Rugby World Cup 1995

[Dismal Pillock]

ended up watching replay on telly of NZ vs Eng semi for first time. Had forgotten Jonah's iconic try was with his first touch of the bloody ball, in the 2nd minute.

Didnt have Keith Quinns commentary, the poms instead, some tweedy colonial bloke insisting England would have to "get back on track soon" even though their Titanic was pretty much instantly capsized from minute 1. The Empire is lost, old sport.

Lomu pretty much made Worwee Underwood a casting extra in his own personal Silence of the Lambs that afternoon. A 40-kg weight difference and Lomu was still quicker. Let's fighter pilot superhero Worwee run past him, then turns on the jets to catch up inside 10 metres and just drags the runt by the shirt into touch. Laughing.

".........Jonah? JONAH, JONAH, JONA"

Fitzy still there from 87 but holy shit had scrums changed. The stags at the rut head-butting engage was still the go but man, it was scrum penalties galore.

NZ were just ferocious. Murdering them. 30-3 after 30 minutes. Wob Andwew missing his penalties like Suzy had mixed up team gruds with team cravats.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Watched in GF in the Lake Ferry Hotel. Local cop turned up at 1am & we all thought he was there to shut the joint down, 11pm closing & all that, but he just sat in the corner & watched with the rest of us, probably the only sober bloke in the room (& that's including the publican IIRC).

Collective sucking in of breath when Quinn opened proceedings by announcing that the AB had been stricken by a mass-stomach bug of unknown origin, but I think we all thought we'd still win, Lomu being surely unstoppable...............

Vividly remember Merts taking the DG & the place going off 'cos we all thought he'd nailed it; dead silence when we realised he'd missed by the proverbial bees dick; despair when Stransky kicked the match-winner; more dead silence heading back to the bach at Cape Palliser, 7 of us in a restored Bedford van & the least-pissed (& youngest) of us driving; and feeling sick for the next 2 - 3 days. Must've been something I ate

All of the above being said, I don't count 1995 as a failure (as 1991, 1999, 2003 & 2007 were failures) on the basis that every AB who played that day did everything they possibly could have to win yet weren't quite able to. To some extent they all left their guts (or at least the contents thereof) on the field & I reckon that's all you can ask of anyone.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

My abiding memory of that final was how heroic the Bok defence was, Mulder and Small in particular.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

^^^^^^^^^^^ my abiding memory of James Small is this:

Fair to say he's not exactly the most popular sethfricken to have visited NZ........

 

[Teh Other Dave]

'Perhaps steak tartare for entre and carbonnara for the main wasn't such a flash idea afterall' - Mains, L.

 

[Dismal Pillock]

Watched in GF in the Lake Ferry Hotel

where was that? Weirdly I was at the house of some self-anointed "President of the NZ Society" some mega-rich Japanese guy in Sapporo, North-East Pitcairns. God knows how we ended up there, but there we were in his posh spacious living room watching the final. Stone cold sober I cant really remmeber a thing. The room was too big and telly too small. Somehow after it I ended up at a pub downtown where some aussie bloke gloated in my face for abut 5 minutes straight then, failing to get a rise out of me, let alone a word, he headbutted me in the nose and wandered off. I just sat there.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

^^^^^^^^^^^ my abiding memory of James Small is this:

Fair to say he's not exactly the most popular sethfricken to have visited NZ....

Nor here in OZ (who can forget him being sent off at Ballymore?).

 

[cyclopath]

^^^^^
There'd be a few players at risk of being marched these days, given how much some like to harangue the ref.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

where was that? Weirdly I was at the house of some self-anointed "President of the NZ Society" some mega-rich Japanese guy in Sapporo, North-East Pitcairns. God knows how we ended up there, but there we were in his posh spacious living room watching the final. Stone cold sober I cant really remmeber a thing. The room was too big and telly too small. Somehow after it I ended up at a pub downtown where some aussie bloke gloated in my face for abut 5 minutes straight then, failing to get a rise out of me, let alone a word, he headbutted me in the nose and wandered off. I just sat there.

OK my D'Auckland mate, a quick geography lesson about the bottom part of the North Island (you know, the bit that's not quite Canterbury but would secretly like to be):

As you can see, Lake Ferry is where Lake Wairarapa would empty into Cook Strait if not for the mouth being blocked most of the time. Cape Palliser is just past Ngawi & is the southern-most point of the North Island. It used to take 45 min by road, possibly longer now as they had to move the road inland a few k's 'cos the constant storms undermined the old road & it pretty much fell into the sea.

 

[brokendown]

lake Ferry--two men and a dog on a crowded night!
the cop must of heard you from Featherston!
good to see eastbourne on the map though

 

[Dismal Pillock]

oh yeah, the wairarapa, the old Flaggon Draggon was from down that way, mentioned a bloke called Brian Lochore slightly amorously, think she may have had a fling........ deep down, frankly, I've suspected ever since then that I was the bastard son of Brian Lochore. It would account for my stunning skills on the rugby paddock as well as my corrosive good looks and yes, my all-round general modesty.

 

[Dismal Pillock]

**POISONED**

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11632939

 

[Braveheart81]

"I believe it was the water that was got at, because the food that was served at lunch time ... was chicken burgers and hamburgers."
He said some who ate chicken were sick and some who ate beef were sick.
"I don't think it was the food, I think it was the coffee and the tea and possibly even the drinking water."

Jeez... get your story straight buddy.
It's a shame it wasn't a choice between the chicken and the fish. A bit of Flying High would really add to the story.