Cutting the old school ties
This All Blacks side is becoming a team of strong voices, cool heads and astute thinkers
What’s likely to become apparent during this Rugby Championship is that the All Blacks have developed an impressive stable of leaders.
Three players have led the side this year, and with anointed captain Sam Cane set to return in October, a fourth will be added to the list.
There are two others, Beauden Barrett and Brodie Retallick, who could do the job if asked, and possibly even another two in Dane Coles and Codie Taylor.
It’s a long rather than impressive list. None of the men who have led the All Blacks this year, or indeed Cane, have established themselves as iconic captains of the age.
None necessarily would fit the definition of being towering personalities capable of leading on their reputation and force of personality.
And that won’t sit well with everyone, as the old school mentality is to equate the strength of a side’s leadership to that of their captain.
But that’s a school of thought that belongs in a different age, when the captain was the sole voice.
The speed and intensity with which the game is played now, teams need multiple leaders, and this All Blacks side is becoming a team of strong voices, cool heads and astute thinkers.
The collective rugby IQ within the team is high and the extended group charged with leading the team are proactively contributing.
Which hasn’t always been the case. There have been plenty of All Blacks teams of the past where, for various reasons, the leadership group didn’t always contribute all they could.
Most international coaches believe there typically won’t be much separating the best sides in terms of physical ability and the difference is most often decision-making.
The cliche´ is that tests are won and lost on micro moments — that one or two key decisions can have an enormous bearing on the outcome.
That is true but the macro management of a test is just as important and it was in this art the All Blacks were hugely impressive in Perth last weekend.
In a performance that had much to like, it was the All Blacks’ astute game management, particularly in the 20-minute period when they were reduced to 14 men, which provided the most reason to be optimistic about their readiness to face the various challenges ahead.
Jordie Barrett’s red card had the potential to swing the game in a different direction.
It opened a 20-minute window for the Wallabies to drain the All Blacks’ energy tank, redress the scoreboard and grow their own confidence while sucking plenty out of their opponent.
In Brisbane last year, this is exactly what happened after Ofa Tuungafasi was sent off.
Even though Wallabies flanker Lachlan Swinton followed him to the changing room 15 minutes later to make it 14 versus 14, the All Blacks never regathered their composure.
The capacity to implode in Perth was just as real but it never looked remotely likely as the All Blacks played with a certainty and composure that suggests they have grown an almost immeasurable amount in the past 12 months.
There was no dumb or errant rugby. The All Blacks were aware of when they needed to hold the ball, when they had to kick it and where on the field they needed to be trying to spend most of their time.
It was in stark contrast to the Wallabies, who were guilty of rash decision-making, muddled thinking and no great conviction about what smart rugby should look like with a man advantage.
The big play that broke the Wallabies came just before halftime, when the All Blacks won a turnover penalty, kicked deep and then drove the maul from 12 metres to score.
It was simple rugby in essence, but not in practice, as they were a man down.
What enabled them to be so effective, calm and clinical was their clarity about what they were trying to achieve and the effectiveness with which it was communicated.
The victory was a triumph as much for their leadership and decision-making as it was their grunt and determination.