Desperation wins World Cups
29 Aug 2011
MARK KEOHANE, in his weekly Business Day column, says the Boks and the Wallabies have the players and the game plan to beat the All Blacks in a one-off situation. But the All Blacks, possibly for the first time in a World Cup competition, have desperation as an ally.
New Zealand did not choke in Brisbane. Australia throttled them and there is a difference between blowing it and being blown away.
Australia blew away any New Zealand complacency but with it introduced perspective to what should be a fabulous World Cup. Any one of Australia, South Africa and New Zealand is good enough to win the World Cup. Forget the northern hemisphere challenge. Neither England nor France has a team with enough quality to succeed in New Zealand.
Australia can beat anyone home and away. South Africa, in a one-off situation, will always back their physicality, no risk approach and strong kicking game to win ugly and the All Blacks, at home, rarely get beaten.
There is a buzz about this World Cup because New Zealand, for the first time since the tournament’s inception, aren’t being put on a pedestal. And rightly so. They stand no taller than Australia and South Africa.
The All Blacks, at full strength, are a fantastic side and in terms of consistency they are the best team in the world. But Australia and South Africa have the players and the game plan to beat the All Blacks in a one-off situation if they get it right mentally and the All Blacks aren’t quite as desperate.
The Boks in Port Elizabeth and the Wallabies in Brisbane delighted in being desperate. Both physically beat up the All Blacks. Both deserved the respective victories. New Zealand’s World Cup squad, all of who played in Port Elizabeth and Brisbane, looked vulnerable and mortal.
The All Blacks, should they win a World Cup for the first time in 24 years, will have to play to the maximum of each player’s ability. If they don’t win it a better team will have downed them. This All Blacks team isn’t good enough to carry the tag of choker into the World Cup. Don’t be surprised if they win the tournament at home, but equally don’t be surprised if they don’t.
Surely that’s a wonderful thing for any sport and any global showpiece event, like a World Cup. No one knows for sure who will win this World Cup and that’s just bloody brilliant.
The Wallabies were outstanding in beating the Boks in Durban and they were sensational in the opening 40 against the All Blacks in Brisbane. The Reds, in winning Super Rugby, were equally impressive.
The core form players of the year have come out of Brisbane and Super Rugby success has been translated into Tri-Nation’s silverware.
Desperation, however, is what wins World Cups. Desperation is what the All Blacks had at Eden Park in 2010 when they hammered the Boks 32-12. Desperation is what the All Blacks had at Eden Park a month ago when they were brutal in winning 30-14 against the Wallabies.
Those two New Zealand wins in Auckland are as significant as the Wallabies two recent successes against South Africa and New Zealand and the Boks win against the All Blacks in Port Elizabeth. It showed that a desperate All Blacks team is far more of a threat than one believing of its own press and the notion that it is a god given right New Zealand should win Rugby World Cups.
The pressure will never be off New Zealand to win a Test match, let alone a World Cup tournament, but for possibly the first time ever the expectation is measured with realism that the All Blacks must earn the right to win this tournament through a series of performances within the tournament.
Australia, because of form and recent history, have the momentum and the Springboks, because of their World Cup history, will command respect. But the All Blacks have it all to do at the tournament because they have always done it in between tournaments.
South Africa, in Port Elizabeth, exposed New Zealand’s lack of Test quality depth in areas like tighthead prop, loose forward and flyhalf. Australia reinforced the view in Brisbane, especially the ability of flanker Adam Thomson who has never been good enough to make an impact for the All Blacks.
Reds coach Ewe McKenzie was annoyed on the eve of this year’s Super Rugby final in Brisbane when the bookmakers and media made the Crusaders favorites to win comfortably.
‘How?’ asked McKenzie before reminding people his players were the favorites because of form, home ground advantage and confidence taken from beating the Saders earlier in the season?
The same logic was applied to Saturday’s result. Why was home ground advantage and the Wallabies win in South Africa against a full-strength Bok team so easily dismissed when making the All Blacks favorites?
New Zealand are not as good as everyone thinks and Australia and South Africa are better than everyone thinks.
Australia’s win in Brisbane was not a shock but a reminder of the strengths of one team and the mortality of another whose players looked more like bemused penguins in the first 40 minutes than potential World Cup winners.
