Eden Park, Auckland – The 2011 Rugby World Cup finals was a repeat of the 1987 finals held at the same stadium. The winner is still New Zealand. The score 8-7 over France. For many rugby fans, it has been a long wait for the beloved All-Blacks to take another title. The 24 year drought has ended and new Zealand is back at the top.
New Zealand went ahead 5-0 after a magnificent try by prop Tony Woodcock. He took the ball from Flanker Jerome Kaino. Piri Weepu missed the conversion. There were no other scores in the first half. In the second half when France was trying to catch up, reserve fly half Stephen Donald became a hero as he scored on a penalty in the 46th minute for an 8-0 lead. Donald was not picked in New Zealand’s original squad and he was in the game because of injuries to key players.
The game was not over though, as France did not roll over easily as team captain Thierry Dusautoir scored a try and rançois Trinh-Duc converted to narrow the gap to just 1 point. The All-Blacks defense took care of the rest to prevent France getting into a favorable position. New Zealand held on to earn the long-awaited title. As a consolation Thierry Dusautoir was picked as man of the match.
Related articles
- New Zealand claim World Cup glory (mirror.co.uk)
- A wafer-thin win (theage.com.au)
- New Zealand 8-7 France (guardian.co.uk)
- VIDEO: All Blacks win Rugby World Cup 2011 (3news.co.nz)
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