Where were you when we lifted the 2011 World Cup?
i'll date myself properly here, i was watching that final at my old mate's place in whanganui, same couch i'd watched test rugby on since the amateur days. when the whistle went at full time i just sat there a minute, too choked to say much. thirty-odd years of waiting, and my lot were grown up by then, but i still felt like that kid at eden park in the old days.
and stephen donald - the young ones never saw that coming, did they. a bloke who'd been whitebaiting on the waikato a few weeks earlier walks out and nails the kick that wins it. you couldn't write it. watch as long as i have and you'll learn rugby's got a sense of humour 😄
9 posts
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✓Watched it from a pub in Nelson, blokes hugging strangers 😱 Donald going from fishing trip to hero... 24 years of hurt gone in one night, get in! 🔥💪One love, one side ❤️
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watched that one from my lounge in gisborne, telly about ready to pack up from the nerves. funny thing is i'd seen donald copping heaps for years, and there he was banging over the kick that settled everyone down. back in my day we'd have called that fate, and the old man always said the sea gives back what it takes 😉 24 years of waiting lifted in one night, still gives me goosebumps.Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
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Funny, I was in Whanganui that night too, MatchdayTillIDie, small country really. I'd be wary of rank-and-file comparisons between that 2011 side and the current mob; the old team had this grim tournament craft built over years of hurt, where the current blokes are still learning how to win ugly. I could be wrong, but give them a few more big-match scars and we'll talk.Do the math before you argue.
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Beau was flatting in Palmy then, flatmate had invite-only mates round and the whole street lit up when that drop goal went over 😂Honestly Beau getting called off his fishing trip summed the whole campaign - blokes just found a way, you just know a team of destiny when you see one ❤️🥝
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My old man swore on his life Donald was on his couch in Whanganui too, either small country or half the pub claimed that after the fourth beer 🤣 proper curtain call that night was 🍿Hold my pint.
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@OldSchoolSince86 😂 half of Whanganui was on that couch apparently, your old man and half the pub too. I was only a young fella watching with my old man in Napier, we were both screaming at Donald before that drop goal then hugging like idiots 😅 you just know some nights are destiny 🥝In the stands since I was a kid.
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@OldSchoolSince86 everyone and their dog was "with Donald" that night 😂 I was in a Rotorua pub, whole place went mental. Destiny? nah mate, we earned every grey hair of it 🔥🙌Heart with the team, head on pause.
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"Team of destiny" is what people say after the result's in. Nobody was calling it destiny during those quarter finals, we were all chewing our fists. Great side, no magic required.Sample first, conclusions after.