Sunday, November 25, 2012
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Agonising tension until final whistle
Usually Mt Eden looks to ease quietly towards thoughts of sleep on a Sunday night and the start to the working week.
But a year ago, the suburb was in a frenzy. All points led to Eden Park as the All Blacks waited their chance to emulate their predecessors from 1987.
It was the nation's greatest rugby inquiry since the All Blacks were pipped by illness and a dropped goal in extra time in South Africa in 1995.
Most of the worry from two months before had dissipated. In that time the All Blacks were beaten by the Springboks and Wallabies in their final two tests leading into the tournament. They were chilling blows but gave the coaches all the ingredients they needed to keep the side on task.
The All Blacks breezed through pool play, tightened at quarter-final time against Argentina and slammed their foot down hard on the Wallabies in the semifinal.
One more win, one victory stood between the class of 2011 emulating the 1987 Hall of Famers. Coach Graham Henry was interviewed before the decider against France and told the audience that success would mean "peace, internal peace".
His insides and those in the huge crowd who packed into the stadium did not stop churning until referee Craig Joubert blew a halt, with the All Blacks a golden point ahead at 8-7.
For 33 minutes, the All Blacks fought to hold that precarious lead, avoiding Joubert's wrath for most of that time though they had to dodge one bullet when Francois Trinh-Duc pushed a long-range penalty wide.
Captain Richie McCaw and centre Conrad Smith heard the final hooter and implored replacement halfback Andy Ellis to kick the ball out.
Before he could, Joubert blew a penalty and after a double check the game was done; Ellis booted the ball deep into the throng in the grandstand - the pain of five previous World Cup campaigns dissolved.
The ache of those tournaments ebbed away while the relief flowed through the All Blacks and their coaching staff. It had been way too close. The artery-tightening pressure of the Webb Ellis Cup duel, the expectation of the nation, the wounds of history and French bravery had weighed down the All Blacks.
They had beaten France 37-17 in pool play before France then lost to Tonga. But in the weird mix of qualifying and French rugby, that did not matter as they brought a resolve which had been missing from their previous work.
Four of the All Blacks' starting side - Israel Dagg, Aaron Cruden, Sam Whitelock and Owen Franks - were not alive when New Zealand won the inaugural tournament in 1987. Even for those who watched that match, that triumph seemed to be in some distant age.
There was emotion and torment welling long before kickoff. A pack of former greats breathed their thoughts to global television audiences. Men like Sean Fitzpatrick, Michael Lynagh, Francois Pienaar, George Gregan, Phil Kearns, John Eales, Rod Kafer, Greg Martin and Agustin Pichot delivered their last theories.
McCaw came on to the track 40 minutes before kickoff, testing his foot injury which had reduced his training impact and been a well-hidden secret.
Brad Thorn looked even more stern before his final test, perhaps remembering his time at the 2003 event, as injured teammates Daniel Carter, Mils Muliaina and Colin Slade sat uncertainly in their seats.
Referee Joubert brushed away some moisture round his eyes as the national anthems boomed out before the French advanced in arrowhead formation towards the All Black haka.
Bluff, double-bluff or a real sign of intent? We soon found out.
France arrived 90 minutes before the start, bristling at being seen as making up the numbers for this seventh global title decider. On the evidence of their scratchy pool play then fortune to beat Wales who had captain Sam Warburton sent off, most pundits dismissed France as a real threat. They had played particularly well to beat England but little more. There was dissension in the ranks about coach Marc Lievremont, but that sort of chatter seems to accompany every French side.
Apart from the debut 1987 festival, the history of World Cup finals tells us there is little in these contests.
The All Blacks destroyed France 29-9 that day, they beat them by the same margin in pool play and many thought a similar margin was possible in the 2011 decider.
The tournament had shown a divide in the teams' talent and application but finals tended to narrow some of those differences.
Early nerves were on show with Morgan Parra kicking out on the full and the All Blacks losing their first lineout. The strain was everywhere, there was an edge to the crowd's encouragement and both sets of coaches were agitated.
That tension stayed until Joubert's final blast on his whistle and McCaw could sink to his knees in relief as his busted foot couldn't cope with much more. "We've won. I should be happy. All I feel is relief," he says in his book. "It's finished. I can stop. I don't have to do this anymore."
Now the All Blacks have to turn their attention to winning a World Cup offshore, with that target already taking a little shape as coach Steve Hansen prepares to take his unbeaten squad to the UK and Europe.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
All Blacks: McCaw and Hansen hail victory
Richie McCaw says the All Blacks have finally delivered a performance worthy of a world champion side.
The All Blacks captain was full of praise for the manner in which they clinched the Rugby Championship with a 54-15 victory Argentina today.
It has been a long time coming - eight tests this year since New Zealand won the World Cup - but McCaw and coach Steve Hansen were understandably elated by the win in front of 50,000 at Ciudad de La Plata stadium.
"It's probably one of our best performances of the season,'' he said. "When we started out four or six weeks ago, the goal was to put last year behind us. We've got the tag of world champions and we needed to play like them. to secure the Rugby Championship was obviously the big goal and it's nice to be able to do that, but I think tonight to put out that performance, it's something the guys are pretty happy with.
"It's nice obviously scoreboard wise but it's the manner in which we did it which is so satisfying. There's a happy bunch [of players] down there.''
Argentina tried to play more of an expansive game than they did in their Wellington defeat three weeks ago, but they were blown away by the All Blacks.
They were beaten all over the park, but particularly in the forwards, who haven't been up to par in recent weeks, and the rewards came in the form of seven tries, three to Cory Jane, two to Julian Savea, and one each for Ma'a Nonu and Aaron Smith.
The set pieces were solid, the ruck cleanouts effective. The fast men appreciated the quick ball and looked a different class to their Argentine counterparts.
The Pumas scored first through halfback Martin Landajo but Aaron Smith replied for the All Blacks and it was virtually one-way traffic after that.
Jane clinched his third try a minute before fulltime.
Having put the pressure on his forwards to up the ante, Hansen was happy with the response.
"We're very satisfied by winning the Rugby Championship but also about the way we played,'' he said. "We train all week to do things with purpose and accuracy in our execution and by and large tonight we achieved that. I'd also like to pay credit to Argentina, who came to play rugby. When you get two sides who want to play footy, you get a game like we got tonight.
"I don't think anyone who anyone who wouldn't have enjoyed the occasion. I think the Argentine fans would be disappointed that they weren't closer on the scoreboard but they should be thoroughly proud of their team because they never gave up at any stage and were playing just as hard at the end as they were in the beginning.
"The cleanout was the big area we were disappointed with after the South African test and tonight they were spot on. I thought we played pretty well in that area. There's still parts of our game that we've got to work on. We can pat ourselves on the back and enjoy the moment but there's still areas to improve one and one of them is the delivery and connection between the forwards and backs. The first two lineouts I think we struggled to do that and that's platforms we didn't have to attack off. Once we worked into the game and got our composure and dealt with what was happening to interfere with the calmness and clarity inside their brains we linked up and did score some great tries. To be able to attack like that you've got to have a platform to attack off so the forwards can be very proud.''
Lock Luke Romano and centre Conrad Smith left the field in the first half with cuts to their faces and didn't return, but the injuries aren't thought to be serious.
The All Blacks leave for Johannesburg tomorrow (Mon) for a dead rubber against South Africa.
New Zealand 54 (Cory Jane 3, Julian Savea 2, Aaron Smith, Ma'a Nonu tries; Dan Carter 3 con, 2 pen, Aaron Cruden 2 con, pen) Argentina 15 (Martin Landajo, Gonzalo Camacho tries; Juan Martin Hernandez pen, con) HT: 32-8.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
//Getty Images
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Dominant NZ humiliate Ireland
Sportal.co.nz - (23/06/2012)
The All Blacks have slammed shut the international window with a dominant 60-0 victory, and a 3-0
Steinlager Series sweep, against a disappointing Ireland on Saturday.
Having been tested by a resurgent Irish outfit last weekend, coach Steve Hansen's men were back to their best in front of a capacity crowd at Hamilton's Waikato Stadium.Steinlager Series sweep, against a disappointing Ireland on Saturday.
And it was the local boys who responded, with Chiefs star Sonny Bill Williams crossing twice while Liam Messam also scored a try for the hosts.
A lack of ball control hurt Ireland from then on and their confidence subsequently subsided. Any opportunities to mount attacks were thwarted either by a strong line defence or multiple handling errors.
Tackling was also an issue for the Irish, allowing Williams and Liam Messam to score tries thanks to multiple missed tackles en route to the line as the Irish conceded their highest margin of defeat to the All Blacks - surpassing the hosts' 59-6 victory in 1992.
The result was also the third time in 27 Tests - the first time since 1924 - where the Irish failed to score a point in a Test match against the All Blacks.
It was another local lad that perhaps had the biggest impact, albeit in a 25-minute cameo. Starting in Dan Carter's absence, Aaron Cruden showed all of his strength, vision and innovation before limping off after 25 minutes.
It was enough time for him to showcase his skill, however, including two superb offloads to give Sam Cane his first Test try from his maiden start as well as Williams' opening try.
The dominance didn't end after Cruden's departure as Ben Smith got in on the action with a 35m effort made all the more enjoyable by Conrad Smith, whose unselfishness allowed the Highlanders utility to score his first international try.
The floodgates continued to pour for the hosts when Cane scored his second and Adam Thomson notched his sixth Test try to extend the hosts' lead to 60-0, a perfect way to end what had been a dominant night for the hosts.
Nobody left Waikato Stadium, with all 25,000-plus staying to gift the side a standing ovation - they had witnessed something spectacular.
All Blacks 60 (Sonny Bill Williams 2, Sam Cane 2, Ben Smith, Hosea Gear, Liam Messam, Israel Dagg, Adam Thomson tries; Aaron Cruden 2 con, Israel Dagg con, Beauden Barrett 3 con, pen) Ireland 0. HT: 29-0.
Monday, January 2, 2012
2011 in review: All Blacks show Wallabies new World Cup maxim
James Mortimer - (22/12/2011)
Coming into the World Cup, the most intrigue beyond the host nation’s ability to break a 20-year losing drought, would be how team’s tactics would shift in a tournament that had proven – from an All Blacks perspective at least – notoriously difficult to win.
Every stone had been unturned by the All Blacks for over two decades, but the reality is that specific tournaments throughout revealed World Cup truisms that have become unbreakable tenets eventual winners have had to heed.
By and large.
Key moments defined each World Cup.
