There was a moment, after the final whistle, while the crowd cheered, and cheered, and cheered some more, when I thought of Marie Fitzgibbon.
She was one of the originals - Black Fern number five, before they were even called the Black Ferns.
In 1989, she told me before the match, there was so little thought given to the team, they were billeted out to mates. Nutrition depended on what their billets were eating. Passion was all that drove them, both for rugby and for the camaraderie (read: hell of a good time) they had.
Last night she was in a crowd of 42,579 people at Eden Park watching the Black Ferns hold on for a dramatic win to clinch a sixth World Cup in a game for the ages.
There must’ve been tears. There were tears on the field, there were tears in the stands, heck, I’ll even admit there were some tears in the press box (sometimes, just sometimes, journalistic objectivity gets overpowered).
Some would’ve been from elation, some from devastation, some from exhaustion.
But I think many of them came from an understanding of how far the game has come, the realisation that it’s reached heights even Wayne Smith said he never thought he’d see in 100 years.
In fact he called standing in Eden Park and hearing 40,000 people chanting for the Black Ferns one of the best moments of his career.
Then there was Ruahei Demant, a captain who operates in the highest tier of leadership. She believed, she said. She just knew they would win.
She also admitted to a lack of certainty though - back when New Zealand won the hosting rights to the World Cup. Not about the results. About whether people would care.
And that’s what brought a few tears too.
The team upset fan favourites England to hold on to their World Cup title. (Source: 1News)
This Black Ferns group has triumphed in ways few others have.
Over adversity no other group’s had to deal with in a World Cup year. Over constantly playing second fiddle to the men.
They triumphed on the scoreboard, yes, and that in itself was incredible and pulsating and brilliant.
But their greatest triumph will be their legacy. They tapped into something that sold out Eden Park, that united the nation behind them, that forced people to be fans because how could you not be?
In short, that group of proud, entertaining, strong, talented wahine made people care.
What a privilege to be at Eden Park to witness it.
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