Magical!

Ravi Nyayapati –

The list of words to describe the All Blacks is endless.

New Zealand retained the Webb Ellis Trophy with a historical victory at Twickenham over arch rivals Australia on Sunday, October 31, 2015.

The sensational Richie McCaw marched onto the field for a record 148th Test, his second at a World Cup final, leading a squad widely acknowledged as ‘The Best All Blacks Team of all time.’

Within the first two minutes, a display of thumping tackles saw the All Blacks bulldoze Israel Folau and Michael Hooper. The battle lines were drawn and the mission appeared clear – New Zealand were bringing the cup back home.

With the All Blacks dominating, Dan Carter and Bernard Foley scored off an early penalty each before Carter kicked two more to create a vital lead. Then came a superb flow of the ball involving Captain McCaw, Conrad Smith and Aaron Smith who found Nehe Milner-Skudder ready to take it over the try line.

Carter was at his brilliant best converting a difficult one. New Zealand returned to the dressing room with a 16-3 half-time score, looking like they would run away with it.

Tactical Move

At the second start Sonny Bill Williams replaced Conrad Smith. The tactical move paid instant dividends as Williams effected his dazzling off-load ability to Ma’a Nonu who covered 40 metres to score a sensational try.

Down 21-3, the Wallabies were staring at an almost impossible margin.

Ben Smith was sin binned in the 52^nd minute for a lifting tackle on Drew Mitchell. The Wallabies capitalised on this and fought back impressively. Zimbabwe-born David Pocock scored a try straight away, followed by another by Tevita Kuridrani ten minutes later, to reduce the deficit to four points.

Jittery ten minutes

The jittery ten minutes of an Australian counter-attack eased with a superb instinctive drop goal by Carter, giving the All Blacks a much needed breathing space. Carter scored off another penalty, before Beauden Barrett won the race to the goalpost against chasing Wallabies to score a fabulous try.

At the cusp of full-time, Carter had his final moment of glory by getting the conversion across and making up for his disappointment from an injury-related omission from the 2011 final. He was rightfully named Man of the Match for his four penalties, two conversions and the crucial drop goal.

Staggering Records

New Zealand went into the game with a whopping collection of individual and team records.

Their victory was the perfect farewell for legends McCaw, who is expected to announce his retirement, Carter, Nonu, Smith, Keven Mealamu and Tony Woodcock.

All Blacks 34 (Nehe Milner-Skudder, Ma’a Nonu, Beauden Barrett tries; Dan Carter 4 pens, 2 cons, dropped goal)

Australia 17 (David Pocock, Tevita Kuridrani tries; Bernard Foley pen, 2 cons)

Halftime: 16-3

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