In 1991 it was proven the importance of shifting and altering tactics, even if ironically it wasn’t shown in any conventional terms, as it came from the loser of the second quadrennial tournament’s final.
The Wallabies, a burgeoning power that benefitted from a tough examination from the Irish to down the All Blacks in the semi-final, faced host's England in the final.
Yet despite showing their stoic forward game was hard to beat, grinding down all in Europe to win that season’s Five Nations, they played into the Wallabies hands by playing expansively, an approach that the Australians were far more adept at applying.
Had England tied the World Champions-elect down up front, the Northern Hemisphere could have claimed their first global title 12 years earlier.
World Cup maxim number one – Always rely on what you know best.
In 1995 the All Blacks could have won the tournament, but on this occasion two new laws were introduced to the World Cup list of commandments.
The first was one was revealed with growing power as South Africans began to embrace the World Cup despite the old ghosts of apartheid, and hit a compelling crescendo prior to the final, when the Madiba, Nelson Mandela, came out in a Springboks jersey and committed an gesture that many believed was the single most prudent act to unite the ‘Rainbow Nation’.
World Cup maxim number two – Home support can make you nearly unbeatable.
This was proven this year, as the moniker of the 'Stadium of Four Million' came to life in a manner that would have exceeded the wildest dreams of the pioneers of New Zealand’s bid, men such as Jock Hobbs and the tournament’s Field General Martin Sneddon.
Such support could paradoxically have been the undermining factor behind previous World Cup bids, as this can amount to a stifling amount of pressure, but there was little doubt that the All Blacks had points in the bank every time they ran out onto the field.
Even that fearsome changeling that is Les Bleus couldn’t break that support on the glorious day in October.
Back to South Africa, the All Blacks also learned to their peril that no matter how destructive your primary weapon is – a.k.a. Jonah Lomu – any offensive system no matter how awesome can be shut down.
The Springboks didn’t just use the emotion of a nation to win their maiden World Cup, they shut down New Zealand’s primary source of power, and ultimately you need more than one bullet to win the Webb Ellis Cup.
Even if that bullet was 1.96m and still over 120kg when lean.
World Cup maxim number three – Always have a plan B.
A further three emerged in 1999, as the French epitomised a host of clichés that would earn the direst wrath of any coach.
The most prudent is that it takes 80 minutes to win a test match, not 44, the same time that Jonah Lomu scored his 15th and final try in his World Cup career (a record that still stands today) to give the All Blacks a comfortable 24-10 lead over France in that World Cup’s semi-final.
The French then scored 33 unanswered points in just 28 minutes to stun the All Blacks 43-31.
Were the All Blacks complacent, or casting their eyes to the final?
World Cup maxim number four – Don’t count your chickens until they’re hatched.
The Wallabies provided another, with one of the most balanced World Cup teams on display in history going all the way, even if we were denied the purist’s final between New Zealand and Australia in the penultimate year before the rare close of a millennium.
Yet if the tarot card reading of that potential matchup was predicted, the most recent trans-Tasman match, the Wallabies biggest ever win, 28-7 over the All Blacks (in Sydney prior to the 1999 World Cup), would have had John Eales troops bullish.
It didn’t matter if Australia was slicing up a (according to the Emerald Isle' media at the time) one-dimensional Ireland via their backline, silencing the crowd with beating Wales in their own backyard, or taking on the Springboks during a high stakes kicking duel.
Equilibrium and poise would describe a team that may have still had something of an Achilles heel up front, but never was it pounced on by the opposition while the Wallaby strengths such as a glamour backline and plenty of rugby smarts won them their second crown.
World Cup maxim number five – Make sure you have more than one winning hand.
The English and Springboks both revealed what appeared to be the most elementary of World Cup winning personalities.
The blueprint under Sir Clive Woodward was so beautiful in it’s simplicity that many of the Red Rose fraternity’s frustration have come from the inability to achieve it since.
Jake White and John Smit didn’t stride into France like some unbeatable colossus, and surely it was some form of rugby heresy that a team that had 'sacrificed' the Tri Nations to win the World Cup could etch themselves as two-time holders.
But it was a World Cup winning approach, and bearing loose resemblance to the machine of England it emerged.
Added with some cunning interplay thanks to Eddie Jones, the compelling and lethal aerial attack led by the peerless Victor Matfield, and the hard nosed captaincy of John Smit backed by the most experienced South African test team of all time, the South Africans won title number two.
World Cup maxim number six – Experience counts in the cauldron.
Pragmatism, the ability to win ugly, and all other unattractive labels assist in narrowing the fine line between success and failure, and to borrow to quote every rugby coach, lowering the percentages in rugby basics such as ruling the ruck count and taking your set pieces will always help you win.
World Cup / Rugby / Sport / Life / etc maxim number one – Do the basics well.
The All Blacks class of 2011 brought all of these characteristics to the table, and added with the obvious aid of form and a strong statistical record over eight years, were as well equipped as possible to win the World Cup.
Factors such as Richie McCaw’s foot or the Plague like "Ring a Ring o' Roses" ailment struck upon the All Blacks first five-eighths have been well discussed.
At the semi-final, the All Blacks defeated one maxim, punished the Wallabies for not following one, while creating a new etching on the stone of World Cup law, although it is one that is so rudimentary it almost seems embarrassing to say it aloud.
