So After a couple of days in the tropical heat of Malaysia, my focus turned to the Rugby World Cup final. But understandably I was worried about where I could watch the big game, ideally with some rugby fans to get a sense of watching the rugby ‘Malaysian style’. Thankfully for me I came across the Sabah Warriors online and got talking to their media manager Ywan via e-mail.
The club was only formed six months ago from a group of friends who have returned to Malaysia after studying in the UK in Australia. Whilst away they where influenced by rugby, especially the hard compromising style of the sport coupled with fair play and respect for the match officials. Whilst Malaysia does have a blossoming rugby culture it is mainly based in Kuala Lumpur where all the sides regularly play each other.
However on the Island of Borneo, there was only one semi professional rugby team. That’s when the Sabbah Warriors came in and wanted to promote the game to kids who idolise the stars of the English Premier League. After a brief chat I was invited for the social down at a local Irish bar on the Water front.
As I made my way down to the bar in searing 30 degree heat, I wondered who was I going to be greeted with. After all the team had only been about for a few months, and only had a few members. Luckily I was greeting with 30 passionate rugby fans, all donning their team kit and cheering on both the All Blacks & the French in two separate camps. We even had a stereotypical French man shouting “Allez Le Bleu!” At regular intervals to set the tone, the Irish bar was crammed full of expats from Australia, France, America, and England all watching the rugby.
The whole event was put on my the rugby side to promote their team, and it was a real success. With everyone enjoying the complementary drinks from the teams sponsor, and eating down hot dogs from the pubs chef, as it got towards game time the atmosphere turned even more rowdy with both sets of fans breaking into booming chants before kick off, after the iconic highly charged Haka & the united v-shaped defiance formation from the French.
The game itself was hardly the most exciting World Cup Final, with the French coming straight out of the blocks. The French played their best rugby of the tournament, and looked much improved after unconvincing wins against England and Wales. However the All Blacks looked nervy, with Piri Weepu missing badly from a penalty, the nerves immediately transferred to the bar and Eden Park.
The All Blacks started to get into their game, battling against the aggression of the French who where closing down and getting wide quickly, limiting the AB’s expansive rugby. The breakthrough came from a set piece as a well work line out lead to Tony Woodcock to crash over with relative ease. The relief was palpable in the bar, it must have been ten fold at Eden park. Wepu missed the conversion, again to place nerves on a high.
The tie continued in a similar vein, with the All Blacks attack being stopped time and time again by the French forwards, when it came to the scrumming the French where penalised by South African Craig Joubert. But whilst positionally Weepu was strong, his kicks at goal where nothing short of awful, slowly but surely the nerves came back for the All Blacks.
Fly-half Aaron Cruden hyper-extended his knee horribly, to a collective of wincing “ahh’s” from the assembled at the bar. On came 4th choice Stephen Donald, who was kicking back at home before injuries to Colin Slade & Dan Carter forced Graham Henry’s hand as a last minute call up. His contribution would turn out to be the most crucial for the AB’s and surely go down in Kiwi folklore.
With the French penalised in the scrum Donald had the easiest of kicks to give the AB’S 8-0 lead. However the French had other idea’s and with half hour to go French captain Dusautoir slid over the white wash to the shock of Eden park. Trinh-Duc converted leaving the match on a knife edge at 8-7, the French support in the bar where in full voice, whilst most AB fans where silent. Knowing of the inevitable turnaround was on the cards and hoping for a miracle turn around from the men in black.
The tension now was at heart attack inducing levels in the sweaty bar in Kota Kinabalu. With 16 minutes left on the clock, Trinh-Duc tried his luck with a penalty from just inside halfway only to push it wide, much to the joy of the AB fans assembled and to the woe of the rowdy French supporters. The All Blacks went into crisis mode, punting anything remotely near their twenty two deep into French territory.
But with boots into territory came more relenting French attack. Within the final minutes the French launching a 18-phase attack, which was greeted by shocked silence by Eden Park. Would this World Cup Dream end in a Nightmare? Thankfully a final kick into the French half wound up the final minutes. Jourbert blew up for a French infindgement and the relief in the bar & Eden Park was palpable, people overjoyed to see a nation so eager to win the Webb Ellis. As Richie lifted up the magnificent trophy, and as the fireworks lit up the TV screen I could only be overjoyed for the inhabitants of Rugby country and wondered how long the celebrations would last for.
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