All Blacks Yet to Peak

So says Reuben Thorne, a man who should know better than most what it feels like to be in a team that fails to grip the final prize. If indeed this is correct, it is a good sign for New Zealand supporters who will know all to well the downside of a confident New Zealand side ahead of a RWC tournament. All too often expectations among the public in New Zealand have been cruelly dashed at quarter, semi, and final time.

If indeed the feeling in the camp is that there is room to improve, then the favourite tag and all of the pitfalls that tag has had for the All Blacks in the past will be able to be managed by what seems to be an impressive management team for the All Blacks. The conditioning period will be an interesting time for the 22 named players that will sit out the first half of the Super 14 competition next year to assist in their preparation for the RWC tournament in 2007. Jerry Collins has reportedly suggested that even he is looking forward to some time off, and undoubtedly McCaw, Carter, and Hayman are also looking forward to some down time to allow the body to heal, and to get some serious training in after that to perform at what New Zealand fans will hope is their best yet. Good luck.

Australian coach knuckles Connolly has stunned the media by suggesting, well stating actually, that there were no negatives to be taken from this tour. Former Wallabies have suggested that this position is untenable, and clearly it is. Tinkering with the backline by introducing Matt Rogers at first five ahead of Larkham and trying it out for two test matches, where it failed, and then for the player to arrive back in the country criticising the lack of match time the combination was tried for is laughable. This is a problem, but as was said in the previous post, make no mistake, the Wallabies will be tough at RWC 2007 - they always are and they know how to lift for the big games. The All Blacks will be wary of this team if and when they play them during that tournament.

Check back soon for more on the tour and the elements of the team that are still to be worked on, and the areas where improvements were made. Next post in a couple of days.