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Hard to see what the All Blacks are building unlike South Africa
The parlous state of Australasian rugby was plain for all to see on Saturday.
Sure, there were individuals on both sides who performed admirably or tried hard. Just as there were moments of excitement.
But, really and truly, much of the match would’ve been a sobering experience for fans on both sides of the Tasman.
Australia was utterly inept to start. Passive, error-prone and plainly intimidated by the opposition.
The Wallabies truly were pathetic at times, as the All Blacks raced to a 21-0 lead.
It was men against boys and a poor advertisement for Bledisloe Cup rugby.
To Australia’s great credit, they rallied. Although how could you not, when the other team’s as rudderless as the All Blacks became.
It’s increasingly tiresome to see the same mistakes and failings from the same people week after week after week.
The haka is always flawless, though, and there’s never a player with a hair out of place. The tattoos and messages scrawled on wristbands are all immaculately done..
But where’s the progress on the paddock? Where’s the decision making and execution you would expect from an All Blacks side? Where are the consequences for failing to live up to the expectations of a loyal fanbase and the legacy of the jersey?
Is there as much emphasis placed upon getting better at rugby as there is looking good for the cameras?
Yes, the All Blacks won 31-28 but this was undoubtedly their worst performance of the season. Certainly the most injurious to the reputation of New Zealand rugby.
Saturday laid bare the fact that whatever this team is trying to do isn’t working. It’s just not.
Clunky performances, even defeats, can be justifiable if they’re a consequence of following a carefully constructed plan.
Take South Africa, who were tipped over by Argentina in the weekend.
When Shannon Frizell inspired the All Blacks to a 35-20 over the Springboks last year, I thought they were done. It looked like too many of the 2019 Rugby World Cup winners were showing their age and, like many champion teams, their run had come to an end.
A year on, most of those blokes have now won two World Cups. Good on them for that.
Better still, though, is the succession planning South Africa is undertaking now.
Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus has a squad that can still win today, when it’s feeling inclined to, while building one capable of defending the world cup in three years’ time.
Here in New Zealand, we talk about new combinations in the All Blacks as if there are any.
In Saturday’s starting XV we had Cortez Ratima, who plays with Damian McKenzie at the Chiefs, at halfback and Wallace Sititi (playing out of position) at blindside flanker.
The rest of the team have been test regulars for years.
What are we building towards? Another World Cup campaign comprising players who’ve already failed at least one previously?
Where’s our plan? Where’s our development?
Erasmus knows he can’t carry all of his World Cup winners through to 2027, just as Joe Schmidt and Mike Cron know they actually have to teach many of the Wallabies how to play rugby before the team can become competitive.
Just on Cron quickly, the Wallabies gave the All Blacks a bath at scrum time on Saturday, which shows they must have a handful of very quick learners.
The point is, Australia and South Africa are in the midst of obvious projects. Whether they work remains to be seen, but at least there’s a plan that fans can clearly see.
All Blacks fans, meanwhile, are increasingly restless. They see a host of players who’ve lost 15 tests in the last four years and a team that can barely score a point after half-time.
The fans’ eyes tell them certain players aren’t up to it, but the team’s apologists keep insisting it’ll take time for this “new’’ team to gel.
You can only insult people’s intelligence for so long.
Saturday in Sydney was bad and a 60-point win this week – which is what you should get against this Wallabies side – won’t suddenly cure the All Blacks’ ills.
This is a situation that requires change, not time.
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How can you be sure you'll have McKenzie and Mounga for 2027!?
How?
Every year a professional rugby player runs a 23% chance of suffering a career ending injury. My own professional career ended suddenly at the age of 24. In training no less. That's a bold statement.
Roigard is a proper baller. Proper. Currently rehabbing an injury though.
Imagine Argentina weren't slow starters. They won't need to worry about scrums or lineouts if they keep the ball in hand.
You're bored? Best avoid the next AB V AUS game if you're bored easily.
You do realise that we’ll have Mackenzie and Mounga at RWC 2027, that’ll be the envy of every other team…I predict Mackenzie is considered a top 5 first-five the game by then also.
Hated watching us concede those points against Argentina, what a cracking backline they have though…awesome to watch when they’re on song (or are other nations not allowed to be good?) Imagine if they had a scrum and lineout like NZs.
I assure you that nz will have the best tight 5 in the world by rwc2027, we’ll have two world class 10s, ratima and Roigard will be destroying oppositions and we all know how many world class outside backs we produce. Wallace sititi will win breakthrough player of the year this year and be a global household name in no time. Midfield has question marks but any team would be desperate for Jordie and Reiko.
Hmmm not so bad after all.
Buckets of talent yes, should they all be thrown into international rugby in their early 20s…of course not.