Australia appeared to have made a conscious decision to follow a World Cup lesson and play a safe game with as little risk as possible, but erred in not scripting to another, as one of the most dangerous attacking teams in the game went into their shell to ensure that few errors – dare I say it, another chestnut – to minimise risk of losing the game.
Was not the first maxim to rely on what you know best?
Such is the pressure of test rugby, let alone World Cups (and notwithstanding any sport in existence), that many a team has tried to not lose a game.
Often the more prudent plan is to win a match.
However the All Blacks created the most Jurassic aphorism of all.
World Cup winning maxim seven – Je ne sais quoi?
I don’t know what?
That intangible quality…
Personally I still haven’t grasped what exactly the All Blacks did when they defeated France 8-7 to win their second World Cup.
All the above boxes were ticked.
Their belief lay rooted in the first law, playing to what they knew best, while having home support, a plan B, they didn’t count their chickens before they were hatched, they had more than one winning hand, they had experience that counted in the cauldron, they did the basics well, while they had something that we else we just couldn’t define.
How apt we label that with the haunting elegance of the French language.
Pressure (and fear perhaps of that awful word choke) drove the All Blacks to conquer the world and prove correct many of the natural laws that have helped many a team and nation win a World Championship.
Fascination, even with a 46-month wait, comes with predicting how such theories play out as England gears up for World Cup number eight.
Coming into the World Cup, the most intrigue beyond the host nation’s ability to break a 20-year losing drought, would be how team’s tactics would shift in a tournament that had proven – from an All Blacks perspective at least – notoriously difficult to win.
Every stone had been unturned by the All Blacks for over two decades, but the reality is that specific tournaments throughout revealed World Cup truisms that have become unbreakable tenets eventual winners have had to heed.
By and large.
Key moments defined each World Cup.
In 1991 it was proven the importance of shifting and altering tactics, even if ironically it wasn’t shown in any conventional terms, as it came from the loser of the second quadrennial tournament’s final.
The Wallabies, a burgeoning power that benefitted from a tough examination from the Irish to down the All Blacks in the semi-final, faced host's England in the final.
Yet despite showing their stoic forward game was hard to beat, grinding down all in Europe to win that season’s Five Nations, they played into the Wallabies hands by playing expansively, an approach that the Australians were far more adept at applying.
Had England tied the World Champions-elect down up front, the Northern Hemisphere could have claimed their first global title 12 years earlier.
World Cup maxim number one – Always rely on what you know best.
In 1995 the All Blacks could have won the tournament, but on this occasion two new laws were introduced to the World Cup list of commandments.
The first was one was revealed with growing power as South Africans began to embrace the World Cup despite the old ghosts of apartheid, and hit a compelling crescendo prior to the final, when the Madiba, Nelson Mandela, came out in a Springboks jersey and committed an gesture that many believed was the single most prudent act to unite the ‘Rainbow Nation’.
World Cup maxim number two – Home support can make you nearly unbeatable.
This was proven this year, as the moniker of the 'Stadium of Four Million' came to life in a manner that would have exceeded the wildest dreams of the pioneers of New Zealand’s bid, men such as Jock Hobbs and the tournament’s Field General Martin Sneddon.
Such support could paradoxically have been the undermining factor behind previous World Cup bids, as this can amount to a stifling amount of pressure, but there was little doubt that the All Blacks had points in the bank every time they ran out onto the field.
Even that fearsome changeling that is Les Bleus couldn’t break that support on the glorious day in October.
Back to South Africa, the All Blacks also learned to their peril that no matter how destructive your primary weapon is – a.k.a. Jonah Lomu – any offensive system no matter how awesome can be shut down.
The Springboks didn’t just use the emotion of a nation to win their maiden World Cup, they shut down New Zealand’s primary source of power, and ultimately you need more than one bullet to win the Webb Ellis Cup.
Even if that bullet was 1.96m and still over 120kg when lean.
World Cup maxim number three – Always have a plan B.
A further three emerged in 1999, as the French epitomised a host of clichés that would earn the direst wrath of any coach.
The most prudent is that it takes 80 minutes to win a test match, not 44, the same time that Jonah Lomu scored his 15th and final try in his World Cup career (a record that still stands today) to give the All Blacks a comfortable 24-10 lead over France in that World Cup’s semi-final.
The French then scored 33 unanswered points in just 28 minutes to stun the All Blacks 43-31.
Were the All Blacks complacent, or casting their eyes to the final?
World Cup maxim number four – Don’t count your chickens until they’re hatched.
The Wallabies provided another, with one of the most balanced World Cup teams on display in history going all the way, even if we were denied the purist’s final between New Zealand and Australia in the penultimate year before the rare close of a millennium.
Yet if the tarot card reading of that potential matchup was predicted, the most recent trans-Tasman match, the Wallabies biggest ever win, 28-7 over the All Blacks (in Sydney prior to the 1999 World Cup), would have had John Eales troops bullish.
It didn’t matter if Australia was slicing up a (according to the Emerald Isle' media at the time) one-dimensional Ireland via their backline, silencing the crowd with beating Wales in their own backyard, or taking on the Springboks during a high stakes kicking duel.
Equilibrium and poise would describe a team that may have still had something of an Achilles heel up front, but never was it pounced on by the opposition while the Wallaby strengths such as a glamour backline and plenty of rugby smarts won them their second crown.
