The title quote belongs to US baseball Hall-of-Famer Yogi Berra, and it's one of his best known Yogi-isms. But in terms of similarities between last night's test match between Ireland and the All Blacks and last year's RWC final, it fits like a glove.
The Irish were magnificent last night. They sensed that 107 years of heartbreak were about to end at AMI Stadium in Addington. There was fire in the eyes and in the bellies, and the All Blacks simply couldn't get their hands on the ball.
The Irish drew level at 19-all, then Jonny Sexton missed a long-range penalty and Israel Dagg was sinbinned for a late charge. The match was there for the taking for the Irishmen. But whether it was that 107 years of history, and generations of doubt and defeat, or whether it was the All Blacks drawing on October 2011, the match changed.
The All Blacks got the ball, and attacked. Carter was forced onto his right side for a drop goal attempt, but the ball flew wide. But as the Irish trooped back to the 22m line for the restart, referee Nigel Owens had a nasty surprise for them. "Touched in flight" he hollered, and he was dead right. The All Blacks got a reprieve, a five-meter scrum, and a couple of phases later Daniel Carter broke Irish hearts with a wobbly but on-target dropped goal.
We won't single out individuals from either side; to do so would be unfair in what was a hard-fought "old-school" test match. The Irish, as we said earlier were magnificent, and the pain on Brian O'Driscoll's face at the post-match interview said how much victory might have meant to them. The All Blacks played as well as they were allowed to do by the Irish, and at the final whistle, it was just well enough.
3 comments:
Looks like the Aussies had a similar scare last night.
Both close run things.
Hats off to the Irish, they played as well as they did against the Australians last year, a game I was fortunate enough to attend.
Pity the conditions acted as a leveller.
It looked positively arctic last night.
He He well said KS. Significant Other had a church event last night so we watched the Prime TV coverage both at our respective places.
Text messages from S.O. were increasingly agitated as I ( and to be fair the All Blacks ) had built up a belief that the AB's were in fact invincible.
I was fortunate enough to watch Ireland v Australia at Eden Park last year, I suspect Ireland will collect an AB scalp sooner rather than later.
Ali Williams must NEVER wear a black jersey EVER AGAIN.
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