The All Blacks win by a whisker

After 45 days of fantastic rugby, we are now destined to have rather dull weekends. At a recent quiz show held by a leading bank, a participant quipped that he was not sure how he would spend the weekends ahead.

The boardroom talk these past few weeks has been on the various aspects of the game with loads of pundits and critics adding their voice to an already overcrowded forum. Long after the games are over the controversial issues that were highlighted during the games will come up at various gatherings and the yarns will flow to keep pace with that of the ale. Top of the controversies list will be the sending off of the Welsh skipper in the semi-final for a tip tackle.

Off the field antics of the English side from being drunk in night clubs, chatting up hostesses after a week of marriage to the rather infamous dip in the harbour by Tuilagi will also feature in the list. Finally the player / coach relationship of the French and Gatland’s training methods in freezing temperatures in Poland in the build up to the RWC will be discussed and dissected in great detail.

After every RWC we will see the last of some great players as well as coaching staff and the Springboks have started the ball rolling with England to follow soon. If one looks back at the games, I am sure that loads of people wanted the Welsh to win and after their exit, the RWC meant nothing to them.

To all those who thought that this year’s final was going to be an anticlimax, they were proved wrong. France was lucky to make it through to the Quarters after their shoddy performance in the league stage. Few gave them a chance beyond the first round.

After all the criticism, France turned up at Eden Park with a mission and a firm game plan. Their formation when the All Blacks did the Haka set the tone. As far as I can remember no team stood up to the Haka in such a manner and I am sure that the All Blacks were wondering what was in store for them given their rather patchy performance against the French in crunch games and the tag of chokers.

Finally the All Blacks took the 2011 World Cup by the narrowest of margins winning 8-7 at Eden Park. A first-half score from Tony Woodcock and a penalty from Stephen Donald was enough to get them over the line with Thierry Dusautoir contributing France’s score. France maybe made once serious defensive lapse and that was enough for the burly Woodcock to sneak in.

The French third row of skipper Thierry Dusautoir, Julien Bonnaire and # 8 Imanol Harinordoquy was simply superb and they can take a lot of pride from this performance. The tackling was hard and super and the ankle tap of Weepu which was a try saving one was a treat.

In my opinion as much as the All Blacks maybe deserved to win on their consistent performance throughout the tournament France did not deserve to lose on the final performance. Referee Craig Joubert had a good game and allowed free flowing rugby, which was a treat to watch.

The song around town in the past few weeks about the All Blacks being unable to win the Ellis Trophy sung to the tune of Alice will now go quiet and the tag of chokers may now have to be removed as well.

In another four years the RWC will be upon us once more, this time in England and it would be interesting to see the changes that will be made towards winning that game. I am sure that the other series such as the Six Nations, Tri Nations and the Super 15 tournaments will evoke a lot of interest from local fans.

On a lighter note all those of the fairer sex who were not keen followers of the game will breathe a sigh of relief as more work will get done by the men in the house. In fact the honeymoon of watching rugby ended on Sunday afternoon.

There has been a number of converts in the fairer sex who can talk about the game with a certain degree of authority. This augurs well for all the male counterparts as they are now no longer required to share TV time with the better, and at times, the bitter half.

Walking along the beaches of Colombo one sees an increased amount of tap rugby being played similar to the aftermath of Sri Lanka winning the Cricket World Cup in 1996. This enthusiasm must be cashed upon and channelled in the right direction so that these youngsters will take on the mantle of taking SL rugby forward. Whether that will happen is the million dollar question that the Interim Committee needs to ponder and act upon. When that day will be I don’t know!