Richie
As an All Black supporter I have danced the highs and lows following my great team for many, many years. On the eve of our biggest world cup game this tournament, I feel nervous and I am ashamed to admit, I am preparing myself for the worst. Not because I think the All Blacks deserve to or should lose. Just because we have been here so many times before. As we saw today with Wales, sometimes the best team does not win in this awful yet exhilerating tournament.
But still, I have three bullet points that all New Zealand supporters could do by remembering in these next few hours and in the aftermath of tomorrow's game:
- Whether we win or lose tomorrow, let us be gracious about it.
- The All Blacks have been near invincible for over 100 years, with or without Daniel Carter
- No matter what the outcome, I will always support the All Blacks. I am not a fair weather rugby supporter. This team is one of my main passions in life, and I am behind them 100% of the way. I will not spit at the fly half, write 'losers' on their baggage as they go through an airport, or demand the coaches head on a plate if we lose. I won't rant on message forums that everything we did in the preceding years building up to this tournamnet was wrong and woeful. Graham Henry and his players have done their utmost best. They will do everything in their power tomorrow to win. And I will remain with them, no matter the outcome.
4 comments:
"Awful yet exhilarating"? What has been awful about this tournament? So far, this has been the best tournament since 1991 - or maybe the best ever. (Though I think we are due for a worthless final).
Hi alan. Thanks for commenting! What I meant was I think today's result was awful (the red card should have been a yellow). But exhilarating it has been too. I could be biased, but I believe this has been an incredible world cup. The fans, the costumes, the incredible hospitality and warmth that NZers have shown. Also, four attacking teams in the semi finals. That has to be better than having turgid old England turn up and kick a couple of dozen drop goals to victory.
So maybe my emotional words were not the right ones. This world cup has been a cracker. Thanks for calling me on it.
Ok, agreed. I'm not 100% sure that the red was inappropriate (nor the opposite), but even as a neutral I was very disappointed to see such a good team knocked out like that. They'd have made the final far more worth watching than France will - it's never interesting to see a team lose by 30-50, especially in a final. There was a replay on tv today, and watching the passion of the Welsh players during a beautifully rendered national anthem was heartbreaking and I had to change the channel. Fortunately, the core of that Welsh team will be back in 2015, and maybe 2019. If they'd had such a team 20 years ago, you know they'd all be playing League within a couple of months.
That said, I kind of don't mind the English approach. I think there should be room for all sorts of styles of play, and I was as entertained (though gutted by the result) by their game against Argentina as any other in the tournament. There's a visceral thrill in watching two powerful packs (and backlines too) spend 80 minutes going to war against each other that isn't diminished by the lack of sparkling back play.
I'm in two minds. The first one over the red card last night. Maybe it should have just been a yellow. I think it looked worse because the tackler tried to pull out and dropped the player. He should have carried on and try to let him down gently and therefore it would have been just a yellow. In my second mind [ha ha] I hope the it can be Third Time Lucky for the All Blacks in more ways than one!
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