World Cup maxim number five – Make sure you have more than one winning hand.
The English and Springboks both revealed what appeared to be the most elementary of World Cup winning personalities.
The blueprint under Sir Clive Woodward was so beautiful in it’s simplicity that many of the Red Rose fraternity’s frustration have come from the inability to achieve it since.
Jake White and John Smit didn’t stride into France like some unbeatable colossus, and surely it was some form of rugby heresy that a team that had 'sacrificed' the Tri Nations to win the World Cup could etch themselves as two-time holders.
But it was a World Cup winning approach, and bearing loose resemblance to the machine of England it emerged.
Added with some cunning interplay thanks to Eddie Jones, the compelling and lethal aerial attack led by the peerless Victor Matfield, and the hard nosed captaincy of John Smit backed by the most experienced South African test team of all time, the South Africans won title number two.
World Cup maxim number six – Experience counts in the cauldron.
Pragmatism, the ability to win ugly, and all other unattractive labels assist in narrowing the fine line between success and failure, and to borrow to quote every rugby coach, lowering the percentages in rugby basics such as ruling the ruck count and taking your set pieces will always help you win.
World Cup / Rugby / Sport / Life / etc maxim number one – Do the basics well.
The All Blacks class of 2011 brought all of these characteristics to the table, and added with the obvious aid of form and a strong statistical record over eight years, were as well equipped as possible to win the World Cup.
Factors such as Richie McCaw’s foot or the Plague like "Ring a Ring o' Roses" ailment struck upon the All Blacks first five-eighths have been well discussed.
At the semi-final, the All Blacks defeated one maxim, punished the Wallabies for not following one, while creating a new etching on the stone of World Cup law, although it is one that is so rudimentary it almost seems embarrassing to say it aloud.
Australia appeared to have made a conscious decision to follow a World Cup lesson and play a safe game with as little risk as possible, but erred in not scripting to another, as one of the most dangerous attacking teams in the game went into their shell to ensure that few errors – dare I say it, another chestnut – to minimise risk of losing the game.
Was not the first maxim to rely on what you know best?
Such is the pressure of test rugby, let alone World Cups (and notwithstanding any sport in existence), that many a team has tried to not lose a game.
Often the more prudent plan is to win a match.
However the All Blacks created the most Jurassic aphorism of all.
World Cup winning maxim seven – Je ne sais quoi?
I don’t know what?
That intangible quality…
Personally I still haven’t grasped what exactly the All Blacks did when they defeated France 8-7 to win their second World Cup.
All the above boxes were ticked.
Their belief lay rooted in the first law, playing to what they knew best, while having home support, a plan B, they didn’t count their chickens before they were hatched, they had more than one winning hand, they had experience that counted in the cauldron, they did the basics well, while they had something that we else we just couldn’t define.
How apt we label that with the haunting elegance of the French language.
Pressure (and fear perhaps of that awful word choke) drove the All Blacks to conquer the world and prove correct many of the natural laws that have helped many a team and nation win a World Championship.
Fascination, even with a 46-month wait, comes with predicting how such theories play out as England gears up for World Cup number eight.
2011 in review: All Blacks turn agony into ecstasy
James Mortimer - (28/12/2011)
If one had said to any involved with the All Blacks – management, players or fans alike – that the world’s number one ranked team would lose back-to-back test matches leading into the World Cup, one would have wondered if such a prophecy was uttered by the grim reaper himself.
As Suncorp Stadium again proved too daunting a colosseum to win for a New Zealand team in 2011, the All Blacks would have taken little comfort from the fact that winning or losing the Investec Tri Nations was no pointer to success in World Cups.
Never has a Tri Nations winner won the Webb Ellis Cup in the same season.
But an All Blacks team is always expected to win, and while their first failure to win the Southern Hemisphere’s premier tournament in a World Cup year hurt, ultimately their 25-20 loss to the Wallabies would prove to be a good thing.
It took all complacency away from the All Blacks, while ironically perhaps gave the Australians just a little more swagger that may have in the end lulled them into thinking they had their great rivals measure.
However while the loss in the Tri Nations finale, and an 18-5 defeat where an understrength All Blacks touring team lost to a reinforced Springboks (who welcomed back their 21 injured players who could not tour Australasia) – normally unthinkable New Zealand losses would for the first time in history be forgiven if the most famous of 20-year losing droughts was broken.
That would not be the only challenge for the hosts.
The devastating earthquake in Christchurch, that had emotionally and physically drained the Crusaders, would further impact the All Blacks when it was announced that the stricken city would have its World Cup matches reallocated.
While All Blacks past and present would be struck down throughout the tournament.
Legends such as Jock Hobbs and Jonah Lomu would fight their respective battles in 2011 against illness, while on the field the nation recoiled in shock as Dan Carter was ruled out with a groin injury.
This was punctuated by the revelation that Richie McCaw was essentially playing on one foot, while former coach Graham Henry revealed after the tournament that he has seen his captain’s foot while fishing, and despite knowing the extent of the injury, still was stunned at the condition of the most talked about appendage in world rugby.
“I looked at his foot and said, 'Hell, Rich, that bloody foot looks swollen mate, really swollen',” Henry said while fishing.
McCaw simply replied “Yeah, Ted, it is.”
