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Jake White: The All Blacks are in uncharted territory

By Jake White
All Blacks players during the New Zealand men's national rugby team training session at St David's Marist Inanda on August 11, 2022 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

I’ll tell you a little story. When I was coach of the Springboks, after a particularly tough encounter against the All Blacks, I remember going into their changing room in Wellington to thank the coaches for the game.

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When I looked around, it was like the entire brains trust of New Zealand rugby had assembled in a modestly-sized room. Graham Henry was sitting there looking scholarly. A few metres away Steve Hansen was chewing the fat with some players, and to his left, former New Zealand international Wayne Graham was taking a pew. In another corner was Sir Brian Lochore locked in conversation with a huddle of players. At the doorway, stood the late Sir Jock Hobbs. In the room that night was decades of hard-earned rugby nous. I realised then that what comes out of the changing room over generations is deep, deep alignment. A legacy, if you like. And for many, many years, no one could lay a glove on the All Blacks in that area.

I thought about this after the Test in Nelspruit, where Ian Foster’s men registered their fourth loss in five Tests. I wondered where their much-revered system had gone awry because the All Blacks are in uncharted territory. Of that, there is no doubt in my mind.

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After the match, I was told it had been biggest winning margin the Boks had registered over the All Blacks in 94 years, which is quite staggering, and their relative fall in grace was compounded when it was announced that they had fallen to fifth place in the rankings, which dates back to when records began nearly 20 years ago.

Having coached against them on countless occasions, I know how tough it was to play against them in the glory years. For 11 years of Richie McCaw’s captaincy, I think he won 87 Tests in 99, which is absurd. It puts him in rarefied company, with the likes of Usain Bolt and Roger Federer, and players like Brodie Retallick weren’t far behind in not knowing how to lose.

So how were they successful for so long? Well historically, the All Blacks have always done the right thing when it comes to the national team. They almost always made the right decision. If it meant resting players for five weeks during Super Rugby in a World Cup year, as they did in 2007, they’d do it. If it meant letting their star players head over to Japan to keep them fresh and well-renumerated, they’d do it. It would be for the common cause with no questions asked.

Indeed, for a time the All Blacks were so far ahead of everyone else that they even had books written about their ethos. Such was their success that they became the watchword for sporting excellence, which extended into the business space. I even saw recently The New York Times ran an editorial asking, ‘what’s happened to the All Blacks? The NYT was talking about them because they were seen as industry trailblazers. When you look at Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos or Nike and their books about leadership, the All Blacks were in the same bracket but somewhere along the line, they’ve dropped the ball.

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All Blacks
Samisoni Taukei’aho. (Photo by PHILL MAGAKOE/AFP via Getty Images)

I remember the last time they wobbled, when they finished last in the Tri-Nations. It was in 2004 when they lost 40-26 to South Africa. After it, hey had a now-famous three-day brainstorming session where they discussed which pathway they needed to take. There will surely be a similar reboot sooner than later, maybe even this weekend.

For nearly 20 years, the All Blacks promoted from within. When Graham Henry retired, Steve Hansen took over and then Foster, who himself had been part of the management team for eight years. It reminded me of Liverpool’s famed boot room with Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan but then they lost their way and it’s so difficult to get that aura back after you’ve created a legacy. Right now, it feels like the end of an era.

The unique thing with the All Blacks is that when you apply to become Kiwi head coach, you have to set out your vision to the board. Everything from, who your captain will be, which players you are going to use and what style of play you’re going to incorporate. You also have to make sure your staff are aligned 100 per cent, with no distractions. Take Tony Brown. He was originally on the Foster’s shortlist to help out, but he threw his in with Jamie Joseph and had to drop out. Now he’s got rid of John Plumtree and Brad Mooar, the vision he laid out is not the same as the one agreed in December 2019. If he bows to pressure and changes his captain then suddenly the pillars of your masterplan have crumbled and you’re in a bit of a hole.

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John Plumtree and Brad Mooar (Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)

That’s the thing I keep coming back to. With all that intellectual property how are they in the position they’re in now? How are they complaining about not having depth at blindside, or inside-centre? Where is their famed player depth? Why do they have so many inexperienced players on the field with the World Cup a year out? There are more questions than answers and it’s tough for the public to swallow.

The All Blacks have to refind that magic touch, and fast. They simply cannot afford to become also-rans. They are a serious sporting brand now with private equity investment and they have to find the answers.

On a human level, I do feel for Ian Foster. I’ve been in that position with the Springboks so I can talk with an informed view. When I lost four in a row, I’d lost Bakkies Botha to an Achilles problem, Schalk Burger to a broken neck while Jacques Fourie and Jean De Villiers had serious injuries. They were key players in big games we ended up losing against Australia, New Zealand and France. There was no respite. I felt the heat of losing my job because it’s simply not acceptable in countries like South Africa and New Zealand to keep losing. People joke about it, but it hurts the economy and takes smiles off the faces of the nation. It means that much.

I know the coach is getting flak but when Beauden Barrett and Jordie make mistakes under the high ball you can be damn sure that Ian Foster didn’t spend any less time with them working on their soft skills but when your luck is out, you don’t get the breaks. Instead, the Boks stuck to their gameplan and it was enough to close the game out comfortably.

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As for Jacques Nienaber’s men, I don’t think they had to play outstandingly to win. They have a rock solid set-piece and pump the ball in the air ready to react depending if they get the bounce of the ball. That’s exactly how Kurt Lee-Arendse scored his try. It was a lofted kick from Handre Pollard that bounced out of Barrett’s hands under pressure from Arendse, fell to Lukhanyo Am, who put the wing away for an electric finish. It was a similar contest to the try Am set up for Cheslin Kolbe last year in the defining final Test, when the Lions failed to regather Ali Price’s kick. The Boks don’t have to change a thing. They believe in their style of play and will take it to the World Cup, where we will see if another team stops them by dominating their forwards, or at least gaining parity.

As for this weekend’s game, South Africa are talking about their greatest foe, so taking them lightly would be at their peril but they must embrace being favourites. The All Blacks are trying to find their mojo, and the Boks must try and rack up as many wins as possible in the meantime, like they did with us when we were going through a tough time. I remember back in 1998 – I’ve been around for a long time – when I went with Nick Mallett to New Zealand and we won 13-3 in Wellington. I think it was our 50th Test. At the time it was like 24 games each and a couple of draws. Now it’s 60-38 in the All Blacks favour. On Saturday, the coaches will be saying, ‘while they’re on the ropes, we need to make hay while the sun shines’.

The big advantage they have is really being shown with that 6-2 bench. Replacing the front row after 50 minutes gives them a real advantage. As a coach, I’d question that, because the laws were made for a 5-3 split. The lawmakers may need to think about enforcing that ruling. The way it’s going, what’s to stop it being a 7-1 bench, if you get a forward who is really athletic and use him in the backs? It’s funny, if the lawmakers enforced a 6-2 split, guys would be saying, I want 5-3 split and three backs. We know what head coaches are like!

If they can defeat New Zealand, they will go to Australia for a double-header and that will be another huge challenge. Rassie has been a phenomenal coach and he’s won a World Cup, but he’s never won a Test in Australia. That just shows how tough it is to win out there. They play them in Adelaide which is a different proposition to what they’re used to. First, however, to Ellis Park to see if the Boks can ram home their advantage and compound the All Blacks’ misery.

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Jon 6 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 8 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

33 Go to comments
A
Adrian 10 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

33 Go to comments
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