The World Rugby Champions, the mighty New Zealand All Blacks, were on the verge of establishing Soldier Field (home of the NFL Chicago Bears) as their home turf in the Northern Hemisphere − until last Saturday against the Six Nations Champions, the Irish
Two years ago on November 1, 2014, a sell-out Soldier Field crowd (66,000) of curious Americans came to see the mighty All Blacks rather than hoping for an USA Eagles upset − All Blacks won easily, 74-6. But staged on a grand scale, Soldier Field gave rugby a huge boost in the American media.
And while the Irish Shamrocks came into town as the visitors, the New Zealand All Black Ferns (leaf symbol; not to be confused with New Zealand Women’s Rugby National Team) as the hosting team, the Irish boys came with chips on their shoulders: 111 years of rugby deprivation.
Translation: they want respect from the mightiest national rugby team the world has ever seen.
Ironically, the Six Nations Champs Irish arrived in town during the biggest sports celebration of the Chicago Cubs’ 108 years of baseball deprivation as well. Both clubs have had a long time of anger built up, dying to explode in a victory to avenge over 100 years of deprivation.
And there are perhaps some Irish sentiments in Chicago’s Irish community towards their distant cousins seeking revenge on the rugby pitch at Soldier Field.
The green and white fans were numerous, and loudest. Obviously, many Irish visitors followed their Six Nations Champions into Chicago.
They cheered the loudest when Ireland jumped ahead to take a 10-5 lead in the first half, and they were ecstatic with the Irish lead extended to 25-8 at halftime. However, they were nervous when the All Blacks mounted a fierce rally to come within four points: 33-29 in the second half.
“Rugby Weekend in Chicago” Full of Celebrations
This is the biggest rugby event this writer has ever seen in America. I have covered USA Eagles test matches in the U.S. and Canada: Pacific Rim teams like Fiji, Japan, Tonga, and Sāmoa are regular American rivals; Americas World Cup Qualifiers like Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, but none has been as big as the New Zealand All Black Ferns and the Irish Green Shamrocks.
In addition, the Māori All Blacks played to a 74-6 demolition of the USA Eagles on Friday, across town at Toyota Park. As for Pacific Island players, half of the Eagles’ roster are Sāmoans, Tongans, Māoris, and Fijians. But the Māori All Blacks duplicated the All Blacks thrashing of the Eagles on November 1, 2014, by the exact score: 74-6.
Toyota Park sells out at 20,000 spectators for rugby and soccer, and 28,000 for rock concerts. The stadium is the home field for the Major League Soccer Chicago Fire Club, as well as Roosevelt University soccer matches. At Soldier Field, the seats were priced from $33 high on Level 4, down to $267 on the ground Level 1; parking was $49 per car; and hotels near the stadium were priced at $125 a night.
Earlier in the week, the Chicago Cubs World Baseball SeriesTitle celebrations brought over 5-million Cubs fans to downtown Chicago on Thursday. Together, with the “Rugby Weekend in Chicago” promotion, Chicago was the place to be especially with the Chicago Bears’ bye week, which freed up Soldier Field for the Irish-All Blacks clash. A near-sellout crowd of 62,300 fans came to Soldier Field on Saturday.
All Blacks’ Rally Falls Short, Too Little, Too Late
The All Blacks’ comeback magic that has worked many times in similar situations fell short today against a much hungrier Irish team. Despite the All Blacks brilliant flashes of greatness to build an offensive momentum, they kept shooting themselves on the foot.
It seems that the Irish “physical rugby” style of game distracted some of the All Blacks in the first half. Following the Maori Haka pre-game rituals, the Irish seemed the more inspired team; some All Blacks penalties seemed the results of retaliation. Ireland first drew blood with a penalty to lead, 3-0.
The All Blacks scored the first try, but the conversion failed: Instead of leading 7-3, they settled for 5-3. Then came Joe Moody’s up-ended tackle of Irish Robbie Henshaw: a yellow-card for Moody; 10 minutes in the sin bin; and an ensuing converted try for Ireland: Ireland leads, 10-5; then 15-5; 15-8; and finally 25-8 at halftime.
The second half continued for Ireland to show sustained strength extending their lead to 30-8, before the All Blacks' rally began clicking to claw their way back up to 30-22, and 33-29 deficits. But Ireland responded with another converted try for the final score, 40-29. As the final whistle sounded, the All Blacks were in shock. They were on a roll, and they could have mount another assault on the Irish fortress, but it was too little, too late.
(Photo by Getty Images; article by Sione A. Mokofisi a syndicated journalist who lives in Tonga and travels often to his adopted country the USA. He is editor of the Tongan-based Niuvakai newspaper and Website, but his opinion does not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of this Website. E-mail: editor_niuvakai@yahoo.com).