It Isn’t Easy Going Back to Green (Oct. 8)

As you can see we’re no longer All Black With NZ, meaning that either NZ has won the Rugby World Cup or has crashed out of it. If you’re following the RWC at all you know that the latter has unfortunately happened, the All Blacks having lost a crushing defeat to the French in Cardiff yesterday morning, 20-18. Like the rest of New Zealand we’re gutted by this loss, as it was a heartbreaker.

Heavily favored to win this year’s RWC, the All Blacks came in looking like world-beaters, having lost only 5 matches over the past four years. After a far-too-easy first round RWC group, however, the ABs hadn’t had a challenge in beating the likes of Portugal and Romania in what were little more than glorified exhibition matches. The doomsayers were correct that this was poor preparation for a game against the French, a side that shocked the ABs in the 1999 semifinals.

In the past few weeks, no one from the sports media to the NZ public rated the French as having much of a chance, especially given their surprise loss to the Argentines in group play. Additionally, the ABs gave a visiting French side several sound thrashings in their NZ tour earlier this year. Having never lost before the semifinal round in a RWC, it was also unthinkable for the boys in black to lose this early.

However, the French didn’t read this script and came out defiant, standing up to the ABs’ haka, and giving no quarter, especially on defense. Though they were undoubtedly aided by some very questionable refereeing, especially on a yellow card on the ABs’ Luke McAlister and a missed call on a terribly blatant forward pass on what was France’s winning try late in the 2^nd half, the French certainly played hard enough to win. In the end the AB’s didn’t get it done, and the French were jubilant. From our perspective, it was one of the most nerve-wracking sporting events I’ve watched, and when the French showed life in the 2^nd half I began to have a sinking feeling, like it just wasn’t the ABs’ day.

At the moment, we’re out on an island in the Marlborough Sounds but I’m sure the rest of the country is in a serious funk. They love their rugby and their ABs here, and I imagine most of NZ will be having a ‘case of the Mondays’ tomorrow. Expect heaps of recriminations and self-flagellating commentary here, but all I know is that we’re bumming. Between the Penn State-Michigan game and now this, it hasn’t been a good few weeks for us in sport, and this certainly is not the way we wanted to go back to Green. I’d say c’est la vie, but it just might be too soon to use a French phrase ‘round these parts. For now, All Blacks fans will have to wait another 4 long years until the 2011 RWC, which will be held here in NZ. Where there’ll be no pressure on that squad, I’m sure!

All Black with NZ!

In honor of the Rugby World Cup and in support of the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks, we’ve gone all black, at least for the time being. To do that we’ve had to ditch our previous template, as it was seriously tough to modify for a couple of HTML-neophytes like ourselves. At the end of the RWC, we’ll probably be faced with a difficult decision whether or not to go back, but that’s another story. Most of you are probably unaware (and we would be, too, had we not come here) that the 6^th RWC has started in France, and will continue for the next six weeks or so. Rugby hardly rates a mention in the States, but in NZ it’s practically a religion.

We’ve touched on it before, but New Zealand is absolutely mad for rugby (the Union form, as opposed to League, which is a different beast that’s much bigger in Aussie), with other sports hardly comparing in terms of popularity. You can hardly swing a dead possum anywhere in the country without hitting a set of rugby goalposts. On any given weekend heaps of Kiwis are either playing or going to ‘the rugby.’ We’ve gone to a few games and found it to be just as entertaining as any football game back home. You have to admire the power, agility, and fitness of all the players on the field, and especially the abuse they take. No playing only half the game or wearing huge pads here!

The countdown to the RWC was on in Auckland when we visited in January

At the peak of rugby and NZ sporting are the All Blacks, probably the best rugby team in the world and the subject of the entire country’s focus and support. If baseball is American as apple pie, rugby is as Kiwi as No. 8 wire, or the haka, the Maori war dance that the team does before each match. Rooting for the ABs is practically a patriotic duty here; it’s rare to find a New Zealander who doesn’t. Being from America this is a pretty novel concept, as we don’t get behind any one team as a country, except for maybe a few times in the Olympics. Here in NZ we’re struck by the absolute devotion shown by Kiwis for their team nationwide, and obviously have caught the fever ourselves.

Ever since we arrived in NZ in January, the RWC seems to have been on many Kiwi’s minds. Being a sports junkie but generally uninformed about rugby, I’ve brought up rugby in conversation countless times this year, and nearly everyone has mentioned the RWC and how they reckon the ABs should be poised to bring home the Cup this year. The ABs won the inaugural Cup in 1987 and have been favored to win it a number of times since, but have been snakebitten in their last five attempts. It’s quite a sore spot for many here, and even though the ABs have been the best team in the world for the past couple years and are heavily favored for this Cup, I suspect that many are trying to engage in a ‘reverse jinx’ by playing down the team’s chances.

The ABs perform the haka against S. Africa in their Tri-Nations match in Chch in July

If anything, the country may be too wrapped up in the RWC and how the ABs are doing. Over the last few weeks, there’s been little actual sporting news, but they manage to fill the allotted time by reporting on every detail of the ABs’ health, practice regimen, potential lineups, off-field activities, and most hilariously, changes to their breakfast schedule. I like sports as much as the next bloke, and living here I realize there are a lot of slow news days here, but that’s some serious overkill. Perhaps NZ takes the whole thing a bit too seriously, like countries in South America tend to take the World Cup in soccer. Hopefully Kiwis don’t take success or failure at RWC as a referendum on the country’s worth. You guys are alright, seriously.

We meant to get this post up a couple days ago, before the RWC started, but technical difficulties got in the way. The ABs have already had their first game, beating Italy 76-14 in a romp that got out of hand in the first ten minutes. In other news, the US played a valiant game, losing to defending champion England 28-10, a heartening outcome for the Eagles, who the bookies have at the longest odds of the tourney, 5000 to 1. It’s going to be a bit of a struggle watching many of the games live as they start around 12-4 am in NZ, but I’ll give it my best effort. Who said being a fan was easy?