Best of RWC #9 - 1999 Classics
1999 – Classics
Part 9 of the series celebrating what I think is the best of RWC.
Let’s face it – you had to wade through some dross to get really excited about the footy at RWC IV. The rugby really wasn’t massively spectacular. However, luckily for us, and this series of articles, there were one or two notable exceptions.
Although some of the “facts” may not be 100% accurate the opinions expressed are.
New Zealand 30 v England 16
This match was much anticipated, and built up from the time that the draw was announced, perhaps even more so than the corresponding match which opened the tournament in 1991. This one, in the midst of pool play, would determine who would end up on the “hard” side of the draw, i.e., the likely quarter final against South Africa, with Australia awaiting in the semi.
The “need” for New Zealand to win this match was intensified for Kiwi fans following publication of an article by former test lock turned journo Paul Ackford entitled “England’s Moment of Glory is at Hand” which rates up there with Simon Barnes pre-France test rant against the All Blacks in 2004. Oops.
Just like in the previous tournament the English (read Will Carling & Mr, now Sir, Clive Woodward) managed to attribute much of the credit for the All Blacks win to the presence of Jonah Lomu, which was not an accurate assessment of the teams’ relative strengths. Lomu did score another magnificent try, which Andrew Mehrtens described as being made by his pass and all Jonah had to do was run 60m and beat 5 players (but let’s not examine that pass too closely, an argument could have been made that it may have drifted ever so slightly forward, although the modern interpretation of “backwards from the hands” may be pertinent).
Jonah did receive a none too subtle knee to the face from Lawrence Dallaglio after scoring the try, which riled the big bloke. But despite getting a little airplay in the aftermath this was pretty much left on the field.
England closed the gap to a single point (if I recall correctly) as they capitalised on some All Black confusion to score their solitary try, but Lomu and Byron Kelleher, who scored a try as a replacement (something he had made a habit of in the early rounds) added to Jeff Wilson’s first half effort as the All Blacks eased away in the last quarter.
The three try to one win lined up Scotland in the Quarters and a likely France in the Semis (what happened in that game? Anybody remember?).
France 28 v Fiji 19
My memories of this game are sketchy, and I’m sure NZ referee Paddy O’Brien would wish he could forget the game as well.
O’Brien freely describes this match as his most public “train smash” as a series of embarrassing errors – pretty much all in France’s favour – denied Fiji a possible (even probable) victory.
South Africa 44 v England 21 – QF2
This quarter final match in Paris was one of those matches that had been identified when the draw came out as one to watch. With a likely match-up of South Africa versus either England or New Zealand it was going to mean an early exit for one of the big guns. In this case it was England who went – courtesy of a surprise Springbok tactic.
This match will be remembered for the extraordinary haul of five (five!) drop goals from Springbok first five-eighth Jannie de Beer. It emerged that the Springboks had identified up to a year previously that England would be vulnerable to de Beer’s long range drop goals, and the match, which had been running fairly close into the second half, suddenly blew out and the Africans progressed to the Semi-Finals.
Australia 27 v South Africa 21 – SF1
Live by the drop goal, die by the drop goal.
After cleaning up England in Paris it was on to Twickers for the Bokke, where the unlikely drop goal taker Stephen Larkham hit an extraordinary 50m field goal in extra time to break the deadlock. A subsequent penalty goal gave a smidgen of comfort as Australia advanced to their second ever final on the back of a heroic performance from the ill Tim Horan.
This was only the second RWC game to go to extra time and the only one in this tournament. It was also the Bok’s first ever RWC loss (in their second tournament).
Australia 35 v France 12 – Final
If it wasn’t the final this would be remembered as a fairly unremarkable game of rugby, with the exception of big Owen Finnegan’s 35m burst from a line-out gone wrong to score the try that confirmed the result in the Wallabies favour.
It was Australia’s second Rugby World Cup triumph as they moved forward to try and defend the title on home turf at the next tournament (although more of it was to be played in Australia than was envisaged at this point in time).
@mariner4life said in Best of RWC 1999:
from memory this is the worst world cup quality-wise but i remember very little except Jonah still being awesome and everyone in Black shitting the bed
Was there a world cup in 1999?
