The 2015 Rugby World Cup Final is a rugby union match to determine the 2015 Rugby World Cup winner, played between the defending champions of New Zealand and their Australian rivals on 31 October 2015 at Twickenham Stadium in London. New Zealand defeated Australia 34-17, winning the World Cup for a third time record, and became the first team to defend the Webb Ellis Cup.
The match saw a new record for trying in the Rugby World Cup Final with teams combining for five, surpassing the previous record's four goalscoring in the 1987 final. It was only the second final between two teams from the Southern Hemisphere, previously a South African victory over Zealand New in 1995.
Video 2015 Rugby World Cup Final
Route to final
New Zealand
After being in band 1 in the draw, New Zealand were placed as the top teams participating in Pool C. They started their tournament with a steady performance against Argentina, earning a 26-16 win (despite having 13-12 down at half-time) in front of the crowd then-record from 89,019 at Wembley on 20 September. On that day, their early XV was the most experienced. Their performance remained stable four days later with a 58-14 win over Namibia where they scored nine trials. On October 2, they face Georgia - their first meeting - at the Millennium Stadium, with Julian Savea scoring a hat-trick to help New Zealand win 43-10. New Zealand's last swimming match was on 9 October, with their performance rising to a successful 47-9 victory over Tonga, which included an experiment by Ma'a Nonu who grabbed the 100th test cap during the game.
In the quarter-finals, the All Blacks face France, the last team to beat New Zealand in a Rugby World Cup match (in the 2007 Rugby World Cup quarterfinals stage, also at the Millennium Stadium). New Zealand, however, crushed France 62-13, the highest margin of victory in World Cup knockout matches since their victory over Wales in 1987. Julian Savea scored a second hatri in defeat, matching Jonah Lomu and Bryan Habana's record of eight attempts at the World Cup. New Zealand reached the final after beating South Africa 20-18 in a tough semi-final on October 24, where New Zealand became the first country to make four World Rugby World Cup finals, having previously made the 1987, 1995 and 2011 tournament decisions.
Australia
After also being in band 1 in the draw, Australia placed as top team in Pool A, and started their campaign with a 28-13 win over Fiji in Cardiff. Head coach Michael Cheika, who is only in charge of the team since October 22, 2014, has been open about a short four-day turn-around between Fiji and Uruguay, and publicly admits he will field two different starting XVs against both teams. Were it not for the injury to James Slipper in Fiji match, Cheika would follow this through; on the contrary, he made 14 changes for the game against Uruguay. On 27 September, they destroyed Uruguay 65-3, scoring 11 trials, including two apiece for Sean McMahon, Ben McCalman and Drew Mitchell. They then went on to beat England's hosts at Twickenham, with Bernard Foley scoring two trials, kicking all three conversions and scoring all four penalties in a 33-13 winning record. On October 10, Australia won 15-6 against Wales in the last game of the pool stage; no effort was printed in the game - this first happened since 1947 - but Foley scored five of the six penalties he took. During the match, Australia managed to survive for nearly 10 minutes with two players in the trash, a period of games widely referred to in the media as potentially "defining" the Australian campaign.
Australia almost lost their quarter-final match on October 18, needing a controversial last minute penalty from Foley to beat Scotland 35-34. The decision by referee Craig Joubert to award a penalty was then deemed untrue by World Rugby, who issued a statement saying Joubert should give Scrum instead. Nonetheless, Australia went into the semi-finals and faced Argentina. They beat Pumas 29-15, to reach the final, to become the second team, after New Zealand, to make four Rugby World Cup finals, having previously played in the finals of 1991, 1999 and 2003.
Maps 2015 Rugby World Cup Final
Match
Summary
New Zealand play with most of the ownership and territory early in the game. After eight minutes, Dan Carter scored his first point in the match, making New Zealand a 3-0 lead. In the 15th minute, New Zealand defender Ben Smith struck the ball, and from the resulting scrum, New Zealand were sanctioned when their front rows collapsed allowing Bernard Foley to equalize the score. Referee Nigel Owens awarded a penalty to New Zealand after Sekope Kepu made a tackle on Carter, with Carter converting a penalty to give New Zealand a three-point advantage. On kick off Wallabies key Kane Douglas injured his knee jump for the ball and was replaced by Dean Mumm. At 26 minutes, the Wallabies center, Matt Giteau suffered a concussion that handles the All Blacks, locked Brodie Retallick and was replaced by Kurtley Beale. On 27 minutes Carter stretched New Zealand's lead with another penalty goal. The first trial was printed just before halftime with New Zealand winger Nehe Milner-Skudder landed in a corner. The converted Carter gave New Zealand a 16-3 lead at the end of the first half.
Two minutes into the second half, New Zealand's center substitute Sonny Bill Williams took the ball to Ma'a Nonu who beat up several Australian players to try to score, extending the lead to 21-3. In the 52nd minute, New Zealand defender Ben Smith was reportedly killed after tip-tackling Australian player Drew Mitchell. While Smith was in the trash, Australia ran in two tries - first being number eight David Pocock from a driving maul, and second to center Tevita Kuridrani following a kick to score. Foley converted both of them to try to bring Australia in four points with 16 minutes remaining. With 10 minutes remaining on the clock, Carter scored a descent from 40 yards to open the gap to seven points. A few minutes later, New Zealand were awarded a penalty, with Carter converting remotely to give New Zealand a 27-17 advantage. Needing quick scores trying to stay in the game, Australia lost the ball, who was kicked forward by Ben Smith, allowing Beauden Barrett to chase and score a trying goal. Carter converted trying to make the final score 34-17.
New Zealand became the first team in Rugby World Cup History to successfully defend their title after eight editions of the tournament. They also became the first team to win three Rugby World Cups, who had previously won the 1987 and 2011 editions, both held at home, making this the first opportunity for New Zealand to win a tournament on foreign soil.
Details
Note:
- New Zealand became the first team to retain the Rugby World Cup title, and won a third World Cup title.
- This is the first time New Zealand has won the World Cup on foreign soil.
- The total score of 51 points is the most in the Rugby World Cup final.
- Ben Smith became the first player to receive a yellow card in the Rugby World Cup final.
- Sonny Bill Williams of New Zealand, Jerome Kaino, and Sam Whitelock play in a record 14 World Cup winning streak.
- Fourteen New Zealand players join five Australians and one South African as the two-time World Cup winner.
Statistics
Closing ceremony
At the closing ceremony on October 31st, British singer Laura Wright sang World in Union. This was followed by a handover to Japan for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Prince Harry presented the Webb Ellis Cup to win captain Richie McCaw after the game, after the team's name was carved in the bottom of the trophy.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments