RWC, New Zealand, 2011
Wasn’t a win you could wallow in
but it was a victory perchance –
a valedictory in simile sense for
coach Graham Henry; and while
we’ll gracefully be spared acerbic
& truncated humour in the next
RWC c/o the same garrulous old
guru – Graham, thanks anyway
be that as it may the game was
played with an intensity beyond
imagination for a result truer to
the dire nature of real contest
thanks to referee & easily man of
the match Craig Joubert, without
whom we would have languished
in doldrums of clueless despair
Les Bleus played in pure white for
the final – a wry metaphor to the
All Black strip and silver fern worn
in opposing them
but at games end one point only
separated victor and vanquished,
at 7 – 8 it was as close as it gets
to pair elation with raw anguish
yet it matters not which team was
judged best, deserved more, or
came under scrutiny if the game
earned its accolades fairly
but think too of ghastly injuries
incapacitating great and about to
be players whose gift to the game
is a warm promise waiting
there were many hearts broken;
legacies now stand testament to
scared names feted and we await
claims for the new honour roll
at RWC, England, 2015
© 24 October 2011, I. D. Carswell
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