@canefan said in Best of RWC 1999:
@mariner4life said in Best of RWC 1999:
from memory this is the worst world cup quality-wise but i remember very little except Jonah still being awesome and everyone in Black shitting the bed
Was there a world cup in 1999?
lol we've got a couple more phantom world cups to get through
@mariner4life said in Best of RWC 1999:
for those with better memories, did we labour through a desperately limited Scotland in our Quarter?
Yes but Cameron Murray dummied Jonah to score a terrific consolation try. His defence was bloody good too.
I hope he’s never had to buy a beer in Hawick ever again.
@mariner4life said in Best of RWC 1999:
for those with better memories, did we labour through a desperately limited Scotland in our Quarter?
Yep.
The battle of the grey jerseys
Edit: Idiot - that was 2007
@mariner4life said in Best of RWC 1999:
@canefan said in Best of RWC 1999:
@mariner4life said in Best of RWC 1999:
from memory this is the worst world cup quality-wise but i remember very little except Jonah still being awesome and everyone in Black shitting the bed
Was there a world cup in 1999?
lol we've got a couple more phantom world cups to get through
It didn't hurt as much as 2007. And we didn't realise how much 1995 hurt until years later when we realised it was harder to win the bugger than we thought
@taniwharugby said in Best of RWC 1999:
@canefan 99 hurt most due to being at Twickers that fateful day.
Everyone was looking forward to us being in the final. But no one told those jammy French...
@canefan said in Best of RWC 1999:
Everyone was looking forward to us being in the final
especially the players, except Jonah
@mariner4life said in Best of RWC 1999:
for those with better memories, did we labour through a desperately limited Scotland in our Quarter?
Yes. I remember watching a replay of the game a few years ago (I think it was on the eve of a RWC they were replaying old games). I was shocked at how bad the ABs were. The writing should have been on the wall.
@taniwharugby said in Best of RWC 1999:
@canefan 99 hurt most due to being at Twickers that fateful day.
Yep. And made worse for me sitting in Springbok fan tour section.
@mariner4life said in Best of RWC 1999:
from memory this is the worst world cup quality-wise but i remember very little except Jonah still being awesome and everyone in Black shitting the bed
Aside from the result this a great RWC for me as I went to every game via a bunch of methods (organised tours, driving with mates, getting tickets from a Bok fan after chatting on the train the morning of a game). The experience, bar the semi result was great.
@KiwiMurph said in Best of RWC 1999:
@mariner4life said in Best of RWC 1999:
for those with better memories, did we labour through a desperately limited Scotland in our Quarter?
Yes. I remember watching a replay of the game a few years ago (I think it was on the eve of a RWC they were replaying old games). I was shocked at how bad the ABs were. The writing should have been on the wall.
Wasn't 1998 the year we really sucked? I guess many of the guys who fronted up in London were from that group
@canefan said in Best of RWC 1999:
@KiwiMurph said in Best of RWC 1999:
@mariner4life said in Best of RWC 1999:
for those with better memories, did we labour through a desperately limited Scotland in our Quarter?
Yes. I remember watching a replay of the game a few years ago (I think it was on the eve of a RWC they were replaying old games). I was shocked at how bad the ABs were. The writing should have been on the wall.
Wasn't 1998 the year we really sucked? I guess many of the guys who fronted up in London were from that group
Yep - we had some good performances at home in 1999 but we got absolutely smashed in Sydney Bledisloe so we were still very vulnerable.
@canefan said in Best of RWC 1999:
@KiwiMurph said in Best of RWC 1999:
@mariner4life said in Best of RWC 1999:
for those with better memories, did we labour through a desperately limited Scotland in our Quarter?
Yes. I remember watching a replay of the game a few years ago (I think it was on the eve of a RWC they were replaying old games). I was shocked at how bad the ABs were. The writing should have been on the wall.
Wasn't 1998 the year we really sucked? I guess many of the guys who fronted up in London were from that group
5 losses on the trot
@booboo said in Best of RWC 1999:
@canefan said in Best of RWC 1999:
@KiwiMurph said in Best of RWC 1999:
@mariner4life said in Best of RWC 1999:
for those with better memories, did we labour through a desperately limited Scotland in our Quarter?
