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Wallabies wing James O'Connor is tackled during the IRB Rugby World Cup Semi-Final between Australia and New Zealand at Eden Park, Auckland, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011. The All Blacks defeated the Wallabies 20-6. (AAP Image/AFP, William West)
When Piri Weepu, the canny All Blacks halfback, kicked his final penalty to give New Zealand a 20 – 6 lead over the Wallabies, it was a signal for the vast crowd at Eden Park to go beserk.
The chant of ‘All Blacks! All Blacks!’ was backed with about 40,000 spectators (I’m presuming about 20,000 non-Kiwis in the crowd) smashing their feet on the concrete to make a rugby noise that was intimidating: ‘All Blacks! All Blacks!’ Bang! Bang! Bang!
Not even the Wallabies, a most resilient and brave side with brilliant ball-runners in the backline, could score two converted tries in about 8 minutes, could they?
The Wallabies swept on to the attack. Beside me a young man, in his 20s, dressed in adidas All Black gear, kept on moaning ‘Oh shit’ at various levels of intensity as drive after drive from the Wallabies pushed the side nearer the sideline.
When the ball squirted loose and there was a mad scramble for it, he was screaming out.
The ground erupted into roars of triumph when the All Blacks finally forced a ruck penalty.
By now there was only a minute or so left in the match and you could see Richie McCaw giving a smile of satisfaction. Some sloppy play followed and then a scrum that the All Blacks pulled down a couple of times before referee Craig Joubert gave a short arm penalty.
There was time for one more Wallaby backline thrust.
Ferocious and accurate tackling, especially on James O’Connor, forced a loose ball. Richard Kahui booted it through. Racing back in cover was Quade Cooper. Cooper bravely took the tackle and was smashed into touch.
A group of jubiliant All Blacks gathered around Kahui slapping backs and congratulating each other. One of the All Blacks gave Cooper a mouthful of abuse.
The final whistle blew and there was an exploding volcano of sound. It seemed to me like the sort of sound the last of the Christians might have heard when they were being feed to the lions at the Colisseum. It was the sound of pent-up and unrestrained joy, an explosion of noise that was at once triumphant, savage, raw and exultant.
In all my time watching rugby in the great rugby stadiums around the world and throughout many decades, I have never heard such an intensity of feeling expressed by a crowd.
I have gone into this emotional bloodbath atmosphere in some detail because this was one occasion when the crowd was literally the 16th man on the field for the All Blacks. They took huge reservoirs of energy from the crowd and delivered a power-laden performance that saw the Wallabies out-muscled in the rucks, the drives and, particularly, the scrum.
Nine of the All Blacks points came from scrum penalties.
This was a dominance that the Wallabies could not overcome with the rest of their game.
A significant part of the outcome, too, could be related to the poor play of Quade Cooper. The brilliant playmaker has had a shocking tournament. When his name was read out by the ground announcer in the Wallaby line-up, he was the only player on either side who was roundly booed. This booing has clearly affected his confidence and the usual manipulation of his high skills.
My feeling is that that he should have defused his Richie McCaw feud by confessing that he’d been a bit rash etc.
The New Zealand public would have acccepted this. Despite some of the media chatter, there is tremendous good will for the Wallabies in New Zealand. The intensity of the reaction of the spectators to their play represents the measure of respect the New Zealand public pays them.
But Cooper did not make his apologies and it seemed to me that this antagonised the All Blacks. It is never smart thing to do this, at the best of times. But when a place in the World Cup final is at stake, there is an element of stupidity in the sort of antics Cooper has been indulging in.
I noticed, for instance, that McCaw hardly looked at James Horwill when they tossed the coin.
There was some uncharacteristic gamesmanship by the All Blacks, too. Jerome Kaino, for example, patted David Pocock on the head when he conceded the first of his several penalties at the ruck.
This is being written immediately after the match. My impression of the Wallabies is that the team never really recovered from Cooper’s initial kick-off which went out on the full. The All Blacks spent the next 13 minutes on attack until Israel Dagg, a runner of Cooper-like brilliance but a better tackler and sounder player in every department of the game, hurtled through a gap and slipped a magnificent inside pass to Ma’a Nonu.
The Wallabies came back after this and forced a penalty after a series of forward drives the All Blacks found hard to contain.
But in hindsight, now we know what the outcome of the match was, the All Blacks were in control of the match. The youngster Aaron Cruden, who drop-kicked a neat goal, played the sort of steady game on attack and defence that the All Blacks needed from him. It is a difficult thing to have to say but that groin injury of Colin Slade was a blessing in disguise for the All Blacks.
And the Wallabies?
I was impressed enough with their resilience and courage and occasional brilliance to have the thought that if the bulk of this team can be held together, and the coach Robbie Deans with the players he has brought on, then they will be a real threat in England in RWC 2015.
But for now it is the sad story for the Wallabies that their dream of glory in RWC 2011 is over.