FLASHBACK TO JUNE 1987

NO ONE WAS QUITE sure what to expect in 1987 when 16 teams were invited to the innaugural World Cup, which was jointly hosted by New Zealand and Australia.

The Northern Hemisphere had been lukewarm on the idea and it had taken a couple of committed administrators in the south to get the competition organised.

As a result, it was a different tournament to the one it has become. It kicked off on a Tuesday afternoon with the All Blacks playing Italy in front of a half-full Eden Park.

The opening ceremony was low key to say the least but John Kirwan’s miracle try where he ran through close to the entire Italian team brought home to most people that the All Blacks were pretty serious about business and everyone else should be too.

A classic game between France and Scotland in Christchurch helped highlight the quality of rugby on offer and, as the tournament progressed, the interest levels rose and attitudes changed.

Some of the northern players had arrived with the attitude that they were in New Zealand and Australia for a bit of an adventure that included mostly booze and a little rugby.

By the quarterfinals, that had all gone. Everyone was serious and they knew they had to be because the All Blacks were playing a different style of rugby to everyone else.

They were fitter and stronger than the other teams and after cruising through their pool, they destroyed a good Scotland side, hammered Wales and then met France – who had pulled off an epic win against the Wallabies in the semis – in the final.

The All Blacks were duly crowned champions and had set new standards for conditioning, understanding and skill development.