Not unlike the Wallabies, my own Rugby World Cup final also involved facing a familiar foe on foreign turf in the early hours of Sunday morning. Still in Brisbane after the NRC final, I took in the Rugby World Cup decider at the Alliance Hotel in Spring Hill.
Going to pubs by myself is not something I do, but the dodgy Fox Sports reception at my hotel made it a virtual necessity.
Plus this just felt like a moment that should be ‘experienced’ in a broader population, rather than under the blanket as the previous seven weeks of the tournament had been.
These last few weeks have restored some pride in the Wallabies, and the result has been more public sightings of gold jerseys outside of matchday stadia in maybe 10 years or more. There were jerseys and caps and shirts all through Brisbane airport on Saturday morning – and no, not just in the gift shop.
Ballymore Oval, in the afternoon, was similarly bathed in gold, and very little of it was the Brisbane City variety. A lot of it was XXXX, sure, but it was a warm afternoon, and all that Wallabies gold needed hydration.
Come 2am, the only people at the Alliance not wearing gold in some shape or form, were the couple of token Kiwis in the crowd. And to be fair, the spattering of black jerseys was a nice reminder that they too were experiencing a similar feeling of national pride.
Before kickoff, there was a real air of optimism in the conversations, as I picked up words here and there.
“If Poey plays anything like last week, we win…” and “If Will Genia gets quick ball…” and perhaps rather surprisingly, knowing how protective Queensland rugby types can be, “I’m so glad Scotty Sio is starting instead of James Slipper…” Most of the pre-game chats I had with people started the same way.
What was also clear was the rugby was cool again in Australia.
Michael Cheika, from the moment he took the Wallabies job on, has spoken of wanting to create a playing environment so good the players won’t want to leave for overseas, and of wanting the team to play and handle themselves in a manner that made the Australian public want to watch them again.
Considering the circumstances in which the job became his, at the time that felt like it would be Cheika’s biggest challenge, and certainly not something that he could turn around in a year. And yet he has turned it around in a year, in the most remarkable of circumstances. The players are clearly playing for each other and Cheika, but there has been a wonderful, humble, self-awareness emanating from the team during this tournament that has made supporters believe that the team is playing for them, too.
All of that, and all that was going on around me at the Alliance made me think about #StrongerAsOne, the Wallabies marketing slogan that started life as a simple social media hashtag. It’s not even a new one; it was certainly around last year – which was pretty ironic, considering what was going on inside the camp at the time.
However long it’s been around, #StrongerAsOne now genuinely stood for something. And without any deadlines hanging over me (though my desperate editor had sent me an email on fulltime, so I would discover more than twelve hours later), if felt good to experience a big game as a fan again.
Once the game started, and the clear intentions of the All Blacks became obvious, the optimism in the air was replaced by nervous anxiety and a lot of frustrated groaning. That seemed to be the overall tone on Twitter, too, and once those few decisions went against the Wallabies just before halftime, it was difficult not to be swept up in the reaction.
That gain line stat, along with first-half missed tackles and turnovers conceded was unavoidable though. Territory and possession stats were similarly one-sided, and that was the sobering reality sitting just under the surface of the halftime frustration.
At 16-3 down, the Wallabies simply had to be the next team to score after the break.
They weren’t.
The Wallabies had been Sonny Billed, and the nervous anxiety was overtaken by willing desperation. Maybe if I switch beers, the comeback will commence? At 21-3, I was willing to try anything.
The Wallabies did eventually start getting more ball, and with it came some surprising attacking composure. Ben Smith’s tip-tackle yellow card was about right – red would’ve been ridiculously harsh – and for the first time in the match, it felt like a Wallabies try was inevitable.
David Pocock crashed over behind another lineout drive, and Bernard Foley kicked the crucial penalty from the area on the field that had caused him the most problems this tournament. Things were starting to go right again, and the mood in the room was definitely up.
Bar sales were definitely down though, as all eyes – including the staff – were locked on the wall-mounted screens. The mood in the room was sky high not long after, though, when Foley pounced on Will Genia’s box kick, drew in three All Blacks defenders, and put Tevita Kuridrani away with a brilliant offload.
