images

The All Blacks performed the Haka, a dance.

By EMMA STONEY

New York Times October 23, 2011

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Twenty-four years of Rugby World Cup pain and misery melted away for New Zealand on Sunday.

The triumph was far tougher than expected, with the All Blacks barely squeezing by France, 8-7, but it was a victory nonetheless for the long-suffering All Blacks fans, who got to see the captain Richie McCaw lift the Webb Ellis Cup at Eden Park. It was the first time since 1987 that the All Blacks won the World Cup, and it came against the same opponents at the same venue.

The tense finish — France missed a kick midway through the second half that would have given it the lead — gave way to scenes of jubilation as Andy Ellis kicked the ball into touch to end the game and signal the start of the victory celebration.

“It’s hard to describe, I am absolutely shagged,” McCaw said. “What the boys put out there, we had to dig deeper than ever before and it’s hard to get it to sink in, but I am so proud of every single of one them.

“This is a tough group of men and they’ve left everything out there tonight, and the whole country should be proud of them.”

In fan zones around the country people cheered, sang and hugged, while fireworks went off at Eden Park as the party in Auckland began in earnest. Victory parades will take place in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington over the next three days.

Few in world rugby would begrudge New Zealanders this moment, considering the country has produced some of the finest rugby teams in the past 20 years but had not won the most treasured prize, the World Cup, during that time. There have been plenty of Bledisloe Cup and Tri-Nations titles and Grand Slam sweeps of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales in that time, but a World Cup title remained elusive.

France twice ended the All Blacks’ World Cup dreams — in 1999 and 2007 — and New Zealand was desperate to atone for the quarterfinal failure in Cardiff, Wales, four years ago. McCaw and his team — even without two stars, Daniel Carter and Mils Muliaina, who were injured earlier in the tournament — were intent on not letting this opportunity on home soil slip from their grasp.

Neither would the All Blacks’ coaching trio of Graham Henry, Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith, who were the first New Zealand coaches ever to be given a shot at World Cup redemption after they oversaw the failure at Cardiff.

New Zealand had steadily improved throughout the tournament, dismantling Australia a week before in the semifinals. Few expected much of a challenge from France, which has been beset by strife between the players and Coach Marc Lièvremont and was mostly outplayed by Wales in the semifinals. In the first two knockout rounds, though, France always found a way to win, and it nearly did so again Sunday, providing a tougher challenge than many expected.

“I feel immensely sad and immensely proud at the same time,” said Lièvremont, who was coaching his last match for France. “People have always said and thought that the All Blacks were the greatest team of all time, but tonight I think it’s the France team that was great, and even immense.” France did not play like a team that lost two pool games on the way to the final. On Sunday, the team replicated its solid quarterfinal performance against England.

There was fury in the tackles by both sides and bruising collisions at the breakdown. Both teams lost their flyhalfs, Morgan Parra (head) and Aaron Cruden (knee), to injuries before the first 40 minutes had elapsed.

But more importantly for France, it looked like a team that wanted to play rugby after being written off time and again. France’s captain, Thierry Dusautoir, was dominant, as were his loose forward teammates Julien Bonnaire and Imanol Harinordoquy. Center Aurélien Rougerie attacked and defended aggressively , and François Trinh-Duc and Dimitri Yachvili controlled things well in the halves.

France contested the lineouts and earned a couple of steals for their efforts. They also more than matched the All Blacks’ scrum. But the All Blacks withstood everything thrown at them. McCaw was his usual inspirational self, and Jerome Kaino and Kieran Read tackled hard and carried the ball strongly when they had the chance. In the backs, Conrad Smith threw his body at every white shirt that ran at him.

Stephen Donald, the fourth-choice flyhalf who was added to the team two weeks ago after Daniel Carter and then Colin Slade were knocked out with injuries, kicked the winning penalty in the 45th minute. It was a moment for him to savor, given the criticism he had endured during his 23-test career.

“You pride yourself on fronting up,” said Donald, who will play for the English club Bath now that his World Cup duties are over. “You don’t always agree with what’s written and said about you. I was excited about going out there. It was my last game for the All Blacks, and I wanted to play well and prove that I am a genuine All Black.”

The crowd knew it was in for something thrilling from the moment the All Blacks started the “Kapa O Pango” haka, which they perform before the start of matches, and the French, refusing to be intimidated, lined up in an arrowhead formation to walk toward it.

For the first 15 minutes, it was France that set the pace. Its attacking play forced New Zealand into uncharacteristic mistakes — particularly at the lineout. But despite that, it was the All Blacks who took the lead after Dusautoir was penalized for holding on and Piri Weepu kicked for the lineout.

