New Zealand All Blacks win 2015 Rugby World Cup

It's Monday 2 November, the day after New Zealand All Blacks won the 2015 Rugby World Cup, at Twickenham, England - and I'm still buzzing!
 
It's been a tremendous event, with many of the ‘underdog’ teams producing outstanding results. Everyone fell in love with Japan when they beat South Africa, such a surprising win, resulting with tears from players and spectators from both sides as the game ended.

My partner and I are keen boaties and would normally be out on the water on a glorious weather weekend, such as the one we’ve just had.  However we decided weeks ago that no matter how stunning the weather, there was no way we would miss watching the rugby World Cup final – especially a final between long-time rivals, New Zealand and Australia!

A 5.00am kick off on Sunday 1 November meant a rather early rise to prepare for the arrival of our 11 guests.  Everyone dressed in black and we were full of excitement – mixed in with a few nerves - at the prospect of winning the Rugby World Cup 2015.
 
We settle down to watch a slightly nerve wrecking start as the two teams both scored points.  As the first half progressed, the all Blacks started to pull ahead. The halftime score made us feel pretty confident, with Australia only having three points on the board and New Zealand with 16.

The beginning of the second half kicked off with a fabulous try scored by the All Blacks, making us feel even more confident.  However, our smiles soon started to turn to seriously worried faces as the Wallabies started to close the gap, making the score become a bit too close for comfort. An incredible kick between the goal posts by Daniel Carter got us all excited again (he’s such a star!), and this was soon followed by a storming try by Ma’a Nonu.
 
As the clock ticked towards full time, the gap in the score had widened enough, that I actually missed the last few minutes of the game, because I was already in the kitchen pouring the champagne!
 
Squeals of joy erupted in the lounge, with hugs and kisses all round, loads of laughter and even a celebratory cigar!  We were all exhausted and utterly delighted with our win - it felt like we had just played the match ourselves!
 
After much happy chatter over a fabulous cooked breakfast, our guests left with happy smiling faces, giving us a few hours to prepare for round two – the arrival of our lunchtime guests! We spent a glorious Sunday afternoon sitting in the sun, on our deck, with great friends, more champagne and a yummy barbecue lunch.  Everyone was feeling relaxed and happy - it was like all was right in the world.
 
This morning I have woken up still feeling ecstatic at the 34 - 17 win by the All Blacks over the Wallabies. I love living in New Zealand and love how everyone gets together to support our national teams at events like this
 
To once again quote all Blacks captain, Richie McCaw, after winning the 2011 Rugby World Cup  - "Everyone's part of the All Blacks.  We're just the ones that go out and play."
 
 And of course, if the weather’s nice, we can always go boating next weekend..!