Eddie Jones: All Blacks look down on Aussies
SUPERPOWER New Zealand have always looked down at Australia as a junior partner, but the chances of an upset in Saturday’s final at Twickenham are massive.
It’s shaping up to be the best Test match in history, because the standard of rugby is higher than ever before. Add in bragging rights across ‘the ditch’ and you have the makings of a perfect final.
There’s a spiky but respectful rivalry across the Tasman Sea. Before the semi-final in 2003 when I coached the Wallabies against the All Blacks, we agreed before the game that the losing team would go into the winners’ dressing room afterwards and share a beer.
Because New Zealand see Australia as an inferior younger sibling, we’re probably the team they hate losing to the most. I remember winning in front of their home fans in Dunedin and you could feel the whole country go into a slump.
Over the years, New Zealand have had the edge but Australia have a real chance. They’re the team on the way up and have probably played the better rugby leading up to the final.
The All Blacks rely heavily on their experience, but Australia have the good vibes and the confidence.
They have a bit of arrogance back, which comes through the personality of Michael Cheika. It’s the same psyche for Australian cricket and rugby league — arrogance isn’t a bad thing. When Ewen McKenzie resigned as coach 12 months ago, all the talk was about text scandals and bad performances. The last thing anyone saw was a World Cup final, but it’s amazing how quickly things can turn around and Cheika deserves a great rap.
The key when preparing for a final is to not get caught up by the buzz and excitement. The best teams will treat it as just another game. Everyone knows the end result means more, but they have to treat it as business as usual so they don’t get distracted.
Yes, it’s the last ever Test for guys like Richie McCaw and Dan Carter, but they won’t be overcome. They might pop out for dinner one evening and say ‘let’s finish it the right way, mate’. But the team won’t be saying ‘let’s do this for Richie’, they’ll be saying ‘let’s do this for the jersey’.
Guys like Keven Mealamu aand Conrad Smith won’t be thinking about getting on their slippers and putting their feet up in retirement. All those guys with 100 Tests know how to prepare for these big games. They won’t be taking the foot off yet.
They have had previous slip-ups at the World Cup — 2007 in particular — which taught them to focus on the here and now. Immediately after the quarter-final was won, I noticed Steve Hansen and McCaw only spoke about the semi-final, with zero mention of the final.
There’s much less of that experience in the Australian camp and they will be relying on older guys like Matt Giteau and Drew Mitchell. Attack coach Stephen Larkham will play a big role too, because he’s come through a couple of World Cup finals.
Cheika will be hoping Giteau recovers from a groin injury picked up in the semi-final because he’s a real big game player. The Wallabies were a bit too loose against Argentina; they kept letting them back in and there will be a few things to tidy up.
On the flip side, New Zealand were outstanding against South Africa. During the first 40 minutes, the Springboks delivered probably their best performance for five or six years. The All Blacks were a little bit off their game, so to scrape through and gut it out was a perfect dress rehearsal for the final.
The referees deserve a lot of credit for the entertaining games. Apart from the hoo-ha with Craig Joubert and Scotland, the officials have allowed the games to be played quickly and facilitated a contest at the breakdown. They’ve picked Nigel Owens for the final and that’s thoroughly deserved.
He’s been spot on with the big decisions and is another reason why this could be the best game ever. Everyone is talking about the All Blacks being the greatest team ever, which is probably right statistically, but the Wallabies have a real chance to shake up the order.