Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

All Blacks' season defined long before their shambolic draw to England

(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

I read and heard for weeks that playing England at Twickenham would define the All Blacks’ season.

ADVERTISEMENT

Nonsense.

New Zealand’s 25-25 draw told us nothing we didn’t already know about this team, whose season was defined months ago.

You remember those games? The series loss to Ireland, the emasculation by South Africa at Mbombela Stadium, the shameful home defeat to Argentina.

Video Spacer
Video Spacer

New Zealand Rugby’s (NZR) craven reaction to those embarrassments absolutely defined the tenure of head coach Ian Foster and set a problematic precedent for what is acceptable from our national team.

It said that it’s all right to look an entirely uncoached rabble and that there will be few – if any – real consequences when you do.

The All Blacks aren’t without talent, but that is all they have.

I wrote months ago that we would continue to go on the rollercoaster ride with them, as their performances fluctuated from week-to-week and half-to-half.

They can look unbeatable one minute and completely inept the next.

Did anyone give up on Sunday morning’s (NZ time) game at Twickenham? Did they assume the All Blacks would win at a canter and decide that continuing to suffer through the refereeing of Mathieu Raynal was more trouble than it was worth?

ADVERTISEMENT

If they did, then they missed a New Zealand side – which lacks any real substance – capitulate before their eyes.

There are no lessons being learned here because – seemingly – there’s no-one there to teach them.

The same flaws continue to ail this side and nothing substantial appears to be being done to fix them.

I’ll go backwards a little, here.

Aided by trainer Jim Blair, the Auckland team of the 1980s established a template by which most good All Blacks teams have played since.

ADVERTISEMENT

You will be fitter than the opposition. More ruthless, more mentally strong, more adept at absorbing pressure.

Like a cat with a mouse, you will toy with the other team for 60 minutes and then finish them off at the end.

A mystique developed around that. Opponents knew the All Blacks were never beaten.

No matter how well they played, they knew the men in black would invariably find a way to win.

This 2022 All Blacks team reminds me of the ones from around the turn of this century.

A side still trading off the deeds of the mid-90s, but without any ability to prevail when things got hard.

Related

The talent was there, just not the winning culture.

When NZR retained Foster as head coach, in spite of various opportunities to do otherwise since his appointment, they condemned the players to disappointment.

They affirmed that this standard of performance was acceptable and failed to give the team sufficient tools to help them get better.

Look, some days they’ll be brilliant. They will thrash teams and they will turn around and say that the critics have been answered.

But I think we’ve all come to accept that those days won’t be as frequent as they should be and that we will continue to see 10-minute spells of shambolic rugby that beggar belief.

This is not a team built on solid foundations and the only consistent thing about them will be their inconsistency.

ADVERTISEMENT

South Africa vs New Zealand | The Rugby Championship U20's | Full Match Replay

Argentina vs Australia | The Rugby Championship U20's | Full Match Replay

Saitama Wildknights vs Tokyo Sungoliath | Japan Rugby League 2024/25 | Full Match Replay

The Game that Made Jonah Lomu

The gruelling reality behind one of the fastest sports in the world | The Report

Boks Office | Episode 40 | The Steven Kitshoff Special

Perry Baker in the house | HSBC Life on Tour | Los Angeles

Confidence knocks and finding your people | Flo Williams | Rugby Rising Locker Room

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

2 Comments
S
Spew_81 906 days ago

Two words can sum up the current All Blacks - mentally weak.

J
JD Kiwi 906 days ago

I'm firmly in Team Razor and don't think that we're anywhere near where we should be considering the available talent. But to say that the narrative of the season hasn't changed in the past few unbeaten months is so inaccurate. We're playing much better than we were.

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

S
Solenn Bonnet 4 days ago
Leinster cleanse palette with record URC scoreline against Zebre

My name is Solenn Bonnet, and I am a single mother navigating the challenges of raising my two-year-old child while trying to make ends meet. I came across a trading platform that promised astonishing daily profits of 18%. The allure of such a high return on investment was too tempting to resist, and I found myself drawn into cryptocurrency trading. Excited by the prospect of financial freedom, I invested a significant amount of my savings, totaling over 5.7 BTC. However, what started as a hopeful venture quickly turned into a nightmare. The platform was a scam, and I lost everything I had invested. The emotional toll of this loss was immense; I felt devastated and helpless, struggling to provide for my child and keep up with my bills. In my desperate attempt to recover my funds, I sought help from various recovery experts. Unfortunately, I encountered numerous fraudulent individuals who claimed they could help me retrieve my lost money. Each time I reached out, I was met with disappointment and further scams, which only deepened my despair. Last year was one of the most challenging periods of my life, filled with anxiety and uncertainty about my financial future. Feeling overwhelmed and at a loss, I confided in a close friend from church about my situation. She listened compassionately and shared her own experiences with financial difficulties. Understanding my plight, she introduced me to Tech Cyber Force Recovery, a group of skilled hackers known for their expertise in recovering lost funds. Skeptical yet hopeful, I decided to reach out to them as a last resort. Their services came at a higher cost, but my friend generously offered to help me with a partial payment. I was amazed by how quickly they responded and began the recovery process. Their team was professional, efficient, and incredibly supportive throughout the entire ordeal. To my relief, they successfully recovered more than I had lost to those heartless scammers. This was truly transformative, and I felt a sense of relief and gratitude that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I strongly encourage anyone who has faced similar challenges or fallen victim to scams to reach out to Tech Cyber Force Recovery. If you’ve invested in a fraudulent platform like I did, they are highly capable of helping you reclaim your hard-earned money. Don’t lose hope; there is a way to recover what you’ve lost.

CONSULT TECH CYBER FORCE RECOVERY

EMAIL.. support@techyforcecyberretrieval.com

WhatsApp.. +15617263697

website.. https://techyforcecyberretrieval.com

Telegram.. +15617263697

0 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING 'No offence to him, but I never knew how good he was' Tom Farrell: 'No offence to him, but I never knew how good he was'
Search