In terms of choking in rugby, it'll be interesting to see how Wales go in a pool with both Fiji and Samoa. There has been a lot of talk about the French knocking New Zealand out in 1999 and 2007, but Wales seems not to get the same level of abuse when they have lost to both Samoa and Fiji in the 1999 and 2007 RWC respectively.
Granted those were 2 huge upsets in the game it wasn't quite on the same level as an All Black loss in the QF or SF. The best position Wales has been in the IRB world rankings in the past 6 years is (and i think i'm right in saying) 5th. In the pro era we've had our major upsets and i truly believe that we have choked on a few occassions. I look at the Fiji game in 07. It was spectacular, it was fast and free flowing, but man had we screwed our heads on and played a structured game we would have won it. We didn't. We got caught up in it all and we choked. I genuinely believe we did coz 9 times out of 10 we should beat that team. Should.
The reason the All Blacks caught it heavily is because they have always been such a formidable force throughout all of their history. I can't personally remember a time in my life - i may be wrong - when the All Blacks dropped out of the top 3.
Nevertheless, the Welsh came under HUGE heavy fire at home, like you guys did. Our coach got fired the morning after the loss to Fiji! There wasn't a calm head in the country, let alone at the WRU. We choked on the field and when it came to dealing with the coach with the respect a man deserves we choked off the field.
I feel sorry that the Kiwis get it in the neck every so often, but you guys are like the Man Utd of rugby: When you get so consistently good and difficult to beat you start getting a lot of petty bitter people trying to bring you down. Be proud that people want to bring you down, i say. It's flattering.
Tiger seems to show his old talents in spits and spurts these days. He's not getting any younger, but the guy is far from being old or losing the shape to play, i mean, just look at Angel Cabrera. The guy walks around the course with a lit cigarette in his hand. It makes sense the fitter you are the more energy you'll have over a long 18 hole day and if it comes to it sudden death. But Angel, he is the epitome of what a strong mental state can do for you. He just sucks in his gut, takes his shot and walks on puffing on his cigarette. Brilliant.
And Rory is too young to be labelled as a choker yet. I think someone younger than him as won the US Masters before, but age isn't significant it's experience. He'll learn from what happened to him on his final round a few weeks ago. It's a tough lesson to learn, but it'll make him a better player in the long run.
Choking definitely exists in sport. How do i know, because i've choked on occasion. As a scrum half I trained as a kicker alongside my full back (who was the first choice in our team) every monday and thursday. He had a bigger boot than me, but he wasn't any more accurate than i was. But there was one game we were playing against my hometown and i wanted to beat them so badly. I don't know why, i had nothing against them, but i just didn't want to lose to my hometown. The fullback went off injured at half time and i was the first choice kicker. I took 4 kicks in that second half, 2 conversions and 2 penalties and everytime i stood over that ball instead of talking to myself like i usually do, telling myself if there's any wind, take my time on the approach don't kick it too hard etc. etc. All i kept saying was, "Come on get this over, don't miss this f***ing shot." And i'd miss. The 2nd one i got over, but that was right in front of the posts and that's what i told myself for the 3rd kick. "Don't f**k up again, the only reason you got the last one was coz it's easy". I ended up getting 1 out of the 4 kicks coz i totally choked. I could feel even my kicks were different and that affected my passing game. We won the game by 4 points, but that's only because we had a phenomenal centre who pulled out a hat trick that day. I was ****** off with myself for days after. But that's sport. And i was NOT playing at a high standard, trust me!
I learnt to accept that as a horrific lesson. Yeah we got away with my poor performance, but win, lose or draw i let the side down that day. My coach was great though. The next game he made me the first choice kicker, he told me to go through everything i normally go through in training, he forced me to get back out there and didn't give me time to think about how badly i messed up. I kicked better in the next game and remembered that i really needed more composure as a player.
That's one of the reasons why i think New Zealand will be so much tougher this year. There are plenty of players on that field in 07 that'll be taking to the field in a few months time. They'll take with them what they have learnt. McCaw and McAllister are 2 people that stand out particularly in that game for me. Their game composure and control will be significantly improved in the big games when it comes to it.
Winning it in your back yard? I don't care where you win the world cup. Your 15 men still have to beat their 15 men on the same field with the ONE BALL. I don't ever remember hearing the commentators saying when Francois Pienaar raised the Webb Ellis cup, "They are the world champions, but...it
was in their back yard. So it doesn't count as much." Bullshit.
A win's a win wherever you go.
