To some extent, the same blunt summation can be reapplied to "rugby union", "thirty men", "80 minutes", and "New Zealand". As I have mentioned previously in this blog, that sport is synonymous with that nation, so it may be somewhat surprising to some people, to learn that, until earlier today, the All Blacks had never won a world title outside of their homeland.
I wasn't lucky enough to obtain tickets for the final in the ballot, but I was in attendance at the semi final game with South Africa. When purchasing tickets for a game in the knockout stages some months in advance, it is never possible to fully predict the identities of the combatants - Team A, Team B or Team C could play Team X, Team Y or Team Z. Although I had traced the draw through to the final four, and had a fair idea that NZ vs SA was a very plausible combination of teams. The Springboks' surprise defeat by Japan in the group stages threatened to throw a spanner in the works, but, in the end, those two great nations got to meet once more, in the sport's biggest stage. And I got to see the contest in person.
At Twickenham, despite the supposedly random nature of the ticket allocation process, there were some very visible pockets of both NZ fans and SA fans. My seat was in the middle of a group of NZ fans, which pleased me somewhat, because I do have quite a soft spot for the All Blacks team. The family sat immediately beside me told me that they had flown from NZ to the UK 10 weeks previously, and had stayed in this country for all that time, to cheer their nation on to glory - quite some commitment of time and effort!!
I'm not old enough to remember any Springboks games from before the years of isolation, but I have learned about the amateur pre-RWC rivalry between these two nations. I know about 1976. The tour. The controversy. The resultant Olympic boycott of 25 African nations. Also, as covered earlier, I remember 1995. The story of Madiba. And Francois. And Jonah. And...... Suzie...
The 2015 semi final did not disappoint. This was not a game of flair and exhuberance, with dashing tries scored by comic book heroes in neatly starched collars. Rather, this was a war of attrition, fought in Twickenham's muddy trenches. With the sound of each brutal tackle that I heard with alarming quality through my £10 referee earpiece, I became more and more cognizant of how much this rivalry truly meant to the current generation of men in Black and Green shirts, as they battled, mano a mano, for each and every ball.
So, for my final picture, in this, my last blog entry, I give you a shot I took at the final whistle, as the All Blacks secured passage to today's final.
To summarise and conclude this blog, the Rugby World Cup Experience has provided me with a great insight into this fine sport. The Rugby Southern Hemisphere Experience has far surpassed anything from north of the equator. We saw a strong Argentina team comfortably beat the supposed leading light of the Six Nations, to reach a second Semi Final in three tournaments. We saw South Africa recover from an initial calamity, to achieve a respectable final position. We saw Australia battle with 13 men to hold off Wales, and run rampant with 15 men, to rip the wheels of England's sweet chariot. But, in the final reckoning, the New Zealanders deservedly won a first overseas World Cup.
I would love to go to the Olympics in Japan in 2020. But maybe, just maybe, I could be tempted as well by Japan's big 2019 sports offering, which will be the next edition, of the Rugby World Cup.
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