Finished Eden Park
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New Zealand win rugby World Cup
New Zealand have ended a 24-year wait for the rugby World Cup, battling to a tense 8-7 victory over France in the final at Eden Park. More
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Live Commentary
Time:80'- France
- New Zealand
- - Thanks for joining us today, and throughout an enthralling World Cup. New Zealand were great hosts and worthy winners. But my goodness, they had to work hard for it...
- - New Zealand have ended 24 years of waiting, and the party begins! They had to play like England to get there, but finally the All Blacks have won the World Cup again.
80+1' McCaw kicks into touch, and NEW ZEALAND HAVE WON THE WORLD CUP!!- 80' New Zealand win the lineout, and that will surely be that.
79' Harinordoquy leaves his feet - he had to do something - and it's a penalty to New Zealand! They will use up every second they can...- 79' It's a pretty inglorious way to win the World Cup, but you suspect New Zealand won't mind. There's not a great deal France can do about this...
- 78' New Zealand are doing everything they can to run the clock down... they are keeping it with the back row forwards and running one ultra-slow phase after another.
- 77' Richie McCaw is down injured. He's holding his face, but I can't imagine he'll be going off...
- 77' Rougerie knocks on, and New Zealand have a scrum! That could be the moment that does it...
- 76' Jean-Marc Doussain comes on for his France debut, four minutes from the end of a World Cup final! How much do you love Marc Lievremont?
76' Sonny Bill Williams comes on for Ma'a Nonu. Nothing like a cool head...- 74' New Zealand nearly win the turnover, but Dusautoir to the loose ball first and France come again....
- 73' Wallop. Kahui absolutely obliterates Mermoz with a huge tackle, but France still have it - inside the New Zealand 10-metre line.
- 72' France try to build in midfield with Dusautoir. New Zealand have been very solid in defence, to give them some credit.
- 71' Palisson makes a break down the left side and somehow avoids going into touch...
- 70' France win a penalty, but Yachvili shanks the kick for touch and it only goes up to halfway.
- 69' France change: Julien Pierre on for Pascal Pape.
- 69' It has turned into something of a kicking game, and Donald sends a fine grubber into touch at the edge of the French 22.
- 68' Dagg calls a mark inside his own 22, then blasts a massive clearance into touch well inside the French half.
- 67' Yachvili hoists a short Garryowen - it's not great, but he tidies up his own mess by catching the kick quite brilliantly.
- 66' A couple of French changes - Szarzewski and Barcella on for Poux and Servat.
- 65' MISSED KICK: Trinh-Duc takes the kick, and has a little half-smile as he does so... but he pushes it wide to the right of the posts!
- 64' PENALTY FRANCE! New Zealand stand up in the scrum. It's fairly central, just inside the New Zealand half. And they will kick for the lead!
- 63' Yachvili fails to find touch, and the ball comes straight back to Harinorqoquy who makes a break and is tackled on halfway.
- 62' Donald makes a break but puts his foot in touch and a promising opportunity is spurned. France in the lineout, then get a penalty for hands in the ruck.
- 61' Every time New Zealand kick it away, a great white wave comes right back at them. Relentless stuff from the French - these last 20 minutes could be epic.
- 59' A great Kaino tackle forces a knock-on and New Zealand have a chance to clear their lines. Nonetheless, sphincters are tightening around Eden Park and New Zealand. It was supposed to be so easy!
- 58' Dagg slices his clearing kick and it's a France throw at the edge of the New Zealand 22. Can they build pressure. They only need one kick to take the lead...
- 56' Kahui takes a quick lineout as he fields a long kick... booted back into the French half. This is attritional stuff.
- 55' Rougerie's clearing kick is charged down, but the bounce favours France and it ricochets out for a lineout.
- 54' Great defence from France, stopping the All Blacks in their tracks. What a great performance from them.
- 53' Finally New Zealand get some forward momentum, working through the phases and advancing into French territory.
- 51' Dagg slips over running out of his own 22, and that rather sums up New Zealand's second-half performance!
- 50' Weepu kicks the restart straight out! He is having an old-fashioned nightmare...
49' CONVERSION! Yachvili splits the posts from right in front - 8-7 the scoreline and it really is game on!
48' TRY!! Dusautoir for France!! He scores under the posts, and it all stemmed from that atrocious Weepu error. France are right back in this!- 47' A catastrophic kick off the floor by Weepu comes straight to Trinh-Duc who makes a searing break! Can they get over?
- 47' French change: Damien Traille replaces Vincent Clerc.
