Breaking news
South Africa stripped of their 2023 Rugby World Cup title…U.S. women’s national soccer team starts World Cup with 3-0…Pakistan vs Jordan 0-3: FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier –…World Cup 2023-24 prize money: How much did Mikaela Shiffrin…T20 World Cup 2024: England star Ben Stokes pulls out…Former Michigan football tight end selects transfer destination – Yahoo…Egypt’s Late Goal Denies Mozambique’s Thrilling Comeback in the African…Ghana Suffers Heartbreaking 1-2 Defeat to Cape Verde Islands in…FIFA and Coca-Cola Men World RankingLionel Messi wins football’s Ballon d’Or for the eighth timeTwo individuals tragically lost their lives before the scheduled football…WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS: Brazil’s Coach Diniz Praises Neymar and Vinicius.Morocco, Portugal and Spain joint bid FIFA World Cup 2030The Best 2023: Over One Million Votes Cast with the…Euro 2028 to be hosted by Britain and Ireland, while…Portugal secures their inaugural World Cup victoryPreview of the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup Match: India…Welteji and Kessler achieved world record breaking performancesAsian Games 2023: Gilas Pilipinas win first men’s basketball gold Cricket World Cup 2023: Pakistan beat NetherlandsPakistan vs Afghanistan15 ways to make the most of your new cameraAndy Farrell insists World Cup revenge not on the menu…Why Jeff Lebby could mirror Mississippi State football rebuild to…Leistikow: How dangerous is UCLA? Iowa football will 'do what…Will FIFA's Super World Cup Live Up to the Hype…FA opens inquiry into leading Premier League figure to decide…

All Blacks great maintains 1995 World Cup final 'wasn't a level playing field' amid food poisoning claims – planetrugby.com


All Blacks legend Zinzan Brooke today and in action at the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa.
Legendary New Zealand number eight Zinzan Brooke has revisited the All Blacks’ food poisoning saga in the build up of the 1995 Rugby World Cup final against their arch-rivals the Springboks.
The incident hit the headlines in the aftermath of the Springboks’ narrow 15-12 extra-time victory at Ellis Park in Johannesburg with All Blacks’ head coach at the time Laurie Mains blaming a waitress called Suzie for the food poisoning.
Former All Blacks hooker Sean Fitzpatrick, who was the team’s captain at the 1995 World Cup, has said in the past that the food poisoning was not the reason for his side’s defeat.
Brooke agrees saying New Zealand had chances to win the game but is adamant there was foul play in the All Blacks camp in the build-up to the highly anticipated encounter.
Speaking on The Good, The Bad and The Rugby ANZ podcast, Brooke was asked by the show’s host Andy Rowe whether it was a level playing field for the two teams going into the final and replied: “No. So I’ll say no, (it) definitely wasn’t a level playing field.
“Yeah, it was just one of those things and yes, we could have won that game but I think you know, maybe it happened for the right reasons, but it definitely wasn’t a level playing field.”
Brooke represented New Zealand in 58 Tests and made his international debut against Argentina during the All Blacks’ triumphant 1987 Rugby World Cup campaign on home soil.
27 out of 35 members of the All Blacks’ touring party (including players and management) were sick in the build-up to the 1995 final and Brooke, who was among those who were ill, revealed when the food poisoning happened.
“I think it was the Thursday afternoon at the lunch that we had. It was nice,” he said. “Well, it’s not when it came out. It was not good. Yeah, it filled our boots but it came out quickly.”
The following year the All Blacks returned to South Africa and made history when they won the three-Test series 2–1 against the Springboks and became known as “the Incomparables” for their feat of winning a series in South Africa for the first time.
Ireland v All Blacks preview: Andy Farrell’s men to ‘exact revenge’ and maintain their winning record in rugby’s great ‘modern-day rivalry’
Brooke said their loss to the Boks in the 1995 World Cup final and the All Blacks’ food poisoning in the build-up to that epic clash made their 1996 series triumph much sweeter.
“Doing the Test series winning, it was just beautiful and that sort of appeases me to you know (say) ‘okay equal’,” said the 59-year-old.
The All Blacks beat the Springboks in the opening Test of the series in Durban before heading to Pretoria for the second Test and the final match was played in Johannesburg.
Another All Blacks great, former scrum-half Justin Marshall, was also on that tour and said he remembers the senior players in the squad insisting that they have to win the clash in Pretoria to make history.
After the final whistle at Loftus Versfeld, the celebrations in the All Blacks camp were wild and Brooke looks back on that time fondly, particularly for the magnitude of the All Blacks’ achievement.
“That’s absolutely, exactly what you do (the celebrations) absolutely,” he said. “I was absolutely knackered on the bloody ground but I was just thinking and that’s just what everyone else is doing is just thinking ‘Sh*t! We’ve done it’.
“And that was a moment in time where you sort of think ‘Sh*t!’ And I look back, you know when you sort of see on the ground here and I think it was Mark Andrews (ex-Springboks lock) who was actually on the ground and he was quite upset and he actually pushed one of the All Blacks!
“And you just sit there and you think ‘Right we’ve done it!’ and that for me it just closes a massive door in life and you’ve gone down that journey and you’ve done it
“That’s fantastic. I loved it beautiful time.”
READ MORE: Andy Farrell’s blunt verdict on Johnny Sexton-Rieko Ioane spat – ‘That’s what everyone wants’

Legendary New Zealand number eight Zinzan Brooke has given his verdict on the outcome of Saturday’s clash between the All Blacks Ireland at the Aviva Stadium.
Legendary All Black Zinzan Brooke has given his verdict on the performances of the three-time world champions’ new sensation Wallace Sititi and which position he should play.
WATCH: Zinzan Brooke performs a Haka in a British pub.
© Planet Sport Limited 2024 • All Rights Reserved

source

Share this post

PinIt

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

scroll to top