Pressure mounts on creaking All Blacks
The All Blacks will face the Wallabies in the second Bledisloe Cup Test today in Auckland under immense pressure to do the one thing they have done most often throughout their history: win.
New Zealand have won 1,061 of 1,261, or 84 per cent, of the Tests they have played since their first in 1905. They have won 114 of their 165 Tests against Australia and they have won their last 18 Tests against the Wallabies at today’s Eden Park venue in a run stretching 33 years.
But a single loss this morning could have dire consequences for the reigning world champions. New Zealand would lose the Bledisloe Cup to Australia for the first time in 17 years, could drop to sixth in the world rankings after occupying the top spot since the ranking system was devised, and will increase concern among fans about their readiness to defend the World Cup in Japan next month.
There are fears already that the All Blacks are treading a similar path to the one they followed before their poor 1991 World Cup campaign. New Zealand won the inaugural World Cup in 1987 and were hotly favoured to defend the trophy in the UK, Ireland and France four years later. But they made the mistake of keeping together most of the 1987 team whose form, by 1991, had declined, and they could only finish third.
The current All Blacks team are also weaker than the one that won the World Cup for the third time in 2015, with key players ageing and off form. Steve Hansen, the head coach, has felt forced to drop his mostexperienced front-row forward, Owen Franks, and his most-experienced outside back, Ben Smith, from his line-up today. While he says the omissions were part of a selection plan hatched prior to last weekend’s recordbreaking 47-26 loss to Australia in the first Test of the Bledisloe series, it is more likely they are a reaction to that defeat.
The Wallabies lost a record nine of 14 Tests last season, but have begun to find selection stability and are growing in confidence as the World Cup nears. The All Blacks, by contrast, continue to struggle to dominate opponents physically or to circumvent rush defences which have all but shut down the creative freedom of their back play.
The problems are systemic and the remedies likely too broad-based to be implemented in the short time remaining before the World Cup. But they need to start with a convincing performance at Eden Park to have any confidence in their World Cup campaign. Hansen, pictured, is bullish about their chances. “I’m loving it,” he said. “This is the best challenge we could get prior to going to a World Cup. We’re going to get asked some questions about ourselves. We didn’t front up last week; we need to front up this week or [the trophy] will be going back to Australia.”
The short-term solution may be to go back to basics. The All Blacks have to solidify their set pieces to give them a stable platform. They then need their forwards to carry the ball with purpose to bend the defence and get over the gain line. Only with quick ball can they hope to stimulate the attacking game which has grown stale in recent seasons.
All Blacks captain Kieran Read addresses a media huddle.