Yes. I remember watching a replay of the game a few years ago (I think it was on the eve of a RWC they were replaying old games). I was shocked at how bad the ABs were. The writing should have been on the wall.
Wasn't 1998 the year we really sucked? I guess many of the guys who fronted up in London were from that group
5 losses on the trot
Those were dark days. I remember John Hart being placed under massive pressure.
@KiwiMurph said in Best of RWC 1999:
Scotland on their next trip to NZ should dust off the orange jerseys and play the Highlanders (who can dust off their bright green jerseys) and they can contest the Hi Vis Cup
Don’t hold your breath, they haven’t been to NZ since 2000. TWENTY THREE fucken years.
That is seriously disgraceful carry on.
Wales robbed against Australia in QF
First Gregan try should have been disallowed
The ball shout out of the ruck, hit an Australian players shin and ricocheted back into the ruck hitting an Australian player
Second Gregan try should have been disallowed
Horan lost the ball forward in the tackle from Scott Gibbs and Dafydd James touched the ball down
Colin's eyes not living up to their name
And if memory serves Gregan deliberately knocked down a Welsh try scoring pass which was missed
From 6:58
@MiketheSnow said in Best of RWC 1999:
Wales robbed against Australia in QF
First Gregan try should have been disallowed
The ball shout out of the ruck, hit an Australian players shin and ricocheted back into the ruck hitting an Australian player
Second Gregan try should have been disallowed
Horan lost the ball forward in the tackle from Scott Gibbs and Dafydd James touched the ball down
Colin's eyes not living up to their name
And if memory serves Gregan deliberately knocked down a Welsh try scoring pass which was missed
From 6:58
Not that you're bitter Mike ...
@booboo said in Best of RWC 1999:
@MiketheSnow said in Best of RWC 1999:
Wales robbed against Australia in QF
First Gregan try should have been disallowed
The ball shout out of the ruck, hit an Australian players shin and ricocheted back into the ruck hitting an Australian player
Second Gregan try should have been disallowed
Horan lost the ball forward in the tackle from Scott Gibbs and Dafydd James touched the ball down
Colin's eyes not living up to their name
And if memory serves Gregan deliberately knocked down a Welsh try scoring pass which was missed
From 6:58
Not that you're bitter Mike ...
@booboo said in Best of RWC 1999:
@MiketheSnow said in Best of RWC 1999:
Wales robbed against Australia in QF
First Gregan try should have been disallowed
The ball shout out of the ruck, hit an Australian players shin and ricocheted back into the ruck hitting an Australian player
Second Gregan try should have been disallowed
Horan lost the ball forward in the tackle from Scott Gibbs and Dafydd James touched the ball down
Colin's eyes not living up to their name
And if memory serves Gregan deliberately knocked down a Welsh try scoring pass which was missed
From 6:58
Not that you're bitter Mike ...
But yeah @MiketheSnow looking at that you've got reason to be pissed off.
Horan lost the ball forward in the tackle from Scott Gibbs and Dafydd James touched the ball down
Don't reckon James touched it down but Burke pushed him off the ball.
But ... sympathy is limited as we've all been through shit like that and been told to suck it up.
@canefan said in Best of RWC 1999:
@booboo said in Best of RWC 1999:
@canefan said in Best of RWC 1999:
@KiwiMurph said in Best of RWC 1999:
@mariner4life said in Best of RWC 1999:
for those with better memories, did we labour through a desperately limited Scotland in our Quarter?
Yes. I remember watching a replay of the game a few years ago (I think it was on the eve of a RWC they were replaying old games). I was shocked at how bad the ABs were. The writing should have been on the wall.
Wasn't 1998 the year we really sucked? I guess many of the guys who fronted up in London were from that group
5 losses on the trot
Those were dark days. I remember John Hart being placed under massive pressure.
Jep. And I can't recall anyone whining about his mental health or how Aus and SA were really actually very good and it was no disgrace losing to them etc etc. I actually think they did ok considering. Both those losses to the Boks would have been reversed with video ref and they were bloody unlucky to lose that final game against Aus. But they weren't a patch on 95-97 and Aus had improved out of sight.
