Top 3 All Blacks match performances in a Rugby World Cup
As well as being an extremely subjective list, I should add that I remember the 1987 and 1991 World Cups less vividly than the ones that came after that (considering I was 5 and 9 during the first two). So there are maybe some matches other people rate as better, potentially the 1987 final vs France, but these are the ones I consider as the top 3. Recollected from my memories of watching it on TV plus some facts looked up from some things I may have forgotten.
The only All Blacks World Cup match I had the privilege of being at is the 2011 quarter final vs Argentina which most people will remember as the one where Piri Weepu became a cult hero for the All Blacks as he took on the goalkicking duties once Colin Slade got injured, and he would have been the lingering legend for the 2011 tournament if it weren’t for the fact that a certain (at the time) maligned figure of Stephen “Beaver” Donald came on during the final and slotted the penalty that ultimately would help win the match and the William Webb Ellis Trophy for New Zealand. It also turned Donald from a zero to a hero.
Anyway enough of the shit chat, here are the top 3, as judged by me.
3) 2015 – Quarter Final vs France, Millennium (now Principality) Stadium, Cardiff
People may remember the feeling of angst and nervousness at the time before this match seeing as we (spoiler alert) went on to win the 2015 tournament and become the first nation to defend the Rugby World Cup (men’s version). The All Blacks had as usual won every one of their pool games with relative ease but in less than convincing fashion. Plus their first knockout game of the tournament was to be a repeat of the quarterfinal 8 years prior, France in Cardiff. That particular match ended up as a 20 – 18 victory for France, one of the lowest points in All Blacks rugby. One difference is that the All Blacks would get to play in their preferred black as opposed to that shit grey uniform, whereas France had to go with a red uniform.
Any anxiety about how the All Blacks were going to perform in this game quickly disappeared. It’s as if they turned on a switch saying Knockout Stage Rugby because they played some of the best rugby they had in years, things such as Dan Carter doing a no look back flick pass after he broke the line to set Savea up for an easy run to the line and an iconic team try where Ben Smith first won the ball in a contest in the air after a Carter up-and-under, Aaron Smith quickly delivered the ball from the ensuing ruck with the ball eventually making its way to Julian Savea who did a Lomu impression by bowling over three French defenders on the way to putting the ball over the try line.
Savea then would score a third to complete his match hat trick.
Plus this match would see the emergence of this tournament’s “Beaver” Joe Moody. He came in as a squad replacement for the legend Tony Woodcock as he got a tournament ending injury in their last pool match against Tonga. Woodcock, the only try scorer for the All Blacks in the 2011 Rugby World Cup final, forever in our hearts. Moody would then go on to start the next two matches in the tournament. Not a bad effort to be the starting prop in both a Rugby World Cup semi final and final considering he wasn’t even in the squad during the pool stages.
The final score was 62 -13, a record winning margin for a game in the knockout stages of a Rugby World Cup (men’s version) plus most amount of tries by one team (9) in a knockout game.
2) 1995 – Semi Final vs England, Newlands, Cape Town
The best All Blacks team never to have won a Rugby World Cup put in a performance for the ages. There are two iconic moments from this match, one was when the late, great Jonah Lomu ran over the top of Mike Catt to score one of the four tries he would get in the match and then Zinzan Brooke gathering a clearance kick from England and successfully biffing a drop goal from 40 metres on the fly from the near the right sideline. This was New Zealand rugby at its absolute best, hell the score was 45 – 29 in a semi final. With that they also achieved an unofficial Grand Slam as the All Blacks defeated Wales and Ireland during pool play and eliminated Scotland in the quarterfinal. Had the All Blacks played half as well in the final against the Springboks as they did against England, they would have lifted the Rugby World Cup. The only problem was that most of the All Blacks fell ill in the week leading up to the final (a waitress named Suzie had been a potential reason for this) and were still sick during that game, it was a remarkable effort to even get the match to extra time plus some opportunities to win the game but much like the last stages of the 2019 Cricket World Cup final (yes I will always bring it up) it felt like it wasn’t meant to be for the New Zealand team. We will always have this semi final performance though.
1) 2011 – Semi Final vs Australia, Eden Park, Auckland
History had to be broken one way or the other in this match. The Wallabies hadn’t beaten the All Blacks at Eden Park since 1986 whereas the other two times the All Blacks had faced the Wallabies in the Rugby World Cup it ended up as victories to Australia (1991 semifinal at Lansdowne Road, Dublin and 2003 semi final at Olympic/Homebush/Telstra/ANZ Stadium, Sydney)
Who would ever forget the sight of Israel Dagg breaking the line at the opposition 22, backing himself to still go on the outside of the opposing full back by running near the sideline and then as the tackle was to drag him out to touch he offloaded the ball back to Ma’a Nonu who scored the try, the only try in the match.
Aaron Cruden, the third choice NZ five eighth, slotted that rarest of things for the All Blacks, a drop goal to extend the lead for the ABs.
No matter what Australia threw at them, NZ successfully answered. Also Australia seemed intent on testing the catching ability of the All Blacks back three of Kahui, Jane and Dagg by putting up and unders up, yet every time they did it, it got defused , Cory Jane was especially good in this aspect.
Like most games Richie McCaw put on a masterclass but even by his high standards this was possibly his greatest performance in a black jersey.
The All Blacks were excellent in all aspects of the game: scrums, lineouts, rucks, mauls and defense. It was hard to fault anything they did in this match so that’s why it takes the top spot in my humble opinion.
This would be the most dominant performance by a team in any semi final until 3 years later when Germany annihilated Brazil 8-1 in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Final score was 20 – 6.