Monday, 8 October 2007

Super Saturday

This Saturday was the craziest, maddest Saturday of rugby I've ever seen in my life

It was the quarter-finals of the World Cup and first up was England against Australia. England had been pretty poo in some of the pool games and just about everyone had written them off. I even had a sly bet (with my £50 free Coral money) that Lote Tuquiri would be the first try-scorer (and was right woo hoo!) and I couldn't really imagine anyway in which we would win. But we did. How? No idea apart from completely tearing them apart with our forwards who smacked everything that moved and scrummaged them off the park. It was exhilarating and nerve-racking but we won - how amazing! Then onto the second quarter-final, France against the All Blacks, the red-hot favourites who have been winning everything in rugby over the last couple of years. It was always going to be a big ask for France to knock them out and beat them in a World Cup match so guess what? They only went and did it! How? No idea apart from defending like their lives depended on it in the last 10 minutes and producing a wonderful try from the lovely Freddie Michelak. Stirring and wonderful stuff.

What a day!

In one short day both Oz and NZ knocked out of the World Cup before the semi-finals! It's quite bizarre - I still can't believe it and feel slightly as though I'm dreaming. The rugby world order has changed and the northern hemisphere rule! Well they did on Saturday! It felt like we were watching history being made. It was a crazy, ridiculous day of rugby but what a feeling! It still makes me smile to think of the faces of the winners, and the faces of the losers and those words echoing around the pitches 'four more years boys, four more years'.
Quite frankly this WAS the World Cup and no matter what happens now it will always be remembered for the craziness of this weekend. Allez Les Blancs!

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