NEW ZEALAND 8 Try Woodcock Pen Donald
FRANCE 7 Try Dusautoir Con Trinh-Duc
New Zealand Dagg, Jane, Smith, Nonu, Kahui, Cruden, Weepu - Woodcock, Mealamu, O Franks, Whitelock, Thorn, Kaino, McCaw (c), Read. Replacements: Donald (for Cruden), A Williams (for Whitelock), Hore (for Mealamu), Ellis (for Weepu), S Williams (for Nonu). Not used: B Franks, Thomson.
France Médard, Clerc, Rougerie, Mermoz, Palisson, Parra, Yachvili - Poux, Servat, Mas, Papé, Nallet, Dusautoir (c), Bonnaire, Harinordoquy. Replacements: Trinh-Duc (for Parra), Traille (for Clerc), Szarzewski (for Servat), Barcella (for Poux), Pierre (for Pape), Doussain (for Yachvili). Not used: Fulgence Ouedraogo
Attendance: 60,000 at Eden Park, Auckland Referee: Craig Joubert (SA) Half time: 5-0
NEW ZEALAND survived one hell of a fright against France to secure their first World Cup in 24 years at Eden Park in Auckland.
The All Blacks came into the match as heavy favourites after the two teams' mixed routes to the Final but this ended up being yet another close call for Graham Henry's men.
Palpable tension filled the arena as the French advanced in a V-formation on the All Blacks' Haka and there was evidence of early nerves in the New Zealand line-out.
France enjoyed the first clean burst of possession but they made little ground and worries from the neutral of a one-sided Final quickly returned as the All Blacks drew first blood.
The try on 15 minutes was a simple one, ironically from a lineout inside the 22 given their early troubles.
It was scored from the most unlikely of figures as prop forward Tony Woodcock strode through unchallenged after Jerome Kaino's clever knockdown.
But Piri Weepu was unable to add the conversion and it became evident that the scrum-half was not having the best of days off the tee when he sliced a penalty horribly wide shortly afterwards.
Kiwi fans always feared that they would miss the outstanding goal-kicking talent of Dan Carter but the team's accuracy in play was a lot better, and Richard Kahui almost set up another scoring chance with a grubber kick.
Aurelien Rougerie mopped that up well and it was clear that France, who had been put out of the game by this stage of the Pool match, were competing much better this time.
Nevertheless, they had to wait until towards the end of the half for their best spell of pressure through fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc, on for the injured Morgan Parra.
First, Trinh-Duc missed an ambitious drop goal before the glimmer of an even better chance as he made a line-break.
However, New Zealand reorganised to close the door and Weepu hastily brought an end to the first half with both sides very much still in the contest.
It was perhaps no surprise, then, that the second period began with a spell of frantic, open rugby.
The French started brightly again and forced a penalty when Kiwi skipper Richie McCaw was penalised for handling in the ruck.
Dmitri Yashvili missed a tough kick and New Zealand responded by winning a penalty of their own after Kieran Reid's brilliant take from a lineout reignited the atmosphere in Eden Park.
Stephen Donald, making his World Cup debut as the All Blacks' fourth choice fly-half after an injuries to Carter, Colin Slade and Aaron Cruden, placed his kick just inside the right-hand post.
That made it 8-0 and, as the ball sailed between the sticks, it seemed likely that Henry's men would get to loosen the shackles in the last 35 minutes of their World Cup adventure.
However, New Zealand's knockout matches with France are never that simple, and this was to prove no exception as the French hit back almost immediately with a try.
Captain Thierry Dusautoir was the scorer, sliding over next to the posts after the French backs had done well to keep alive the move once Yashvili had slipped.
Yashvili then sent over the simple conversion and, suddenly, New Zealand's lead was down to one point with the score at 8-7.
At this stage, based upon past experiences, All Blacks fans could not be blamed for watching the rest of the match through their fingers or even from behind the sofa.
But the steely character of this New Zealand team is the best that it has been since 1987, as we had witnessed in their previous match when they completely shut down the second half of the semi final against Australia.
France would suffer a similar fate as they struggled to make headway against the All Black defence despite having more than 30 minutes to score any points.
It was not through the want of trying, though, and Marc Lievremont's strange reign as the French head coach ended with his team giving one of their best performances.
But, while France had ensured this Final was a worthy contest and not the whitewash that had been feared, New Zealand were undoubtedly the worthy winners.
The spell has been broken, the haunting chains of failure have been removed. After 24 years, the All Blacks' pain is finally over and there is something about that which just feels right.
