After the harrowing drama of Wales's elimination at the hands of France and a punctilious referee on Saturday, the other slot in next weekend's final of the 2011 Rugby World Cup was filled on Sunday night in a far more straightforward manner. Twenty‑four years after becoming the first nation to lift the Webb Ellis Cup, and 16 years after losing a final in Johannesburg with half their squad suffering from food poisoning, New Zealand will have another chance to win the trophy for a second time. As in 1987's inaugural tournament, they will enjoy home advantage.
At a press conference on Sunday morning Marc Lièvremont, France's head coach, remarked that he always supported the All Blacks in every match except those against his own nation. A few hours later he was given fresh evidence to justify of his admiration, and perhaps had his worst fears confirmed, as the All Blacks crushed the life out of Australia with a 20-6 victory that left no margin for doubt.
It will now be up to France to prove on Sunday that, despite their defeats to New Zealand and Tonga in the pool stage, they are more worthy of a place in the final than Wales, whose presence would have provided a showdown between two small nations who share a rugby obsession. On recent evidence, a victory for this France team over the All Blacks would be the biggest upset in the game's history. It is hard to imagine them even coming close to the degree of resistance put up by Australia on Sunday night.
From the moment Quade Cooper, the Wallabies' New Zealand-born fly-half and a hate object for the Eden Park crowd, sent the kick-off out on the full, forcing his forwards to trundle back for a scrum to the home side, the champions of 1991 and 1999 were struggling to get on terms with a team who believe this to be the year they lay a hoodoo to rest.
The All Blacks won on Sunday night with the only try of the game, scored by the rampaging centre Ma'a Nonu, in the sixth minute, plus four penalties by the scrum‑half Piri Weepu – who missed three other penalties and a conversion – and one drop goal by their third-choice fly-half, the 22-year-old Aaron Cruden, who played the whole 80 minutes and performed brilliantly in his second start for the team. A penalty by James O'Connor and Cooper's drop goal constituted the sum of the Wallabies' reply.
"We were beaten fair and square by a better side tonight," James Horwill, the defeated captain, said. "Any time they wanted to get down there and score points, they pretty much did."
Australia's head coach, the former All Black full-back Robbie Deans, endorsed their conquerors' standing as the heavy favourites to avenge defeats by France in the 1999 semi-final and the quarter-final four years ago. "They're very well versed, they're hungry, they've got a lot of support around here, and they'll take a lot of stopping," he said.
Graham Henry, the famously tight-lipped head of New Zealand's coaching team, was almost lyrical in his assessment of his side's display. "The job's not done yet," he said. "It's very important for us to understand that and keep our feet on the ground. We've got a history with France and it'll be another big occasion on Sunday."
He praised the backs, among them the full-back Israel Dagg and the wing Cory Jane who were photographed drinking and smoking in a late-night bar 72 hours before the quarter-final against Argentina. They were impeccable. "Our backfield play was pretty special," Henry said. His captain, the openside flanker Richie McCaw, is playing this tournament on one foot. The other had a screw inserted to help heal a stress fracture in February, and is painful enough to prevent him from training between matches. But shrewd tactics stopped his opposite number David Pocock, a rival for the title of the world's best No7, from making any sort of impression.
So New Zealand are going to the final guided not by Daniel Carter, the aristocrat of fly-halves, ruled out by a groin injury in the middle of the tournament, but by a 22-year-old skateboarder who lost a testicle to cancer four years ago. Cruden had made only one start in an All Black shirt before Carter's initial replacement, Colin Slade, also joined the injured list last week.
The new boy was as much of a star on Sunday night as Dagg, Jane or Nonu. His terrific half-break led to the penalty with which Weepu stretched the lead to 8-0, and his nerveless 35-metre drop goal made it 11-3 a few minutes after James O'Connor had got the Wallabies off the mark. The only false notes were an early pass thrown straight into touch ahead of Jane, a kick charged down on the stroke of half-time and a missed penalty from 48m a few minutes from the end of the match, when Weepu was temporarily off the pitch.
Henry, who has an acid sense of humour and hates giving anything away on or off the pitch, was at his most typical when asked for a response to the pledge by Jo Maso, France's team manager, not to do anything to prevent New Zealand wearing their famous black strip at the final. Maso said that France, who have been wearing blue shirts and shorts of an unusually dark shade, would voluntarily switch to their white second strip for the occasion – a decision that is traditionally made on the toss of a coin.
"It's a good gesture," Henry said. "We're the All Blacks, we're playing at home and we wear black, so it's an obvious one. But I do thank him."
