End of Season Tour Parties Depart for Northern Shores
Both the All Blacks and the Wallabies have now taken off for Europe on their end of season tours to prepare for RWC 2007. The All Blacks have a realtively inexperienced England team to take on, as well as a test against Wales. The highlight of the tour is of course the two tests against the monkey on the back of the All Blacks - France. One takes place on armistice day and it is being suggested that there will be plenty of fire in the bellies of the French as they take the field that day. Let's hope we don't see a repeat of the Shelford incident, but short of that everything should be fine. The French will still be smarting from the embarrasing defeat they suffered at the hands of the All Blacks last season when their front row was shamed into golden oldies no pushing scrums due to 'injuries'. Anyone that watched that game knew that was a complete capitulation and the 'injuries' were bogus. This time it will be different and that loss will serve as a great motivator for the French.
The All Blacks on the other hand are coming off a successful season, retaining the Tri Nations and generally performing well - with the notable excpetion of the line out, and of course some troubling aspects returning to their game that is reminiscent of seasons gone by. Particularly seasons just before, and in the same year as RWC. The lineout remains concern number one, and is a wise move Ryan has returned to the fold of locks that are going on tour, as has Keith Robinson. This should provide more options, and on the eve of leaving there was much talk about the work that had been put into the All Black lineout. I await the improvement, and they will need to be remarkable to ensure that the All Blacks are not taken apart by the Northern Hemisphere teams in this area, many of which excel at lineout time. The return of several key players that were involved in the systematic destruction of the touring Lions lineout in New Zealand in 2006 is a good move.
Also an improvement in the team to be selected to tour by New Zealand is the return of COnrad Smith. Returning from a broken leg (so badly broken that according to Smith the only thing keeping his leg in one piece was his sock) Smith has had a good season for Wellington. It is rumoured that until Lean McDonald is available Smith will slot in at centre and Mills will revert to fullback - for at the least the game against England. One concern is that Smith did not perform so well in the final agains the mighty Waikato Mooloo men. Kahui, the young up and coming centre had the better of him by all reports and yet Smith will slot straight back in. Clearly the slectors must have something in mind, and of course knowing players and being able to slot in to competition at that level is important, however we do want the best. We'll see what happens. There are some good games ahead and you will be able to catch analysis and results here on this blog as and when they happen.
The Wallabies do not seem to be having quite the same start to their tour. They have been at sixes and sevens since Gregan declared himself unavailable for this tour. That absence has seen Matt Giteau, one of the more expensive buys for the Western Force based in Perth, transferred to play at half back. Understandably John Mitchell, head coach at the Force (who knows for how long) is less than impressed with this shifting around of one of their key players. Giteau is not a half back, doesn't want to be a half back, but starting half back he will be. This is a worrying sign for Wallabies fans, any team with this lack of depth is in trouble. Giteau was supposed to be putting pressure on the less than impressive Larkham (in recent times) but now it seems he is the back up boy, and any experience he gets on this tour will not assist at world cup time because he certainly wont be starting at half back then. Georgie Porgie will be returning then, you heard it here first.
Nevertheless, it is good that there will again be some international rugby union gracing our screens again. These games where the colonies take on the 'home unions' are always great affairs and bring out the best (or worst) in both teams and we have cracking games. I can't wait, although of course there is no place for biffo in today's game (yeah, whatever). Bring it on, I am looking forward to the games, biffo and physicality included!
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Saturday, October 14, 2006
The first game for the 2007 Super 14 competition has been anounced. The Blues will take on the Crusaders at Eden Park to begin the season. It should be an interesting game, with most reports noting only that the Crusaders will be without their All Blacks for that gamem in all probability, due to the NZRFU anouncement that key All Blacks will be rested for the first 7 games of next years' competition. Of course, the Blues will be without their All Blacks however given the way that those guys have been playing (beaten by Wellington 30-15 in this years semi final) it seems that this Blues and Auckland team are again failing to perform when required.
Consider this alongside the loss that Canterbury suffered to Wellington in the final round, and you'd have to start thinking that the All Blacks are not really performing for their domestic teams. By all accounts Richie McCaw had a terrible game. Full credit to Wellington, but they are hardly a star studded team (although they do have the All Black lose forward trio). This is not good news for any fan of New Zealand rugby. Wellington have now beaten Canterbury and Auckland in consecutive weeks, the All Blacks in those sides that are beaten are failing to perform, and this is in the season prior to Rugby World Cup year...
