Revenge on the mind for angry All Blacks
DON’T be fooled by the All Blacks’ mild response following that 40-29 defeat to Ireland in Chicago last weekend.
To interpret their calm demeanour as an acceptance that the loss wasn’t such a big deal would be to seriously misunderstand what the All Blacks are about.
Bubbling beneath the surface will be a volcanic anger, and annoyance, that their tremendous unbeaten streak didn’t get further than 18.
Self-flagellation isn’t terribly constructive, so the next step is to do something about it and that will be to avenge the defeat at Soldier Field.
Cast your mind back to 2013, when a London reporter mischievously scuttled around the All Blacks’ hotel in London and scribbled down some of their secrets before printing them for the world to see.
It was a bit sneaky, really, but he did uncover some gems that offered an insight few of us get when dealing with the All Blacks.
Tacked on the message board was the statement: ‘‘We are the most dominant team in the history of the world.’’
Learning to accept defeats is not what the All Blacks are accustomed to. It starts right at the top with coach Steve Hansen, a fiercely competitive man, and he expects each of his players, even the uncapped ones, to understand they had best have the same attitude.
They aren’t ugly losers when they get beat, and neither should they be. They proved it with their gracious post-match demeanour in Chicago, but you can guarantee that when they climb onto the bus for the drive to Aviva Stadium in Dublin next Sunday morning (NZT) the atmosphere will be as tense as the buildup to the World Cup final last year.
The rematch against Ireland will be the most anticipated test of 2016, and the All Blacks won’t be tinkering with their selections as they did in Chicago.
Providing they are fit, Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick, who collectively will boast 140 PHIL WALTER/GETTY IMAGES test caps if the latter appeared off the bench against Italy, will start in the second row and Jerome Kaino will be grateful to return to blindside flanker.
The formation of the midfield, already stripped of Ryan Crotty and George Moala, could be determined by how the unfamiliar duo of Anton Lienert-Brown and Malakai Fekitoa combined against Italy this morning (NZT).
Ben Smith should start at fullback and maybe Israel Dagg on the right wing.Dublin will be rocking, and the Irish will have reason to be cautiously optimistic about the prospect of claiming consecutive wins.
Ireland arrived in America a couple of days after the All Blacks, and Schmidt made the bold decision to leave behind Sean O’Brien, Peter O’Mahony, Keith Earls and Iain Henderson for various reasons.
Schmidt couldn’t do much with Ireland at the World Cup, where Argentina blew them to bits with their attack in the quarterfinal in Cardiff, but his analysis and gameplan to beat the All Blacks was spot on.