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New Zealand is accepting of the defeat from schoolboy-like All Blacks
Admittedly, the All Blacks weren’t eliminated from the Rugby World Cup.
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And, who’s to say they definitely will be?
After all, where there’s life, there’s hope. So, at least at this stage, we can’t say New Zealand won’t be left as the last team standing in France.
But I have to say I thought their tournament-opening defeat to France was pretty instructive.
I’ve been watching Rugby World Cups since 1987, when I was 12-years-old.
Now, New Zealand’s never been defeated at this point in the competition. When they have lost World Cup matches, they’ve been knocked out.
That’s been the cue for a hue and cry that’s been pretty savage on occasions. So, yes, we can look upon Saturday’s 27-13 loss to France and say it was no big deal. It
wasn’t campaign-ending and that all the eggs are still in the quarterfinal basket.
France was always a 50-50 proposition and we now have to sit through a few pointless pool match exercises until the All Blacks meet South Africa or Ireland in the last eight.
Lose that game and maybe then we’ll get a more visceral reaction from fans and media. But I won’t be surprised if we do.
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I think under coach Ian Foster’s tenure we’ve become accustomed to defeat. We don’t necessarily accept it, but we expect it.
Hence the shrugs of shoulders I’ve had from people at work, the golf club, kids’ sport and social gatherings in recent days.
We are sadly, it appears, increasingly conditioned to failure.
As I watched the All Blacks play France, I wasn’t focused on the result. I simply wanted to see some effort. For the team not to roll over and play dead as soon as things got a bit difficult.
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To me, that’s how badly this empire has crumbled.
I’ve seen lots of schoolboy rugby in my time. Plenty of teams who look very efficient when they’re on the front foot, but panic when they’re not.
That’s understandable. They’re boys, after all. You can’t put old heads on young shoulders.
So what’s the All Blacks’ excuse?
This is why I’ve been so critical of Foster for so long.
I saw him talk – yet again – about lessons and hard truths after Saturday’s loss. Well, the losses are mounting under his stewardship and nothing appears to have been learnt from any of them.
Schoolboys aren’t full-time. They don’t have an army of allegedly elite coaches at their disposal and unlimited resources.
Sure, there’s some video analysis and various meetings, but at a very rudimentary level compared to the All Blacks.
If the All Blacks are coached, you wouldn’t know it at times. If they have any game plans, they’re not obvious.
No, as time ticked away at Stade de France, our All Blacks played with all the clarity and aplomb of an average 1st XV.
Kick after kick after kick, neither for territory, nor with any great hope of being regathered either. Just giving the ball away because you don’t know what else to do.
All those training sessions, all those meetings, all those “lessons’’ that the coach continually talks about and the team serves up that?
It makes you wonder what they do all day.
But, hey, they’re still in the tournament, still talking about hard truths and still trying to give us the impression that there’s some method to this madness.
There’s a rugby team in there somewhere, it’s just that it might take Scott Robertson to find it.
In the meantime, the Rugby World Cup remains up for grabs. It’s just that, from a New Zealand point of view, I think we’d all be shocked if the All Blacks actually won it.
It’s the defeats we’re better-prepared for these days.
Hamish I like your articles but are you really serious in your assumptions about how bad the ABs are? Yes they were outplayed in the second half against France but without 4 key players, and a game with 27 minutes of play? The monsters in NH rugby might get a shock when the ABs get all their top players back. I’m hoping sooner than later! After the next game they have a 2 week break and I’m sure they will play their top team against Italy & Uruguay
I think you're in another dimension Hamish.New Zealand need all the games they can get to find their mojo this time around.
Yup, very true ... Fozzie, man - how could NZR do this. Worst part is that the current AB players are not half bad individually but they've been wasted over these last 4 years by a mediocre coach and who knows whether the next generation will have players of this ilk. Do you want to tell me that Boks, Irish or French players have significantly more talent than ABs? That Ramos is better than BBB. That Ntamack is that much better than Mounga. Aldritt than Savea ... the list goes on and on to tell you something about the coaching. You have to give Andy Farrell kudos - of all these teams he has the players that hardly stand out talentwise and look what he's been able to do with that bunch.
Nothing is definitive until the 1/4s, the way they're playing makes you wonder if there is tactics in there somewhere, certainly not giving much away, only hope there is plenty to bring to the table later, I am sure hoping so then won't be too surprised if they do
So many articles on rugby nowadays are fueled by opinion. How the article writer views it.
There's no analysis anymore, dissecting why they did that, whether it be done differently etc if it didnt work.
High performance coaches aren't going to tell media and by extension, other coaches what there plans are.
There's plans for everything, reasons for game play, if you don't understand that, you don't understand rugby.
Excellent analysis.
I've put a line through 2023 for the simple reason this team is incapable of putting successive good performances together against strong opposition.
Looking forward to 2024 with the best players selected in position and them knowing their role on the paddock.
Does writing crap about your own team excite you Hamish? Its bloody sad tbh.
Spot on - endless "learnings" will no actual changes being made.
Thankfully only a handful of games until this 4 year long nightmare is over.
No doubt about it. Foster has coached the ABs into mediocrity. Despite the positive efforts of Ryan & Schmidt the past 12mths, it's clear the team is hamstrung by the rot at its head. This includes a skipper who's been absent for about 50% of tests since 2020 & announced his RWC2023 credentials by getting injured, somewhat ironically, at the Captain's Run, & missing the opener.
There is no compelling evidence that points to the ABs winning the RWC. We are offered meaningless soothing words from Foster that the ABs "believe in our plan". The propaganda soft sell from the likes of Steve Hansen, Beaudin Barrett, others, is vomit-inducing. I expect more "we are on the right track" hyped up nonsense when we beat Namibia, Uruguay, & Italy, as expected.
In reality, I, like others, cling on to a RWC win by our fingernails with hope, not faith. Sadly, I agree with the sentiments of this article. A play-off loss will likely be mostly greeted with a shoulder shrug probably followed by the self-soothing mantra "at least we've still got the Bledisloe Cup".
Finally a journalist who is speaks some common sense! And addresses some of the issues.
As an AB fan, listening to Fozzie, and increasingly to Ryan is so frustrating - hearing the same old drivel about "our learnings".
For four years we have been listening to these "learnings" only to see the same old mistakes and psychological weaknesses. For four years Fozzie has remained clueless how to motivate this team.
The journalist was spot on when he stated: Kick after kick after kick, neither for territory, nor with any great hope of being regathered either. Just giving the ball away because they didn't know what else to do.
But this has been happening for the last 2-3 years aimless "nowhere kicks" - poor team selections consistently playing players out of position - backrow failing to win the breakdowns - then aimless kicks, aimless kicks, aimless kicks - then there is the white line fever, where every forward tries to barge themselves over the line from a standstill - same old problems
Let's get the quarter final over with - on the 23rd September Ireland play Boks so we will know finally what we already know, we will be playing Ireland in the quarter final, because they have the pack and the wiley Johnny Sexton that can over come Rassie and his water boy tactics