All Blacks mustn’t overthink final tactics
19 Oct 2011
JON CARDINELLI writes that the All Blacks will beat France and claim that elusive world title if they play their natural game.
Last week’s performance against the Wallabies was a rugby masterclass. The All Blacks defended brilliantly, fielded the high ball well, and through the accurate and often prodigious kicking efforts of Aaron Cruden and Israel Dagg, they won the battle for territory. Success in these areas inhibited and frustrated the Wallabies, but it was the All Blacks’ power and precision on attack that allowed them to build momentum and ultimately a winning score.
Afterwards, Graham Henry and Richie McCaw said they would have to be just as brutal and precise against France in the grand final. The All Blacks have shown themselves more than capable of producing these well-rounded showings consistently. The statistics will reveal that they won the 2010 Tri-Nations by kicking more than any other side in that tournament. They also boasted the best defensive record, and scored the most tries.
What stands in the way of the All Blacks and a second world title is 80 pressure-filled minutes. The hype has been building since the lead up to the tournament, and the same questions have been asked over and over again. Will the All Blacks handle the pressure? There is no rugby reason why they shouldn’t win the trophy, as their record will confirm they’ve been the best team in the world over the last four years. But will the pressure of the occasion force them to play a more conservative game, because the fear of losing is stronger than the desire to win?
In an interview for Business Day Sports Monthly two months ago, former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones told me that the All Blacks are a better side when they express themselves. When they go into their shells and try to play a more tactical game, when they overanalyse and rely too much on a rigid game plan, Jones said that they moved away from their strengths. If they decide to do this on Sunday, it will benefit their opponents.
New Zealand are favourites at the scrum, and while the battle at the collisions should be brutally contested, Richie McCaw will ensure the All Blacks win the breakdowns. This should be enough to supply a strong platform for New Zealand’s halfbacks, who have shown that they have the decision making ability to maximise the advantage either by kicking into space or bringing the big and skillful backs into the game.
It is of course, not as simple as that. ’80 minutes and we’re laughing,’ said one newspaper headline over the weekend, but the truth is the 80 minutes of that semi-final against the Wallabies were anything but comfortable. From a rugby point of view, the All Blacks looked favourites to clinch it when Piri Weepu slotted another penalty early in the second half, and yet there was a strong sense in the crowd that the game wasn’t over until the final whistle. A 14-point gap wasn’t enough to calm the nerves of the long-suffering Kiwis.
There was a collective sigh of relief following the semi-final win, but there are still a lot of nerves in the build up to the grand final. Sitting in the crowd last Sunday, I obtained an idea of how much the World Cup means to this country, but I also got an insight into how that passion and desperation could have an adverse effect on the team.
The All Blacks must stick to what worked for them against France in their Pool A meeting. They must play like they played against Australia, that is, with power and accuracy, and the assurance that they are the best team in the world.
If they slip into a conservative mindset, if their coaches and players adopt a ‘we-must-not-lose’ mentality instead of ”we must win’, they will, as Jones previously suggested, give France a sniff. Forget the failures of 1999, 2003 and 2007. Check that baggage at the door.
While experience will be important in a game as big of this, the confidence of some of their young stars will also provide the necessary boost. Cruden was impressive in last week’s game, and going by what has been said this week, he will continue to play his natural game. Notably, the young flyhalf has the backing of his coaches.
‘It’s really important that you build throughout the week but that you’re not over-thinking about the game,’ Cruden told reporters. ‘You need to find a balance and that is what I will be doing this week.
‘I’d like to think it’s just the beginning of another week, just going through and doing the normal for me, making sure I’m really clear on my role and just building so that when it comes to kick-off time I am ready to go.’
The rest of the All Blacks side would do well to follow suit.
267 Comments
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19 Oct 2011, 09:51 am
France is like Pakistan in cricket! If they can make a few $$$ by winning or losing they’ll do just that…. 7/1 for France is good money! Might be tighter than we all thought!
19 Oct 2011, 09:51 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-49:
indeed.
what a bizarre assertion to make.
it’s almost as if we’re not talking about rugby.
but rather soemthing else.
19 Oct 2011, 09:51 am
@captain fantail(captain fantail)-13: Shouldn’t that be 8 years of planning?
19 Oct 2011, 09:52 am
Same with Bryce Lawrence – bet he made a few million on the Boks game ….
