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.
Monday, January 2, 2012
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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