Some guys get all the luck.
Charlie Line [the 14-year-old pitch invader] is not the only person to have a World Cup winners’ medal without playing a single minute in the tournament.
World Rugby handed out 33 medals to victorious All Blacks after they defeated Australia 34-17 in a pulsating final at Twickenham.
That is two medals for members of the original 31-man squad and two for injury call-ups.
Props Joe Moody and Pauliasi Manu were called in by Steven Hansen to, respectively, replace Tony Woodcock and Wyatt Crockett.
Moody, from Canterbury and Crusaders pedigree, had 10 Test caps to his name when he got the shout to step in for the veteran Woodcock. He started the final ahead of Ben Franks.
Manu has never played for New Zealand before. He now has a World Cup winners’ medal.
The Waikato Chiefs loosehead arrived in England on October 26 and had a week to truly remember.
He met up with the All Blacks squad but was only afforded one full-on training session as Hansen was managing their training load after six Test encounters in six weeks, with the seventh drawing near. On Thursday, October 29 he was officially named as Crockett’s replacement.
The Tongan-born forward missed out on selection for the final but was sitting alongside the likes of All Blacks Waisake Naholo, TJ Perenara and Codie Taylor in the stands as the world champions regained their crown.
On Sunday night, he attended the World Rugby send-off that saw New Zealand win Team of the Year and Dan Carter capture the best player accolade.
On Wednesday morning, he arrives back in Auckland, where he started his rugby career [Tamaki College], as a World Cup winner.
In 2016 he sets his sights on another goal – running out for the world’s greatest team.