- 46' PENALTY GOAL! Stephen Donald makes no mistake, taking over kicking duties. 8-0 to New Zealand.
- 45' France win the turnover, but referee Joubert says they did so illegally. Trinh-Duc the culprit, and it's a chance to kick for goal from right in front.
- 44' Kahui makes a spectacularly good high take and break down the left side... it is box kicked into the French 22 and Trinh-Duc tidies up under intense pressure.
- 43' MISSED KICK: Tough kick from out wide, and it drifts just wide of the right-hand post. A decent strike, but a missed opportunity nonetheless.
- 42' PENALTY: Hands in the ruck from McCaw - that was another marginal one, but this time it goes against New Zealand. A chance for Yachvili to kick for goal.
- 42' Medard and Trinh-Duc continue to run with real intent... this is a great start for France.
- 41' Second half under way! Trinh-Duc kicks into All Black territory, and hostilities recommence.
- 40+1' Oohh... Weepu kicks away attacking possession, whacking the ball into touch to end the half. Amazing to see such caution. We have a World Cup final! Back in a few minutes.
- 40' Dagg kicks the penalty, but does not find touch! Into the final minute of the first half.
- 39' Yet another marginal call goes New Zealand's way. They win a penalty, which prompts a bit of argy-bargy between the two sets of forwards.
- 38' Another decision goes New Zealand's way, as they get a scrum when it was they who appeared to be offside. Craig Joubert had better not book any holidays in Provence for the next couple of years.
- 37' Trinh-Duc makes a magnificent, scything break, and Weepu makes a vital tap tackle... New Zealand under pressure.
- 36' MISSED DROP-GOAL: Trunh-Duc tries his luck from 30 metres, but sends his kick wide to the right of the posts.
- 35' New Zealand nearly steal another throw but Harinordoquy makes a vital intervention...
- 34' That's it for Cruden, who limps off. On comes Stephen Donald, making his World Cup debut in a final!
- 34' The clock is stopped. Cruden appeared to hyperextend his knee. That looked very painful, and I cannot imagine he will be able to continue.
34' New Zealand steal French lineout ball and make progress, working the ball from right to left. But now Aaron Cruden is down with an injury. Stephen Donald is warming up.- 33' That's a waste. Servat knocks it on and New Zealand can now releive the pressure provided they take care of business at the scrum.
- 32' Jane fields a long kick by Trinh-Duc but he JUST has his foot in touch and this will be a French lineout deep in All Black territory.
- 32' It was Trinh-Duc who was hurt, but he has dusted himself down and kicked a short dropout that forces an error from Kaino. French scrum.
- 31' The clock is stopped with another Frenchman down injured. The other 14 will be glad to have a breather...
- 30' Kahui tries a grubber into the end zone, but Rougerie is back to touch down in his end zone. Was Kahui blocked off? Craig Joubert says not.
- 29' Booming kick from Trinh-Duc out of his own end zone. He finds touch close to the 10-metre line. But this All Black pressure is relentless at the moment.
- 28' Weepu finds touch with a kick that bobbles out 10 metres from the French line.
- 27' MISSED KICK! A horrible slice from Weepu, who has made really poor contact with two of his three place kicks and missed them all!
- 26' Penalty New Zealand! They get turnover ball, then force the penalty and this should (SHOULD) be an easy kick for Weepu.
- 25' It's scrappy but France win the ball and Yachvili boots clear. Only to the edge of the 22.
- 24' Dagg finds touch five metres from the French line. Great kick, and this lineout is a mus-win for Les Bleus/Blancs.
- 23' Good high take by Kahui, and New Zealand buld again. They are ratcheting up the pressure.
- 22' Parra is off the field injured again! Not sure what the problem is, but here comes Trunh-Duc for a second time.
- 21' New Zealand have gone through 10 phases of possession and are just inside the French 10-metre line.
- 20' Poux is penalised for entering the scrum incorrectly, and that looks exceptionally harsh. New Zealand getting the rub of Craig Joubert's decisions at the moment.
- 18' He's back! Parra replaces Trinh-Duc, and somehow France must have convinced the officials that was a blood bin replacement. I didn't see any claret...
- 18' New Zealand make a dangerous break, moving the ball down the line from right to left. Jane is originally brought down, but some hands in the ruck give France a chance to kick away.
- 17' How will France respond? They can count themselves a little unlucky to be behind after a very good start.
- 16' MISSED CONVERSION: Weepu makes better contact this time, but pushes the ball to the right of the posts.