I’m bored of this so won’t be commenting again.
Yet you erroneously accused me of trolling despite, yourself, amplifying the points I raised...
Buckets of talent coming through? How many new caps across the 6 games to date in the RC?
You wouldn't have enjoyed getting pumped at home and conceding an all-time record number of PTS. Salty or not.
I remember you mentioning during the last world cup that it was a free hit as when Razors gets in, normal service will return.
Why are you so certain they'll come back from this? A skint union, a huge increase in test matches from 2026 and the only top 10 team without an established #10 in the starting team. Not to mention the prehistoric policy of locking out overseas talent.
Honestly chief, good luck to ya.
Hard to see what the All Blacks are building? For you maybe. Take a look at the Squidge or latest Aotearoa video, you might learn something.
Razor is rebuilding foundations, as are Schmidt in Australia and Borthwick in England. You could add Wales to the list, but its not obvious there is a solution there. While good results would be great to see, they are not the way to measure these teams at this point.
Supporters should be looking for things like cultural commitment and cohesion, and basics like fitness, passing, tackling, kicking, and set piece execution. Other layers get built on that, including defensive structures, on-field communication, and positional combinations. And while you're building all of that you need to build depth of players in the squad. Its only when you have all of that in good shape that you can really be effective with attacking innovations, game plans, sophisticated game management, and effective tournament planning.
Some teams, including Ireland, France and SA, have been building all of this for years, with coaching continuity and plenty of time to refine it all. Right now, for "rebuild teams", like NZ, Oz and England, to be competitive at all is impressive. But in a couple of years things will be different. They may not be fully in their stride by then, but they will be consistently in the mix against anyone.
By RWC 2027 there are going to be seven or eight teams that will be serious contenders, including all four TRC teams. And I would not be surprised if NZ were ranked #1 at that point.
In the meantime supporters should be hoping for wins, but focusing on continuous improvement. It is what it is.
Think you might be getting some Squidge hate there JD!
This is exactly it. Cane is a tough cookie and I admire him but he's had his go and didn't quite make it at RWC and that was in 2019, he had another go and didn't quite make it in 2023 and has made it very clear he's retiring.
Cane is missing his tackles at times and is part of a loose forward trio that's lost two from three and incredibly lucky to sneak a win against the Wallabies who were all over the Allblacks like a rash.
And yet we get the distinct impression we are all supposed to be feting him as a legend that's being given 100 test caps because he's been in the Allblacks since 2012.
Savea had also had a good go and been not quite good enough in 2019 and 2023 also. Two key loose forwards that has one definitely not at the 2027 world cup and Savea who is simply not going to be good enough by then to retain the number eight position.
Meanwhile we've three larger, younger Dalton carrying the tackle bags as soon as Cane got over a back injury and we are literally dying in the final half of each game as our two aged loose forwards fade.
Married to that we've DMac, a delightful player with tremendous skill. Very elusive like one of the small Bok wingers. The problem is that he simply doesn't shut down and manage territory, hes tantalizingly close but no cigar and he's now 29. A case of he's not going to change.
Will Jordan is the ordained fullback and the plan is to ensure he lacks any competition by picking his under study at the Crusaders, a guy that hasn't done anything yet unlike several other fullback candidates.
Reece, another DMac, small and tantalizingly close but not test standard.
Meanwhile the Allblacks now seen to all get long term contracts and if half descent it just keeps going like David Havilis.
The Allblacks need urgent reform, players need to be on retainers at super level and then picked seasonally.
The world cup squad build years are now, 2025 with firmed up squad by late 2026. There seems to be very little recognition of that or the contracts the rugby players association have got the NZ union to agree to prevent a surge in players capped to see if they have what it takes.
The painful losses in South Africa were avoidable with a heavier six forward ratio on the bench, Beauden at ten. Cane ir Savea leading in a NZ answer to the bomb squad
Big fan of Razor but he's going to have to build depth, get ruthless and leave at home players he knows what they give him at test level that aren't threatening to start and blood new caps.
It's becoming obvious he's got a Crusaders bias and needs to stop it quick, he's in my view been a flop so far and Schmidt would've been the better pick.
Can Razor sort this crisis out? Each test he trundles out the DMac, Cane and Ardie show I get less and less confident.
Cane was superb last week. He pulled off several crucial plays. I think he's playing better than last year and am happy if the decide he is a lock for the EOYT, I'd gladly prioritise wins there over WC building. A step up from DPs first couple of outings for sure, though he is/was injured. I think Cane will stay until the can transition Barrett into 6 to do his role.
I think you're over playing things if you're picturing him as success wise meeting the standards of the other hundred centurions. It's just a number that signifies longevity and commitment to the jersey, anything else is on you.
