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The popular story about the 1995 RWC final goes something like this: most of the All Blacks were food poisoned, probably deliberately, in the 24 hours before the final was played.
Severely depleted of energy, the All Blacks succumbed to the all encompassing and suffocating defence of the Boks. On a level playing field, they would have run the pants off the Boks.
For years, New Zealand rugby fans especially, have refused to believe that on the day, repeat, on the day, they were beaten by a better team, with ‘team’ being the operative word.
I know at least one All Black was sick on the field, and that was Jeff Wilson. I saw him chucking up in front of camera. But I’ve never read exactly how many of the starting XV were affected.
From my own experience playing club rugby, which I acknowledge isn’t Test rugby, on those days I was hung over, or even sick with flu, it’s amazing how illness can concentrate the mind.
There is a tragic saga in Australian history, and it surrounds the sinking of HMAS Sydney with the loss of all 645 hands in WW2 in action against the German raider Kormoran.
The Sydney had superior firepower but closed dangerously close to the Kormoran, which basically caught it by surprise. The reasons why Sydney came so incredibly close before being sure of its quarry, don’t need to be delt with here.
Suffice to say, in a rugby context, the All Blacks of 1995 were the Sydney and the Boks of 1995 were the Kormoran. Like the Kormoran’s skipper Detmers, Boks coach Christie wringed every last ounce of knowledge, skill, commitment, effort, whatever, from his team, in order to succeed.
Sick or not, the All Blacks were out-thought and outplayed. The whole country had got carried away with “pass it to Lomu”. It was almost as if a Plan B was superfluous.
My memory of the final, is that the All Blacks overdid the “pass it to Lomu” thing. The Boks cleverly decided to commit only one player at a time to tackling Lomu, so as to not be caught short elsewhere.
Tragedy one for the All Blacks is that they had so many other options they could have used, but got caught up in Lomu hysteria.
Tragedy two is the ungracious manner in which some/many Kiwis have refused to accept their defeat. That on the day, they were beaten by a much better team – smarter, hungrier.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.