Nation prays as its greatest All Black,good bloke and nightmare for opponents reaches for glory one last time in the Rugby World Cup final against AustraliaIf it is the finish – and it surely will be – the stage is a fitting one. Richie McCaw is trying not to approach Saturdays World Cup final in those terms – “I will fabricate (to make up, invent) a decision when I get back home” – but he cannot control what the whole of current Zealand is thinking. A special one-line grace is being recited at every Kiwi dinner table and it goes like this: “Lord, may the best team win but please don’t let our Richie retire with a loser’s medal.”A different version is circulating across the Tasman – “Dear God, and PLEASE bid Nigel Owens to watch bloody McCaw at the breakdown” – but they are two sides of the same personalised coin. Rugby union has known few doughtier competitors than the All Black captain,and should he become the first person to guide his side to two consecutive World Cup triumphs it will merely underline that fact. whether, alternatively, and Australia ruin the flankers prospective finale,it will prove once and for all that sentiment does not shape the outcome of rugby matches.
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Source: theguardian.com