ABs cup chances
The form of some of New Zealand’s Super Rugby teams should be a desperate worry to Steve Hansen and the rest of the All Blacks coaching staff. World Cup winning teams tend to have strong form lines. The last thing the All Blacks need is a dip in their Super Rugby dominance heading into the Big Show in Japan.
When the All Blacks won the World Cup in 2015 they smashed the opposition in Super Rugby that year. The top five teams in order were the Hurricanes, the Highlanders, the Waratahs, the Chiefs and the Crusaders. (I have adjusted the Brumbies fractionally downwards to take into account their much inferior match schedule.)
The vast majority of the 2015 All Blacks squad were used to winning. So when things were tight with 20 minutes of the semifinal and final to go there was an assurance. All Blacks minds were clear. The players were used to beating South Africans and Australians. They did it every week. It was deja vu.
Those same players were also very well coached technically at provincial level.
The Hurricanes had Chris Boyd and John Plumtree, the Highlanders had Jamie Joseph, the Chiefs had Dave Rennie, the Crusaders had Todd Blackadder and the Blues had John Kirwan. There was a lot of experience and knowledge in that group and the All Blacks players took it with them.
Now there have been several unforseen consequences of the understandable decision to appoint Steve Hansen for another four years after the World Cup success of 2015. But another of those consequences has been the brain drain.
The emergence of Scott Robertson has been a huge benefit to the All Blacks (look how well Codie Taylor, Sam Whitelock, Richie Mo’unga and Jack Goodhue have played in the black jersey). But the loss of Boyd, Joseph and Rennie is being felt.
The situation at the Chiefs is particularly dire. It is not just that the side is losing, but the manner of those losses. With several key All Blacks in the Chiefs set-up, especially Brodie Retallick who has been captaining the side, there is cause for concern. The All Blacks do not want to carry a bunch of losers to the World Cup.
After the Chiefs were hammered 54-17 by the Brumbies, assistant coach Tabai Matson said, ‘‘Probably the big thing for us is getting our own game in order. There’s been a massive focus this week on defence, and not only having a defensive edge, but having a physical edge that comes with it. We’ve been very poor, and we need to sharpen up if we’re going to contain them.’’
Sadly the Chiefs were as sharp as a sausage. They couldn’t even contain the opposition laughter which echoed around the sheds afterwards. The Chiefs were not just beaten by the Sunwolves, they were smashed.
But when you looked at the Sunwolves line-up, you wondered how this could be. There was no Michael Leitch, their best player and a former Chief. Leitch was on