Worst All Black RWC exits
-
While we are in the kind of reflective mood that happens after a RWC premature exit, let's rank failed RWC campaigns.
For me the losses I took the hardest were
1995 We were the best team, playing amazing rugby. We had the most destructive attacking rugby player known to man burst on the scene and seemed destined to lift the cup. We were thwarted by a resolute Saffa defence and a bad case of food poisoning
2007 We looked like the team to beat, made our worst ever placing at the hands of those pesky French, with a little help from a bumbling young English referee whose name escapes me.... The only upside was that in my search to have a moan I found the Fern and never left
1999 The team still had peak Jonah, who almost single handedly squashed the English in pool play, and Christian Cullen (playing at centre 🙄), and a host of carryovers from 1995 who were still at their best. We were cruising in the SF, before the boys started thinking about next week and the French did their thing and rolled us out on our asses
-
‘99 still the worst for me. Frogs were too terrified of Lomu to tackle him, so of course, what did we do but stop feeding him the ball. Still disturbs me more than the ‘07 choke.
-
-
99 sucked more because being there, at the game and living/working there and the grief I copped from the English...but worst exit was 07 cos we should have won but for dumb reasons
-
It's always a shock when we bow out. But 2003 we lost to England in Wellington, including failing to move a 6 man english scrum. Tana got hurt and Mitchell moved Panadol into MF. It felt a little like 2019 where we played attractive wide rugby and got beat up down the middle when it mattered. The only difference is 2019 is cushioned by the consecutive RWC triumphs
-
2007 was the hardest. We had an amazing team, almost everything that could have gone wrong in that game did go wrong. Still can't believe we could set up a drop goal at the end. Still shocked and angry about Wayne Barnes not giving a single penalty in that second half.
Vivid memory of it being carnage on the Fern for 24 hours after with the trolls out in force.
1991 Defeat was predictable, but it was still difficult viewing.
1995 Game flew by. I remember being disappointed when Ed Morrison called that pass to Jonah forward and when Merts missed what should have been a routine drop goal.
1999 Probably hurt the least. Didn't think we'd win the tournament. Cullen at Centre was bizarre. Had some French flat mates at time who shared some beers that evening. They were super happy.
2003 Annoying. I remember crying. Really didn't like Aussie team at the time. Disliked Gregan's four more years jibe.
2019 I thought England would win. Not enough grunt and savvy in our forwards. Not easy at all seeing us smashed the breakdown and in the collisions like that. 2019 All Blacks were a classy outfit though. Pleased Ben Smith and Kieran Read got to win their final game.
-
95 for me - although they all suck. Saffa's were still the enemy as far as I was concerned brought up on a diet of disappointments on the high veldt and cheating refs. We were playing awesome rugby. I had counted my chickens and had champagne on ice and there was Louis Luyt.
On a personal level 91. I was on my way back to NZ after 13 years away and arrived in Sydney on the day of the game and watched it with a bunch of Aussies at some party I got dragged to. They were poor winners.
07 was unbelievable. There was a degree of hubris as I had laughed so much at the Aussies a couple of hours earlier. We had looked so good and then it all came crashing down.
03 - expected but the manner of the defeat hurt. We were a shit team, selected and coached badly.
99 - also expected. 98 was too fresh to have any misconceptions. Again a poorly selected and coached squad.
19 - not expected but not unexpected. Parallels with 91 in some ways but the squad were way more likeable. I think we just hoped Shag would pull a rabbit out of the hat and he almost did. Was sanguine about the result although the result in the Final has led to a bit more sould searching.
-
2007 hurt most because that team was streets ahead of everyone else in World rugby. Witness what they did to Frogs year before. And as someone said the other day, under current protocols (TMO) that travesty wouldn't have occurred. Had tickets for semi's and final and parents over, with hotel in Paris next to AB hotel. Went anyway.
99 Great game for neutrals, but that game was in the bag until the ABs disintegrated under pressure in last 20, which was deeply saddening. Don't think we'd have beaten Oz in final, though.
03 Step down in angst. We were a better team than Oz and had monstered then in Sydney. Big swing with Merlin intercept. We had started to get on top early in second when Ben Darwin's neck gave way. We lost all momentum after that. England deserved to be champions.
19 I'd probably have ranked this higher, but sting taken off by winning previous two. Contrary to what some have suggested, I think ABs have played best rugby at RWC and I think would beat both Boks and Poms two out of three. We got bashed a bit, but soaked up the punishment and had we taken our opportunities we'd have won that.
91 Was interviewed on Welsh TV after match and said both good teams, but Oz just a little better at everything. They were worthy champs.
95 Being part of the atmosphere before the game, and what it meant for a troubled nation, I couldn't help thinking, 'It wouldn't be the end of the world if we lost this one'. Draw on usual measures. ABs best team, but no rancour for me.
