JEFF PROBYN
All Blacks paid for switching from confidence to arrogance
“England will need all Eddie Jones’ guile and wit to keep them on the right track of growing in confidence”
Wow, what a start to this autumn’s internationals with a chastened Wallaby side walloping Wales and the Irish undoing the myth of the All Black supremacy.
After suffering the humiliation of a 3-0 defeat to the English, it was always going to be tough for the Australians’ next Northern Hemisphere opponents but I don’t think anyone had expected the capitulation of Wales last week, despite them missing a few regulars in the team.
Sadly for the Welsh it seems they have become stagnated in a style with players that are just past their prime and the new boys coming in not quite up to international speed yet. It could be that the coaches have chosen to hold on to some of the older players to give them one final hurrah with the Lions at the end of the season. However, I think that would be a big mistake, as a poor performing Wales would reduce the chances of their better players being picked on merit rather than reputation.
As anyone who has followed the Lions knows, this would be a tragedy for the many Welsh supporters that seem to make up the bulk of the following fans and like to see a strong Welsh contingent among the players. The result and the previous season’s results, also reflects on the coaches and raises the question as to whether they have been there for too long? Every coach has a time when he drives a team forward but that will not last forever and just as every player has his day, so does a coach.
The clever ones are those who realise they are becoming stale and seek a new challenge while the others just hang around until they are sacked.
Meanwhile, we had the Irish doing what the Irish do best by upsetting the odds and beating a team that all had said were virtually unbeatable, just as they did against England in 2004. Their result has stunned the rugby world as they didn’t snatch a narrow victory against the mighty All Blacks but comprehensively beat them scoring 40 points and dominating the game from the start.
As usual all the media pundits have come out of the woodwork to put the boot into the losing All Black team with some pointing to a degree of arrogance as the main cause. Even England’s World Cup-winning coach, Sir Clive Woodward, said he believed that they may have begun believing the Press reviews of the team which have described their unbeaten record as setting the team above all.
In other words, they had moved from being a team confident that they could win on any given day, to becoming arrogant, a team that believed they only had to turn up to win.
I believe that players must have confidence in their ability to beat their opposition but that confidence should never turn into arrogance because then you are not showing your opponents the respect they deserve. Any player that makes international standard is playing for his or her country and at the time of selection is thought, by the head coach at least, to be the best player in their position available.
Whether for the All Blacks, England or Fiji or any of the nations that play rugby, being chosen by your country is still a very special thing and playing against the best teams in the world is the opportunity every player wants.
As much as rugby is a team game it is also about individual battles and the chance for you as a player to show what you can do and the pride you have in playing for your country. One of the best examples is Italian captain Sergio Parisse, one of the best No.8s in the world, turning out great performances more often than not in the losing team, but that doesn’t stop him from being the best player on the field.
The difficulty for a head coach is how to stop his coaches and players from making that switch from being confident to arrogant when you are on a winning streak.
There is an old saying that winning is a habit and that once you learn how to win, the game gets easier, which as an ex-player I believe – but it doesn’t mean you stop respecting your opponents. There is a school of thought that after the 2003 World Cup win the England setup made the switch from the confi- dence that had been built over the previous years to arrogance, leading to a decade of under-achievement.
I have a feeling that the All Blacks won’t make the same mistake as England and will refocus for the return game next week against Ireland in Dublin and then France in Paris ensuring a successful autumn despite that disappointing loss in Chicago.
England will need all Eddie Jones’ guile and wit to keep them on the right track of growing in confidence as more and more praise and expectation is heaped on the young shoulders of individual players in a team that are still maturing.
Although, if he can keep arrogance in its place, who knows by the time England finally face the All Blacks in a couple of years, it could be anybody’s game?