Around a year ago, I managed to cajole a group of friends into agreeing to a trip to Paris to watch some of the Rugby World Cup. I promised them that we would watch two World Cup quarter-finals featuring the best teams in the world, the All Blacks, South Africa, Ireland and France. That I was right owes far more to the incompetence of World Rugby PLC than my powers of foresight, though few of us could have predicted what is now considered to be one of the greatest weekends of rugby ever.
It was a glorious time for a New Zealander to be in Paris. A late night following the All Blacks epic over the Irish (the green hordes weren’t going to allow the small matter of a defeat stop them from joining the party) was followed up by a late morning bike trip across town shouting smug greetings to any fellow All Blacks fans out and about. The number of green shirts had reduced from a flood to a trickle, but maybe they were just taking longer to recover from the previous night’s carousing.
What made the victory over Ireland quite so special was that for the first time I can remember, the AB Nation did not seem to feel beforehand that victory was somehow inevitable. There was much tension in that the All Blacks were going up against not just the highest-ranked team in the world but also the bookies’ favourite, and a crowd that was as green as a spring day after a week’s rain.
Nestled among the small coterie of All Blacks fans in the Stade de France, I confess that at no point during that game did I ever think that we could pull it off until the last of those 37 agonising Irish phases was halted by Sam Whitelock and we roared our delight to the heavens. As the players below us walked around taking in what had just unfolded, we alternated between singing ironic versions of Zombie and shaking Irish hands with respect, and sadness that both teams couldn’t progress. Every emerald fan I met was gracious in defeat and generous in their praise of the All Blacks, which added to a fantastic overall experience in and out of the stadium.
And so, on to the semi-final and the Pumas. Although Argentina’s quarter-final against Wales was also exciting, the standard of rugby was very much “vin ordinaire” compared with the heady champagne seen in Paris. The All Blacks are favoured to beat the Argentinians, and although defeat would be a shock to many, the Pumas should not be dismissed lightly. They have recovered well after the disappointment of losing their first game to England’s 14 men and are an excellent final’s team with a much better record in World Cups than Ireland, for example. They beat the All Blacks in New Zealand last year and they pushed us far harder than we like to remember when we played them in the quarter-finals in the 2011 tournament. Los Pumas have immense pride and love to beat the All Blacks, and although the French have an affinity with the All Blacks, the locals might well side with the underdogs in Paris.
Although I’m sure most of New Zealand would like an easier passage than that against Ireland to avoid another morning hiding behind the sofa watching the screen through fingers, it’s unlikely the Argentinians will provide anything but the toughest of scraps. Despite that, a loss to the South Americans would almost inevitably be seen here as a calamity and do nothing to halt the cracks that are appearing in our nation’s once-impregnable obsession with rugby.
In the second semi, the Springboks face the English, and although the Red Roses haven’t frightened anyone with their progress so far, they find themselves the only unbeaten team of the four remaining. The Springboks looked immense against Ireland, but they should bear in mind that the English turned over a favoured All Blacks team in a similar situation in Tokyo four years ago. There are no easy games at this level.
If the weekend’s results go the way the bookies predict, the Stade de France would feature a titanic Southern Hemisphere clash final next week of irresistible force against immovable object. This collision would be felt all over the world and would settle the argument (for at least the next four years) over which is the better World Cup team, as both New Zealand and South Africa have won three finals each and something would have to give.
We have seen some magnificent games and a number of shocks so far in this tournament, so it seems almost inevitable that we would have more drama this weekend. For the sake of rugby in this country, let’s hope the All Blacks can keep rolling for at least another week.
Allez les Noirs.