19 Oct 2011, 09:54 am
@Pot Blou Gevaar(Pot Blou Gevaar)-48: they must just stop being vuilgatte! when samoa played namibia we didn’t any of this off-the-ball slapping of players, ditto vs wales but as soon as the come up against the boks, even a stand up guy like Mo Schwalger is involved in rubbish like smacking jannie for no reason.
poor from them and that actually turned me from a person who was fair-minded and supportive towards them to loathe them, fccuk them!
19 Oct 2011, 09:55 am
@Atreides(Atreides)-39: So ‘n bek moet jam kry. Quite right.
19 Oct 2011, 10:01 am
as a kiwi, all this talk that the game is a fait accompli because of Frances form and NZ deserving it is worrying.
Nothing has been won yet, France as massive underdogs continue to be provided with added motivation.
Home ground advantage could be the only difference, and I am not entertaining any notion of winning the WC until the final whistle blows and we have more points on the scoreboard.
have AB supporters not learnt yet that sport is not an exact science
19 Oct 2011, 10:19 am
Kietzphat: thank you for your inquiry, I actually believe this exercise will be instructive perhaps on the nationalism standard and open the minds of fellow bloggers, that being a south African does not necessitate one’s support of the boks to be a veritable citizen but rather the non-choice of the boks is a symbol of the greatness of our democracy.
Though a number who previously supported the AB’s during the apartheid era joined the ranks of the boks post 1994, that was a function of political liberation coupled with the effects of social engineering, the majority of those supported any team that played against the boks in the old days, there wasn’t any sense of discrimination. Equally, bear in mind, those who opposed apartheid aren’t singular in approach and thought process, we are diverse and pride ourselves in individual thoughts and have sensitized ourselves to that fact that human beings have their own specific set of unique experiences that pertain to an individual therefore everyone’s conditioning is different. In my respect, I have only solely supported the AB’s, my not supporting the boks was not in envy of blacks not being permitted to play for boks that did not carry any currency with me personally, that issue was purely a subset of a greater injustice, I grew up only knowing of one team to support, to the extent to which my father would take me to twickenham, Cardiff arms park, lansdowne road, etc etc to watch the AB’s, I had numerous tapes of their tests from the 60′s to the 80′s which i purchased from lillywhites, accompanied with posters etc. I viewed the boks as our fiercest opponents and couldn’t wait for the game in 1992 to show them that the AB’s were undoubtedly the best. I’m a genuine supporter of the team, my support was not a political reaction, I was too young at the time to have formative thoughts on political theory and liberation politics, this was merely a young boy who loved and idolized the men in black. The boks had no relevance, they were just the enemy I wanted the AB’s to thump! Naturally the older I got I had a clear understanding of the political situation in SA and this gave even greater impetus to the symbolism of the AB’s to me and the adversity faced by my people further entrenched my support of the AB’s. It would be impossible for me to dump a team I’ve gone through a history of emotions with to support a common enemy, it’d never feel right and I’d be the worst springbok supporter in the market!
19 Oct 2011, 10:23 am
Transie: lol. Hlambi u-right!
19 Oct 2011, 10:24 am
Gunther and transie: there’s nothing wrong in having exemplary mores it’s just a function of a particular culture! Lol
19 Oct 2011, 10:29 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-57: Thankyou some perspective shown.
Momentum moshwetum. France has always played with emotion. They have been in two finals before this and on both those occasions have played their best rugby in the semi’s.
I watched the 1999 semi final last week and wow what a game. I reckon that AB team would cut the current team to shreds.
I’m sure all AB fans would want a close contest.
19 Oct 2011, 10:33 am
Keo’s boys are all in love with the All Blacks. Quite simple for me…..as more SA’ns play in France (versus NZ) I am supporting Les Bleus. Why in hell would we ever support our arch enemies? Just because they are also based in the southern hemisphere? !!!
19 Oct 2011, 10:36 am
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-60:
tell us more.
how these exemplary mores come from this particular culture?
I’m interested.
19 Oct 2011, 10:37 am
@Jeraldjay(Jeraldjay)-61: I don’t think it’s a fait accompli by any means, but I look at France’s game against England (who were RUBBISH the entire tournament) and then Wales (after 60 minutes of playing against 14 men they could only win by a point) and I just can’t see them having the firepower to trouble the AB’s
19 Oct 2011, 10:39 am
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-58: that’s it, uwagqibile, ungaphindi uthethe.
the issue on mpundulu’s support of the All Blacks is now closed. any further enquiries refer to this post #58…moving on
19 Oct 2011, 10:43 am
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-60: please point out in any of our posts where the suggestion or where the slightest inference to having “exemplary mores” being something “wrong” was made.
i reiterate, it is just sport.
