Rugby World Cup Final

THE FINAL MATCH FOR THE WEBB ELLIS CUP
Well, since I last posted, the remaining Pool play has occurred and the tournament progressed to the knockout stages. Last weekend had the Semi-Finals.

• Semifinal #1 was New Zealand vs Australia - won by New Zealand
• Semifinal #2 was France vs Wales - won by France after Wales captain was ejected from the match for a dangerous tackle and wales played the final 60 minutes shorthanded by 1 player. Wales still had a chance to win the game on the final play.

So this weekend is the final Weekend. Friday evening Australia and Wales played for the Bronze Medal. Australia edged Wales by 3 points and won the Bronze.

Tonight the Gold and Silver will be decided when New Zealand plays France. NZ beat France in pool play, but the last 2 times these teams have met in an elimination game, France has won. Should be an entertaining game. NBC here in the USA will be televising the match on Sunday at noon Pacific time (3pm Eastern).

Who do you think will win? To get you ready, I took some more video from my trip and made a preview to set the mood. Enjoy!

Sights and Sounds from The Game

The Match Experience
New Zealand vs France. Sights and Sounds from the stadium. I had great seats and good photos  of the crowd, pre-match warm ups and some action shots. It all started with the pregame hype and feel. From the crowd outside the stadium, the pregame hype, the infamous Haka and warm ups from the teams. Then the game was on

The Music
1) The Haka: The first piece is the infamous Haka performed by the All Blacks. The Haka is a Maori challenge dance and song. It is recognizable by rugby fans across the world. Various forms of the Haka are performed by the pacific island nations such as Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and Hawaii. The most famous is the Haka of the All Blacks. The Haka originates with the various Polynesian peoples and can be a celebratory Haka or more of a war cry, or challenge. Its characteristics are as follows:

•  Stomping of the feet;
• Slapping of the chest, thighs or arms
• bulging of the eyes and facial contortions
• Sticking out out of the tongue

2) La Marseillaise is the second piece of music and was sung throughout by the French fans. Hope this slide show gives you a small sense of what it was like and the energy of the match.  Imagine the rallying cry of the French Anthem. The anthem written and was used to stir emotions of the people during the French Revolution in the 1700s. Today, French fans sing the anthem throughout sporting events to stir the emotions of their athletes on the field of play.

3) O Verona is the last piece of music and actually comes from the movie Romeo and Juliet. Sung in Italian it is often sung by rugby fans in various countries but especially Italy. It just seemed to be an appropriate tune to put on this slide show to convey the atmosphere of the  match and the stadium.


Hope you enjoy: