'If the haka was any advantage, if the All Blacks played with a poor team they would still win games, and they don't'
Former Wallaby prop Ben Darwin has detailed his research-backed theories around ‘cohesion’ in professional rugby, explaining that cohesion and system it is such an asset it trumps team culture.
Speaking on the Aotearoa Rugby Pod, the Australian analyst went as far as saying the culturally significant ‘haka’ gave ‘no advantage’ to the All Blacks and explained that if it did, they would still win with a poor team.
He explained that New Zealand’s size helps contribute to the cohesion factor, something that Australia possessed back in the late 1990s when it had just three Super Rugby franchises.
“New Zealand in itself is a cohesive system because it is small,” he said.
“That used to be an advantage Australia had, you had a small system on a professional basis and that was our unfair advantage over the rest of the world.
“Now what tends to happen is a big system, like England and France, will be terrible between World Cups. Look at France in ’11, they lose to Tonga and yet they still make a final.
“England in ’07, they lose to South Africa by 40 and yet four or five games later it was much closer. They don’t have cohesion through club because they are so big, they really don’t get time together as a team until the World Cup.
“Particularly now that World Rugby has that 3-month window leading into the tournament. All form is completely out the window when it comes to World Cup.
Darwin highlighted Japan’s approach over the last two World Cups as perfect examples, where under Jamie Joseph the national side was pulled from Super Rugby and played together against other franchises ‘B’ teams and even amateur club teams at times.
Because of they way the Top League is structured, it was the only way to build cohesion in the squad leading up to the World Cup tournament.
“If you look at what Japan did in the lead up to ’15, and the lead up to ’19, is they basically just kept the national team together for 2 or 3 years. And you saw that dramatic improvement.
“The way that Japanese rugby is built, you can’t get any cohesion at club level because there is so many of them.
This was an advantage that New Zealand inherently possessed that kept the All Blacks strong, even though the struggled to win the showpiece event until 2011.
“People will say New Zealand underperformed by not winning World Cups, it wasn’t so much that, it was that bigger countries were able to come to the table where they previously couldn’t.”
“Their success has been systemic over a long period of time.
“One thing that does worry me a bit, is this overt, ridiculous, reverence towards the All Blacks like they are some kind of magical being. Particularly in the Northern Hemisphere.
“As far as I can understand, they are actually humans. I think we overplay that notion of the All Blacks being sub-human, more than a human being like a Superman and so that tends to intimidate, particularly a lot of the Northern Hemisphere countries.
Often before a key match against the All Blacks in the Northern Hemisphere, talk begins to surface in the media about banning the haka as it is seen as an advantage for the Kiwis.
Darwin went on to dispel this as a myth, categorically stating that ‘they lose just like anybody else’ if they don’t have a good team and ‘there is nothing to be gained’ from performing the pre-match ritual.
“If the haka was any advantage, if the All Blacks played with a poor team they would still win games, and they don’t, they lose just like anybody else,”
“That game against Ireland, that game against Australia in Perth, if the All Blacks have a poor team, they lose. Just like everybody else.
“There is nothing to be gained. Look, it’s great, but there is no advantage to the haka statistically. There is nothing we can see that is making any difference.
One factor that does make a difference according to Darwin’s research is the level of the home crowd, which can influence the man in the middle calling the shots with the whistle. He believed that the convoluted Super Rugby competition cost New Zealand a few titles because of this.
“One of the big things we do see, in terms of bias, is a study into the English football found the greater the level of the home crowd, the greater the bias of the referee. For every 10,000 people, you get one more penalty.
“Which shows that referees are also human as well. That for me showed that the way in which we set-up Super Rugby from 2011 onwards, probably meant New Zealand missed out on a couple of titles during that period of time.
“Because they would have got home finals. Because they were playing each other, they ended up having to play away finals.
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments