Good Day
To enjoy seeing a different kind of justice done as, setting aside what happens to his team-mate with whom his name is synonymous, destiny now definitely calls upon Dan Carter, the All Blacks' great play-maker who is arguably the game’s greatest ever back.
It was something of a sporting tragedy when this most elegant of players, quite literally the poster boy for the tournament, modelling underwear on every other Christchurch, Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin billboard, tore a groin muscle days before captaining his country for the first time during the last World Cup and was able to take no further part in the tournament.
There was something very odd about the fact that after Carter’s replacement Aaron Cruden also succumbed to injury, instead of a player considered something of a legend in rugby’s spiritual homeland it was, instead, one who had spent much of his short All Black career as a figure of derision who kicked the winning goal as they achieved the their Holy Grail of regaining the World Cup, 24 years after their only previous success.
Stephen Donald had been their fourth choice stand-off and was called up from a fishing trip midway through the tournament to take part.
Further injuries looking to have reduced Carter’s powers, not least this time last year when he looked a shadow of his previous self during their autumn tour of Europe, it seemed his ceremonial role in remaining with the squad for the rest of that tournament would be what Carter might have to settle for, however he has been back to something approaching his best during this tournament.
"You should have seen the smile on my face at the end of the game. To hold out there in that last five minutes was awesome," he said after Saturday’s defeat of the Springboks.
We saw it Dan and expect it to be wider still next Saturday. Who better to lift that trophy if, for any reason, McCaw is unable to be at Twickenham?
Bad Day
For the touts who populate the route from Richmond to Twickenham.
Can there be any sweeter sound than, as they hold their hands in the air wielding fistfuls of tickets, those chancers who prey on sports supporters who admittedly have more money than sense, virtually begging as they offer: “Get your tickets… half price… get your tickets.”
It cannot be that many they are struggling to shift admittedly of the ridiculously over-priced briefs, though, because very few spaces could be seen in the stadium and the attendance at the New Zealand v South Africa semi-final was 80,090 on Saturday while there were 80,025 at the second semi between Argentina and Australia.
All pretty impressive considering how far all these World Cup semi-finalists are from home and while there was always likely to be a good turn-out from the London-based ex-pat Aussies, Kiwis and South Africans perhaps most surprising of all was the size of the Argentine support… and no, that’s not a dig at Diego Maradona!
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