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September 3, 2011

Posted on 09/03/2011

NZ desperate to end 24 years of World Cup hurt

In a country where rugby is a means of national self-expression, the All Blacks' failures since 1987 have become an obsession. The Guardian's Toby Manhire reports.

"For the last couple of years, the man in charge of the 2011 Rugby World Cup has been preparing the host nation for defeat. "I have been keeping a public debate bubbling along, along the lines of: 'What's more important to us – the All Blacks winning the trophy, or us successfully hosting the tournament?'" says Martin Snedden, a former New Zealand cricketer. "The All Blacks, yes, haven't won it in 24 years, but if we don't win it this time, we'll get another chance in 2015 and 2019 and so on. We'll never get another chance to host the thing."
"Fine words. But chances are most New Zealanders stopped listening after "24 years". Not since the last time the Webb Ellis Cup was contested in New Zealand, in the first tournament back in 1987, have the All Blacks triumphed.

"And with every World Cup that goes by, 1987 becomes to New Zealand rugby what 1966 is to English football – if anything with more anguish, given the smaller pool of nations at the top level and the inescapable difference that New Zealand typically enters the tournament as one of the most fancied sides, if not the most.

"In 2011, with home advantage again, the All Blacks are favourites again, despite losses in the final two games of the Tri-Nations. The first of those defeats, with a weakened side away to South Africa, was tolerated. The second, a 25-20 defeat in Brisbane that handed the trophy to Australia, burned. Yes, the All Blacks came close to pegging back the Wallabies early onslaught, outscoring them by 12 points in the second half. But it was, all the same, a "wake-up call" or a "reality check", in the rasps of the country's lumpen media."

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