To open I’d like to remind you of a little sunshine – a little Sydney Smile to darken your world. Check out the BackingBlack Facebook page here to see some great fan pics from the last Bledisloe showdown.
While that may seem like an ideal elixir, we do trust it will be sufficient for what is about to follow, as it is nearly time to go there.
But, before there can be here, we must point out that we have been here before! Yes, with Parts One and Two in this blogging series we have choked on an object, Bill, and now with this final instalment, our Trilogy is complete…Mwahahaha!
I am aware that this post may encourage moments of great emotion, therefore, prepare yourself as we get this gagging thing going along again!
We begin this account in the year 2003, with the BackingBlack Blogger resident in the Western Island of Oi, Oi, Oi Oi-ville. Therefore, when the Rugby World Cup ventured onto the Horizon, desperate places called for desperate times, desiring desperate realities… Yes, only World Cup Glory would keep the wolves away!
Leading up to this tournament this seemed perfectly reasonable, as the All Black coaching staff had perfected the “silence is golden” strategy, and the All Blacks unit had unleashed an attacking brand of rugby that had shocked the opposition into silence… encouraging some outrageous realities, like teams forgetting to tackle!
In the Tri-Nations of 2003, leading up to the Rugby World Cup, the All Blacks had inflicted two 50-point away victories, one each against the Boof-Boks and the Wobblies, where the rugby world had witnessed lightning in a bottle… sublime and mesmeric!
While the All Blacks had played their hand, and it was indeed impressive, hindsight would prove it was a Tournament too soon!
If the All Blacks have been hot favourites before any Rugby World Cup, this may have been their hottest, as it had only been a matter of months since this team had dismantled the opposition, and this is surely not enough time to turn things around. However, the dawning of that final Tri-Nations match versus the Wobblies, where the Blacks only won, 21-17, at home, would find its ultimate expression in a Sydney Semi-Final Night!
On that night our one-dimensional attacking game found its equal in an all-out Aussie defence that would play its final a week too soon, beating our boys, 22-10. This match was decided on penalties, as both sides crossed for one try apiece. With the pain there for all to see, Jerry Collins stayed out on the field of dreams, waiting for the nightmare to end!
Choking? While that may be the perspective of some, the All Blacks were never really in it after Mils Muliaina was denied that try, which lead to a Sterling effort, giving the Australians that little bit of belief that they needed. With home ground advantage, and an All Blacks team stuck on repeat, the Wobblies ground their way to victory! A lesson to be learned… No?
While 2003 proved painful when living in an Australian world, what would transpire in 2007 would hurt on a whole new level!
Yes, the 2007 Rugby World Cup enters the building, and is greeted with a deathly silence, a grieving silence of all the departed hopes and dreams of New Zealand and All Blacks supporters who look on in shocked silence at what could have, and should have, been!
While they say time heals old wounds, three more years Byron doesn’t quite sound or feel like the real thing, and as we move into the fourth, the reminder of what transpired on that Cardiff day wounds like a Whale… afresh!
Gutted!
It is fair to say that, while what transpired in the 1995 affair still sickens the stomach, the events surrounding this Quarter-Final arouse some serious sensibilities in this BackingBlack Blogger.
While this match has been pulled apart from one pillar to a given post… in my view there has yet to be a sufficient statement of events that does justice to what transpired on this day.
Therefore, in this post, there are some things that I believe need to be said!
Simply put, He Stuffed Up!
Yes, I am sure we all know who I am referencing here, the pasty and not very tasty English Referee, Wayne Barnes, who very quickly became public enemy number one for All Blacks fans.
So What Went Wrong?
Any activity handled by humanity is a reality prone to mistakes. Which means while the forward pass, in particular, was unfortunate, I can sort-of-stomach a Referee missing such individual calls, as these things happen in a Test.
The issue with Barnes, which he must be called out on, is that he allowed one team, France, to do whatever it took to stop another team, the All Blacks, and it was to hell with the rules of the game. In an analysis of events, it should matter little which teams are playing in a given encounter, as the laws of the game are what give Union definition and life… and these are supposed to be colour-blind!
In a match where the team ranked number 1 in the world is dominating both territory and possession, yet does not receive one penalty in the last 50 minutes of a Test Match, is not only exceptional, in my opinion, it is a mirage of the real thing.
The only ‘choking” reality on that Cardiff afternoon was one Referee who lost the plot.
Well, goes the refrain, the All Blacks still should have won, and they should have done more!
Well, if I may, that is a load of theoretical mumbo jumbo, which misses the point!
The All Blacks did do enough, however, as Barnes proved, there was nothing the All Blacks could do, save scoring tries, and maybe a drop-kick, which would have been nice, to impact on the scoreboard. When have such limited working conditions ever been part of the game we love?
Barnes gave away the rules of game of Rugby! Union stopped breathing for a time!
Yes, the All Blacks “should” have won that game easily!
France should have been penalised off the park, and no one would be talking about that result now. The All Blacks should have scored at least 9 to 15 points as a result of the insistent French infringing and breaking of the rules of Rugby.
Rugby is only a game, but like society, if you don’t have rules and laws, refuse to, or are unable implement these, people will do what they want, with the result being one heck of a mess. If there is anarchy, whom is to blame? The All Blacks? No! France? Well, they may be the cause of the disruption and are therefore, in the wrong! However, those who are ultimately responsible are those who have been given the authority to enforce the rules.
Are the All Blacks to Blame for the Referee’s Performance?
Yes, Richie should have raised Barnes’ failings, but still, the responsibility rests with one man!
Therefore, asking if the All Blacks choked in 2007 is a question not fitting this Rugby occasion and this band of All Blacks brothers! The All Blacks could have played better, Yes, but this is true in every International under the Sun, and is the wrong question to ask! The All Blacks played a rugby match in real time, and while the score on the board will always be a reminder, look at the pictures on display, they do not lie!
Breathing? Just!
While in all this typing we cannot change the past, we can learn from it in the present, and use it to positively impact our future! We have seen in the one man, Richie, what can be accomplished when the lessons in life are not forgotten in the journey. This should provide us with much encouragement as we project to 2011
Yes 2011, and as All Black supporters, we will have to listen, watch, and read as much will be made of this narrative, with each opposing team hoping for an All Blacks unthinkable!
Not This Time!
What Say You?
Until Next Time
iamjonnyking
