View from 'the gods'

RWC 2011: New Zealand vs Australia

I watched the other semi-final of the the 2011 Rugby World Cup last night and the difference between it and the Wales-France semi-final was amazing. Last night both teams came to play attacking rugby; and it was fast, and exciting.

The Dagg-Nonu try will go down as one of the amazing trys of all time. Dagg beats the last man in the Australia defence, but is unbalanced and falls – towards the touch line – but is able to deliver a pass inside to Nonu who is following up, and goes over for the try. All of this happens awhile running a a pace that any 100 metre runner would be proud of!

The All Blacks dominated much of the game: Australia were starved of possession. And a good thing too, when Australia had the ball they looked dangerous. Australia was forced to kick all too often – and for some reason they kept kicking to Cory Jane. Who was never flinched and gathered up everyone.

The All Blacks have finally added the drop kick to their arsenal. Aaron Cruden’s drop kick, in the 23rd minute, means that the AB’s are not some one dimensional. Dan Carter’s drop kick against Australia – in the Tri-Nations clearly signaled their intent.

World Cup Rugby is about taking points when you can – kick them, dot them down, drive up the middle, or run them in. It doesn’t matter; what matters is the points.

The role of the AB’s forwards and scrum was huge. They dominated much of the set pieces, though the line out lost some of its clinical execution towards the end of the first half. They even won a tight head in scrum late in the second half!

The amount of physical conditioning work (and the mental commitment) that the AB’s must have put in shows – how do you play 80 minutes of rugby at this pace and impact otherwise?

The only blemish was the goal kicking: The AB’s missed close to half of their attempts at goal. But in the end it didn’t matter.

Final word for the Wallabies – great sporting gesture at the end guys.