1
When is it going to be the fault of the All Blacks' players for their results
And then there were the players.
Sure, it’s been fun to see how badly New Zealand Rugby (NZR) have mismanaged their business.
ADVERTISEMENT
And, yes, it’s been amusing to see critics from all corners of the game come out to give the coaching of Ian Foster a kicking.
But what about the actual blokes in black? The ones who continue to let the jersey down.
When’s their day of reckoning?
It’s easy to let off-the-park issues obscure what’s happening on it.
Whether it’s NZR chief executive Mark Robinson giving Foster a two-game stay of execution, seeing John Plumtree and Brad Mooar sacked as All Blacks assistant coaches, comms people Mike Jaspers and Joe Malcolm huffing and puffing on LinkedIn or Steve Hansen and David Moffett offering their two bobs’ worth, we’ve not been short of distractions.
Winning masks a lot of problems, but when results go bad it’s amazing how much disharmony becomes apparent.
But that’s all waffle.
It’s stuff that journalists and rugby insiders and corporate governance aficionados get their knickers in a twist about.
Rugby’s what matters to fans and that’s what should be the real issue here.
For all that’s wrong within the running of NZR and the All Blacks, the fact remains that the team aren’t very good.
ADVERTISEMENT
These blokes, with their flash haircuts and sabbaticals and tattoos and massive wages, simply haven’t delivered. Not this year, not last year and not the two seasons before that either.
Not when it counts, at least.
No, they’ve been found physically and tactically wanting.
They’ve lost lineouts, missed tackles, dropped passes and kicked away good ball too often to be regarded as an elite team.
If they spent as much time on skill execution or studying the opposition, as they do writing messages on their wrist bands or practising fancy handshakes and try celebrations,
maybe they’d win a game now and then.
ADVERTISEMENT
Let’s look at this team.
Scrum? Middling to poor.
Lineout? Poor.
Defence? Suspect.
Attack? Clunky.
Attitude? Average.
Desire? Seemingly non-existent.
I could go on.
These are men who’ve been in teams all their lives. Men who’ve had good coaches and bad coaches, been part of good cultures and bad cultures, had talented teammates and donkeys for teammates.
They’ve made it this far because, presumably, they could rise above their circumstances.
Whether their club or school or province or franchise was superbly run didn’t matter. They found a way to win.
Hansen made some interesting points about NZR last week. Much of it, you’d have to say, was entirely valid.
But Robinson and company aren’t out there on the park. That’s still the players’ domain and just because things may be shambolic off the field, doesn’t mean they should be the same on it.
So before we lampoon Foster again or call for Robinson’s resignation, let’s think about the players for a moment.
At some point, we all have to admit that they are the ones responsible for the team’s poor performances and disappointing results and that they are the only ones who can fix them.
But don’t tell us about it, fellas. Don’t tell us you’re hurting or you’re united or that you’re right behind old mate Fozzie.
Go out and show us something and put a bit of pride back in the jersey.
We’re forever told that players strive to leave the jersey better than they found it. Well, there aren’t many of this current mob who could possibly claim that.
There are sacrifices made in every part of New Zealand rugby to ensure that the All Blacks can be successful. Every team in every town in this fine country makes do with less, so the
All Blacks can have more.
People are happy to do that as long as the team keeps winning. Well, the winning’s stopped and the only people who appear not to be suffering any consequences are the players.
When’s it actually going to be their fault?
Some good points, some nonsense. But by making NO mention of Foster's role in it all is to absolve him of ANY accountability. That's ridiculous. The head coach is the General. Responsible for the gameplan, selecting players to suit, drilling skills training to lock it in. Patently it isn't happening. Excellent ABs look a shadow of themselves. All players must be better but it's not aided by this substandard head coach.
There comes a time when your best is no longer good enough. Some of the old brigade are past it. Codie Taylor and Sam Cane are two prime examples of players that are no longer good enough and are keeping better options out of the team sim
I've been watching the Old Foe for many a decade and have always seen them as our biggest rivals.
I've seen just one thing that has led to where NZ rugby is at the moment.
Arrogance.
From the top down to the players and the All Black supporters. The AB's started believing that they should just pitch up and expect to win after their 2011 and 2015 era where they where undoubtedly the best team that has ever played the game. Arrogance when they sent the Boks North. I said then and I'm saying it now be careful what you wish for.
I have huge respect for the All Blacks and have enjoyed many a pint with All Black supporters after a test match against the Boks. But that was long ago and sadly not the case anymore.
The players should step up, stop blaming the coach. Simple as that.
They are coached by a man that has failed upwards his whole career
Who picks the team, the game plan, the coach. But then again who picked him for the job NZRU. When you have Henry on the selection panel was always Foster job that is why Joseph and others didn't apply. Agree players do need to take responsibility but the buck stops at the top.
We'll blame them when there's a sound gameplan that they're failing to execute because of their own lacklustre efforts rather than a terrible gameplan.
They dominated Ireland in the first test, Joe Schmidt gave them a gameplan and it worked, Ireland adjusted in the next game so it fell apart, Foster didn't come up with anything, there's no plan b for when their tactics aren't working.
Yes the starting forwards minus Savea are lazy but it's hard to know exactly where the weak links are until there's an actual offensive strategy.
Interesting and dare I say courageous article, which says what some fans may also be thinking, but having watched the All Blacks for nearly 50 years it has to be acknowledged that all team sports need to evolve, especially with specialist training and analysis of important parts of the game to help improve coaching techniques.
For me the beginning of the modern expansive style of rugby began with the Wallabies running rugby of the 80's including the importance of developing an accurate kicking game, up to that point forward power, rucks, mauls and scrums were the go to for the All Blacks and the more agile Wallabies outpaced them. NZ rugby took that to heart and began improving their running, kicking game which in turn introduced the need for players to be more versatile, the big men needed to run just as much as the more mobile players especially in set piece play, the Southern hemisphere set up the game for the professional era and Europe took a while to fully catch up to their level.
Fast forward to the 21st century and sports science has leveled the playing field for the top ranking teams, especially when the inclusion of foreign born players is more common and the input of coaching experience is being distributed more evenly.
What is happening to the All Blacks now has happened before it is a sporting cycle which most teams face from time to time, whether it lasts for a year or two or longer depends on the investment and forward thinking of the NZRU, just changing staff every season is not the answer, and winning is a lot more than having a team of talented players it's creating a functioning unit that knows its job instinctively and has the motivation and drive to do it well.
So do we select different players, or adjust team patterns, or give more motivation to the players picked? All of these things are still under the remit of the Coach.
headline need grammatical edit