19 Oct 2011, 10:46 am
Transie: Hehehehe!!!!! Siyabulela!
19 Oct 2011, 10:47 am
Gunther: it’s no different from the famed parables, though allegorical but still true! Lol
19 Oct 2011, 10:49 am
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-28: Hopping onto a winning team is cheap, lazy and gutless support.
It’s the convenient, hassle-free way to ill-gotten bragging rights. True sports fans across the world deplore this yellow-bellied trend, so don’t expect to convince anyone here of your rational reasons.
Theirs may be mores, but yours are certainly less.
19 Oct 2011, 10:50 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-69: lesses?
19 Oct 2011, 10:51 am
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-68:
the witness will answer the question.
19 Oct 2011, 10:53 am
Gunther: the prosecutor is badgering the witness, the question has been asked and answered!
19 Oct 2011, 10:54 am
Katman: I weep for you.
19 Oct 2011, 10:55 am
Isn’t the playoff for 3rd and 4th the most useless and tragic rugby test ever?
19 Oct 2011, 10:57 am
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-72: Ah, badgering. Not cool.
Beavering, on the other hand, can be lots of fun.
19 Oct 2011, 11:00 am
Katman: it’s ok just come onside!
19 Oct 2011, 11:00 am
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-72:
no no my chum.
don’t come with that allegorical rubbish in your pants.
tell us what the exemplarr mores are and where they come from.
you are being unnecessary.
19 Oct 2011, 11:01 am
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-74: lol it is…like a weird smelly cousin that no one likes….
19 Oct 2011, 11:02 am
@Gunther(gunther)-77: eish wena, you and your tendencies!
19 Oct 2011, 11:03 am
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-74:
indeed.
it’s like a bitter expat that can’t let go.
19 Oct 2011, 11:09 am
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-58:
So do you sing the New Zealand National anthem when the All Blacks play the Boks, or the South African National Anthem?
19 Oct 2011, 11:10 am
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-58: Lillywhites sold “rugby tapes”…. Mmmm, a porky if ever I saw. You would be lucky to get an England Rugby jumper in that bastion of Soccer chavdom…
19 Oct 2011, 11:15 am
Gunther: as the question has been answer, what’s the real issue here? I’m certain the boks have exemplary mores as well, don’t worry I’m not suggesting that bok mores are inferior to the black mores, not at all. Lol
19 Oct 2011, 11:18 am
HG: hehehe. You obviously did not take the elevator to the other floors! Uyandihlekisa.
19 Oct 2011, 11:19 am
@Atreides(Atreides)-78: I remember Breytie scoring a brillant try against NZ in 1999.
19 Oct 2011, 11:20 am
Kietzphat: if you read my entry diligently I illustrated the disconnect between being a south African citizen and a bok supporter, singing the anthem is irrelevant.
19 Oct 2011, 11:23 am
You’ve got to question the mores of a man who chooses his team like a woman chooses a pair of boots.
19 Oct 2011, 11:24 am
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-86:
Just answer the question mate.
19 Oct 2011, 11:31 am
Kietzphat: this is not bingo, you framed a discussion I answered you now you are looking for your lucky numbers. Accept I answered you and be satisfied with that.
19 Oct 2011, 11:33 am
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-74:
No, There are many who have flown home already,
who would love to playing in the Bronze Medal Game.
19 Oct 2011, 11:36 am
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-89:
Sing whatever you like. Or don’t sing at all.
You only live once, so please yourself I say.
8)
19 Oct 2011, 11:38 am
@Kietzphat(Kietzphat)-88: @mpundulu(mpundulu)-89: why do they sing national anthems before Tests?
19 Oct 2011, 11:40 am
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-89: And don’t worry, you’re not the only AllBlackFerrariBarcelona “supporter” out there.
19 Oct 2011, 11:40 am
Cane: I most certainly do mate.
19 Oct 2011, 11:42 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-57: The ticker tape parade has already been organised…
It has already been won by the gracious hosts.
19 Oct 2011, 11:47 am
Transie: pray tell…..
19 Oct 2011, 11:51 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-93:
hayibo.
what colour shoes would you wear with that shirt?
19 Oct 2011, 11:53 am
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-96: no, i asked you!
19 Oct 2011, 11:56 am
Tackles, they have apparently released another 900 tickets for the final. here’s your chance to get one, unless you spent all your pocket money on hello kitty stickers again
19 Oct 2011, 11:57 am
@Gunther(gunther)-97: Fck the colour, as long as they’re good for running you out of trouble.
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