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The Springboks' win is what rugby is all about

By Tom Vinicombe

When the All Blacks broke into the Springboks 22 with time up on the clock, every rugby enthusiast tuned into Saturday’s match was holding their breath. The Springboks had thrown everything at the All Blacks throughout the game, scoring three tries in 13 minutes and at one point holding a 14-point lead, but the All Blacks had somehow, inexplicably, managed to claw back the score.

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New Zealand supporters knew that even when their team had been behind on the scoreboard in recent years, they would inevitably fight back. At no point during the match would any New Zealanders have accepted that a loss was on the cards, even when behind by two tries.

South African fans, and most neutrals, could taste blood – but they could also taste the almost certain heartbreak that so many of the All Blacks’ opposition had felt in the past.

From the get-go, it looked like the All Blacks could be on track to rack up another record scoreline. Up by 12 points with less than a quarter gone in the match, Springbok supporters were flashing back to last year’s try-fest at North Harbour Stadium, where the All Blacks were a little slow off the mark but still ended up winning 57-0.

Somehow, the Springboks fought back. It has become increasingly obvious that to beat this current All Blacks team you simply can’t rely on kicking penalties. The All Blacks will score tries – there’s no way around it – increments of three are never going to be enough to trump the team that can score from anywhere on the park.

Whether it was the plan of attack right from the start, or whether the game just unfolded that way, the Springboks launched an assault on the All Blacks, the likes of which we haven’t seen for a long time. Even after having scored five tries, it was impossible to call the game’s victor until the final match whistle was blown – reinforcing just how potent Steve Hansen’s current team is.

The All Blacks are currently on track to smash the world record for number of tries scored against Tier 1 teams in a calendar year, currently sitting on an absolutely incredible 43 for 2018 – netting no fewer than four tries in any match to date.

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In contrast, the South Africans were sitting on a 50% win record for the year before this weekend’s match and most punters were weighing up how many points the Springboks were going to lose by – not even considering that a win might be on the cards. Steve Hansen may have talked up the Springboks as favourites, but every man and his dog was picking another victory for the All Blacks – and a comfortable one at that.

Barring the odd hiccup in the last couple of years, the All Blacks have been an unstoppable force. It’s fantastic for the game to see one of their oldest foes, who are currently going through a bit of a rough patch, come out victorious in a match in New Zealand – and what a match we were all treated to.

It’s not a given that a high scoring, closely contested match is going to be good to watch – the Chiefs’ 72-65 win over the Lions a number of years ago is a testament to that. Too often we will see the scoreline tick over due to porous defences – an assertion often made regarding some of the better tries you’ll see in the lower levels of competition, but this was simply not the case on Saturday.

There were a few sticky moments, that’s not in question – Jordie Barrett’s horror quick throw-in probably the worst of the lot, but the majority of the tries on display were simply due to relentless attack and individual brilliance.

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The first try of the match was the product of the All Blacks’ well-practised offloading and quick passing skills. The second try was in part due to the All Blacks exploiting the front rowers that South Africa had camped out on the wing – but let’s not forget that it was hooker Codie Taylor that had the audacity to throw a no-look pass into space in the lead up to the score.

The Springboks, too, showed a glimpse of the teams of yesteryear with their outside backs in scorching form and dotting down for all but one of their five tries (naturally, man-mountain Malcolm Marx scored the other).

When the powers-that-be are scouring matches come the end of the season to find the best tries of the year, you can bet that they’ll spend a fair amount of time trying to decide which of the weekend’s tries belongs near the top of the list.

Of course, the beauty of rugby is that it’s a game for all shapes and sizes – which is why it was a pleasure to see some well-set mauls resulting in tries for both teams. Whether you’re a fan of the razzle-dazzle or more of a purist, the match had something for everyone. When the whistle blew at halftime, not one fan at Westpac Stadium (nor sitting at home in the comfort of their living room) would have felt they hadn’t received their money’s worth.

Saturday’s result in no way indicates that the All Blacks are not comfortably the best team in the world – nor does it hide the fact that the Springboks have a number of issues that need fixing before the Rugby World Cup next year. It does, however, remind the world that the All Blacks are not unbeatable and that there is life in international rugby yet. This is what rugby is all about.

In other news:

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Jon 2 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 5 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.

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A
Adrian 7 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

18 Go to comments
T
Trevor 10 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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