RWC Review: No. 1 New Zealand

[Shaggy]

The 2011 Rugby World Cup has ended and unfortunately for the rugby faithful, this means that we’ll have to wait four years once again, but don’t be disappointed, this was a special tournament. New Zealand hosted this time around, and with that, we realize that we may not see the rugby mad country host again for a very long time.

We hope that you all savored every moment and every match, no matter what the outcomes were, the disappointments or heartache. What impressed us the most is how well second tier nations developed over the past four years, which is great news for the sport on a worldwide scale.

Development is the key to this game, as any, and this world cup has opened the door to a large number of new fans.

As we take a look back, Shaggy, psychic duck and M Two One review the twenty participants from worst to first over the next week. The rankings were put together through several opinions based on performances.

Feel free to debate and discuss. The 2011 Rugby World Cup may have ended, but rugby lives on 24/7.

By most measuring sticks, the New Zealand All Blacks were favourites to win the 2011 Rugby World Cup. They maintained the number one IRB ranking for most of the four year period between cups and were playing with home ground advantage. The expectation from the players, management and the general public was that they would be the team that would lift the William Webb Ellis Cup at the end of the tournament, despite losing their last two matches prior to South Africa and Australia respectively. While these losses both occurred offshore, the question was whether playing at home would be an advantage, or whether the weight of expectation and the lack of a world cup ***le for 24 years, would cause them to succumb to the pressure.

The All Blacks were expected to qualify for the quarterfinals and easily accounted for Tonga and Japan before beating France by 20 points. While they were dealing with a number of injuries, confidence was high as they had effectively already qualified for the quarterfinals in first position by this point. With only Canada remaining in pool play and Captain Ritchie McCaw looking after his ****ling foot injury, the captaincy was temporarily handed to Dan Carter. However, Carter tore a muscle in his groin while taking his final kick at goal in the final practice before the match. The fly half is widely regarded as the best player in the world at his position and was considered crucial to the team’s chances of winning the cup. This caused a major case of jitters for All Blacks fans as Carter was invalided out of the tournament. Aaron Cruden was called into the squad as a replacement and understudy Colin Slade was given the reigns to steer the All Blacks around the park after only limited time on the field. The game against Canada was easily won, but the doubts still remained as the games were only going to get harder in the knock out stages of the tournament.

With the quarterfinalists determined, New Zealand faced a determined Argentine side, who were themselves, highly affected by injuries. The Pumas frustrated the All Blacks’ play by slowing the ball in the ruck and forcing their opponents to accumulate their boots in multiples of three through the boot of half back Piri Weepu. The All Blacks won the match by a considerable margin, but only managed to score two tries to the Pumas’ one. This was also veteran fullback Mils Muliaina's 100th match and as it turns out, his final match for the All Blacks as he too was injured and was replaced in the squad by Hosea Gear. An aggravated groin tear to Colin Slade prompted another replacement by bringing in the previously unwanted and unpopular (in some circles) Stephen Donald.

The win against Argentina set up a match against trans-Tasman rivals, Australia, in the semifinalsâ€"this was probably the match of the tournament for the All Blacks. Doubts caused by the number of injuries and whether the team could function as a cohesive unit, due to the changes in personnel, combined with the fact that the Wallabies had beaten the All Blacks the last time they played, had some fans wondering if the latter could pull off the win. Their game plan was well thought out and implemented well. David Pocock was nullified at the breakdowns and the dangerous Wallaby backs were denied quality ball. Young fly half Aaron Cruden was well supported by the rest of the team and ran with confidence. For their part, the Wallabies probably kicked to the All Black back three too much, with Dagg, Jane and Kahui turning in flawless displays under the high ball. This set up an unlikely final with fellow Pool A qualifiers France.

During the course of the week between the semifinals and the final there was a total reversal, with the fans developing perhaps over confidence and the All Black players getting the jitters. The French really brought their “Aâ€game and ended up losing in the cruelest of circumstances, by one point. This was a tight tussle, highlighted by missed kicks on both sides, with only one try a piece and maybe the best team on the night losing to the best team in the tournament. While winning the ***le was definitely a whole team effort, the squad benefited from the leadership of Ritchie McCaw as he played through all of the games with his foot injury. Jerome Kaino was probably the pick of the forwards and Ma’a Nonu and Israel Dagg probably narrowly beat out Cory Jane and Richard Kahui in the backs.

It's ironic that the All Blacks’ fourth choice fly half, the much maligned Stephen Donald, kicked the penalty that made the difference in the end. - S

 

[Amobokoboko]

Well written, it's indeed remarkable that NZ won the cup with Donald securing the win.
Maybe in the past the team was focussing too much on certain players where they should have looked at the complete team effort.