Word: zealander
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...century ago that rugby ceased to be just a sport to New Zealanders and became a vehicle for national pride. In 1905, New Zealand sent to Britain a squad combining players of European origin with the physically imposing indigenous Polynesians. But for a loss to Wales, the tourists trampled everyone in their path. Later, rugby became the one sport in which New Zealand could be confident of beating "big brother" Australia, where the best athletic talent gets scattered between several football codes. It's rugby that allows New Zealanders to believe they matter in the world, says Douglas Booth...
...country's rugby team, the All Blacks, play a test match against Wales. So special was the event, he was even allowed to break his parents' rule against eating cereal on the carpet in front of the TV. Such is the abandon that manifests in the face of New Zealand's national obsession: the brutal, beautiful game of rugby. "Here," says Winterbottom, "rugby crosses all boundaries. Everyone from five to 85 has a basic knowledge of the game...
...With a population of just over 4 million, New Zealand has long punched above its sporting weight. Over the years, it has spawned the world's best miler (John Walker), one of cricket's greatest fast bowlers (Richard Hadlee) and yachtsmen skilled enough to win the America's Cup twice. While all of these men knew how it felt to compete under a nation's expectation, the All Blacks are a case apart. Failure has never been an option for them. Their hardheaded coach Graham Henry sounds positively Nietzschean when he declares: "The success of our rugby team is important...
...when they don't win? It's not pretty. John Hart had the misfortune of being the All Blacks coach when they were overwhelmed by France in their World Cup semifinal at Twickenham, England, in 1999. In the weeks afterward, he was vilified on New Zealand talk-back radio and spat on by patrons at an Auckland racetrack. Four years later, the All Blacks lost another semifinal 22-10 to Australia in Sydney. The coach that night, John Mitchell, was sacked, and now coaches in Australia. He declined to be interviewed by TIME on the All Blacks. "He baulks...
...Blacks are the Cup favorites, rivals are taunting them with predictions of another premature au revoir. It doesn't look likely. Under coach Henry, the Blacks have been potent, winning 38 of their 43 matches since the last Cup. But if it isn't to be New Zealand's time, who else can win? Probably only the big-occasion Australians or the grinding, brutal South Africans, whose ruthless preparations for this Cup signal their determination to lift it. On home soil, the always-stylish French are another possibility. Asia's sole representative, Japan, under former All Black John Kirwan, will...