FULL RESULTS
SEMI FINAL RESULTS
Date | Venue | Tries | |
| Sat 15 Oct | WALES 8-9 FRANCE | Eden Park, Auckland | 1-0 |
| Sun 16 Oct | AUSTRALIA 6-20 NEW ZEALAND | Eden Park, Auckland | 0-1 |
QUARTER FINAL RESULTS
Date | Venue | Tries | |
| Sat 8 Oct | IRELAND 10-22 WALES | Wellington | 1-3 |
| Sat 8 Oct | ENGLAND 12-19 FRANCE | Eden Park, Auckland | 2-2 |
| Sun 9 Oct | SOUTH AFRICA 9-11 AUSTRALIA | Wellington | 0-1 |
| Sun 9 Oct | NEW ZEALAND 33-10 ARGENTINA | Eden Park, Auckland | 2-1 |
RUGBY WORLD CUP 2011: FIRST ROUND RESULTS/TABLES
POOL A
| TV | Date | Venue | |
| ITV1 | Fri 09 Sep | NEW ZEALAND 41-10 TONGA | Eden Park, Auckland |
| ITV1 | Sat 10 Sep | FRANCE 47-21 JAPAN | North Harbour, Auckland |
| ITV4 | Wed 14 Sep | TONGA 20-25 CANADA | Whangarei |
| ITV1 | Fri 16 Sep | NEW ZEALAND 83-7 JAPAN | Hamilton |
| ITV1 | Sun 18 Sep | FRANCE 46-19 CANADA | Napier |
| ITV4 | Wed 21 Sep | TONGA 31-18 JAPAN | Whangarei |
| ITV1 | Sat 24 Sep | NEW ZEALAND 37-17 FRANCE | Eden Park, Auckland |
| ITV4 | Tue 27 Sep | CANADA 23-23 JAPAN | Napier |
| ITV1 | Sat 1 Oct | FRANCE 14-19 TONGA | Wellington |
| ITV1 | Sun 2 Oct | NEW ZEALAND 79-15 CANADA | Wellington |
| Pool A Table | W | D | L | F | A | Tries | Pts |
| Q NEW ZEALAND | 4 | 0 | 0 | 240 | 49 | 36 | 20 |
| Q FRANCE | 2 | 0 | 2 | 124 | 96 | 15 | 11 |
| TONGA | 2 | 0 | 2 | 80 | 98 | 7 | 9 |
| CANADA | 1 | 1 | 2 | 82 | 168 | 9 | 6 |
| JAPAN | 0 | 1 | 3 | 69 | 184 | 8 | 2 |
POOL B
| TV | Date | Venue | |
| ITV1 | Sat 10 Sep | SCOTLAND 34-24 ROMANIA | Invercargill |
| ITV1 | Sat 10 Sep | ENGLAND 13-9 ARGENTINA | Dunedin |
| ITV1 | Wed 14 Sep | SCOTLAND 15-6 GEORGIA | Invercargill |
| ITV1 | Sat 17 Sep | ARGENTINA 43-8 ROMANIA | Invercargill |
| ITV1 | Sun 18 Sep | ENGLAND 41-10 GEORGIA | Dunedin |
| ITV1 | Sat 24 Sep | ENGLAND 67-3 ROMANIA | Dunedin |
| ITV1 | Sun 25 Sep | ARGENTINA 13-12 SCOTLAND | Wellington |
| ITV4 | Wed 28 Sep | GEORGIA 25-9 ROMANIA | Napier |
| ITV1 | Sat 1 Oct | ENGLAND 16-12 SCOTLAND | Eden Park, Auckland |
| ITV1 | Sun 2 Oct | ARGENTINA 25-7 GEORGIA | Palmerston North |
| Pool B Table | W | L | F | A | Tries | Pts |
| Q ENGLAND | 4 | 0 | 137 | 34 | 18 | 18 |
| Q ARGENTINA | 3 | 1 | 90 | 40 | 10 | 14 |
| SCOTLAND | 2 | 2 | 73 | 59 | 4 | 11 |
| GEORGIA | 1 | 3 | 48 | 90 | 3 | 4 |
| ROMANIA | 0 | 4 | 44 | 169 | 3 | 0 |
POOL C
| TV | Date | Venue | |
| ITV1 | Sun 11 Sep | AUSTRALIA 32-6 ITALY | North Harbour, Auckland |
| ITV1 | Sun 11 Sep | IRELAND 22-10 UNITED STATES | New Plymouth |
| ITV4 | Thu 15 Sep | RUSSIA 6-13 UNITED STATES | New Plymouth |
| ITV1 | Sat 17 Sep | AUSTRALIA 6-15 IRELAND | Eden Park, Auckland |
| ITV4 | Tue 20 Sep | ITALY 53-17 RUSSIA | Nelson |
| ITV1 | Fri 23 Sep | AUSTRALIA 67-5 UNITED STATES | Wellington |
| ITV1 | Sun 25 Sep | IRELAND 62-12 RUSSIA | Rotorua |
| ITV4 | Tue 27 Sep | ITALY 27-10 UNITED STATES | Nelson |
| ITV1 | Sat 1 Oct | AUSTRALIA 68-22 RUSSIA | Nelson |
| ITV1 | Sun 2 Oct | IRELAND 36-6 ITALY | Dunedin |
| Pool C Table | W | L | F | A | Tries | Pts |
| Q IRELAND | 4 | 0 | 135 | 34 | 15 | 17 |
| Q AUSTRALIA | 3 | 1 | 173 | 48 | 25 | 15 |
| ITALY | 2 | 2 | 92 | 95 | 13 | 10 |
| UNITED STATES | 1 | 3 | 38 | 122 | 4 | 4 |
| RUSSIA | 0 | 4 | 57 | 196 | 8 | 1 |