@canefan said in Best of RWC 1999:
Those were dark days... John Hart ...
In the end I felt sorry for the horse.
@Rancid-Schnitzel said in Best of RWC 1999:
@canefan said in Best of RWC 1999:
@booboo said in Best of RWC 1999:
@canefan said in Best of RWC 1999:
@KiwiMurph said in Best of RWC 1999:
@mariner4life said in Best of RWC 1999:
for those with better memories, did we labour through a desperately limited Scotland in our Quarter?
Yes. I remember watching a replay of the game a few years ago (I think it was on the eve of a RWC they were replaying old games). I was shocked at how bad the ABs were. The writing should have been on the wall.
Wasn't 1998 the year we really sucked? I guess many of the guys who fronted up in London were from that group
5 losses on the trot
Those were dark days. I remember John Hart being placed under massive pressure.
Jep. And I can't recall anyone whining about his mental health or how Aus and SA were really actually very good and it was no disgrace losing to them etc etc. I actually think they did ok considering. Both those losses to the Boks would have been reversed with video ref and they were bloody unlucky to lose that final game against Aus. But they weren't a patch on 95-97 and Aus had improved out of sight.
I can’t believe this actually got published. Fuck me, convicted murderers and rapists had it better than he did.
Disgraceful from the NZ media.
@MN5 said in Best of RWC 1999:
@Rancid-Schnitzel said in Best of RWC 1999:
@canefan said in Best of RWC 1999:
@booboo said in Best of RWC 1999:
@canefan said in Best of RWC 1999:
@KiwiMurph said in Best of RWC 1999:
@mariner4life said in Best of RWC 1999:
for those with better memories, did we labour through a desperately limited Scotland in our Quarter?
Yes. I remember watching a replay of the game a few years ago (I think it was on the eve of a RWC they were replaying old games). I was shocked at how bad the ABs were. The writing should have been on the wall.
Wasn't 1998 the year we really sucked? I guess many of the guys who fronted up in London were from that group
5 losses on the trot
Those were dark days. I remember John Hart being placed under massive pressure.
Jep. And I can't recall anyone whining about his mental health or how Aus and SA were really actually very good and it was no disgrace losing to them etc etc. I actually think they did ok considering. Both those losses to the Boks would have been reversed with video ref and they were bloody unlucky to lose that final game against Aus. But they weren't a patch on 95-97 and Aus had improved out of sight.
I can’t believe this actually got published. Fuck me, convicted murderers and rapists had it better than he did.
Disgraceful from the NZ media.
I have that magazine somewhere. Something to think about when these year zero millennial twunts think that abuse and mean words didn't exist before they became aware of them. The difference was people took a spoonful of concrete and moved on. Same with crowd abuse. They idea that this is something new is hilarious.
@booboo said in Best of RWC 1999:
@canefan said in Best of RWC 1999:
Those were dark days... John Hart ...
In the end I felt sorry for the horse.
That was 1999...
@KiwiMurph said in Best of RWC 1999:
@canefan said in Best of RWC 1999:
@KiwiMurph said in Best of RWC 1999:
@mariner4life said in Best of RWC 1999:
for those with better memories, did we labour through a desperately limited Scotland in our Quarter?
Yes. I remember watching a replay of the game a few years ago (I think it was on the eve of a RWC they were replaying old games). I was shocked at how bad the ABs were. The writing should have been on the wall.
Wasn't 1998 the year we really sucked? I guess many of the guys who fronted up in London were from that group
Yep - we had some good performances at home in 1999 but we got absolutely smashed in Sydney Bledisloe so we were still very vulnerable.
By an all-time Aussie side mind you!
We had some quality players during this time but we lacked cohesion (and solid game plan) and relied heavily on individual brilliance which we were able to pull off on many occasions but exposed by quality teams.
@MiketheSnow I just remember Wales having a decent but youngish squad at that tournament - Jenkins x2, Howley, Quinnell, Gibbs, Thomas. Given there was only one decent AB pool game, I remember being far more invested in the pool Wales was in. Some cracking games
@Catogrande said in Best of RWC 1999:
I fondly remember Jannie de Beer and his five drop goals. Five. Bloody five.
And then in the next game against Aus he couldn't manage a single one.