-
1 - 1999. Still hard to fathom how we capitulated so badly in a second half like that.
2 - 1995. A very close second. I thought we were the most talented team at that World Cup with the right mix of youth and experience, x-factor, skill and calm heads.
3 - 2007. Argh
4 - 2003. Evil Wizard. We didn’t need look ready for it.
=5 - 1991 / 2019. Whilst disappointing, both not unexpected in the context of prep, how we played and some selections.
-
Worst exits for me are the ones where we heavily contributed to our failure more so than outside factors.
On thinking about it I find it hard to separate 1999, 2003 and 2019 as "we" contributed as much to our downfall through our own stupidity.
1999 - We had the best fullback in the world at centre and the probably the best right wing not doing a very good job at fullback.
2003 - Our coaches weakened our pack with their stupid no rucking comments and then our pack tanked in the big match they needed to perform in.
2019 - TBH, I get more annoyed the more I think about this, although as I called it out before the match I'm probably slightly biased. We've all been pussy footing around, we cocked up and lost a match we should have won with poor selection.1991 - I was gutted by this but we were a little bit over the hill and missing MJ in the crucial Oz match. I rewatched it again recently and confirmed my memories that we weren't as bad as some think and JK was opening them up at will.
1995 - I think the passage of time and the food poisoning (not commenting on whether was deliberate or not) have lessened how distraught I feel over this loss.
2007 - Forward pass, no second half penalties, both 10s injured out of the game - this was almost a perfect storm, although we still have had a team decision to set for a drop goal.
-
1999 was the worst exit in terms of actual play on the field - we were up 24-10 early in the second half and then just an absolute capitulation to leak 33 points to a French team we'd beaten by 50 earlier in the season. For a while we were just kicking off, conceding points and kicking off again. To borrow from Willie Watson - playing in the highlights.
Probably the worst half of All Black rugby ever.
-
I have to rate 07 as worse than 99 based on the fact that in 99 the All Blacks just ran into a team that played like they were on roids in the 2nd half. They just had too much pace. Im quite happy to credit the French that day. It was like Nantes 86 but worse.lol
All of them are pretty bad,its like reliving going to the dentist.
-
@geebee said in Worst All Black RWC exits:
I have to rate 07 as worse than 99 based on the fact that in 99 the All Blacks just ran into a team that played like they were on roids in the 2nd half. They just had too much pace. Im quite happy to credit the French that day. It was like Nantes 86 but worse.lol
All of them are pretty bad,its like reliving going to the dentist.
Hold on a minute, it's not that bad!
-
2007 hurt the most ,
2019 probably pissed me off the most , there wasnt that much emotion like the rest , but annoyed me , not so much watching it , but kicked in the next day and onwards , thought we were dumb, and soft
-
@canefan said in Worst All Black RWC exits:
@geebee said in Worst All Black RWC exits:
I have to rate 07 as worse than 99 based on the fact that in 99 the All Blacks just ran into a team that played like they were on roids in the 2nd half. They just had too much pace. Im quite happy to credit the French that day. It was like Nantes 86 but worse.lol
All of them are pretty bad,its like reliving going to the dentist.
Hold on a minute, it's not that bad!
Well that is a tad hyperbolic to be fair,and its easier to accept as you age. I put the last semi exit down to the ferocious Poms and how well they played. Theres been instances of AB teams exiting down to how badly they played but this recent one,im more accepting.
-
@geebee said in Worst All Black RWC exits:
@canefan said in Worst All Black RWC exits:
@geebee said in Worst All Black RWC exits:
I have to rate 07 as worse than 99 based on the fact that in 99 the All Blacks just ran into a team that played like they were on roids in the 2nd half. They just had too much pace. Im quite happy to credit the French that day. It was like Nantes 86 but worse.lol
All of them are pretty bad,its like reliving going to the dentist.
Hold on a minute, it's not that bad!
Well that is a tad hyperbolic to be fair,and its easier to accept as you age. I put the last semi exit down to the ferocious Poms and how well they played. Theres been instances of AB teams exiting down to how badly they played but this recent one,im more accepting.
whooooosh.
-
@Kruse said in Worst All Black RWC exits:
@geebee said in Worst All Black RWC exits:
@canefan said in Worst All Black RWC exits:
@geebee said in Worst All Black RWC exits:
I have to rate 07 as worse than 99 based on the fact that in 99 the All Blacks just ran into a team that played like they were on roids in the 2nd half. They just had too much pace. Im quite happy to credit the French that day. It was like Nantes 86 but worse.lol
All of them are pretty bad,its like reliving going to the dentist.
Hold on a minute, it's not that bad!
Well that is a tad hyperbolic to be fair,and its easier to accept as you age. I put the last semi exit down to the ferocious Poms and how well they played. Theres been instances of AB teams exiting down to how badly they played but this recent one,im more accepting.
whooooosh.
In jokes everywhere around here