791 Comments
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29 Aug 2011, 19:30 pm
Insider or not, its entertaining you swamp donkeys
29 Aug 2011, 19:30 pm
@NoRugbyGuru_0_(RugbyGuru_0_)-497: Poops goes all goggly eyed and sees shadows everywhere… A beautiful sight to him him crack up online – a blog version of a emotional breakdown
29 Aug 2011, 19:31 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-499: It is Helen van Tril
29 Aug 2011, 19:31 pm
@JL1(JL1)-500: Schweet
29 Aug 2011, 19:32 pm
Guru I have to work. Jealous not in my vocab!
29 Aug 2011, 19:32 pm
“a blog version of a emotional breakdown” that my friend is classic
29 Aug 2011, 19:32 pm
@JL1(JL1)-503: Helen van Who? Angazi.
29 Aug 2011, 19:33 pm
I din’t think it was possible that anyone could out annoy Dr John. But fark me, that ‘woman’ takes him close.
29 Aug 2011, 19:33 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-507: Google the word trill in afrikaans, talk is Helen is a bloke
29 Aug 2011, 19:33 pm
Guru I have to work. Jealous not in my vocabulary!
29 Aug 2011, 19:34 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-499: I ain’t said boo or baa to this Helen hoochicootchie girl… pity is only runtcunts like you associate with such intoxicating scum.. you still dunno a slimy piece of garbage till it slithers up inside your own pathetic ignoramus arse … stupefied idiot supreme
29 Aug 2011, 19:35 pm
@NoRugbyGuru_0_(RugbyGuru_0_)-506: I dunnit to Skopskit a coupla times too… inducing this breakdown… sometimes its like shooting Bambi though, but someones got to do it
29 Aug 2011, 19:35 pm
@ dawn, good cuz you don’t need to be jelous
there’s only one queen on this site 
29 Aug 2011, 19:35 pm
Sorry! BB fault!
29 Aug 2011, 19:35 pm
The sun has gone down and Ramadan has finished.
Now where did I put my choccy biscuits?
29 Aug 2011, 19:37 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-512: you done what to who? … runtcunt fool
29 Aug 2011, 19:37 pm
@JL1(JL1)-509: Sort of like a ladyboy…?
29 Aug 2011, 19:38 pm
@JockBok(JockBok)-490:
He uses his toes.
29 Aug 2011, 19:39 pm
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-511: Ooh ahh… A beautiful sound… Now just to get you to wet your lederhosen, then my day is complete
29 Aug 2011, 19:39 pm
Do you guys think I over do the smileys
29 Aug 2011, 19:41 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-517: No, I think that she also acts like a tril
29 Aug 2011, 19:42 pm
@JL1(JL1)-521: A tril like Dawn?
29 Aug 2011, 19:43 pm
@NoRugbyGuru_0_(RugbyGuru_0_)-520:
no 
not 
at 
all 
29 Aug 2011, 19:43 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-519: yeah fckface you and your pathetic runtcunt arsecreepers all gephoephling in harmony together … pathetic bunch of scum arse creeps … pieces of trash swimming up each others runtcunt arses in unison. … never seen such scum in all my days.. and you take the f’ng cake you garbage vreeting runcunt idiot.
29 Aug 2011, 19:43 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-522: Dawn never comes across like one, does she?
29 Aug 2011, 19:44 pm
So reading all this ‘action’ earlier it is pretty clear that the unprincipled Keo(by admission) just mightily ‘whupped’ the even more unprincipled but very superficial and wholly idea-less larger group of MUGS.
But it is who that group contains that is so revealing and shameful as they came up with absolutely no counter again and again and again against just one Keo.
29 Aug 2011, 19:44 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-522: No, like ET
29 Aug 2011, 19:45 pm
@JL1(JL1)-527: Here we go…
29 Aug 2011, 19:46 pm
@ET.(ET.)-526: Howzit, just in time… Old “runtcunt” shampoodle about to wet his lederhosen…
29 Aug 2011, 19:46 pm
@ JL1(JL1) that’s good to know
I only know how to do two smileys anyway 
29 Aug 2011, 19:47 pm
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-524: Huh? Don’t start your little fibs now, dumfk
29 Aug 2011, 19:47 pm
here comes the slithering slimy pathetic runtcunt fuckadilly from Fuckafillydilly land … open wide HG… your fckface arsecreep runtcunt piece of trash droll trill is here.
