RUGBY: All black for 20 years - but New Zealand red hot favourites

18 May 2007
*Disclaimer - Views expressed within this story are not necessarily the views of this Blog

Jamie Scott - Sportal

They won the first-ever World Cup in 1987, but the All Blacks have since failed to live up to their reputation as the team to beat. Now they are cast-iron favourites to end their barren run this autumn. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the inaugural Rugby World Cup, held in New Zealand in 1987. That year the hosts dominated the tournament, the All Blacks thumping France 29-9 in the final. The Kiwis were the first team to hoist the William Webb Ellis trophy in victory. Most experts in the rugby world thought this would be the beginning of a New Zealand stranglehold on the World Cup. In the intervening years, they have reached at least the semi-final of every competition, but almost unbelievably, they have failed to get their name on the trophy again. Almost every World Cup tournament has had a story of All Blacks woe attached to it. The 1991 event was pretty clear cut. They played their arch-enemies Australia in the semi-finals at Lansdowne Road in Dublin, but an Aussie team featuring legends such as Nick Farr-Jones, Michael Lynagh and David Campese proved too strong and ran out 16-6 winners. The story of the 1995 World Cup could be a book in itself. After years in the sporting wilderness due to apartheid, South Africa had been welcomed back into the game, and were World Cup hosts that year. With Nelson Mandela seemingly present at every match, the wave of local support behind the South Africans was immense. But the All Blacks turned up with one of the strongest teams in years. Sean Fitzpatrick was still captain, while Andrew Mehrtens marshalled the back line from 1st five, and his goal kicking was superb. New stars were on the scene such as Jeff Wilson and Josh Kronfeld. The hugely talented Zinzan Brooke was at No.8. But one man was stealing all the headlines -- a 20-year-old Polynesian of Tongan descent called Jonah Lomu. He was the archetypal modern winger. Standing at 6ft 5in and weighing in at over 19 stone, Lomu was capable of running the 100 metres in under 11 seconds. He was a juggernaut of a man. From the moment the first ball was kicked, the All Blacks were unstoppable. Cruising through the group stages unbeaten (scoring a world record 145 points against Japan), they then dispatched Scotland in the quarter-finals, setting up a mouth-watering semi-final showdown with an in-form England. What followed was one of the most famous matches in rugby history. Lomu almost single-handedly beat the English team, scoring four tries, and literally flattening the England defence of the Underwood brothers, Mike Catt and Will Carling in the process. Two late Carling tries made the score 45-29 -- a bit more respectable for England. In the other half of the draw, South Africa had also progressed to the semis, and won a tough fought match against France 19-15. So it was the dream final the world wanted... the hosts up against the mighty All Blacks. Rugby wise, the final wasn't the best, but for sheer sporting drama it was unbeatable. Level at 12-12 at full time, the match went to extra time, before the right boot of Joel Stransky stroked over the winning drop goal. The seemingly unbeatable All Blacks had lost. Conspiracy theories abounded. The All Blacks claimed (and some still do to this day) that their food was poisoned, and the whole team fell ill on the day of the match. When I saw Nelson Mandela handing over the trophy to South African captain Francois Pienaar, I believed it was fate. It was back to Britain for the 1999 World Cup. The All Blacks arrived as red-hot favourites. With Lomu, Wilson and Cullen making up the back three, they were the most potent attacking force in world rugby, and Mehrtens' goal-kicking was as reliable as ever. The men in black cruised through the early rounds, with the likes of Wilson and Lomu (he scored in every game) running in tries for fun. New Zealand easily dispatched the Scots in the quarter-finals, to book a semi-final berth against the French, in a rematch of the 1987 final. The thing about French rugby, with all their Gallic flair, is that they can be terrible one day and mesmerising the next. The French team that turned up that day was the latter. The French back-line was on fire, running in four tries and opening up a huge lead. It left the All Blacks too much to do, and they finally lost 31-43. The Australians went on to beat the French in the final. The semi-final loss to the French was such a shock that the whole of New Zealand went into mourning for about a month! In 2003, it was back to the southern hemisphere to Australia for the World Cup. England had risen to become the number one team in the world, under the captaincy of Martin Johnson. The All Blacks were a team in transition, with the likes of Lomu, Wilson etc gone, and a new breed of players coming through, like Daniel Carter and Joe Rokocoko. New Zealand No.10 Carlos Spencer pulled the strings, and was one of the most gifted ball players I've ever had the privilege to watch. The early rounds all went to plan, and the semi-final line-ups were England v France and New Zealand v Australia. The world wanted an England v All Blacks final -- the two best teams in the world. England duly delivered their side of the bargain in a powerful 24-7 demolition of the French. But the Kiwis simply didn't turn up. They played poorly. Credit to the Wallabies, they played well to run out 22-10 winners. England went on to win a thrilling final, with Jonny Wilkinson kicking the winning drop goal in extra time. But once again the All Blacks had failed on the biggest stage. So this brings us to 2007, with another World Cup looming closer by the day. I'm a gambling man by nature, and I know what a mugs' game it can be, but I'd be prepared to put my house on the All Blacks winning this year. Over the last couple of years, they have changed the face of rugby, and taken it to another level. Their lines of running, their off-loading in the tackle, the intensity of their all-round play is head and shoulders above the rest of the world. I truly believe the New Zealand second XV would win the World Cup. They have the two best players in the game in flanker Richie McCaw and 1st five Carter. I cannot see them losing.