It was the strangest of moments. Halftime in a World Cup final and there I was standing in the corridor behind the line of commentary boxes at Eden Park taking a moment to reflect on the first 40 minutes of this epic decider.
With me were the likes of Andrew Mehrtens, Taine Randell, Jeff Wilson and Richard Loe. All former All Blacks from the "what the hell is happening here, been there lost this" category. I was kind of tuned in to their thoughts while a part of me was in agony. Mental angst of the type that serious doses of amlodophine and bendrofluazide can only but hope to quell a raging attack of high blood pressure.
And then there was the Eden park design fault. One mens toilet for about 25 blokes in the commentary area. Blow this I thought and possibly against my best judgement I dived into the vacant Ladies. Once safely inside I did something I hadn't for a while - a little look upwards and a quick prayer of sorts.
But the call for intervention didn't seem to work. "Thiery Dusautoir has scored just after halftime, just like in Cardiff". It was like a commentary line from my worst nightmare. One that had of course played out in real life four years earlier. It was at that point I decided losing to the French wasn't going to happen again. Despite the dominance of the French tight five I trusted that the best team of the tournament would win. And they did.
No blood on the floor, no talkback witch hunt. As Graham Henry said "we can all rest in peace". And at times during that final that’s exactly what I thought I might end up doing! But bugger that, I want to be around for 2015 in England and when the cup comes back to New Zealand in 2031.
Shut up Kiki, im sick of people like you trying to take the gloss off the abs win.
I listened to your commentary and was struck by the fact that you didn't mention the blatant cheating by McCaw and Kaino, and you never once mentioned the evident bias of the referee. Let's face it, Hamish: the better team did not win on the night.
Exactly what i was feeling!
yea M.A.Byou just the bomb!!!!!!!!!
Awesome comments mate, I think we were all in the same ship.