29 Aug 2011, 19:48 pm
@ET.(ET.)-526: No argument when someone is willing to sink a ship to prove his point
Keo feels rocks for the Boks
29 Aug 2011, 19:49 pm
@NoRugbyGuru_0_(RugbyGuru_0_)-530: Try mr green.
29 Aug 2011, 19:50 pm
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-532: Behave yoursel now Bambi… And you can apologise to ET for that uncaled for attack if you know whats good for you… Last warning.
29 Aug 2011, 19:51 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-531: No fibs fuckface.. you and this pathetic little sniveling slimy piece of coollycreep trash take the absolute cake as the worst duo of runtcunts swirling up each others fannies anywhere ever on this planet.. with capo the 3rd runtcunt piece of garbage sh’t dangling from out your dubious runtcunt arse.
29 Aug 2011, 19:51 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-535: Yoursel=yourself uncaled=uncalled … blaady keyboard
29 Aug 2011, 19:53 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-535: come try your luck you sniveling little garbage vreeting coolycreep suckling pathetic piece of 2nd grade garbage.. you wanna associate with trash that is your prerogative… don’t you piece of trash fckface come try make it mine.
29 Aug 2011, 19:54 pm
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-536: Don’t even try lump capo with Ebony and Ivory… It actually makes more sense to group you with that valkyrie/capo degenerate with the amount of absolute filth the both of you post… Definite two lowest common denominators in crime on Keo the two of you… Your only redemption is that sometimes you’re worth a laugh or two
29 Aug 2011, 19:54 pm
@ JL1(JL1) I don’t know how
I don’t know why people are writing of ENG, if they play aussies in wet raining conditions then I fancy them to win. Aussies without robinson and barnes will struggle in wet conditions
29 Aug 2011, 19:54 pm
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-536: =D>
29 Aug 2011, 19:56 pm
@Gunther(gunther)-518:
29 Aug 2011, 19:59 pm
@NoRugbyGuru_0_(RugbyGuru_0_)-540: England raise their game against the Aussies, won the last 2 from 3 against Australia
My money is on England beating Australia in the RwC
29 Aug 2011, 20:00 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-529:
Just warming up. Helen is quite a wily and smartarsed player, I must say.
There was this attempt by one mediocre crybaby of a if-you-can’t-beat-them-then-join-them play to which the unbloodied Helen responded with a show-and-go, swiftly followed by a neat but space-creating side-step with a soon to follow but hefty hand-off and she was away , to the , with her winner and left the opposition bewildered and ‘tjoepstil’ in utter amazement..
29 Aug 2011, 20:03 pm
@JL1(JL1)-533:
You would say that as you were by quite a stretch the biggest FOOL on that topic wiith you thoroughly lame and limp reasons for your daily appearance here.
29 Aug 2011, 20:03 pm
@ET.(ET.)-544:
Jeebus, if there was any doubt about just how sad you are, that post explains it perfectly.
29 Aug 2011, 20:03 pm
Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our [Keo] lives.
29 Aug 2011, 20:03 pm
@JL1(JL1)-543:@NoRugbyGuru_0_(RugbyGuru_0_)-540: Dont agree. I reckon Aus have the beating of most teams. England play a physical game, much like the Boks, but the Boks are even more physical. Those “powder puff” Aussies had the beating of the Boks in their own backyard just a couple of weekends back.
29 Aug 2011, 20:04 pm
@ JL1(JL1) I agree, aussies forwards were good saturday but they struggled to maintain the intensity for 80mins. Nz completely dominated the 2nd half. I don’t like cooper’s face, a real tief I mean thieve
29 Aug 2011, 20:04 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-539: carry on in your pathetic delusions you dumb fck fool.. I know garbage trash when I see it or smell it… too bad stupefied pathetic runtcunts like you still cannot.
Capo / ET are a pair of pseudo commie arse runtcunt creeps born and bred from out the exact same cloth and you harbor your own delusions if you still cannot see runtcunt garbage for the trees. Pathetic ignoramus idiotic moronic runtcunt you.
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