POOL D
| TV | Date | Venue | |
| ITV1 | Sat 10 Sep | FIJI 49-25 NAMIBIA | Rotorua |
| ITV1 | Sun 11 Sep | SOUTH AFRICA 17-16 WALES | Wellington |
| ITV1 | Wed 14 Sep | SAMOA 49-12 NAMIBIA | Rotorua |
| ITV1 | Sat 17 Sep | SOUTH AFRICA 49-3 FIJI | Wellington |
| ITV1 | Sun 18 Sep | WALES 17-10 SAMOA | Hamilton |
| ITV4 | Thu 22 Sep | SOUTH AFRICA 87-0 NAMIBIA | North Harbour, Auckland |
| ITV1 | Sun 25 Sep | FIJI 7-27 SAMOA | Eden Park, Auckland |
| ITV1 | Mon 26 Sep | WALES 81-7 NAMIBIA | New Plymouth |
| ITV4 | Fri 30 Sep | SOUTH AFRICA 13-5 SAMOA | North Harbour, Auckland |
| ITV1 | Sun 2 Oct | WALES 66-0 FIJI | Hamilton |
| Pool D Table | W | L | F | A | Tries | Pts |
| Q SOUTH AFRICA | 4 | 0 | 166 | 24 | 21 | 18 |
| Q WALES | 3 | 1 | 180 | 34 | 23 | 15 |
| SAMOA | 2 | 2 | 91 | 49 | 9 | 10 |
| FIJI | 1 | 3 | 59 | 167 | 7 | 5 |
| NAMIBIA | 0 | 4 | 44 | 266 | 5 | 0 |
TOP POINTS SCORERS (minimum 20 points)
62 Morne Steyn (South Africa)
52 James O'Connor (Australia)
45 Kurt Morath (Tonga)
44 Ronan O'Gara (Ireland)
41 Piri Weepu (New Zealand)
39 Dimitri Yashvili (France)
37 Morgan Parra (France)
36 Colin Slade (New Zealand)
34 James Arlidge (Japan)
33 Rhys Priestland (Wales)
30 Chris Ashton (England), Vincent Clerc (France)
28 Jonny Wilkinson (England), Merab Kvirikashvili (Georgia), Stephen Jones (Wales)
26 Felipe Contepomi (Argentina), Berrick Barnes (Australia)
25 Adam Ashley-Cooper (Australia), Keith Earls (Ireland), Israel Dagg (New Zealand), Tusi Pisi (Samoa)
24 Theuns Kotze (Namibia), Dan Parks (Scotland)
23 Chris Paterson (Scotland), James Hook (Wales)
22 Ander Monro (Canada), Seremaia Bai (Fiji)
21 Toby Flood (England), Jonathan Sexton (Ireland), Dan Carter (New Zealand), Paul Williams (Samoa), Francois Steyn (South Africa)
20 James Pritchard (Canada), Mark Cueto (England), Vereniki Goneva (Fiji), Zac Guildford (New Zealand), Richard Kahui (New Zealand), Jerome Kaino (New Zealand), Sonny Bill Williams (New Zealand), Scott Williams (Wales)
TOP TRY SCORERS (minimum three tries)
6 Chris Ashton (England), Vincent Clerc (France)
5 Adam Ashley-Cooper (Australia), Keith Earls (Ireland), Israel Dagg (New Zealand)
4 Mark Cueto (England), Vereniki Goneva (Fiji), Zac Guildford (New Zealand), Richard Kahui (New Zealand), Jerome Kaino (New Zealand), Sonny Bill Williams (New Zealand), Scott Williams (Wales)
3 Berrick Barnes (Australia), Drew Mitchell (Australia), Ma'a Nonu (New Zealand), Francois Hougaard (South Africa), Francois Steyn (South Africa), Alesana Tuilagi (Samoa), Jonathan Davies (Wales), George North (Wales), Shane Williams (Wales)
LATEST IRB RANKINGS (correct as of 24/10/2011)
1 NEW ZEALAND 91.43 - Winners
2 AUSTRALIA 87.42 - Third place
3 FRANCE 84.70 - Runners-up
4 SOUTH AFRICA 84.34 - Quarter finals
5 ENGLAND 81.58 - Quarter finals
6 IRELAND 80.65 - Quarter finals
7 ARGENTINA 80.28 - Quarter finals
8 WALES 80.18 - Semi finals
9 TONGA 76.63 - Group stages
10 SCOTLAND 76.20 - Group stages
IRB AWARDS 2011
IRB International Player of the Year Thierry Dusautoir (France)
IRB International Team of the Year New Zealand
IRB International Coach of the Year Graham Henry (New Zealand)
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