By the time you read this, the seventh edition of the Rugby World Cup (RWC) will be under way. The first weekend of the tournament includes such mouth-watering pool games as England vs Argentina in Dunedin and South Africa vs Wales in Wellington, so it’s unfortunate that the game at Eden Park on Friday, which will follow the opening ceremony immediately, is New Zealand vs Tonga.
Such has been the New Zealand public’s enthusiasm for the tournament that 4 000 tickets were still unsold on Wednesday and scarcely any of the games, including both semifinals, is sold out yet. Furthermore, the locals are not at all sure that playing at home is enough to ensure a first title since 1987 for an All Black side regarded as a little less than overwhelming.
The New Zealand Herald had this to say about the team this week: “A static old fullback, no outstanding wings, almost no tried and trusted back-ups, a lock who hasn’t played in anger for months, a front row that shows tendencies to fall over if Owen Franks is missing, muddling selections, minimal combinations, an erratic Dan Carter by his highest standards, consecutive losses on the eve of the tournament — this is hardly the mighty machine we were promised.”
Photo gallery: Defending the title
But it should be enough to overcome Tonga and there will be people present who will recall fondly another opening mismatch at the 1987 tournament, when the All Blacks scored 12 tries against Italy. The one that sticks in the memory was by muscular wing John Kirwan, who ran from his own 22, breaking tackles and sidestepping until he crossed the line with a trail of blue jerseys in his wake.
It was a significant moment because it finally united a divided nation. Until Kirwan’s run, there were still families divided by their view of the tour to South Africa by the New Zealand Cavaliers the previous year. The New Zealand Rugby Union was forced to blood a new generation of players, one that included Sean Fitzpatrick and Zinzan Brooke. But when Rugby World Cup came along, the selectors felt the need to forgive a few rebels in the quest for silverware.
Kirwan’s try made people forget politics and embrace the new tournament. The organisers of RWC 2011 will be hoping that something equally eye-catching occurs early on against Tonga. Maybe it will come from Sonny Bill Williams, many people’s favourite to be the player of the tournament.
The start of something big
It was intriguing to note that coach Graham Henry began the week saying that Williams was behind Ma’a Nonu in the pecking order at inside centre, but by the time the team was announced the coach had found room for both, with Nonu moving to outside centre. It looks like a lethal combination, but it also smacks of compromise and that’s something that will not please Henry’s critics.
His counterpart at the Springboks, Peter de Villiers, must be delighted that the defending champions have slipped into New Zealand under the radar. For the first month the Boks are based in Wellington, a town at the southern tip of the North Island, but a million miles away in feel from the cosmopolitan bustle of Auckland.
De Villiers has a squad of players that many New Zealanders would love to swap for their own. The results of the past two seasons may have left a little to be desired, but this squad has proved itself capable of rising to an occasion and, unlike the host nation, no one expects the Springboks to choke.
We will know a good deal more about their chances of defending the title after the opening match against Wales. Don’t expect a try-fest, for that is not how Springbok sides operate at World Cups. Expect, rather, a grinding performance by the forwards; one that extracts enough penalties from the Welsh to groove the kicking boots of Morné Steyn at flyhalf.
Wales have good memories of the last World Cup to be played in New Zealand. They won the third place playoff game against Australia and went home with medals, despite conceding 49 points to the All Blacks in the semifinal.
As a reminder of a more innocent time an injury-ravaged Wales brought in 20-year-old flanker Richard Webster for the game against Australia, which was played in Rotorua. Webster was on holiday in Australia and playing for Teacher’s North, a Canberra club side, when the Welsh Rugby Union tracked him down.
Wales have only beaten South Africa once in their history, on a summer’s day in 1999 when the half-built Millennium Stadium had to be tested ahead of the fourth edition of the World Cup. Gary Teichmann led the last all white (even the three substitutes used were white) Springboks to a 29-19 defeat. The Welsh coach that day, incidentally, was Henry.
The hymn-loving nation dubbed him “The Great Redeemer”, a title that will fit him again if the All Blacks repeat the success of their 1987 counterparts. But there is reason to believe that even home advantage will not be enough for this particular squad to prevail. If, however, the Springboks impress against Wales, it could be the start of something big.
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