While they didn't win the World Cup final, the Australian Wallabies still made former captain and Denhams Beach resident John Thornett proud on Sunday morning.
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“They played with heart and for each other and that was always our philosophy,” he said.
“The game was so fast, right from the get-go.”
John, who played 37 tests for Australia, 16 as captain, agreed with wife Viv that the Wallabies had done exceptionally well to get to the final and to “put in a good show.”
He watched a replay of the match in the morning, while Viv watched the telecast live starting at 2am on Sunday.
Just as he was as a player, John was in awe of the All Blacks on Sunday.
“Dan Carter (All Blacks five-eighth) was exceptional,” he said.
“He is an amazing player.”
Viv was impressed with the way All Blacks coach Steve Hansen “worked out a way to beat us without being too physical.”
While English-born Viv was cheering for the Wallabies on on Sunday, that wasn’t always the case.
“I spent my formative years in New Zealand, and used to call for the All Blacks,” she said.
This changed after she moved to Australia and met John.
“I wanted us to get married on my birthday (in 1979), but that was the day of a Bledisloe Cup match,” she recalled.
“He said ‘I won’t be there, and nor will anyone else’, because all his friends were former rugby players,” she said.
“We got married the following day.
“I’ve called for the Wallabies since then.”
John and many of his Wallaby team mates are still in touch.
He is exceptionally modest and quietly spoken about his achievements, but the Wallabies website rates him a champion in ability and attitude with the following words:
“John Thornett adamantly upheld sportsmanship in rugby. Words of negativity, criticism and bitterness were not uttered when he was around. He believed that rugby was a means of building character and supported the ideals of the game wherever he could.”