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When is it going to be the fault of the All Blacks' players for their results

By Hamish Bidwell
The All Blacks look on dejected during the International Test match between the All Blacks and Ireland. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

And then there were the players.

Sure, it’s been fun to see how badly New Zealand Rugby (NZR) have mismanaged their business.

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And, yes, it’s been amusing to see critics from all corners of the game come out to give the coaching of Ian Foster a kicking.

But what about the actual blokes in black? The ones who continue to let the jersey down.

When’s their day of reckoning?

It’s easy to let off-the-park issues obscure what’s happening on it.

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Whether it’s NZR chief executive Mark Robinson giving Foster a two-game stay of execution, seeing John Plumtree and Brad Mooar sacked as All Blacks assistant coaches, comms people Mike Jaspers and Joe Malcolm huffing and puffing on LinkedIn or Steve Hansen and David Moffett offering their two bobs’ worth, we’ve not been short of distractions.

Winning masks a lot of problems, but when results go bad it’s amazing how much disharmony becomes apparent.

But that’s all waffle.

It’s stuff that journalists and rugby insiders and corporate governance aficionados get their knickers in a twist about.

Rugby’s what matters to fans and that’s what should be the real issue here.

For all that’s wrong within the running of NZR and the All Blacks, the fact remains that the team aren’t very good.

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These blokes, with their flash haircuts and sabbaticals and tattoos and massive wages, simply haven’t delivered. Not this year, not last year and not the two seasons before that either.

Not when it counts, at least.

No, they’ve been found physically and tactically wanting.

They’ve lost lineouts, missed tackles, dropped passes and kicked away good ball too often to be regarded as an elite team.

If they spent as much time on skill execution or studying the opposition, as they do writing messages on their wrist bands or practising fancy handshakes and try celebrations,
maybe they’d win a game now and then.

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Let’s look at this team.

Scrum? Middling to poor.

Lineout? Poor.

Defence? Suspect.

Attack? Clunky.

Attitude? Average.

Desire? Seemingly non-existent.

I could go on.

These are men who’ve been in teams all their lives. Men who’ve had good coaches and bad coaches, been part of good cultures and bad cultures, had talented teammates and donkeys for teammates.

They’ve made it this far because, presumably, they could rise above their circumstances.

Whether their club or school or province or franchise was superbly run didn’t matter. They found a way to win.

Hansen made some interesting points about NZR last week. Much of it, you’d have to say, was entirely valid.

But Robinson and company aren’t out there on the park. That’s still the players’ domain and just because things may be shambolic off the field, doesn’t mean they should be the same on it.

So before we lampoon Foster again or call for Robinson’s resignation, let’s think about the players for a moment.

At some point, we all have to admit that they are the ones responsible for the team’s poor performances and disappointing results and that they are the only ones who can fix them.

But don’t tell us about it, fellas. Don’t tell us you’re hurting or you’re united or that you’re right behind old mate Fozzie.

Go out and show us something and put a bit of pride back in the jersey.

We’re forever told that players strive to leave the jersey better than they found it. Well, there aren’t many of this current mob who could possibly claim that.

There are sacrifices made in every part of New Zealand rugby to ensure that the All Blacks can be successful. Every team in every town in this fine country makes do with less, so the
All Blacks can have more.

People are happy to do that as long as the team keeps winning. Well, the winning’s stopped and the only people who appear not to be suffering any consequences are the players.

When’s it actually going to be their fault?

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J
Jon 34 minutes 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 3 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.

15 Go to comments
A
Adrian 5 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

15 Go to comments
T
Trevor 7 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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