As a captain you live for a night like this Of course they have still more work to do, and last night they were solemnly listing the virtues of both England and France. Nor could another potential man of destiny, the ferocious No 8 Jerry Collins. But I do think the guys were entitled to let off a little bit of steam... and thank the fans."Eighty-two thousand were squeezed into the great stadium, and their prize was to see a piece of sporting history - and perhaps still another death almost at birth of a Kiwi legend.Carlos Spencer, the enigmatic Maori out-half, was supposed to be the man of the tournament, and the latest off the production line of great All Blacks. But apart from one bewitching run to send in his captain, back-rower Reuben Thorne, for the try which briefly brought a little hope, he could do nothing seriously to check the tide of Aussie aggression. We would be crazy to think we have the World Cup won just because we have beaten the best team in international rugby this year. Well, he wanted to know, who was laughing now?Plainly it was this closely-knit Australian team, who saved their best performance for the game they always believed would matter most - the one against New Zealand.Some thought the lap of honour taken by the winners could prove a dangerous case of premature celebration, but Jones was quick to say: "Whoever wins the other semi-final, England or France, is obviously going to provide very tough opposition. He said that his previous attempts to explain his approach had provoked some laughter. Gregan bit his lip before saying: "I'm not buying into any of that.
The New Zealanders are a great team and they showed how dangerous they could be at times. But you can play only as well as you are allowed to, and we just didn't allow them to play This was a 22-man effort and I'm proud of all the players. As a captain, you live for a night like this."Jones also trod carefully along the fine line which separates a gracious, deeply vindicated winner, and someone ready to snarl from the hip at his tormentors.They said that Jones, an eccentric character but one with a deep sense of warrior honour - perhaps inherited from the Japanese bloodline of one half of his family - had not so much lost the plot as failed to create one. That, given the current mood of the French, seemed to be challenging fate, but it was also intrusively inappropriate. This was a sporting night reserved entirely for the Waltzing of Matilda -and the healing of some deep wounds.The Wallaby skipper and scrum-half George Gregan, who with coach Eddie Jones has been riding a tide of relentless, biting criticism, almost cracked after the game when somebody asked if his team had won - or the New Zealanders, at least psychologically, had lost. |
 |
 |