Pandemonium erupted, and I suddenly found myself part of a group hug among the six or eight guys and gals immediately behind me. The comeback was on, the bonds were as united and the hugs were tight, and the room was #StrongerAsOne.
But it wasn’t on for long. Dan Carter potted a drop goal only a few minutes later, and his game management system took over from there. Carter has potted a quarter of his career and 66 per cent of his Rugby World Cup drop goals in the last two games, and it was no real surprise that he picked up the World Rugby Player of the Year gong that essentially absorbs what should be a standalone Player of the Tournament gong.
Carter’s 74th minute penalty was essentially the sealer. Beauden Barrett’s kick chase produced the cherry-on-top try that was obvious even before he’d crossed the halfway line on his run, and with that, the room moved into quiet reflection. On fulltime, everyone just sort of moved on to their own sombre post-match moments, and the Alliance became eerily empty very quickly.
The Rugby World Cup dream was over, and New Zealand had the third title that this champion team thoroughly deserved.
The immediate feeling I had would be the same word shared by the team a few hours later.
Sunday was a day of return travel, and a weird feeling that I realised I had experienced before.
But this was slightly different to 2003, in that this also came with a uniting feeling. The opportunities that this Wallabies campaign has presented the game in Australia are massive and numerous, and where in 2003 it gave way to periods of waste and backtracking, the future now feels really positive.
Rugby is cool again in Australia. The rusted-ons and the fair-weathered and the fickle have been united by early-morning rises and by Wallabies performances that have been eminently deserving of the headlines they’ve generated.
The hashtag that became a marketing slogan is now so much more. Rugby in Australia right now genuinely is #StrongerAsOne.
It has been a wonderful Rugby World Cup overall, and within that, the Wallabies’ performance has been really encouraging. It feels like the game is well placed for some serious success in the next few years.
Just as it was early Sunday morning, it’s a great time to be a rugby fan again.
Daniel White
Roar Rookie
Rugby is awesome
taylorman
Roar Guru
Well said John, and here's to you and family for the future. As a kiwi I thought this was the greatest World Cup to date in terms of the rugby played. Gone are the days of the hundred point wins and the quality of rugby played was stretched across the teams more than any other tournament to date. It made for a very exciting tournament and some very close and absorbing matches. The Wallabies provided a major part of that excitement right from the start and featured in many of the most absorbing matches of the tournament, so it was understandable the emotions were riding high up to and including the final for Wallaby fans. Their progress in the last twelve months has been nothing short of stunning and the ABs had to be at their very best to overcome them in the end. Being so far from home must be difficult to connect with the game regularly in particularly that foreign land which worships other codes probably more passionately than most other nations do their own sport. Winning the final would have been fantastic but getting to be part of the final must still have been well worth it in the end. Nice story John and good luck with everything.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Guest
Allanthus, brilliant! But just being right isn't enough to set things right. Whilst I acknowledge the missed opportunities you pointed to, I can also see promise in a brilliant RWC campaign, a fantastic NRC comp and a new mood around the country re:rugby. A second viewing of the game showed me how close we were to snuffing out the attack of the best team on earth. We were lucky to finish so close. And they were lucky to break away so far. Bledisloe isn't far away.
DaniE
Roar Guru
That's awesome
sheek
Roar Guru
I don't know about that, There were plenty of Wallabies fans wanting to turn Ben Smith's yellow card into a 'cultural morality test' red card! Boom-tish ;-)
Will Sinclair
Roar Guru
No mate! That really would have been a strange coincidence!
Machooka
Roar Guru
Great read John... all the best to you and your family for the future.
runit
Guest
One of the solutions to the ARU money shortage is to tap into the Japanese/Asian market, the money comes from TV viewers, SO, bring 5 or 6 Japanese players into our super teams and send the same number to Japan, I know this is about as likely as bringing players back from overseas to play for the Wallabies, oh hang on, it will take a little thinking outside the box and this might be a bridge too far for the marketing geniuses at the ARU but there is a very simple solution and it's right on our doorstep.
