-
France celebrate their 2007 World Cup quarter-final win over the All Blacks - Source: Photosport -
Related
Perhaps the silver lining in the All Blacks' disgraceful performance in Durban last Sunday is that surely they can only get better from here.
The 19-31 defeat to the Boks was their third of the season. Not since 2000 had they dropped more than two in a calendar year and on current form, it looks a nailed-on certainly that more will be lost before Graham Henry's annus horribilis is over.
This All Black side is now considered so vulnerable that even the Welsh are confidently backing their team to win when the two sides meet in November - although they have been doing that for 56 years.
It's no secret that the Northern Hemisphere rugby media are as quick to rejoice at All Black failures as they are to dismiss any meritorious performances by their colonial tormentors as irrelevant.
So embittered and jealous have they become by New Zealand's recent world domination that they've come to channel their disdain through three tired and lazy cliches.
Whenever the All Blacks win in style, they're just "peaking between World Cups".
When they win in unconvincing fashion, they've "lost their aura". In which case they should really keep it in a safer place, because they seem to allegedly lose it more often than I lose my house key.
And when they suffer a dip in form, they're "at the crossroads". In which case they might do well to consider Robert Johnson as the solution to the troublesome halfback spot. He does have a wonderful set of hands, after all.
But jokes aside, the All Blacks' current predicament resembles not so much much a dip in form as a major trough, not before seen in the Henry era. Therefore I'm going to help the British press out with a cliché and suggest that the All Blacks are "troughing between world cups".
Rewind the clock four years to the midpoint between the last two World Cups. In 2005 the All Blacks trounced Clive Woodward's pathetic Lions team before breezing through the Tri Nations and heading north to secure their first Grand Slam in 27 years.
"Peaking between World Cups!", bleated the Northern scribes. "They'll choke in two years time". Unfortunately, that was one of the few things they got right all year.
They certainly won't be clutching at the same straws this time around. Now it is the Boks who are flying high between World Cups, while the perennial chokers look set to arrive at the next tournament with expectations drastically lowered. Their underdog standing with the bookmakers over the past fortnight is a measure of how much they have come back to the pack.
Calls for the coaches' heads are as predictable as the setting sun. They come mainly from bitter, puerile hacks and pundits interested less in the All Blacks' future as they are in publicly trumpeting their disdain for Henry that has been brewing since they embarrassingly backed the wrong coaching horse after the Cardiff defeat.
Sacking the coaches mid-season would achieve nothing except to plunge the team further into turmoil, which is why it won't happen.
In the absence of any credible alternatives, Graham Henry is the man to take the All Blacks through to 2011, but the first step to rehabilitating his team is to take the blame for the shoddy gameplan that was executed in the Republic.
For all the Springboks' strengths, they remain hugely reliant on opposition mistakes to keep the scoreboard ticking over. It makes Henry's insistence that high-risk rugby is the key to beating them all the more ludicrous.
One need only look at the number of tries the Boks score through constructed phase play as opposed to those from charge downs, intercepts and dropped opposition ball. They are the masters of opportunism.
If the Cartel failed to heed the lessons from the Bloemfontein defeat (and it appears they did), then they surely won't be able to ignore the anguished cries of a rugby public that will tolerate an occasional defeat, but not consistent underachievement.
The All Blacks need reminding of how to walk before they can run (or more specifically, pass, catch or kick), and a couple of rounds of Air New Zealand Cup rugby before their next Test in Sydney would be the ideal starting point.
They are in no worse shape on the table as they were at the same stage of last year's Tri Nations and with three weeks to gather their thoughts, they will hark back to their watershed 39-10 demolition of the Wallabies last season as an example of how to turn a season around with smart, back-to-basics rugby.
Taking a longer term view, some degree of regeneration seems inevitable before the World Cup, and it will be for the better. Retirements, defections and natural attrition will help to clear out some of the dead wood and introduce some freshness and vitality into the team.
