It may be extremely hard to admit but after a comfortable demolition of France in Cardiff last Saturday, New Zealand have shown that they are by far and away the team to beat in the final fortnight.
After a month in which not a lot went to plan for them against the likes of Argentina, Namibia, Georgia and Tonga, they shook off growing doubts over their credentials for back-to-back World Cups with commanding authority.
And despite the semi finals only being contested between Southern Hemisphere teams, one can’t help that they explode over the finish line playing the kind of rugby that they demonstrated on Saturday evening.
But while they’ve showed that they’re as hungry as ever on the rugby field, the team has also showed that rugby isn’t the be all and end all with their work off the field proving just as important to the responsibilities of the game.
For Unicef, All Blacks Dan Carter, Ben Franks and Charlie Faumuina teamed up with English footballers Harry Kane and Chris Smalling to take on a group of talented and determined 7 and 8 year old children in a variety of classic games.
Competing directly against each other, the athletes set out to test the three things that matter most when helping children at risk: Precision, Response Time and Team Work.
The three contests outline a very serious point: Children are hardest hit in an emergency and many face losing their families, their homes, their schools and even their lives.
Unicef supports more children than anyone else and are on the ground all over the world providing life-saving food, clean water, warm blankets and protection from violence, exploitation and abuse. For more information please visit www.unicef.org
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