The final whistle blew on the Rugby World Cup 2015 with a superb display by arguably the best international team to grace the field.
The New Zealand All Blacks shattered the Australian Wallabies 34-17 at Twickenham in a marvellous and controlled team display.
The All Blacks deservedly become the first team to ever win three Rugby World Cups – with this year’s success back-to-back with winning the last tournament as well.
They now take the coveted Webb-Ellis Trophy as their own.
The All Blacks are rugby union’s equivalent of the swaggering, powerful Brazilian soccer teams that dominated the FIFA World Cup.
Mesmerising and memorable
Their tactics, prowess and dominance of the sport exceed that of any other team.
The rest of the rugby world must go back to the drawing board to redefine their blueprint for competing at the same level as the difference between the champions and the would-be contenders is so vast.
The speed, skills and ball handling of the All Blacks was mesmerising and memorable.
Add to that the sublime kicking of Dan Carter stacking up vital points not only in the final but throughout the competition and fans can see why he is lauded as possibly the greatest fly-half not only of his generation but of all-time.
The victorious All Blacks celebrated their awesome victory in style – with a haka.
Australia contributed greatly to the entertainment, but the truth is their best game is far below the standards of the All Blacks’ best and could not be sustained long enough in the onslaught from the New Zealander’s to hold back the tide of attacks.
Rugby success
Sport has many greats and has witnessed many great events, but the Rugby World Cup Final of 2015 goes into the annals as one of the greatest.
The tournament was hailed as a resounding success for English rugby.
Despite the home nation crashing out in the qualifying stages, ticket sales and revenue exceeded all expectations.
With almost 3 million tickets sold for the six-week carnival of rugby, the sport banked more than £250 million.
From that, £80 million goes to World Rugby and £15 million to the Rugby Football Union.
“We sold 98% of the tickets and attracted record attendances and television viewing figures for the sport,” said Stephen Brown, managing director for the organisers.
“The tournament has been more successful than we ever envisaged.”
>