All Blacks beat France in the final of Rugby World Cup 2011 - Rugby News
The All Blacks become the new rugby world champions in Auckland after defeating France in the final of the Rugby World Cup by a slight difference of 8-7, on October 23. Both teams adopted a defending approach and scored just one try each in the biggest match
of the global showpiece.
The sides featured unchanged line ups for this all important match as the combinations had really worked for them in previous matches. The expressions of nervousness and excitement dominated the players as they went to claim the biggest title in rugby.
All Blacks had huge psychological pressure against the unpredictable French side becauses of their track record in the past and the home crowd's expectations. Eden Park was jam packed with spectators and the All Blacks flag flew high there.
The sides have met 50 times and New Zealand led the equation by a handsome margin. New Zealand won 37 out of 50 meetings with France, lost 12, whereas one match ended in a draw.
Brad Thorn also becomes the oldest player to participate in the grand final of any RWC with 36 year and 262 days.
The match started in the expected cautious manner and remained action less for first the15 minutes. Tony Woodcock was the man to dare and cross the white wash line for the All Blacks with the help of Keven Mealamu and put his side into an early lead.
Desperate efforts were made by both teams to produce more action in the first half but the same score of 5-0 remained stuck until the break. The first half had nothing positive for the French side as they lost Morgan Parra due an injury and failed to open
their account.
All Blacks extended their lead to 8-0 after the break with the help of well executed penalty goal by Stephen Donald. Finally France managed to come out of their nutshell in the early minutes of the second half as Thierry Dusautoir scored much needed five
pointer for his team. Replacement Francois Trinh-Duc converted it successfully and reduced All Blacks lead to 7-8 in the 48th minute of the match.
Once again there was long silence in the match and New Zealand won the battle by 8-7.
France: 15 Maxime Médard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Morgan Parra, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Pascal Papé,
3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Fabien Barcella, 18 Julien Pierre, 19 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 20 Jean-Marc Doussain, 21 François Trinh-Duc, 22 Damien Traille.
New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Richard Kahui, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Brad Thorn, 4 Samuel Whitelock, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu,
1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Andrew h**e, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Ali Williams, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Andy Ellis, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Sonny Bill Williams.
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