24 October 2011

I Am So Ecstatic



Oh. Oh. Oh.
It was the worst eighty minutes.
I thought I was going to puke.
Or pass out.
At one point I hid my face in the arm of the couch.
I spent half the time hugging my weeping son, who was bereft at the thought we might lose.
The tension was unbearable.
The sense of impending doom palpable.


Could it all have come to this... again?
Were we going to see our dreams go up in smoke... again?
Our country, so buoyant, excited and full of hope just that morning.
Preparing for the biggest party we've ever seen.
Strangers smiling at each other in the streets.
Flags adorning every passing car, every building, every lamp post.
Could this be the worst anticlimax in our country's sporting history?


The Rugby World Cup.
Don't groan.
Don't say, "It's just a game".
Its more than that.


This was for honour. This was for pride.
This was for the ability to finally finally be able to hold up our heads and say, We did it.
We are not Chokers.
The whole country {apart from those of you who missed out on the Rugby gene} has been brought together as we hosted this event.


Even from the Other Side of the World, we watched every match, cheering on our boys, doing the haka, singing the anthem in Maori and in English.

We watched the semi-final against Australia with our bags packed and as soon as the whistle blew we raced to the airport for our plane home, ecstatic.
We had beaten our toughest opposition, we thought.
The World Cup is as good as ours.

And that was the mood of the country, wasn't it?


Except for those realists, the ones who have watched us sent home by the French twice before.
We brushed off their warnings with a shrug.
Our boys in Black have already beaten them just a few weeks ago.
The Tongans beat them too.
The Welsh only lost to them by one measly point after playing with fourteen men for nearly the whole match.
Everyone knew the Welsh were the better side.
We can beat those Frenchies, we gleamed, as we chilled the champagne and readied the fireworks.


Lesson Learned.
Never underestimate a Frenchman.
Eighty painful minutes of sickening tension.


In the end, just one point in it. One lousy point.
ONE LOUSY POINT!
But this time it was OUR lousy point!
We'll take it!
We'll scream until our throats are still raw the next day.
We'll cry unashamedly. Tears will roll down our cheeks.
Our bodies will go weak with relief.
We did it.
Finally.
After twenty-four years of defeat and disappointment... the Golden Cup is ours.


And I am off to the ticker tape parade to scream and shout and hug strangers and see Richie McCaw lift that golden World Cup with my own bleary eyes...

WE WON THE RUGBY WORLD CUP!

I am Ecstatic. And so is New Zealand.




P.S. Photos taken on Saturday down at Auckland's waterfront, where strangers were smiling and flags were waving down at the Viaduct as they prepared The Fan Zones for Party Central. Apart from the ones of the All Blacks - those are from here


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15 comments:

Sammy said...

Yes I nearly died during the match. I let go my iron grip of M's leg once we got to three minutes from the final whistle. I thought at that point we JUST may do it.... AND WE DID!!!!!

Ange (Tall, Short and Tiny) said...

Yep...for the last 10mins, I honestly thought I was going to throw up. Must be awesome being in Akld with such an amazing atmosphere before the game, and now today...and tomorrow...and the next 4 years!

Elizabeth said...

Oh my gosh - I have never been SO tense and frightened in my life, but a heart-stopping game!

BUT WE WON!!!!!

Pamela said...

I have friends from college who are big rugby players. One of them told me the championship game was the best rugby game he has ever seen!

Congratulations! Enjoy the celebration!

Pamela

Grumpy Grateful Mom said...

Now that was a great post! I could just feel your emotions and excitement! Congratulations to your amazing team!!!

Widge said...

Gooseman was making me give him reassuring neck rubs through the whole thing!
He was mega stressed!!!
Big party at the widge house for it all too, even though we are all so mega bummed we missed out on hosting our games :(
but felt so mega proud last night woooohooooo!

Widge said...

can't believe I wrote mega 3 times

meg said...

We were at Party central on Saturday too... thought we'd better go before it was all over. So pleased that we won.

Gail said...

I screamed so loud, the guy in the bar in front of me had his fingers in his ears. I didn't care. SO PROUD. But next time, please... leave the suspense out!

PaisleyJade said...

What a game... heart in mouth type of game. Symon was totally stressing out and I was screaming way too much. Sooooo relieved!!

Anonymous said...

Over in the UK we were supportin u too. So happy for you. The haka was amazin.

M2Mx

Jules said...

So exciting, I was celebrating/crying here in Oz! Very proud Kiwi moment. Wish I could've been at the parade, looks like it was a great day!

Jen said...

Im not as rugby mad as u
but i had to watch this match
and I wasnt disappointed :)

makes one proud to be a kiwi

Holly Lefevre said...

Well, congrats! Rugby is not big in this part of the world...but I can imagine the excitement. YEAH!

Amy said...

I am not a rugby fan. But I watched that game. And wished for a sedative afterwards to calm my jangling nerves! However could I sleep after THAT! And I had been warned, by my usually optimistic husband that the French are not to be trusted. Respected as worthy foes. So we watched and somehow managed not to wake up the baby with each passing minute of that nailbiting game! Whew. I didn't notice any loud cheering in our neighbourhood. Perhaps they had just collapsed with relief just like us?!
Loved your post, Simoney. It so captures the past few weeks of rugby fever.
Amy

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