Of the fatties, Andrew Hore, Brad Thorn and Rodney So'oialo are three players whose jaded appearances in South Africa suggest their legs may not hold out to 2011. They will be 33, 36 and 32 respectively at the next tournament.
The good news is that, for all the talk of the All Blacks' current lack of depth, new options have emerged in each position this year. Keven Mealamu's injury gives Aled de Malmanche the chance to prove himself against Tri Nations opposition, while lock Isaac Ross and loose forward Kieran Read look capable of stepping up to replace the aging warhorses within the next two years.
The biggest concern in the backline is the erstwhile blazing winger Joe Rokocoko, but even if his form slump proves terminal, Cory Jane, Hosea Gear and the raw but exciting Lelia Masaga will be ready to step into the breach.
Then there is the prospect of players returning from their overseas jaunts fresh and eager for a final shot at World Cup glory. Carl Hayman and Nick Evans are two players to have expressed an interest in returning home who would easily slot back into the matchday 22.
What's more, the first round of Air New Zealand Cup matches last weekend proved a timely reminder of the crucial role of the provincial unions in unearthing new talent. Wellington's Robbie Fruean, Southland's Robbie Robinson and Manawatu's Aaron Cruden are three youngsters who showed glimpses of why they'll be on the selectors' radar in coming years.
What may also help the All Blacks is the drop-off in public expectation that a few defeats will create. It should at least offset the added burden of having to win the world cup on their own soil.
If the World Cup is indeed the be-and-end-all of Test rugby - as seems to be the sad reality these days - then the All Blacks' current poor form is about as meaningless as their "peaking" between past World Cups was.
That's not to say there isn't plenty of work to be done, and that the coaching trio doesn't have a hefty slice of humble pie to consume before this team can move forward. But it's better to come home with a wet sail than to set the pace around every mark only to run out of puff on the final beat.
At the moment it's the Springboks sailing in clear air while their old foes flounder, and no one will know better than the All Blacks that two years is a very long time in international rugby.
Add a Comment:
Post new commentJackdaw said on 2009-08-07 @ 08:56 NZDT: Report abusive post
Good article. However, if you call the last AB performance disgraceful, what words would you use to describe Robbie Deans; Wallabies 53-8 defat to the Boks last year? At least the ABs defended with pride and guts, even if they made a lot of errors on attack. Also, I'm not convinced the tactics were so wrong. if you exclude a few things like Jo's brain exploson behind the line, they looked dangerous on attack, but executed poorly too often.
warrior said on 2009-08-06 @ 20:22 NZDT: Report abusive post
Robbie deans would have been the best choice over Henry. Why have we kept Henry he hasnt done anything great he came in to the team with a good record but has lost us the world cup and got us beat by the french and now we have lost our number 1 ranking get a lengend ex allblack in there as coach like Grant Fox.
thatguy said on 2009-08-06 @ 17:25 NZDT: Report abusive post
What an arrogant opinion piece. It really typifies the New Zealand rugby public, unwilling to accept that other countries may be as good as or not better than us. Henry was found wanting at the last world cup, other coaches prepared their sides for that tournament. He has been found wanting again this year in failing to change tactics that other sides have worked out, this has been witnessed in 3 losses and an inept performance against Italy.
Laurie Reid said on 2009-08-06 @ 15:28 NZDT: Report abusive post
No credible replacement for Henry? Really..... so he is officially irreplacable?
allweatherfan said on 2009-08-06 @ 12:30 NZDT: Report abusive post
The Boks tactics were far superior to ours in the last match. We definitely played more rugby than they did however their kicking game and less expansive style choked the life out of us. I would like to see a kicking 2nd 5/8 added to the side to give us more options......maybe Luke McAllister in that position. Also trying to run the ball from inside our 22 considering the effectiveness of the Boks' loose forwards was madness...... Hopefully GH and team will make the necessary adjustments!