Whowins – a team of stars or a star team?
What is a team? Perhaps it is easier to define what is not a team. Two words will do. Manchester United.
You watch Liverpool and you see a group of players who are spiritually and tactically pulling in the same direction. You watch Manchester United and you see a disparate group of rich young men who wonder how they all ended up at the same party, and then spill out onto the street throwing beer glasses at each other.
‘‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt,’’ sang the angry United fans at their own players and they were absolutely right.
You could hardly ever say that of an All Black, but you did start to wonder on last year’s end of year tour if a few of the staff and players weren’t quite fit to wear the socks. Some of the coaches don’t communicate well. Some of the players have too much power. Some of the ideas are stale. Some of the selection lacks the clarity of consistency. The All Blacks looked like a team who were starting to fray.
This is not surprising. Putting together a team and keeping together a team as Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola have done in the madhouse of English football is an incredibly hard and complex thing to do. It is not just about picking or buying the best players. Manchester United have made a farce of such a notion. The last thing they are is ‘United’. No, team is about putting together the group of players that will form the ultimate collective.
We have seen that this weekend in Super Rugby. It was startling how much better the Blues, Canes and Highlanders played without their superstars at the helm. The Canes were a revelation. Without Ardie Savea pumping those legs blindly ahead or Jordie Barrett smashing through the middle, the players suddenly started to look for teammates in space.
Young No 8 Tyler Laubscher gave Savea a lesson in taking the contact on behalf of a supporting team-mate. The young first-five Aidan Morgan was smashed time and time again, but each time he laid off the perfect pass.
Now I amnot for a moment having a go at Jordie Barrett or Savea. But sometimes having superstars in a team can be a problem. Younger players defer to them. They let them dominate the decisionmaking even when they are wrong. They perhaps get more fearful about their own game. They can be intimidated.
Look at the Blues without Beauden Barrett. Or rather listen to Leon MacDonald’s assessment after the match. The coach said: ‘‘Stevie [Perofeta] did a good job of giving us good balance. Stevie changed the point of attack a lot and still kicked well.
‘‘We didn’t overkick or underkick. I thought we kicked smartly. We haven’t done that well in recent weeks. The balance
of our attack was much better.’’
Now the elephant in that particular room was Beaudy. Again this is not a criticism of him. But the fact is that the Blues looked much more of a team without him.
Again it’s about finding the right fit. Sam Cane is a superb player but the Chiefs looked more of a team last year when they went on their run without the All Blacks captain at the helm. They came together and played for each other.
We saw some of the same with the Highlanders at the weekend. Aaron Smith has been a magnificent player over the years, but you wonder now if the team just revolves too much round him. Smith’s game is the pass, as we know, but the lack of a running option from No 9 has been hurting the Highlanders.
The best player on planet rugby right now is the French halfback Antoine Dupont. His power, speed, vision and low centre of gravity make him a devastating runner. He is also a superb tactical kicker and defends like an extra back rower.
If the All Blacks are going to progress they need to realise quickly that the wide game is becoming increasingly redundant against rush defences. They need a 9 who can snipe or who can run lateral patterns to put in runners coming off him. That is not Aaron Smith. He has been a great halfback but at the age of 33 his time is up.
No, the All Blacks need to make their case with World Rugby, which is a very strong one, to sort out Folau Fakatava’s immediate eligibility. When the Tongan-born Fakatava came on against the Reds he changed the game. He has learned his pass at the feet of the maestro, but he also brings a brilliant running game and the ability to jackal like a third flanker.
Yes, his kicking needs to improve and he is still working back to fitness. But he is nearly there and he is the future. And if Super Rugby showed us one thing at the weekend it was that the All Blacks need to look to the future now. As TJ Perenara said, this country has some ‘‘freak athletes’’. So let’s pick the young players who can play together and find them the space.
The weekend’s Super Rugby showed the men in charge of the All Blacks the way forward, the way to create a new team. The question is, do they have the vision to change?
Sometimes having superstars in a team can be a problem.