THE 50 MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF 2018…
01 ARDIE SAVEA’S LATE TRY IN PRETORIA
At 30-18 down and nine minutes left, the All Blacks weren’t a great bet to win the final Rugby Championship test of the year in South Africa.
The pessimism wasn’t driven exclusively by the scoreline, it was more the fact the All Blacks had been outplayed all game and had no momentum.
But test rugby is a mad old business and suddenly things turned. The All Blacks won a scrum penalty, kicked for the corner and drove the lineout over to cut the gap with four minutes left.
Another prolonged period of good defence saw Ardie Savea win a crucial turnover penalty which Richie Mo’unga banged out to five metres on the bounce.
Another lineout drive, another controlled series of pick and go from the forwards and on the whistle Savea crashed over. Scores level.
02 BEAUDEN’S MAGIC FOUR
After about 15 minutes of the second Bledisloe Cup test, it became apparent Beauden Barrett was going to have a special game.
He’d already scored a try, made a few great decisions and looked very much in the zone.
When he scored another try just before halftime the whole team lifted to another level and Barrett to a place where only maybe Daniel Carter had previously managed to reach.
Barrett finished with 30 points from four tries and five conversions and it was impossible not to wonder whether he had played better than Carter had against the British Lions in 2005.
03 PATRICK THE HAT-TRICK
The giant Blues and All Blacks lock had missed three months of action due to a serious shoulder injury he picked up at the end of Super Rugby.
When he returned in early September to play for Auckland against Tasman, there was little expectation. He was hoping for a solid 50-minute blow-out to get the engine revving again.
But after 35 minutes he had scored a hat-trick. It was a class performance that demonstrated his power close to the ruck and also his extreme athleticism and pace.
He was called up by the All Blacks the following week and played against the Boks.
04 FERNS TAKE GOLD
The Black Ferns went to the Gold Coast looking to go one better than they managed at the Olympics.
And as fate would have it they met the Australians in the final again. This time the Ferns were better prepared and more tactically adept, but they still couldn’t break their old foe.
The game was tied at 12-all after 20 minutes so it went to extra time. And on it went, neither team able to break the other until Kelly Brazier, with seemingly nothing particularly opening up in front of her, started to run. When no one tackled her she kept running and running and suddenly she was closing in on the tryline.
It was a brave and thrilling try to cap a brave and thrilling performance.
05 SLAMMING SAM BRINGS UP 100
Sam Whitelock has been a regular fixture in the All Blacks boiler house since 2010.
He’s a world class player and has fought tirelessly for the All Blacks and Crusaders. Few have put more in or worked harder and so it was a genuine moment of celebration for the entire rugby fraternity when he played his 100th test against the Wallabies in Sydney.
The only shame was that so few Wallabies stayed out on the field to acknowledge him.
06 THE GREAT ESCAPE
Everyone thought the Crusaders were unbeatable at home. Everyone except the Waratahs that is as the Australians arrived in Christchurch in mid-May and were fearless. And brilliant.
They amazingly shot out to a 29-0 lead in 30 minutes. The Crusaders barely touched the ball in that time and the few times they did, they coughed it up and looked nervous and out of sorts.
But something clicked just before the break and first Joe Moody then Codie Taylor charged over, before Seta Tamanivalu scored another.
The big breakthrough moment came on 68 minutes when they were awarded a penalty try for the scrum domination and that was it – they were 31-29 ahead and had pulled off one of the great escapes.
07 THE MAGIC TOUCH OF GEORGE BRIDGE
George Bridge enjoyed a memorably good Super Rugby campaign with the Crusaders where he showed himself to be an all-round footballer very much in the Ben Smith mould.
He could score tries, make tries and play as easily on the wing as he could fullback and much like Smith, he did without an obviously brilliant set of physical credentials.
It was no surprise he was one of the
