Pete Gallagher
All Black physiotherapist
It was just a normal day, really.
There was a lot of family around the team at the hotel. There was not a lot of anxiety in the team.
Probably the week before, against Australia, there was more anxiety.
The ride to the ground on the bus with all the people yelling and cheering us on was something completely new. Most games are nothing like that.
That support really helped the team. Just to have the total public support behind them. What it meant for the country.
I remember in 2007 going to Cardiff and it was the French fans who were all keyed up for the game.
Sure there were All Black fans around, but it was the French who were up for it.
And we were so well prepared for that tournament.
As for the game, I think the public anxiety was way higher than it was in the team. I've talked to people since the game and they tell me how anxious they were watching. But standing on the sideline with 20 minutes to go I just thought France were not in control. They had tested us and I had trust in the senior players that the outcome would be decided by us. I believed we had the players to stand up.
I was so glad for the senior players and all those who had been in Cardiff.
When it ended, it was more a sense of relief than elation. I remember talking to Tony Woodcock and he said "we did it".
It was fantastic, there was no doubt about that, but it was more relief than anything. A lot of the senior players were so relieved.
In the dressing room there was just the normal people there. But people were just chatting and talking. I rang home and then talked to John Kirwan, who said they had done well.
It wasn't over the top.
The next day the parade, if there was 250,000 people there like they said, then there was only one word to explain it - overwhelming.
Steve Hepburn
Reporter
I got the train to the ground with no problems. It was packed and some guy tried to start an All Black chant.
But it didn't work. Not the New Zealand way.
I went more or less straight to the media box. I was sitting beside Hawkes Bay Today chief reporter Grant Harding, the same guy I had sat beside in the victorious quarterfinal and semifinal.
That gave me some confidence for a home side victory.
Everyone was covered in black.
Some people were late getting to seats. Pay hundreds of dollars and still can't get to the ground on time.
The game started and the All Blacks looked all right. Scored the try but it was not going all their way.
The French were playing well and the All Blacks looked a bit off their game.
Weepu was slow and then the French scored.
But the home side was still ahead. With a tight deadline, ideally I wanted the All Blacks to be ahead 40-0 at halftime, with the wind behind them in the second half, and two Frenchmen sent off.
But it wasn't happening. It was knife-edge stuff.
For some reason, though, I just thought the All Blacks would hold on. I don't know what that was based on, just a feeling. It was time.
The French were just moving the ball side to side and the All Blacks were tackling all right. Stephen Donald made a couple of good kicks and with working on the story, time went quite quickly.
Then it was just five minutes to go. They were almost home. The French lost the ball and the All Blacks just hung on to it.
Normally, I don't like this style of rugby - it is not a real contest for possession - but at this time it was great.
And then it was all over.
Emotions poured out but it was more about getting the story done.
No-one said anything in the press box.
Talked to the players and most seemed just relieved. It hadn't really sunk in for them. Or us.
By then, it was 1.30am. We went and had a couple of beers in some crusty pub in Dominion Rd. The beer tasted nice. Real nice.
Craig Baxter
Photographer
If I felt the 9pm kick-off made the day long, I can't imagine how it must have felt for the players.
At 3pm I decided to venture into the city to be greeted by unbelievable scenes in the Quay and lower Queen St, where it was full with rugby fans.
The atmosphere was electric and only an hour later the police closed Queen St, as the crowds took over.
At 4pm another photographer and I headed to Eden Park, where we were almost forced off the road across from the ground by some very eager, slightly dodgy people offering us a park at their house. We drove on and after finding nothing else, returned, handed over $20 and parked as their party and what appeared to be a drug deal took place outside. The car was insured, we reasoned, and headed off.
At the ground the long wait continued. I found a spare space in the photo room, which was already three-quarters full four hours out from the game, set up my laptop, sorted out camera gear and picked an assigned seat.
There's no luxury of walking where you like at the World Cup final.
By 8pm the stadium was filling fast and I took a wander through the crowd as the atmosphere built to fever pitch. By kick-off the nerves were also at fever pitch and the noise was deafening.
It was stressful enough being an All Black fan, let alone having a deadline at 11.30pm, when the game only began at 9pm. Luckily these days, digital cameras and wireless internet mean we can file from the sideline, but the stress levels are still high.
My job was to get as many action shots back to the office by halftime, every break in play, every time the action moved away, I had to drop the camera and pick up the laptop.
At half time, 5-0, the tension had built higher, although the noise of the crowd was much quieter.
At 30 minutes to go, I feel like I have been here before - all those Otago Ranfurly Shield losses, last-minute Bledisloe Cup losses. At 70 minutes, I gave up sending pictures because it was too hard to concentrate .. and I felt physically sick.
I was exhausted by the time 80 minutes came along. The photographers were herded like cattle into two pens to get the money-shot of Richie holding the cup. Bony elbows came in handy then, as I jostled to try and get a prime spot.
The minutes ticked away as deadline fast approached. There was a 15-minute gap before the presentation started - thanks Sky!I got the pictures and raced back to the my laptop, by then it was 11.20pm. Deadline for the sports pages was 11.30pm. Of course, the wireless had gone down. I raced back to the media room, making calls to the offices. They needed a team shot for sport "now", or else they would have to use someone else's picture. I made it with a minute to go.
It was after 1am when we left Eden Park. The car was still in one piece, the party had moved on and the Dominion Rd bars tempted us in for a celebratory beer. Boy did that beer taste good.
