All Blacks

I started watching rugby during the 1995 World Cup in South Africa. I instantly became a fan of the All Blacks. Their open, fast, free-flowing style of rugby was brilliant to watch and easy to like. And the Haka is one of the great spectacles in all of sport. I grew up watching the likes of Andrew Mehrtens, Zinzan Brooke, Christian Cullen and ofcourse, Jonah Lomu. Year after year you'd see them dominate the tri-nations. Watching them play you'd think there is no way they could lose. And yet when it came to the World cup they would somehow conspire to do just that. They would dominate sides in the round-robin matches before 'choking' in the knockout stages.

Last night's win in the World Cup Final at Eden Park, in many ways, mirrors India's victory at the Cricket world cup this year. New Zealand is a rugby mad nation. They've been waiting for a World Cup win since 1987. Playing at home is always added pressure. And they were playing their old nemesis, France. In past world cups they've always won by huge margins before losing a dog fight to France. But this time they came away with the scrappiest of wins by the narrowest of margins. There was none of the classical rugby on display that the All Blacks are known for. But in the end, all that they'll care about is that they're the ones holding aloft the Web Ellis trophy.