Top 5 Pool Moments.

Top 5- Pool stage moments.

So with the Quarter-finals coming at the Rugby World Cup we are saying goodbye to plenty of memorable matches. I give you a run down of my top 5 pool moments at Rugby World Cup 2011.

1. Ireland Beating the Aussies.

Number 1 has to be the Irish beating the Aussies 6-15 in Auckland, much to the delight of the thousands of Kiwis & Irish in attendance. The Irish played fantastically well with crucial penalty kicks from Sexton & O’Gara coupled with a resilient defensive display. We managed to catch the game at our student digs in Dunedin. Everyone in the room apart from one girl was behind the Irish and the room bizarrely erupted to the tune of ‘Danny boy’ when the full time whistle was blown. Needless to say the result pushed everyone out for a night on the town and some sore heads in the morning.

2. The opening Ceremony & the All Blacks Beating Tonga.

Second on our top 5 list came at the start of our tour when we watched the first game of the Rugby World Cup. Me and Greg bundled into Dunedin’s official fan-zone for the first game and the opening ceremony. Aside from the expensive beer the whole event was great.

The opening ceremony had it all. Firstly it wasn’t too long and boring, secondly it had an inspirational child; that could fly, and finally it has to be special guest Jonah Lomu who looked like the best dressed man in New Zealand.  Onto the game and the atmosphere was electric, from the national anthems to the performance of the Haka. Everyone was fully behind the All Blacks and they looked impressive going in 29-0 at half time. Tonga’s hard hitting style did yield one try but the AB’s where rampant much to the delight of the fans. They ended up 41-10 winners.

3. Wales pushing the Bok’s all the way.

This is my second favourite moment for the northern hemisphere sides so far at the Rugby World Cup. We watched the games in Queenstown in a bar along with most of the England playing squad. They went on to write their own tabloid headlines that night, but before canoodling with backpackers they watched a great game of Rugby.

Wales looked fired up and going into the final third of the game they where ahead 16-10 through a Toby Faletau try. But the Bok’s sprung into life with Francois Hougaard's try and Morne Steyn's conversion right at the death giving the defending champions the victory. But controversy rumbled on with referee Wayne Barnes, the referee all kiwi’s love to hate who denied the Welsh a penalty goal which had drifted over. But the game was a great watch and the Welsh really did deserve something from the game.

4. Tonga Beating the French.

One of the final group games pulled out one of the biggest surprises of the pool as Tonga beat a flagging French side in Wellington. We managed to catch the match before England’s game against Scotland in Eden Park. Auckland had been buzzing all day with Tongan fans around the city, all of which had adorned their cars in the national colours and proceeded to drive around beeping at anyone who would notice.

The match itself was dominated by the bulldozing style of the Tongans, despite the French taking the lead early they constantly made mistakes in the breakdown. Consequently Tonga benefitted through the kicking of Kurt Morath, and recorded the biggest shock in Rugby World Cup history.

5. Richie McCaw’s 100^th Cap hat.

So after over a decade of service to the All Blacks and Richie McCaw was the first ever AB to join the 100 club. So after a convincing win against the French Richie was called up in front of the Eden Park faithful. Then he was presented with a magnificent silver 100th cap. It looked like a mixture of a jocky cap and something an especially rebellious public school boy would wear. Again Richie as ever donned the cap and began to speak of his team mates and of his importance of the team. All very noble stuff, but he had a massive silver hat on his head. It was my favourite ‘comedy’ moment at the Rugby World Cup.

So these are my Top 5 pool stage moments, but over the weekend the real action begins with Knock-out rugby, I am certainly looking forward to it.