New Zealand All Blacks captain Richie McCaw holds up the Webb Ellis trophy as teammates celebrate after their Rugby World Cup final win over France in Auckland, New Zealand, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
New Zealand All Blacks captain Richie McCaw holds up the Webb Ellis trophy as teammates celebrate after their Rugby World Cup final win over France in Auckland, New Zealand, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
New Zealand All Blacks Jerome Kaino, right, celebrates after his teams Rugby World Cup final win over France in Auckland, New Zealand, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Ross Land)
New Zealand All Blacks captain Richie McCaw holds the Webb Ellis trophy as he celebrates with teammates after their Rugby World Cup final win over France at Eden Park, in Auckland, New Zealand, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
The New Zealand All Blacks players perform the haka after their Rugby World Cup final win over France in Auckland, New Zealand, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Ross Land)
New Zealand All Blacks Israel Dagg, right, kisses teammate Cory Jane after their Rugby World Cup final win over France in Auckland, New Zealand, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Ross Land)
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) ? New Zealand won the Rugby World Cup on Sunday, beating France 8-7 to become the third country to win the title twice.
"Marvelous. I'm so proud to be a New Zealander," All Blacks coach Graham Henry said. "It's something we've dreamed of for a while. We can rest in peace."
New Zealand also won the inaugural event in 1987, beating France 29-9 in Auckland.
South Africa and Australia also are two-time winners.
"No one can ever take this away from this group," All Black captain Richie McCaw said. "I think the whole country should be proud of every single one of them. I'm just so proud of every single one of the guys. We couldn't have been under any more pressure. Everyone dug as deep as they can."
Stephen Donald, forced into a key role after a series of injuries at flyhalf, took over the goalkicking in the second half and made a penalty in the 45th minute to give New Zealand an 8-0 lead.
"There are people out there who undermined my status as an All Black. To get the chance to prove that I am an All Black is good," Donald said. "I think a World Cup final is a pretty good place to start."
France cut it to one on captain Thierry Dusautoir's 47th-minute try and Francois Trinh-Duc's conversion, but the All Blacks held on in front of a crowd of 61,000 at Eden Park.
"I feel immensely sad and immensely proud at the same time," France coach Marc Lievremont said. "People have always said and thought that the All Blacks were the greatest team of all time, but tonight I think it's the France team that was great, and even immense. It's tough to take, we needed a little bit more."
After the 1987 victory, New Zealand lost in the final in 1995, the semifinals in 1991, 1999 and 2003 and in the quarterfinals ? to France ? in 2007.
France became the first team to reach a World Cup final after losing twice in pool play. One of those pool losses was to New Zealand, by 37-17, which helped make the All Blacks overwhelming favorites Sunday.
"It's a real pity. I am really proud of my boys and what they did in the World Cup," Dusautoir said. "We read a lot of (criticism) this week, but I thought we showed we know how to play rugby."
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