Kaino rose above the French jumpers and dropped the ball down to prop Tony Woodcock, who burst through a gaping hole to score the opening try. Weepu had a night to forget in kicking, as he wasted eight points after missing two penalties and a conversion, and it was only Woodcock’s try that separated the two sides at halftime.

Donald’s penalty five minutes after the break appeared to settle the nerves of the partisan crowd; it came after Yachvili had missed one of his own.

“Everyone said you’ve kicked a pretty important goal,” Donald said. “But, to be fair, at the time it was just a goal to kick and a job to do. I certainly wasn’t lining it up thinking this is for the World Cup. I was out there doing my work and trying to do my job.”

But the crowd had little time to relax after the successful kick, as France roared back with a superb try by Dusautoir. Rougerie hacked the ball out of the ruck. Weepu gathered the loose ball, then threw it to Trinh-Duc, whose run had the New Zealand defense scrambling, and it was not long before Dusautoir spotted a gap and slipped past Ma’a Nonu to score. Trinh-Duc added the conversion, putting France down by only a point with 30 minutes to go.

France continued to ramp up the pressure — and kept the crowd on edge — as Yachvili and Trinh-Duc used kicks to keep New Zealand pinned in its own half.

But Trinh-Duc missed a penalty in the 64th minute, then Israel Dagg fired a huge punt down field to force the French back into their own half, and from there the All Blacks held on for the victory they have craved.

“I’m so proud to be a New Zealander,” said Henry, the All Blacks’ coach. “It’s something we’ve dreamed of for awhile. We can rest in peace.”

Edited by Strider
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See what I mean? This whole thing has become a pain in the arse. I can't cut-and-paste text and images with the ease I used to, and it totally freezes up my computer and wipes out vast parts of text at random, or the text controls will disappear. What's with that toggle switch anyway?

I don't know...it looks nice, but this new "upgrade" is wreaking havoc with my computer and it takes me twice or even three times as long to post things now, because I have to keep going back and forth, trying to retrieve or rewrite things that have been lost, or re-edit the original post.

It's a mess. I'll do my best to edit the above article I posted into a coherent form.

Edited by Strider
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Well, I don't know much about rugby, to be honest (except for the fact that I absolutely love watching the All Blacks perform their "Haka" :lol:) but people in my apartment building went absolutely mad when NZ won! B) I tell you, there were even kick-off parties! People here are very passionate about rugby, that's for sure! ;) The celebrations have died down now in comparison to the past couple of days but I don't think people will ever forget the fact that the All Blacks brought the cup back home after 23 long years! :)

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I'm a huge rugby fan, so watching the all blacks win the cup was awesome! 24 long years it's taken but the cup is finally back on NZ soil. Man, I could hardly sit down during the second half, was so nervous because we only had the one point lead. Turned out to be enough in the end though! I didn't get home until 7am the morning after, celebrations went long into the night haha.

Yes, it has been a good year for NZ sporting wise with the Black Caps reaching the semis and the Warriors getting into the Grand final of the NRL (The National Rugby Leage comp in Australia). In other areas though it has been a pretty dire year, what with the Pike River mine disaster, Christchurch Earthquake and now the oil spill from the container ship "Rena". Makes this world cup victory all the more sweeter though.

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Tom, when I was stationed in Germany, a few of us would get together on weekends for rugby. There were a couple New Zealanders in our group and they always said there was no party like a Kiwi rugby party. :)

Thats awesome, didn't know you were into Rugby. Don't come across many Americans who are. Kinda sucks that the Cup is over though tbh! The atmosphere of the whole thing was awesome.

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  • 4 years later...

New Zealand does it again! Repeat Rugby World Cup Champions! Congratulations to the All-Blacks!

Shout-out to my buddy Kiwi Zep Fan, who is probably still partying....what type of whiskey did you celebrate with, Kiwi? Condolences to Reggie and Jules and Whoopie Cat.

The powers-that-be are trumping this year's Rugby World Cup as the biggest and best ever! Record attendance and all that.

http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/

I wasn't there but what about you Brits who were there and can give us a "boots-on-the-ground" perspective...how did this World Cup feel to you? Was it a smashing success as advertised?

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New Zealand does it again! Repeat Rugby World Cup Champions! Congratulations to the All-Blacks!

Shout-out to my buddy Kiwi Zep Fan, who is probably still partying....what type of whiskey did you celebrate with, Kiwi? Condolences to Reggie and Jules and Whoopie Cat.

Strider, you really know me well! :D I can tell you that plenty of Tuborg beer, coupled with some shots of Jim Beam bourbon, made the celebrations extra peppy! ;) 

Now, I don't know about you, but I am really looking forward to another EPIC Trans-Tasman contest namely the Baggy-Greens vs. the Black Caps! Bring it on!! :shifty: 

 

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