Harry Jones
Expert
Next year's RC will be rife with RWC semifinal analogies...
jeznez
Roar Guru
Treat it like a mining expedition. The Internet will always have people who make crazy comments, just sift past those and there is plenty of gold as well.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Guest
Hubris? Don't remember it after 91 or 99. Not to say that you did not, but there's plenty of it this week (and every other week after a Trans Tasman contest). But I surely agree that Saturday's loss could be the making of the team going forward.
John
Guest
I know I am getting to this a day or two late, but at the risk of truly embarrassing myself ..... I live in the U.S., four kids, divorced, play on an old boys' team, dad in Sydney has just been diagnosed with cancer, and my girlfriend and I just broke up. Could have played in a game 90 minutes away, but didn't want to miss the final. Went to a kid's hockey game in the morning, then rushed home for kick-off (noon time here). I also knew I could get to my son's football game following the final. However, ..... I treated myself to a bourbon just before kick-off which was about 11.45am. By the 30 minute mark, with Douglas and Giteau gone, I was standing yelling at the TV screen. At 21-3 the whole world was against me. And yet, and yet ..... When Kuridrani scored I was screaming at the TV in tears. Half the bourbon bottle was gone but I knew it was a peak too high. I just knew ..... My teammates were on Facebook from a pub after the game but I was glad I was screaming alone. The emotion was all there - for my dad, my kids whose games I would get to see, for the team that was making me so proud in their fightback, and for anyone who could hear me. It was something I had to do alone. For me it was emotionally draining. I don't want to say I was proud in defeat, but I was. I saw the football game later (and drove there with a definite buzz), and had dinner with some teammates later that night. I'm proud of how they played, I'm glad I got to my kids games, I am praying for my father, I miss Sydney, and love the character in this team and its coach. Like they said ... they better team won. Nothing. Wrong. With. That. And I'm glad I went through it alone ... the bastards would never let me live it down.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Guest
It's okay to disagree with Sheek, Brett. Sheek's current line of WBs didnt 'deserve' it anyway is a bit unbalanced for mine. It was a rugby game last Saturday. Not a cultural morality contest.
DaniE
Roar Guru
Re focus being moved away from Folau, I'm surprised Scott Fardy's story of his time in the Japanese tsunami was only discussed a couple of days before the final. As a PR thing, it's gold.
Daveski
Guest
Great read Brett and totally agree. It's up to the Super teams now to hit the ground running in 2016 in terms of marketing, on field effort, style of play and results. They need to harness this goodwill and increased interest in rugby thanks to what was a) a very good RWC and b) a very commendable and passionate Wallabies effort. Interesting how during the RWC, Folau was no longer the sole media focus. Pocock, Foley, Hooper, Fardy, Beale all got a lot more written about them. ARU need to sense this and build up these other personalities in the team rather than relying on Izzy. Oh and Qld Reds need to get their acts together and undo the damage of their last two seasons. Maybe they should play in the Brisbane City strip.....
Noodles
Guest
lester, here's a sample of one. my daughter does not know what a wallaby is. yet last saturday she had on a gold shirt and was queuing in london for a good seat in a village square to watch the big screen. and she had a dozen girls with her. go figure.
Sam
Guest
Nope, I'm a Kiwi & I've rated the roar as the best, most engaging sports site for years.
Ronaldo
Guest
Nothing wrong with well placed patriotism for the Wallabies & passion for the game Brett. I like what you have said & also warm to most of the positive comments from roarers no matter where they are from. In a strange way a team that is humble & tries their guts out but loses can engender more pride & respect than team that has won. It's a "Gallipoli like effect". The Aussie psyche identifies with that. I think it was a great final & you need two good teams to be there to get that. I am sure Cheik & the players that remain will keep this quality going & if they do there's more that can develop over the next few years.
Machooka
Roar Guru
Well said jeznez... and I very much agree. And yep... regardless of how you look at it, it's been an amazing transformation for the Wallaby. That said though I'm utterly gob-smacked by some of the vitriol, from both sides of the dutch, that's been taking place in other forums. Like WTF is it with these people... or is it a penis size envy thingy ? Or am I really just getting so old I'm becoming a parody of that grumpy old man syndrome ?
Council
Guest
Woops saw somethin that wasn't there. Sorry guys.