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and while maybe only Clint Eastwood would have been smiling as the twists and plots for another blockbuster rugby movie wrote itself, these factors would ultimately serve to unite the team and allow them to conquer every obstacle and win the Holy Grail, hence confirming their status as the best team in the world in recent years.
The year began with a 60-14 defeat of Fiji, who arrived in Dunedin for the last test at Carisbrook confident; as they had watched their Pacific Island rivals Samoa stun the Wallabies a week earlier.
There were certainly positives for the hosts, as Sitiveni Sivivatu fired the first shots in a mouth-watering battle between the country’s best wings with an excellent performance, while Adam Thomson all but secured his position as the ‘fourth’ loose forward with a monstrous display in his own stomping ground.
Yet a 32-0 halftime score couldn’t gloss over some elementary mistakes from the All Blacks, with the new heir apparent Colin Slade making some unforced errors, while that time honoured ailment of overplaying one’s hand struck the overwhelming favourites throughout the match.
This was encapsulated by a 7-0 third quarter to Fiji, with the Pacific Islanders coming out firing in the second half, although a potential paint stripping post match brief by Henry was averted by the All Blacks reasserting themselves in the final 20 minutes.
As the Tri Nations began, its final year before the formal announcement that Argentina would become part of the new Investec Rugby Championship, the Springboks sent a diluted team to their Antipodean rivals, and lost the opening match of the tournament 39-20 to the Wallabies.
Any concern that the Australians were looking increasingly formidable, clearly building momentum around the Reds Super Rugby win (with the appointment of the Queensland skipper James Horwill to the national post), were soundly diminished by an All Blacks master class the following week.
A complete 40-7 win may have been helped by a strangely lacklustre South African performance, especially up front, but the precision and all-round brilliance of the hosts delighted the fans in Wellington.
The ultimate dress rehearsal for the World Cup followed, as the Wallabies strutted into Eden Park looking to record their first win since 1986, and the oldest starting team in Tri Nations history waited, as Henry rolled out his most powerful starting XV – paying homage to the World Cup decree that experience is one of the great factors.
Eighty minutes later the Wallabies departed Auckland with their tails between their legs, shut down by an All Blacks team that re-affirmed their status as World Cup favourites and the number one team in the world.
While that performance would have given millions of New Zealanders a wonderful night’s sleep, or lack thereof, the next three weeks would prove how long such a period is in sport.
The 13-point loss to South Africa didn’t cause too much angst, as Henry made 12 changes for the match while the Springboks again relied on the boot of Morne Steyn to provide all of their points.
But the loss in Brisbane hurt, especially considering the 20-3 first half where the Wallabies put in arguably the most dominant half of rugby played against the All Blacks in the Henry era.
A half where it all went wrong as Kieran Read and Thomson both left the field with injuries they would carry into the World Cup.
Having announced the World Cup squad in Queensland’s capital that week, any impending kiwi nightmares and a sudden shift in bookmaker’s assertions that the All Blacks were fading, were eased with a 17-5 second half where the visitors showed that when they base their strategy around aggressive forward based play – they are all but impossible to stop.
And so began the World Cup.
The opening match against Tonga gave the All Blacks faithful all the emotions that come with the beauty of our game, as at times the World Cup hosts looked like an unstoppable legion as their backs cut the Pacific Islanders to shreds.
Yet in the second half, it was in many respects a display of wondering concentration, as Tonga began to play like a team while the All Blacks, boasting a huge halftime lead, began to drift away from their structure and commit the ultimate sporting sin – trying to win the match as individuals.
Normal traffic seemed to resume in the next three World Cup matches, where Japan, France and Canada were dispatched with the efficiency that comes with being a global superpower.
The rendezvous against France was going to create some nerves considering their heroics in 1999 and 2007 in knocking the All Blacks out of the World Cup, but this was no elimination match.
What made that 37-17 victory against Les Bleus especially satisfying was that the French did not roll over despite some compelling stanzas of control by the All Blacks.
It would prove somewhat oracular when French lock Lionel Nallet remarked before the match that he wasn’t especially confident, saying that considering France’s goal to reach the final, beating the All Blacks twice at home was impossible.
That loss, and the Tricolours apple cart turning defeat to Tonga, would actually propel France through the other side of the draw to again meet the All Blacks.
The 33-10 quarter-final win over Argentina to be fair flattered New Zealand as the Rugby Championship 2012 debutants were solid and workmanlike in everything they did, but the All Blacks were able to keep piling on the points to move to the semi-final.
The victory over the Wallabies in Eden Park proved that the results earlier in the year could have benefited.
Nothing is as dangerous as a wounded All Blacks team without a hint of self-righteousness, while for Australia nothing is as frustrating as a Wallabies team that talks the talk and prefers to play down the ‘respect’ card – with the annals of time proving that overconfidence has been more than one team’s undoing.
The 8-7 win over France was a triumph of resilience and mental fortitude, with the All Blacks putting in a performance that had Henry more nervous in the final 20 minutes than he had ever been.
McCaw frankly admitted later that the visual calmness as the All Blacks grimly defended their line against the French wasn’t literal, saying that in many respects his team hung on for grim life.
How did the All Blacks win the World Cup?
Certainly they showed any mental frailties that many believed led to their departure from earlier tournaments had been conquered, as the All Blacks stared down the monkey that had turned into some freakishly oversized gorilla.
