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.
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