I am going to go on record now and say that there is no way that the All Blacks will win the Rugby World Cup in 2007. The above is part of the reason for stating this, but the other reasons have been touched on in this blog all season. The main reason is that you simply cannot have any confidence in a professional rugby team that can't win its own lineout ball. This has been a problem for the All Blacks for at least the last decade, and for some reason they cannot fix it. This is nothing short of a disaster, and is far more significant than the collapse of the Wallaby front row this year. There are many more lineouts in a game of rugby than there are scrums, and even while on the back foot, the Wallabies still manage to win most of the scrums that they feed. The same cannot be said of the All Black lineout.
My second reason for stating that the All Blacks will lose the next World Cup is that defence is again becoming the most important aspect of New Zealand rugby. Defence is crucial, and the Crusaders know that more than most teams having effectively won several of their titles on the back of staunch defence. However, you must score points to win a game and there is mounting evidence that New Zealand is having trouble doing that from pre-planned and organised back line moves. Most tries this season were from turnovers, and the consequent counter attack. To be sure this is good, scoring from mistakes is an important part of any teams scoring arsenal. However, it is not so positive when viewed against the lack of tries scored from sustained pressure. Too often the pick and go is used over and over and over, and there is no other plan other than to keep doing that. It is as if the All Blacks don't know what to do with the ball when they have it in hand and the first line of attack is absorbed by the opposition.
Stupidity will also play a big part in losing the next world cup. The last game that the All Blacks played against South Africa was there for the taking and stupidity cost them the game. It is possible that a lesson may be learned from this game by Rodney So'oialo, however I doubt it. His brain explosion gifting Africa the game in the dying minutes at Rustenberg is an example of the kind of play that we had been lead to believe was no longer in the All Black manual. They were supposed to have developed 'mental toughness' that would see them through the tight games. Admitedly this was the last game of the season and nothing was riding on it, but the hype in the lead up was that the All Blacks wanted to win it, "so why didn't they show that on the field and take the game when it was there for the taking?" is my question.
There must also be some comment on the coaching of the team. While the results have, mostly, gone well since Henry and his wise men have taken over there are several key underlying areas for concern that have either failed to be addressed by a succession of coaches. I have already pointed to the lineout which is an ongoing problem. Also, I have pointed to the deficiencies in attacking, and the often directionless play that the team produces when given a lot of possession hot on attack. There seems little direction and plan in the back line in general, and too much emphasis on trying to score from all parts of the field rather than building pressure to produce points and force the error.
The other fascinating area in terms of coaching is the scrum where a specialist scrummaging coach has been retained. So two key areas of forward play are no longer running well under the stewardship of Steve Hansen - one has even been taken off him and given to a specialist, with a suggestion that the other is too. What is left for him to do? I rate the All Blacks scrum, it has been going well, but the rest of the world is catching up and I am picking that they will not dominate the French during the armistice day test match. There will be plenty of fire up front and the All Blacks can expect to be matched in that area. With the scrum dominance gone, how well with this team perform?
Lastly, the coaching team does not seem to be able to operate with a free hand. Commitments to sponsors are binding the hands that are charged with winning the World Cup for New Zealand. Rather than getting the rest that the coaching staff have deemed to be the best possible preparation for the team to win the cup, the team are shaping up to be made to play in some kind of half baked compromise where no one will end up getting what they want, including the Rugby watching public who want to win the Rugby World Cup. I note that the rotation policy is to make a comeback this year in the end of year tour to England, France, and Wales due mostly to England insisting that their test match be held 5 days prior to the first French test. Once again the NZRFU are shown to be amateurs in their organisation having test dates dictated to them, and foolishly anouncing the withdrawal of the All Blacks from the Super 14 without having first ensured that they were able to do it, or consulting with key stakeholders...
Finally, I will turn to the usual refrain of "but the team has to keep some things up its sleeve before the world cup" and "but they have to keep their powder dry". Successive New Zealand coaches have always said this in the lead up to RWC competitions. Why anyone has believed this, I don't know, but the public in their desire to win the RWC seem prepared to accept any kind of false promise. The captain of the titanic crying "steady as she goes". If the All Blacks were the best team in the World, we would be seeing it now. As it happens, they are fortunate to be in the situation that they are and the Wallabies are closing in fast, and we are about to see how close the Northern Hemisphere teams are also. Watch out, there are several teams that will be ready, willing, and able to knock the All Blacks off during the 2007 RWC competition.
Consider this alongside the loss that Canterbury suffered to Wellington in the final round, and you'd have to start thinking that the All Blacks are not really performing for their domestic teams. By all accounts Richie McCaw had a terrible game. Full credit to Wellington, but they are hardly a star studded team (although they do have the All Black lose forward trio). This is not good news for any fan of New Zealand rugby. Wellington have now beaten Canterbury and Auckland in consecutive weeks, the All Blacks in those sides that are beaten are failing to perform, and this is in the season prior to Rugby World Cup year...
