All Blacks’ dominance not damaging test rugby
Another dominant All Blacks display; another wave of global whingeing about how bad it is for the game. What utter tripe.
Suggesting that rugby is somehow the poorer because it has a singularly dominant All Blacks side setting the standard at the top of the game is a storyline that just doesn’t wash.
That it tends to come from within rival countries failing to respond to the challenge set down by the No 1 side on the planet probably tells you all you need to know about it as a theory. It is hogwash.
Yes, competition is the essence of sport. But so, too, is excellence.
The All Blacks are providing the latter; now it is up to their rivals to chip in with the former.
It is not on the All Blacks to lower their standards so international rugby can feel a little more well-rounded. It is up to each and every country chasing them to be inspired by their dominance and to put their heart and soul into breaking it.
The All Blacks, who have now won 13 consecutive Rugby Championship fixtures and gone two years undefeated in the competition, are the very embodiment of excellence in international rugby.
Under Steve Hansen their record is extraordinary. They have played 86 tests since he took over the top job in 2012 and lost just six of them. In international sport it is a success rate surpassed only by the USA in both men’s and women’s basketball.
I don’t hear anybody suggesting LeBron, KD and co need to start clunking a few more shots so everyone else in the hoops world can start feeling better about themselves.
If anything, you get the sense that the All Blacks are inspired by their own success. They have set the bar, and every time they go out on the rugby field they try to nudge it that little bit higher. They own the Wallabies in the Bledisloe Cup, yet all you hear about is how important that trophy is to them and how much they respect the Australians as rivals.
Their performances tend to reflect that. The Wallabies have won just four of their last 33 matches against the All Blacks. Partly that’s because of the extraordinary talent coach Hansen has at his disposal, and partly it’s because an excellent coaching group understands how to use it.
But it’s also partly because the Wallabies have failed to find their own formula for success. They have some fine rugby players, some excellent athletes. But they continue to flounder in a fruitless game of catchup against the backto-back world champions.
If you’re looking for an example of a team that is meeting the All Blacks’ challenge, Ireland are the textbook case. Right now, they appear to be the major threats to Hansen’s men banking a third straight global crown.
They’re not massively resourced in terms of player numbers or cash reserves, yet they’ve built a quality squad, found a style that suits their makeup and put in place the right coach to mastermind the whole process.
And they have not shied from the All Blacks standard. They have walked towards it. Embraced the difficulty. Relished the essence of the task. Responded to the challenge.
South Africa’s Springboks appear to be going through a similar process, and their looming clashes with the All Blacks in the Rugby Championship are going to be much anticipated. They are equipped with both the physical and mental qualities to take on the All Blacks, and would appear to now have a coach capable of bringing them together in one effective group.
One theory doing the rounds in Australia is that the All Blacks, and New Zealand’s dominance at the Super Rugby level, are killing the game over there.
But that’s the wrong way round. For what’s damaging rugby that side of the Tasman they have to look much, much closer to home.
One final comment on the Ryan Crotty situation: It’s great that people care. And almost all the reaction to his latest head knock playing rugby has been based on genuine compassion.
But calling for him to retire is both unfair and unjust. This is his livelihood. His career. His body. His health.
What the young man needs is some space to figure out what this latest blow means and some informed diagnosis around the medical repercussions.
Then, and only then, HE should decide whether rugby is really worth what he’s going through.