Ioane confident smoother waters lie ahead
WHEN your All Blacks centre starts quoting Franklin D Roosevelt, well let’s just say it might be a sign that things really are taking a turn for the surreal.
It was certainly appropriate, given the events of Marvel Stadium in Melbourne on Thursday night, as Rieko Ioane turned philosopher in the aftermath of NZ’s thrilling, controversial and frankly befuddling 39-37 victory over the Wallabies.
The result ticked a number of boxes for a team pretty keen to steer a passage from calamity to serenity, not the least of which was that they tucked away the prized Bledisloe Cup for a 20th consecutive year. ‘‘Not on my watch,’’ vowed skipper Sam Cane beforehand, and sure enough he at least avoided this catastrophe.
It also stacked the first back-toback wins of the campaign, evened the ledger to 4-4 for the season and put the All Blacks, at 3-2 on 14 competition points, in a handy spot to claim another Rugby Championship title.
But boy was it a close run thing. Truth be told the New Zealanders required an outrageous twist of fortune to get over the line and, but for the nuances of a stickler referee, we would be contemplating another All Blacks implosion. Fine lines and all that.
And that’s the other side of the coin as the All Blacks now look forward to their championship finale against the Wallabies at Eden Park next Saturday night. When you scratch beneath the surface of the final digits on the scoreboard, you can make a case that in many respects this was another step backwards for a team that have been to-ing and fro-ing all season long.
Even Ioane appeared to concede as much when he told a small group of Kiwi media before heading home for a weekend off what he believed was the essential takeaway from Bledisloe I.
‘‘Smooth seas never made a skilled sailor,’’ declared the 25-year-old, 55-test midfielder, paraphrasing the 32nd US President, and perhaps summarising a year that has been as unconvincing as it gets from the All Blacks. The problem is the rugby public of New Zealand are still waiting for these ‘‘skills’’ to kick in on a consistent basis.
Naturally, the All Blacks concentrated on the final result, the clutch late play to snatch victory, and the momentum achieved by their first back-toback victories of this troubled season. But they should be looking hard at the 18 tackles they missed, the defensive alignment issues that allowed the Wallabies to break them so easily on the wide shift, the mental lapse in coughing up an 18-point lead in the final quarter, and some subpar decision-making in promising breakout situations.
After the statement performance and execution levels of Hamilton, this was in reality a disappointing follow-up. The rollercoaster ride continued, even if the scoreboard told a slightly different tale.
Ioane, who ran for 34 metres and made a brilliant try-saving defensive play on Andrew Kellaway, is adamant confidence is brewing in this group.
‘‘Some games you win pretty, some you win ugly, but those games like [Melbourne] are the memorable ones that you want to be a part of. We’re just looking to build on our performances, get better where we can and keep pushing through to the big one next year,’’ he said.
First five-eighths Richie Mo’unga, who scored a dazzling try, said: ‘‘We know how special this is. Regardless of how it got done, in the past we’ve missed out on those games by the rub of the green. For us to get that is huge.
‘‘We’ll have an honest review, as always . . . there’s a lot to work on.’’
They have not lost at their acknowledged home fortress since 1994 (to France) and generally produce something approximating their best rugby in the ‘burbs of Mt Eden. More of the same would be timely indeed as exasperated fans long for a return to smooth sailing from their men in black.