I am going to go on record now and say that there is no way that the All Blacks will win the Rugby World Cup in 2007. The above is part of the reason for stating this, but the other reasons have been touched on in this blog all season. The main reason is that you simply cannot have any confidence in a professional rugby team that can't win its own lineout ball. This has been a problem for the All Blacks for at least the last decade, and for some reason they cannot fix it. This is nothing short of a disaster, and is far more significant than the collapse of the Wallaby front row this year. There are many more lineouts in a game of rugby than there are scrums, and even while on the back foot, the Wallabies still manage to win most of the scrums that they feed. The same cannot be said of the All Black lineout.
My second reason for stating that the All Blacks will lose the next World Cup is that defence is again becoming the most important aspect of New Zealand rugby. Defence is crucial, and the Crusaders know that more than most teams having effectively won several of their titles on the back of staunch defence. However, you must score points to win a game and there is mounting evidence that New Zealand is having trouble doing that from pre-planned and organised back line moves. Most tries this season were from turnovers, and the consequent counter attack. To be sure this is good, scoring from mistakes is an important part of any teams scoring arsenal. However, it is not so positive when viewed against the lack of tries scored from sustained pressure. Too often the pick and go is used over and over and over, and there is no other plan other than to keep doing that. It is as if the All Blacks don't know what to do with the ball when they have it in hand and the first line of attack is absorbed by the opposition.
Stupidity will also play a big part in losing the next world cup. The last game that the All Blacks played against South Africa was there for the taking and stupidity cost them the game. It is possible that a lesson may be learned from this game by Rodney So'oialo, however I doubt it. His brain explosion gifting Africa the game in the dying minutes at Rustenberg is an example of the kind of play that we had been lead to believe was no longer in the All Black manual. They were supposed to have developed 'mental toughness' that would see them through the tight games. Admitedly this was the last game of the season and nothing was riding on it, but the hype in the lead up was that the All Blacks wanted to win it, "so why didn't they show that on the field and take the game when it was there for the taking?" is my question.
There must also be some comment on the coaching of the team. While the results have, mostly, gone well since Henry and his wise men have taken over there are several key underlying areas for concern that have either failed to be addressed by a succession of coaches. I have already pointed to the lineout which is an ongoing problem. Also, I have pointed to the deficiencies in attacking, and the often directionless play that the team produces when given a lot of possession hot on attack. There seems little direction and plan in the back line in general, and too much emphasis on trying to score from all parts of the field rather than building pressure to produce points and force the error.
The other fascinating area in terms of coaching is the scrum where a specialist scrummaging coach has been retained. So two key areas of forward play are no longer running well under the stewardship of Steve Hansen - one has even been taken off him and given to a specialist, with a suggestion that the other is too. What is left for him to do? I rate the All Blacks scrum, it has been going well, but the rest of the world is catching up and I am picking that they will not dominate the French during the armistice day test match. There will be plenty of fire up front and the All Blacks can expect to be matched in that area. With the scrum dominance gone, how well with this team perform?
Lastly, the coaching team does not seem to be able to operate with a free hand. Commitments to sponsors are binding the hands that are charged with winning the World Cup for New Zealand. Rather than getting the rest that the coaching staff have deemed to be the best possible preparation for the team to win the cup, the team are shaping up to be made to play in some kind of half baked compromise where no one will end up getting what they want, including the Rugby watching public who want to win the Rugby World Cup. I note that the rotation policy is to make a comeback this year in the end of year tour to England, France, and Wales due mostly to England insisting that their test match be held 5 days prior to the first French test. Once again the NZRFU are shown to be amateurs in their organisation having test dates dictated to them, and foolishly anouncing the withdrawal of the All Blacks from the Super 14 without having first ensured that they were able to do it, or consulting with key stakeholders...
Finally, I will turn to the usual refrain of "but the team has to keep some things up its sleeve before the world cup" and "but they have to keep their powder dry". Successive New Zealand coaches have always said this in the lead up to RWC competitions. Why anyone has believed this, I don't know, but the public in their desire to win the RWC seem prepared to accept any kind of false promise. The captain of the titanic crying "steady as she goes". If the All Blacks were the best team in the World, we would be seeing it now. As it happens, they are fortunate to be in the situation that they are and the Wallabies are closing in fast, and we are about to see how close the Northern Hemisphere teams are also. Watch out, there are several teams that will be ready, willing, and able to knock the All Blacks off during the 2007 RWC competition.
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