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No one fears the All Blacks anymore, the team's reputation is in tatters
Man, I enjoyed Saturday night.
We can use red cards and Ardie Savea’s absence to obscure the facts. We can huff and puff about World Rugby and the laws of the game.
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We can point to South Africa, Australia and Argentina and say that they lost to Northern Hemisphere foes too.
But what we can’t do is pretend Ireland didn’t make a laughing stock of New Zealand Rugby (NZR) at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
You know, that organisation who trumpeted a partnership with an American private equity outfit, predicated on the aura of All Blacks invincibility.
Silver Lake and NZR are going to make the All Blacks one of world sport’s most powerful and profitable brands, apparently. Yep, from Shanghai to Sao Paulo and everywhere in between, the All Blacks’ unrivalled excellence is going to set cash registers alight.
A penny for Silver Lake’s thoughts on Saturday night, then.
Ireland barely bothered to celebrate their 23-12 win. Victory over these All Blacks is so commonplace as to only merit a high-five or two.
Maybe NZR won’t be so quick to appoint a head coach and captain next time.
I’m not going to round on Ian Foster or Sam Cane.
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I wrote that Foster should never have been appointed head coach and have never wavered. Same with Cane.
The latter’s actually very likeable, but his presence on the park causes compromises elsewhere. As we saw with Savea having to sit much of Saturday night out.
No, the decline in the All Blacks’ playing and commercial fortunes is solely on NZR.
The smugness and complacency of succession was scandalous, as I’ve written countless times before.
Coaching the All Blacks should be the most-coveted role in the rugby world and yet NZR could only rustle up Foster and Scott Robertson as candidates.
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Poor Razor. Everyone else knew Foster was assured of ascending from assistant to head coach, but not him.
Still, NZR could yet have saved face. Following Foster’s abysmal first year in charge, which saw the All Blacks lose to Argentina and Australia, no-one would have minded if they’d admitted their error.
But, no, in true NZR fashion, they prematurely extended Foster’s contract instead, then sat back and watched him lead the team to defeats against South Africa, Ireland and France.
Cane wasn’t captaining the team by then. Savea and Sam Whitelock both had a go and both looked like better options.
Again, there’d have been no criticism of NZR had they announced Whitelock or Savea were going to take it from here.
The All Blacks might beat Ireland by 20 points at Sky Stadium this Saturday night, but the damage is done. Fans and pundits have become openly hostile in their views about Foster and Cane and the team’s reputation is in tatters.
Far from fearing the All Blacks, most international teams would fancy their chances against them right now.
That would have been unfathomable prior to Foster’s appointment, but that’s how far NZR have allowed the All Blacks’ fortunes to plummet.
The irony is that even the most opinionated armchair selector among us would only make cosmetic changes to the side. It’s not a lack of talent that’s ailing the team.
You could change the coaching staff and captain tomorrow and the All Blacks would immediately be borderline-unbeatable again.
Only NZR appears far too bloodyminded for that.
Well, I have to say that amuses me. In fact it amuses me very much.
I don’t see any point in criticising Foster and Cane. They didn’t appoint themselves, after all.
No, it’s NZR who decided that and it’s them who deserve all the condemnation should performances continue to be as insipid as last Saturday night’s.
Comments on RugbyPass
Absolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
5 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
14 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
14 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
4 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
5 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to comments