Against all odds, it happened: the two great southern hemispheric rugby nations of the world lost to their respective northern hemispheric quarterfinal opponents. The 2007 Rugby World Cup quarterfinal results read:
Australia 10 England 12
New Zealand 18 France 20
Interestingly, both the Wallabies and the All Blacks lost by the same margin.
(digression: if the matches were fixed and the whole world finds out, wouldn't that have some serious repercussions in the sport? And in ALL sports? :P )
I studied in Australia, so naturally I tend to root for the Wallabies. This is a doubly painful loss for the Aussies, given the fact that it was also England who beat them 4 years ago in the World Cup final then. Ouch ouch. Wanted to stay up to watch the delayed telecast late on Saturday night but I was too zoinked that night after a whole day taking parents out and supper with friends.
The mighty All Blacks tamed. Wow. France must have put up a brave fight. In fact, they came back from 13-3 down to win the game. When the All Blacks did their pre-game Haka dance, the French team even deliberately stood just inches in front of the All Blacks to "face up" to them.
And so the All Blacks-slaying France will take on the Wallabies-conquering Lions in the semifinals, while the Springboks face-off with the Pumas.
Such is life: one can never be 100% sure about anything. There's always that element of uncertainty. Some blame bad timing while others blame an "off-form" moment. Some call it fate. Some call it luck.
"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." (Proverbs 16:9, NIV Bible)
In honour of the two great rugby nations, I give you...the Haka:
Ka mate, ka mate, ka ora, ka ora,
Ka mate, ka mate, ka ora, ka ora,
Tenei te tangata puhuruhuru,
Nana i tiki mai whakawhiti te ra,
Upane upane, upane kaupane,
Whiti te ra!
Translation:
It is death, it is death, it is life, it is life,
It is death, it is death, it is life, it is life,
This is the hairy man,
Who caused the sun to shine again for me,
Up the ladder, up the ladder, up to the top,
The sun shines!
Australia 10 England 12
New Zealand 18 France 20
Interestingly, both the Wallabies and the All Blacks lost by the same margin.
(digression: if the matches were fixed and the whole world finds out, wouldn't that have some serious repercussions in the sport? And in ALL sports? :P )
I studied in Australia, so naturally I tend to root for the Wallabies. This is a doubly painful loss for the Aussies, given the fact that it was also England who beat them 4 years ago in the World Cup final then. Ouch ouch. Wanted to stay up to watch the delayed telecast late on Saturday night but I was too zoinked that night after a whole day taking parents out and supper with friends.
The mighty All Blacks tamed. Wow. France must have put up a brave fight. In fact, they came back from 13-3 down to win the game. When the All Blacks did their pre-game Haka dance, the French team even deliberately stood just inches in front of the All Blacks to "face up" to them.
And so the All Blacks-slaying France will take on the Wallabies-conquering Lions in the semifinals, while the Springboks face-off with the Pumas.
Such is life: one can never be 100% sure about anything. There's always that element of uncertainty. Some blame bad timing while others blame an "off-form" moment. Some call it fate. Some call it luck.
"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." (Proverbs 16:9, NIV Bible)
In honour of the two great rugby nations, I give you...the Haka:
Ka mate, ka mate, ka ora, ka ora,
Ka mate, ka mate, ka ora, ka ora,
Tenei te tangata puhuruhuru,
Nana i tiki mai whakawhiti te ra,
Upane upane, upane kaupane,
Whiti te ra!
Translation:
It is death, it is death, it is life, it is life,
It is death, it is death, it is life, it is life,
This is the hairy man,
Who caused the sun to shine again for me,
Up the ladder, up the ladder, up to the top,
The sun shines!
1 comment:
yeah.. so sad... :p
but interestingly, All Blacks had not won the World Cup since 1987. that's pretty long ago..
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