When is it going to be the fault of the All Blacks' players for their results
And then there were the players.
Sure, it’s been fun to see how badly New Zealand Rugby (NZR) have mismanaged their business.
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.
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.
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.
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?
Comments on RugbyPass
Pick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
15 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
15 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
15 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
15 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
15 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
15 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
15 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to comments