- 15' TRY! Tony Woodcock for New Zealand! A simple move - Kaino catches the lineout and hands it off to Woodcock who bundles over. The big number one opens the scoring!
- 14' Dusautoir fields a long lineout but holds on to the ball as he is tackled - penalty New Zealand. And Weepu absolutely crushes it out of play 10 metres from the French line. Brilliant kick.
- 13' Nonu does not roll away after the tackle, and France can clear their lines. This is not the one-way traffic some people expected.
- 12' And that's the end of Parra's World Cup final. Francois Trinh-Duc is on. And that really does look naughty by McCaw.
- 11' Parra caught a knee to the head from Richie McCaw and is somewhat dazed. A cynic might suggest McCaw didn't exactly try to get his knee out of the way.
- 10' Great kick by Rougerie, who clears the New Zealand line and sends it bouncing out 10 metres from the All Black line. The host nation under some early pressure.
- 9' Jane looks to take a quick lineout, but Palisson hares downfield to make the New Zealander think again.
- 8' France are not afraid to run the ball - Rougerie, Medard and Palisson are attacking fearlessly, but the latter knocks on.
- 7' MISSED KICK: Ooh, that's a bad miss by Weepu, hooking it well wide to the left of the posts. Poor strike, and it never looked like it had a chance.
- 6' Weepu has kicked 15 of 20 goals in this tournament. Though he was only four or eight last week against Australia.
- 5' France go offside, and this could be a chance for Weepu to kick for goal - he will, wide out on the left just inside the 10 metre line.
- 4' Palisson is penalised for not releasing, though it looked like McCaw went in off his feet... Cruden kicks for touch inside the French half.
- 3' A poor pass puts Medard in trouble, but he bobs and weaves away fropm a couple of tackles and makes 10 tough metres.
- 2' A nervy Yachvili kick goes straight into touch, but France nab the lineout ball. Neither side into their stride yet.
- 1' GAME ON! Craig Joubert gets the game under way and New Zealand's Aaron Cruden drop kicks into enemy territory.
- 09:00 And here come the French! They're advancing towards the All Blacks! Tremendous theatre, and well done Les Blancs for responding...
- 09:00 And it's haka time! France, all in white, line up in a chevron holding hands to face it...
- 08:59 A brisk blast through the national anthems. As ever, New Zealand get the comely soprano singing theirs, while the French have some bloke in glasses.
- 08:57 France won the toss and chose to wear white, so the All Blacks could play in black. Classy gesture or just plain stupid? I'm a football man at heart, so my cynical mindset says they should have made New Zealand play in grey. But maybe that's what makes rugby the fine sport it is...
- 08:55 And here come the teams! Fireworks go off around Eden Park. What an occasion...
- 08:50 Just 10 minutes to go, and Eden Park is a sea of black. A crackling atmosphere and enormous anticipation among these New Zealand fans. There is a small smattering of French fans, but as you'd expect they are completely outnumbered.
- 08:45 You can see the team line-ups below, and here is a look at today's key match-ups.
- 08:40 We caught up with All Blacks legend Zinzan Brooke this week, and he thinks there is no chance of an upset today.
- 08:35 You're probably aware this game means just a little bit to New Zealand. It has been 24 years of agony and choking since they lifted the Webb Ellis trophy - can they deliver on this date with destiny?
- 08:30 Welcome to LIVE coverage of the World Cup final between New Zealand and France from Eden Park in Auckland!
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Summary
France versus New Zealand Dusautoir 47’ Tries Woodcock 15’ Trinh-Duc 49’ Conversions Penalties Donald 46’ Drops
Live Team Line-Up
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FranceManager: Marc Lievremont
On the Field
- Poux
- Servat
- Mas
- Papé
- Nallet
- Dusautoir
- Bonnaire
- Harinordoquy
- Yachvili
- Parra
- Palisson
- Mermoz
- Rougerie
- Clerc
- Médard
Subs
- Traille
- Szarzewski
- Pierre
- Ouedraogo
- Trinh-Duc
- Barcella
- Doussain
Injured
None
Suspended
None
- Poux
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New ZealandManager: Graham Henry
On the Field
- Woodcock
- Mealamu
- Franks
- Thorn
- Whitelock
- Kaino
- McCaw
- Read
- Weepu
- Cruden
- Kahui
- Nonu
- Smith
- Jane
- Dagg
Subs
- Hore
- Williams
- Ellis
- Thomson
- Donald
- Williams
- Franks
Injured
None
Suspended
None
- Woodcock
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