There was a time, before my love for AFL took over all other winter sports (bar hockey, conveniently mostly in the AFL off-season) that I was a mad rugby fan. The old man and I used to go all over Sydney to watch club rugby. One of the great days of my life was meeting David Knox, George Gregan, David Campese and a then-unknown Chris Latham during one of those mid-90's Randwick Rugby days, when their line-up was probably good enough to beat some smaller rugby nations' national teams.
I still enjoy the sport, unashamedly jump on the Waratahs bandwagon for a game or two every year, and am happy to admit that, when at it's best, when it's superb running rugby, there are few better spectator sports on the face of the earth. Sometimes, it's a pleasure to watch. Of course, the flip side is also true. Two defensive-minded teams - or just one stuffy European ref - can render a game nearly unwatchable.
Thankfully, Saturday night's gripping Super Rugby Final in Brisbane between the hometown Reds and the most successful franchise in the competition the (Canterbury, NZ) Crusaders, was an epic struggle played out in front of the largest Australian crowd for a provincial rugby contest, more than 51,000 at Suncorp Stadium, where a similar crowd watched another Queensland team in a similar sport take the win and the glory three nights earlier.
There was so much interest going in. One team was looking to complete it's rags-to-riches run, hoping to give coach Ewen McKenzie, ousted by the Waratahs, the reward he deserved for engineering a masterful and entertaining season. The other, gypsies of the competition after their home base was destroyed in the NZ earthquakes earlier this year, were looking to continue a run of excellence. This would've been their greatest victory of all, a victory in the face of so many odds. Not just the earthquake that had so badly affected the team and it's supporters, but the fact that they'd flown back from their semi-final in South Africa to win, a feat never before accomplished
For once, a final lived up to it's hype. For much of the first half, it was a tight, defensive struggle, not unappealing in any way. Dan Carter, the wizardry five-eighth for the Crusaders did the unthinkable - or is that the norm for him? - executing a brilliant chip and chase, regathering the loose change, scoring under the sticks, giving the Crusaders so much momentum and a 7-6 half-time lead.
But it was the Reds, staunch in defence and sometimes scrambling to remain above water as the Crusaders surged again and again - Brad Thorn thought he scored, but was held up - who snatched the momentum back with two brilliant plays. First it was Digby Ioane, a burst of speed from nothing, from a fairly innocuous play, running 40 meters to score and give the Reds a 13-10 lead. A Dan Carter field goal separated the two decisive moments for Queensland, the second being an amazing 65 meter dash to pay dirt. It seemed an unfair race, one of the smallest guys on the field, managed to out run everyone else. Then and there, you got the sense that the Crusaders trip to South Africa last week, and it's associated fatigue, was perhaps starting to manifest itself.
The last twenty minutes were tense. It was gripping rugby, mistakes, last-gasp efforts and desperate plays on both sides, a tapestry of exciting rugby, the best provincial brand in the world. It was the stuff that has you on the edge of you seat. It even got me to stop flicking back and forth between the rugby and the Swans vs. Gold Coast contest - not that it was a contest by then - being played close by. For the last twenty of the Super Rugby final, it was all rugby on my TV, and a good choice.
Eventually, but not without a few heart-stopping moments, the Reds prevailed, and a team who had hit rock bottom four years earlier, the infamous 92-3 defeat to the Bulls of South Africa, were the toast of the rugby world. They were and are Super Rugby Champions. What an amazing ride, and what a tremendous week for Queensland sport.
It's a World Cup year, and we're all hoping, us, all a part of the legion of Wallabies fans waiting for a return to the glory days of MacQueen, Eales, Cockbain, Horan, Gregan and co., that this will be the start of something special for Australian rugby. It certainly got off to a good start on Saturday night.
No comments:
Post a Comment