Hansen: No room for error
Coach says loss reminder one off-night at World Cup could see them out early
The All Blacks’ next test will be a World Cup match against Argentina at Wembley Stadium in five weeks. The defence of their title is, as coach Steve Hansen said a day after his team thrashed Australia at Eden Park, “so close now you can just about taste it”.
So what can we and the All Blacks take out of their performance against the Wallabies on Saturday? Take away the emotion of the occasion — Richie McCaw setting a test appearances world record and playing his final one at home, with Dan Carter, Tony Woodcock, Conrad Smith, Keven Mealamu, and Ma’a Nonu — and the All Blacks proved they have players capable of big performances, are capable of bouncing back from defeat, and have a game plan that works. And that’s about it.
A week earlier in Sydney they showed they are capable of collectively putting in a bad performance. An off-night at ANZ Stadium cost them the Rugby Championship — an off-day in a World Cup knockout match will see them fly home early.
Hansen conceded as much at Eden Park afterwards, saying one of the big lessons of their 2007 quarter-final failure at the hands of France was that nothing could be taken for granted.
If the All Blacks come first or second in their pool, which includes the Pumas, Tonga, Namibia and Georgia, they will be guaranteed a quarter-final, but nothing else.
“The difference at the World Cup is you get four games guaranteed,” Hansen said. “If you’re good enough to win your pool or come second, you get one more and that’s it. That was the lesson in 2007 — if you don’t win that one you come home, so I don’t think anyone will need to be told there’s a second chance, you just have to front up. It’s knockout rugby, it’s either a plane ride home or you get to hang around and have another go.”
The All Blacks will give themselves the best chance of reaching a consistently high level of performance by retaining a core group of players throughout the tournament. Unlike in 2007, there will be no chopping and changing. It will probably mean some big scores against the likes of Georgia and Namibia, but so be it. The gelling of combinations and match fitness of key individuals will be vital if the All Blacks are to progress.
For the All Blacks, the Rugby Championship matches and recent extra Bledisloe Cup test were notable for experimentation. The selections of Lima Sopoaga and Victor Vito were two of the most interesting.
But, after Hansen and his fellow selectors stayed true to their word and gave everyone a go, the tinkering is likely to stop now. And if places are more or less guaranteed once the World Cup kicks off, the key becomes the maintaining of personal and collective standards, as Hansen said after 41-13 demolition of the Wallabies.
“All we can do is make the environment a little uncomfortable at times, but it can’t be false either, because people aren’t stupid.”
No 8 Kieran Read, one who made a timely statement with a good performance in his most recent appearance, added: “It has given us a big lift — to finish this campaign on a really high note. We’re always going to be confident [going to the World Cup] but we need to make sure we’re working really hard as a unit. We can’t let our performance stay there — that’s not going to be enough in a couple of months’ time.” number were released a while back for ITM Cup action. Waikato had Brad Weber, Auckland got Ofa Tu’ungafasi and George Moala, Canterbury used Matt Todd, Wellington paraded Cory Jane and Taranaki picked Charlie Ngatai and James Broadhurst. Now the All Blacks have announced they will be joined by others so 17 members of the wider squad are available for one or two rounds of ITM Cup action. They are among several All Blacks who could do with playing some footy, getting their mitts on the ball and feeling the rhythms of rugby once more