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The All Blacks did their job as Ireland suffered from their own ineptitude
My wife was clicking through the TV channels on Sunday night and stumbled upon a promo.
A newsreader was exhorting us to tune in after the break to get action and reaction from one of the greatest performances in All Blacks history.
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I can’t say we bothered.
We had – along with friends and family – actually watched the All Blacks’ quarterfinal clash with Ireland.
We knew it was a high-quality test match, in which the result was uncertain right up until the final whistle and that both teams had played well.
But you insult your audience when you suggest anything more than that.
The expectation of the All Blacks is excellence. On Sunday morning (NZ time), they met our collective expectations. I give them enormous credit for that.
But I also think of Manchester United icon turned television pundit, Roy Keane, at times like these.
Keane’s an avowed All Blacks’ fan, but very much of the school that professional athletes shouldn’t be praised for doing their job.
Good players should play well and many All Blacks did, during the 28-24 win.
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The stage is now set for them to go on and win this Rugby World Cup. If they do, I’ll say well done. If not, then they won’t have been good enough.
And that’s how I feel about Ireland right now.
They had ample opportunities to beat the All Blacks on Sunday and weren’t good enough to take them. At times, that was due to the resolve and desperation of the All Blacks.
At others, it was their own ineptitude.
I didn’t get the Irish inclination to spread the ball wide. I didn’t see how letting staggered and retreating All Blacks defensive lines drift across and bundle guys towards the touchline was a smart tactic.
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Time and again, Ireland created holes in the All Blacks’ midfield but, rather than punch through them, they shuffled the ball sideways.
Yes, the All Blacks were fortunate the game featured so few scrums. And, yes, despite having the by far the weaker scum, the All Blacks were exceptionally fortunate referee Wayne Barnes chose to penalise the dominant Irish instead.
But that’s rugby. It’s an imperfect game, played and refereed by imperfect people. There’s no doubt the quarterfinal result was a great outcome for the All Blacks. They should now put 20 points on Argentina in their semifinal and look forward with relish to meeting South Africa in a final.
England won’t be a pushover for the Springboks, but I’d expect South Africa to beat England as comfortably as the All Blacks do Argentina.
But I go back to the All Blacks and the expectation of excellence.
I’ve worried this year that we’d come to expect mediocrity. That we’ve begun to praise efforts rather than outcomes.
The All Blacks’ legacy isn’t built on effort. It’s built on excellence and that’s the challenge for every coach and player who inherits that legacy.
When we start singling players and coaches out and saying they’ve answered their critics or that they’ve been redeemed – on the back of one quarterfinal victory – then we tarnish that legacy.
So well done to the All Blacks for Sunday. Good luck for this weekend and the one that follows.
If they’re worthy inheritors of the team’s great legacy, then they’ll continue to play well and continue to win.
That is their job, after all.
The Grinch Who Wrote About Rugby
Hamish
A sad individual - enjoying the largesse of your press pass and a few freebies.
No doubt waiting to return to the Utopia of the south after the horrors of the Northern Hemisphere.
What a miserable commentary on the game. Are you the kind of person who'd go to a Michelin star restaurant and refuse to praise exceptional food because you'd expect nothing less? As for the scrums, because you have refused to re-watch the game, you've evidently missed the first scrum warning given to Porter to keep his elbow up. Porter ignored this advice and was repeatedly pinged for infringing. If not for that he could have been done for the angle he was coming in from too.
Stokes Kiwi, McCallum Kiwi, Aki Kiwi, Lowe Kiwi and the list goes on and on and on. Graham Henry Wales, Hansen Wales, Gatland Wales, Wayne Pivac Wales, Schmidt Ireland, Mitchell England,
Blackadder Scotland.
Then we leave and you go back to your NH mindset and you go “Backwards” and another 4 years of “pondering” and moaning how the ref “robbed you”
Rogan O’ Gara will coach Ireland at some stage. He knows our mindset and he said he had to adjust and it took a while. He was amazed! Write to him, I am sure he would reply.
What an absolute special guy. Maybe he should “hold Clinics for Coaches” and tell them why a country with 28,000 Adult Rugby players are so good at the game for so long.
It’s not your physical ability it’s your “attitude” and “mindset”
You’re not even consistent with your own opinions, Hamish Bidwell. Against France in the opener, you said that the big French tight-head should have been penalised, not De Groot, because he was angling in under pressure from De Grood. Yet when Porter does the same thing against Lomax, you think that’s legitimate ‘domination’?
Also, the Irish were not drifting across, they were, as usually, with bodies in motion, trying to punch holes in the middle. The AB defence was not drifting laterally in this game either - they’d made a strategic change to follow the ball and stop the break in the middle, forcing the Irish to throw Hail Mary’s to the outside, where the space was, and where the ABs trusted they could mop them up. Deliberate, brilliant. I’ve been a critic of Fossie too, but chapeau to that man, and to Sam Cane and Beauden, who have also copped it from me.
Most writers will at least research if they don't understand before writing, ie quote, ‘ABs exceptionally fortunate referee Wayne Barnes chose to penalise the dominant Irish instead.’ Definitely in another reality & no where near rugby rules. Porter, & illegal & dysfunctional boring was one of Ireland biggest performances faults in that game. What part of ‘Square & straight’ is not understood by those don't understand. DE Groot smashed played with Porters (& it seems the whole Irish forwards team & coaching) in this elemental area.
Hamish Bidwell really has no clue about scrums if he cannot recognize that Porter bores in on each scrum, which IS illegal and a penalty every time.
World Rugby encourages them to create “controversy” so people voice their opinion and go to the site. I thought we all knew that.
The plan is to charge in the future. I find it such good fun, watching people take life “so seriously” especially poms.
Now the Irish are also whinging. Never thought that I would ever happen. I suppose it’s a “better outlet” than the Irish used to indulge in.
World Rugby are in trouble. U
Just like FIFA. Sports Organisations always attract “Fraudsters like Bernard and Billy”
Seeing that “corrupt old C” Billy Beaumont treated like a hero is “absolutely priceless”
Argentina @$8.50 Hey a lazy $100 will be a nice dinner.
Now the Poms are paying $6.00, which is even more tempting.
ABs scrum far weaker???
Once again a NZ sports writer shows just how appalling the NZ rugby media is. I’m constantly surprised at the gall of these reporters to write articles on the same site as people like Nick Bishop and not be embarrassed by their inadequacies.
Our rugby writers are generally very average but the NZers are on another level.