So New Zealand are world champions. But only just. Their 8-7 win was close, and France were 1 point away from a different story. Woodcock was the try scorer for New Zealand, while Dusautoir went over for the French. In a match that was so close, did New Zealand deserve to win?
Yes and no. France, for me, were the better side. They really dominated some passages of play and had they been more accurate with the boot they could have won. More importantly though, it was clear that the referee's judgement was swayed by the crowd. All 50/50 decisions, whether it be for high tackles or anything else were given in the All Blacks' favour, and I think had this final been played in a different country, we could have had a very different result.
However, you can't deny with what's happened to New Zealand as a country this year that they needed something like this to cheer the country up. Also, if there is one side that hasn't won the World Cup enough, it's New Zealand, so they really deserved it in the long run.
It's really tough to say if it was deserved, but if you look at the match it definitely wasn't as I mentioned before. France can be hugely proud of their performance. They are world champions in every way but one: they don't have the Webb Ellis Cup.
0 comments:
Post a Comment