Heroics and Heartbreak: Twelve Months With the All Blacks

by Jamie Wall

Overview

The 2019 Rugby World Cup campaign is shaping up to be the most intriguing World Cup campaign ever for the All Blacks, because they're going for their third title in a row. It will cap a decade of dominance for the team, who broke their 24-year drought in 2011 and then breezed through to win the 2015 edition.

This year will be a much tougher challenge, though.

The signs are there that most of the other test playing nations have gained some serious ground on the All Blacks in the last couple of seasons. This was seen in the results against England and Ireland late last year.

Road to Glory? focuses on the lead up and World Cup campaign itself, which very much started in October 2018. The All Blacks went to Japan for a couple of tests and then on to Europe for three more, which was seen as a dry run for what would happen in a year's time. The tour itself was a hard slog, with the team clearly feeling the effects of a long season. Notably, coach Steve Hansen and captain Kieran Read came under considerable scrutiny throughout.

Jamie Wall covers the year leading up to the cup, including Super Rugby and the Six Nations, the test season in New Zealand (and the games that will be played in Buenos Aires and Perth), then the final preparations that lead up to the squad being named. Then, a blow-by-blow account of the All Blacks' games, trainings, press conferences and dramas throughout the World Cup as Jamie follows the team through the campaign in Japan.

All of which will lead to either a Triumphant final victory on November 2nd . . . or a crushing defeat that will signal a new era in world rugby.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781988547329
Publisher:	Allen & Unwin
Publication date:	04/01/2020
Pages:	300
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Jamie Wall is a freelance sports writer specializing in rugby, and is the author of Brothers in Black. He covers both live sporting events and delves into deeper socio-political implications that sports, especially rugby, can bring. He has worked for The Spinoff, Radio New Zealand and Maori Television. Over the last two seasons, Jamie has traveled with the All Blacks to Buenos Aires, Sydney, Tokyo, London, Dublin, and Rome, and he will be attending the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

Table of Contents

Introduction 11

Part 1 A Year Out

01 Systems Check Complete 17

02 We Hate Disneyworld 29

03 Influencers 37

04 Hairy Hands Hypnotism 42

05 The New Boys 47

06 Pub Trivia 52

07 London's Dripping 56

08 Mitch's Journey 63

09 Haka Headlines 69

10 Rugby's Cathedral 73

11 Everyone's a Winner 83

12 Dublin's Calling 87

13 Unsmiling Giants 91

14 Eyes of Ice 96

15 Out-Passioned 101

16 Favouritism 105

17 Off The Record 109

18 Regulation Hiding 113

19 Hansen's Announcement 119

Part 2 The Lead-Up

20 Bigger Than Rugby 124

21 The Hardest Post Match 128

22 Reshuffling the Northern Deck 132

23 The Unluckiest Break 137

24 A Tale of Two Halfbacks 144

25 Super Rugby Out of the Way 148

26 The First Naming 153

27 The Black Caps Grab the Limelight 158

28 A Day at the Museum 162

29 Public Relations 167

30 First Test of the Year 175

31 Bag Boys 180

32 The Old Enemy 184

33 The Worst Crowd Ever 192

34 Hell is Other People 197

35 Craig the Uber Driver 203

36 The Red Card 208

37 Back to Square One? 214

38 The Pressure 218

39 What Happens When You Make the All Blacks Angry 224

40 'Not On My Watch' 228

41 The Big Day 232

42 The City of the Future 237

43 The State of the Union 243

44 We Are Where Our Feet Are 252

45 Home Away from Home 262

46 The Company Men 268

47 The Rising Sun Melts the Eyes of Ice 273

48 Haka, Revisited 278

49 The Sad Parade 281

50 Godzilla Road 286

51 Not So Heavy Sits the Crown 292

52 The Typhoon 299

53 Writers on the Storm 305

54 Crunch Time 310

55 Heart Breakers, Dream Takers 315

56 Fans with Keyboards 325

57 Switcheroo 330

58 Flashback 334

59 Downfall 338

60 The Bitter End 345

61 Fallout 350

62 The Half-Empty Room 353

63 Vulnerability 358

Epilogue: Sayonara, Domo Arigato 362

Acknowledgements 367