Richie McCaw, left, and Dan Carter celebrate with the Webb Ellis Cup after yesterday's final.
The All Blacks' remarkable 34-17 victory over the Wallabies in the Rugby World Cup final has been rightly acclaimed as one of the finest victories of this or any other era.
The attention to detail and ability to take scoring opportunities given up by a very good Australian team made
the difference in the end for the All Blacks, who became the first team to win the Webb Ellis Cup three times and also to win the title back-to-back.
Once the farewells to Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Keven Mealamu, Conrad Smith and Ma'a Nonu from the winning team have faded, it will be hoped that the long-term impact of the All Blacks' success will be felt at the grassroots level of the game.
Craig Jeffries, coach of the Bay of Plenty Development and Te Puke Sports Premier teams, says the biggest learning from the unique culture within the All Blacks is the players' outstanding urgency.
"They do it from the first second of the game to the last seconds of the game. They want to be involved," Jeffries said. "If the boys watched that and got a little bit inspired about their work rate and their fitness, and not letting their mates down, then that is a definite positive. it is something you cannot coach. It comes from within the group and is special. That is the stuff that I love."