The doomsday merchants said that without McCaw or Carter the All Blacks would never be a chance, and in here the carefully built depth of the team came to the fore.
Not only was the fourth choice first five-eighth in Stephen Donald able to play his part despite playmakers dropping like flies, but other senior players stood up to support, making a mockery of occasional claims that the All Blacks relied on one or two key planks.
Jerome Kaino was a goliath throughout the season, deservedly claiming the award as New Zealand rugby’s player of the year.
His presence was summed up by the fact that he was missing during the loss in Brisbane, and it was he who manhandled the Wallabies most potent attacking back Digby Ioane to prevent the Reds’ flyer from scoring a try at Eden Park.
The contributions continued throughout the back division and pack.
Israel Dagg gave Henry his most difficult decision as a coach, displacing centurion Mils Muliaina; Cory Jane and Richard Kahui had to cement their places during a season long wingman battle royale; Conrad Smith and Ma’a Nonu confirmed their status as the world’s best midfield, while Piri Weepu was like a Maori chief as he stood up to support the backup first five-eighths – even if his mum said during the World Cup that Piri was the runt of the clan.
Up front number eight Kieran Read made a mockery of his injury to again prove why he is one of the game’s best eightmen; Thomson supported well with his versatility; the Crusaders firm of Brad Thorn and Sam Whitelock were brilliant; while up front Owen Franks continued to defied convention as a young world class tighthead, Tony Woodcock paid back the selectors faith, and it didn’t hurt to have two grizzled hookers with different but international class skillsets.
McCaw, now the most capped All Black of all time, led his team to glory despite the odds, and capped off a dream year despite the challenges that were presented throughout.
If one had said to any involved with the All Blacks – management, players or fans alike – that the world’s number one ranked team would lose back-to-back test matches leading into the World Cup, one would have wondered if such a prophecy was uttered by the grim reaper himself.
As Suncorp Stadium again proved too daunting a colosseum to win for a New Zealand team in 2011, the All Blacks would have taken little comfort from the fact that winning or losing the Investec Tri Nations was no pointer to success in World Cups.
Never has a Tri Nations winner won the Webb Ellis Cup in the same season.
But an All Blacks team is always expected to win, and while their first failure to win the Southern Hemisphere’s premier tournament in a World Cup year hurt, ultimately their 25-20 loss to the Wallabies would prove to be a good thing.
It took all complacency away from the All Blacks, while ironically perhaps gave the Australians just a little more swagger that may have in the end lulled them into thinking they had their great rivals measure.
However while the loss in the Tri Nations finale, and an 18-5 defeat where an understrength All Blacks touring team lost to a reinforced Springboks (who welcomed back their 21 injured players who could not tour Australasia) – normally unthinkable New Zealand losses would for the first time in history be forgiven if the most famous of 20-year losing droughts was broken.
That would not be the only challenge for the hosts.
The devastating earthquake in Christchurch, that had emotionally and physically drained the Crusaders, would further impact the All Blacks when it was announced that the stricken city would have its World Cup matches reallocated.
While All Blacks past and present would be struck down throughout the tournament.
Legends such as Jock Hobbs and Jonah Lomu would fight their respective battles in 2011 against illness, while on the field the nation recoiled in shock as Dan Carter was ruled out with a groin injury.
This was punctuated by the revelation that Richie McCaw was essentially playing on one foot, while former coach Graham Henry revealed after the tournament that he has seen his captain’s foot while fishing, and despite knowing the extent of the injury, still was stunned at the condition of the most talked about appendage in world rugby.
“I looked at his foot and said, 'Hell, Rich, that bloody foot looks swollen mate, really swollen',” Henry said while fishing.
McCaw simply replied “Yeah, Ted, it is.”
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and while maybe only Clint Eastwood would have been smiling as the twists and plots for another blockbuster rugby movie wrote itself, these factors would ultimately serve to unite the team and allow them to conquer every obstacle and win the Holy Grail, hence confirming their status as the best team in the world in recent years.
The year began with a 60-14 defeat of Fiji, who arrived in Dunedin for the last test at Carisbrook confident; as they had watched their Pacific Island rivals Samoa stun the Wallabies a week earlier.
There were certainly positives for the hosts, as Sitiveni Sivivatu fired the first shots in a mouth-watering battle between the country’s best wings with an excellent performance, while Adam Thomson all but secured his position as the ‘fourth’ loose forward with a monstrous display in his own stomping ground.
Yet a 32-0 halftime score couldn’t gloss over some elementary mistakes from the All Blacks, with the new heir apparent Colin Slade making some unforced errors, while that time honoured ailment of overplaying one’s hand struck the overwhelming favourites throughout the match.
This was encapsulated by a 7-0 third quarter to Fiji, with the Pacific Islanders coming out firing in the second half, although a potential paint stripping post match brief by Henry was averted by the All Blacks reasserting themselves in the final 20 minutes.
As the Tri Nations began, its final year before the formal announcement that Argentina would become part of the new Investec Rugby Championship, the Springboks sent a diluted team to their Antipodean rivals, and lost the opening match of the tournament 39-20 to the Wallabies.
Any concern that the Australians were looking increasingly formidable, clearly building momentum around the Reds Super Rugby win (with the appointment of the Queensland skipper James Horwill to the national post), were soundly diminished by an All Blacks master class the following week.
