Henry has his say as panic grips New Zealand ahead of World Cup defence
IT’S been a long time since the All Blacks faced some serious criticism. But, after a decade of utter dominance and brilliance on the rugby field, things appear to be turning at just the wrong time.
In the wake of their 47-26 Rugby Championship loss to the Wallabies in Perth last weekend, the panic button has been emphatically pressed in some quarters.
And question marks have been raised whether the All Blacks can make it three consecutive Rugby World Cup wins in Japan in the coming months.
Even coaching legend Graham Henry has had his say on things as New Zealand host Australia at Eden Park, Auckland, this weekend.
Here’s a flavour of what’s being said in the southern hemisphere ahead of the World Cup.
GARRIN LAMBLEY (SPORT24)
THE once mighty All Blacks suddenly look a shadow of their former selves a mere six weeks (less than that in fact) until they commence the defence of the Webb Ellis Cup in Japan.
Tries have dried up, injuries are mounting, defence is leaky - and then there’s the really bad news...
Much like Tiger Woods once upon a memorable time was unbeatable on the fairways of the world, the All Blacks enjoyed a decade of sheer dominance.
Fast forward to 2019 and Woods is old, crippled by an ailing back injury and is honestly just making up the numbers in tournaments he elects to enter.
Similarly, the All Blacks have lost their aura of invincibility. They are no longer certain winners when they take to the field.
The haka doesn’t instil the same fear it once did. They are conceding tries at an alarming rate on defence.
Officials have caught up with their cunning ways. Their depth is being tested as players ship off to Europe and Japan in increasing numbers. New Zealand suddenly boast one of the smallest backlines in world rugby.
Aaron Smith - tiny. Richie Mo’unga - short and stocky, Anton LienertBrown and Jack Goodhue (although the centre pairings chop and change each Test) - average size for midfielders, Rieko Ioane - tall, Ben Smith - small for a modern day wing (more on that below), Beauden Barrett - skinny (more on that later as well).
Long gone are the days of Jonah Lomu-esque type players in New Zealand rugby. And where did the out-and-out pace out wide disappear to?
The Wallabies and Springboks in particular counter with behemoths in comparison.
The second Bledisloe Test should provide a definitive answer as to whether this All Blacks side has what it takes to win the World Cup.
The essence of a World Cup campaign is the ability to respond to pressure and the All Blacks are quite clearly under considerable amounts of that this week.
It’s not just that the Bledisloe Cup is under threat following the Wallabies’ record win. That’s at the heart of it obviously, but the plot is much thicker than that.
The last 10 months have been the most difficult and least convincing of the past decade.
Therehas been a tangible decline in standards - the All Blacks have won seven, lost three and drawn one of their last 11 Tests, but take out the Sunday-picnic fixtures against Japan and Italy and their win ratio is barely above 50 per cent since September 2018.
The onus to fix things sits with everyone involved, but it starts with the forwards, who, looking back through the last 10 Tests, won’t find much to satisfy themselves they produced what they intended.
Rarely in the past few years has there been this much pressure on the All Blacks to impose themselves and adjust their trajectory to provide a basis in fact rather than faith that they remain genuine World Cup contenders.
GRAHAM HENRY (RADIO SPORT)
OF course we should be worried...the All Blacks will be worried and so they
should be. They were soundly beaten by a very good Wallabies side.
I think the All Blacks gave away eight penalties on the weekend which is not a lot in the normal game but Australia only gave away four... which has a pretty big effect on the result I reckon.
They had 11 lineouts, we had four – they had 11 starts in lineouts. So we lacked ball.
We only had 30 per cent I think but with that we scored four tries which was a good result really.
So we just need more ball. If we can get 50 per cent plus we are going to win the game, because we’ve got the players to use that ball effectively.
And our defence believe it or not was better than the Australians – they had 70 per cent of the ball and scored six tries.
We need to play the game correctly so we get more than our share – if we get 60 per cent we’re going to kill them.
After a strangely directionless performance against the Springboks we made a case that it wasn’t the time to panic.
A fortnight and 80 frenetic, directionless minutes later it would be smart to try to pass off that column as the opening gambit of a point-counterpoint argument.
OK, so you’re not that gullible... but hey, maybe it is time to fret.
Maybe behind the laconic drawl and cereal-box philosophy, Steve Hansen has been quietly anxious since last year, when the All Blacks dragged themselves listlessly around Europe.
We’re told by many to hold back on the panic pills until after this weekend when the All Blacks defend their honour within the ramparts of Fortress Eden Park.
That would be a mistake. If anything, the All Blacks’ dominance at their favourite ground makes the impending result the least reliable guide of form.
It has to be a concern that the last rich All Black performance against genuine tier one opposition occurred 10 months ago when they defeated Australia 37-20 in Yokohama.
Since that October junket, they’ve used up a year’s worth of luck to squeeze past England, stumbled at the feet of Ireland, scraped home against Argentina, drawn to the Boks and put on a horror show against the Wallabies.
So even if the All Blacks win on Saturday, don’t take it as a sign to stop panicking.