Rumour is you're about to get your wish withy Beaudy. I think they're playing him to prove to themselves that they have found the answer in Ratima and Dmac. It shows he doesn't yet have the confidence in his coaching ability, but it will be fun to see play out!
Cane was dropped for the pivotal 2019 game just as an FYI, exactly the type of player we lacked in the semi. Anybody who plays 100 tests for the ABs is a legend - he's started at 7 for three different AB head coaches that know a lot more than you do.
I like the idea of cane and Ardie on the bench. Beaudy should be full time option.
Dmac will get there, he is also responsible for when the attack rips the opposition open.
When’s the cut off point age? Is it, play until you’re 25 and that’s as good as you get?
He’ll get there, this is his first full seaosn running the cutter. Th eee isn’t much of another option, the next guy will just need time in the saddle too.
Papalii provides absolutely zero meters as a ball carrier nor is a good support runner to link with the backs- he provides no offence at all
Rebuilds take time, especially if a coach needs to reboot the fundamentals, the culture, and/or the administrative processes. Even something like defensive structures can take many games to get grooved in, Leinster/Nienaber being a good example.
NZ detractors are jumping the gun. Razor is a really good coach, and in a year or two he will have built a very competitive team. Don't be surprised to see them in the final of RWC 2027.
Are you saying that now?
So why is this "really good coach" doing such stupid things? Havili??? Plummer??? Fihaki??? Pathetic selections and tactics are making us form an opinion on his coaching and so far he is failing badly.
Personally for me, Razor looks lost. Keeps on playing Cane for some reason. Playing players out of position. Benching Barrett.
Clueless.
Yep! A farmers league coach picking farmers league players.
Lots of luck, lads!
Probably because Cane is the best 7 in the country. He is a different type of player to ball carriers like Ardie and Wallace.
Canes work allows them to do what they do.
Next 7 up will be Lakai who they’ll take on the NH tour.
Papali’i doesn’t have the impact of Cane and was completely outplayed by him whenever they went head to head in SR.
Blackadder would be an option if he wasn’t always injured. His pattern is
- return from injury.
- spend 4 games working harder than any player on the field to be ineffective 90% of the time.
- get into the groove for 1-2 games dominating his role.
- out injured, repeat.
They need to get everything out of Cane they can before he gaps it.
Or drop him entirely and focus on the new guy, but it seems pretty wasteful to have a player of that calibre and not use their experience.
I fully agree.!
People used to say that Cane was only selected by Foster because of Chiefs bias. You'd have thought that with him being consistently picked by a succession of coaches from different areas the penny would have dropped by now.
He is very obviously (I thought) trying to turn them into the Crusaders.
They are doing some things very well that previous ABs teams have not been able to, but failing in other areas.
It has been very frustrating that teams like Italy and Argentina that have had a change of coaching staff in 2024 have immediately built on previous success and improved this year, whereas we have to accept for some reason with the ABs that a change of coach means that learning these "new systems" means the team has to become terrible for a period of time. Not that they would stagnate, but that they will get obviously worse, and actually play very poorly. It makes me think they are complicating things.
Also this team is not fit, which is why they can't close out a game.
Any strategic thinker will tell you that tweaks are quick but sometimes the big, lasting improvements require transformational change.
Not fit according to what? A period of play that has more to do with mental fortitude than anything else? None of the All Blacks are losing any physicality, speed, or technique in the final quarter. They're just botching the odd pass here and there.
When Sam Cane retires they can tour him around the world in a camper van, wearing his runners up medal.
Get him to teach players how not to tackle - by using his own normal technique. Could be a nice little earner for thier union.
For $50 you can get a selfie with him and he can recreate his RWC red card.
Geez your dad should have gone to a pharmacy.
Troll
“The men are too goddamn sexy!”
This is like kids reading time. All we need is some pictures to go on the page with these one sentence paragraph blurbs at the bottom. It can be read back the front, two pages before they fall asleep, or starting from a different location each time. Can be like a mind game for you kid trying to make sense out of the text any which way they can.
You know when they've grown up enough to go onto real books, and are ready for you to have rugby discussions with them, when they say "Dad, this is all utter rubbish".
Most of the players they have will make it to the next world cup. Sam Cane and Beauden Barrett probably wont but they are important in terms of transferring experience and creating a squad character and personality. You cant throw away all these good players for the sake of change especially when they still have a future in the black Jersey that sees them onto 2027. Several players will have or will be close to 100 caps by then. Only a matter of time before AB's figure out their discipline and the last 20 minutes of games. Expect them to be at their best come 2026 and in lead up to 2027. They will no doubt improve but for now they are a work in progress