A complete 40-7 win may have been helped by a strangely lacklustre South African performance, especially up front, but the precision and all-round brilliance of the hosts delighted the fans in Wellington.
The ultimate dress rehearsal for the World Cup followed, as the Wallabies strutted into Eden Park looking to record their first win since 1986, and the oldest starting team in Tri Nations history waited, as Henry rolled out his most powerful starting XV – paying homage to the World Cup decree that experience is one of the great factors.
Eighty minutes later the Wallabies departed Auckland with their tails between their legs, shut down by an All Blacks team that re-affirmed their status as World Cup favourites and the number one team in the world.
While that performance would have given millions of New Zealanders a wonderful night’s sleep, or lack thereof, the next three weeks would prove how long such a period is in sport.
The 13-point loss to South Africa didn’t cause too much angst, as Henry made 12 changes for the match while the Springboks again relied on the boot of Morne Steyn to provide all of their points.
But the loss in Brisbane hurt, especially considering the 20-3 first half where the Wallabies put in arguably the most dominant half of rugby played against the All Blacks in the Henry era.
A half where it all went wrong as Kieran Read and Thomson both left the field with injuries they would carry into the World Cup.
Having announced the World Cup squad in Queensland’s capital that week, any impending kiwi nightmares and a sudden shift in bookmaker’s assertions that the All Blacks were fading, were eased with a 17-5 second half where the visitors showed that when they base their strategy around aggressive forward based play – they are all but impossible to stop.
And so began the World Cup.
The opening match against Tonga gave the All Blacks faithful all the emotions that come with the beauty of our game, as at times the World Cup hosts looked like an unstoppable legion as their backs cut the Pacific Islanders to shreds.
Yet in the second half, it was in many respects a display of wondering concentration, as Tonga began to play like a team while the All Blacks, boasting a huge halftime lead, began to drift away from their structure and commit the ultimate sporting sin – trying to win the match as individuals.
Normal traffic seemed to resume in the next three World Cup matches, where Japan, France and Canada were dispatched with the efficiency that comes with being a global superpower.
The rendezvous against France was going to create some nerves considering their heroics in 1999 and 2007 in knocking the All Blacks out of the World Cup, but this was no elimination match.
What made that 37-17 victory against Les Bleus especially satisfying was that the French did not roll over despite some compelling stanzas of control by the All Blacks.
It would prove somewhat oracular when French lock Lionel Nallet remarked before the match that he wasn’t especially confident, saying that considering France’s goal to reach the final, beating the All Blacks twice at home was impossible.
That loss, and the Tricolours apple cart turning defeat to Tonga, would actually propel France through the other side of the draw to again meet the All Blacks.
The 33-10 quarter-final win over Argentina to be fair flattered New Zealand as the Rugby Championship 2012 debutants were solid and workmanlike in everything they did, but the All Blacks were able to keep piling on the points to move to the semi-final.
The victory over the Wallabies in Eden Park proved that the results earlier in the year could have benefited.
Nothing is as dangerous as a wounded All Blacks team without a hint of self-righteousness, while for Australia nothing is as frustrating as a Wallabies team that talks the talk and prefers to play down the ‘respect’ card – with the annals of time proving that overconfidence has been more than one team’s undoing.
The 8-7 win over France was a triumph of resilience and mental fortitude, with the All Blacks putting in a performance that had Henry more nervous in the final 20 minutes than he had ever been.
McCaw frankly admitted later that the visual calmness as the All Blacks grimly defended their line against the French wasn’t literal, saying that in many respects his team hung on for grim life.
How did the All Blacks win the World Cup?
Certainly they showed any mental frailties that many believed led to their departure from earlier tournaments had been conquered, as the All Blacks stared down the monkey that had turned into some freakishly oversized gorilla.
The doomsday merchants said that without McCaw or Carter the All Blacks would never be a chance, and in here the carefully built depth of the team came to the fore.
Not only was the fourth choice first five-eighth in Stephen Donald able to play his part despite playmakers dropping like flies, but other senior players stood up to support, making a mockery of occasional claims that the All Blacks relied on one or two key planks.
Jerome Kaino was a goliath throughout the season, deservedly claiming the award as New Zealand rugby’s player of the year.
His presence was summed up by the fact that he was missing during the loss in Brisbane, and it was he who manhandled the Wallabies most potent attacking back Digby Ioane to prevent the Reds’ flyer from scoring a try at Eden Park.
The contributions continued throughout the back division and pack.
Israel Dagg gave Henry his most difficult decision as a coach, displacing centurion Mils Muliaina; Cory Jane and Richard Kahui had to cement their places during a season long wingman battle royale; Conrad Smith and Ma’a Nonu confirmed their status as the world’s best midfield, while Piri Weepu was like a Maori chief as he stood up to support the backup first five-eighths – even if his mum said during the World Cup that Piri was the runt of the clan.
Up front number eight Kieran Read made a mockery of his injury to again prove why he is one of the game’s best eightmen; Thomson supported well with his versatility; the Crusaders firm of Brad Thorn and Sam Whitelock were brilliant; while up front Owen Franks continued to defied convention as a young world class tighthead, Tony Woodcock paid back the selectors faith, and it didn’t hurt to have two grizzled hookers with different but international class skillsets.
McCaw, now the most capped All Black of all time, led his team to glory despite the odds, and capped off a dream year despite the challenges that were presented throughout.
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