Sport The test we’ve been waiting for
The talking’s almost done.
After the almost interminable wait since New Zealand lost 36-34 to South Africa on September 15, we’re all about to get some new material.
Sifting through the shortcomings of the All Blacks’ performance that night in Wellington has become a bore, along with the inevitable questions about what it all means?
All we can safely say about that game is that sometimes New Zealand don’t prepare and play and react as well as they’d like to. More often than not, they still find a way to win. This time they didn’t. End of story. At least for now.
The teams now reconvene in Pretoria, where South Africa stand a good chance of winning. The opposition are entitled to beat you, after all.
The All Blacks’ challenge is to perform well. Usually that’s enough to win too. If it’s not tomorrow, that won’t be the end of the world.
But if they are poor and players make the same decision-making or skill errors as they did in Wellington and there’s a similar lack of care about things then, sure, rip on in. Tear the team apart if you like. Rustle up a biomechanical know-all to analyse Beauden Barrett’s kicking technique and suggest that coach Steve Hansen’s methods are old hat and the team is tired of hearing him talk.
The truth is, though, that judgments on that kind of stuff can’t be properly made until next year. The powers that be at World Rugby might be making noises about increasing the meaning of rank-andfile test matches but, for the time being, it’s only the outcome of the Rugby World Cup that matters.
The makeup of the All Blacks’ midfield at Loftus Versfeld or the identity of the goalkicker can’t change that.
South Africa have a good team out this week. Willie le Roux, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Aphiwe Dyantyi, Faf de Klerk, Francois Louw, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi, Franco Mostert, Malcolm Marx and Steven Kitshoff are all proven, world-class performers who demand the All Blacks’ utmost respect.
But, provided they play well, New Zealand should still be good enough to win.
By Hansen’s reckoning, they gave 21 points away in Wellington. Jordie Barrett gifted le Roux a try, Anton Lienert-Brown’s poor pass put Cheslin Kolbe in to score and weak lineout defence enabled Marx to rumble over. It doesn’t take much to tidy those things up.
There’s no doubting the All Blacks will be enthused and determined this week. The question is how fresh they are?
This time last year they staggered to a 25-24 win in Cape Town that took so much out of them they lost to Australia in Brisbane two weeks later. Plenty of thought has since gone into countering endof-season fatigue and we’ll soon see how successful that was.
Again, a loss in Pretoria won’t be a disaster or a sure sign of impending doom at the World Cup. It’ll be a disappointing result, but not proof of a team in terminal decline.
What will be a problem, and cause for serious scrutiny, is a performance such as we saw at the Cake Tin. That really will give us something to talk about. Gives plenty of cheek, does Jack Goodhue.
Pleasingly so, too. Not just in the sense that it shows personality, more because of what it says about the All Blacks. Once upon a time new players were seen and not heard. Now, it seems, even five-test fledglings such as Goodhue are able to give as good as they get.
He and midfield partner Sonny Bill Williams were up for media duties in Pretoria, where tomorrow’s clash with South Africa was low on the agenda. Of more interest was the internal dynamic between Goodhue, Williams, Ryan Crotty, Anton LienertBrown and Ngani Laumape.
Rather than resent the young upstarts, 33-year-old Williams relishes the part he plays in preparing them for test footy.
‘‘You take great pride in it,’’ Williams said . . . ‘‘by creating the environment and space for them to come in and express themselves.’’
Which, by the sound of Goodhue’s backhanded compliments, is appreciated by the young bucks.
‘‘Myself, Alby and Ngani, we’re fortunate to have such wisdom with Sonny and Ryan,’’ Goodhue said.
‘‘Ryan just had his 30th birthday a wee while ago and obviously Sonny’s turning 40 next year and to have that experience, for us coming through we’re fortunate.
‘‘I like to think sometimes I’ve got a few things to teach Sonny, maybe about haircuts and stuff. I’ve got a new mullet – I don’t know if you noticed that – but the relationship’s good.’’
Williams sounds as if he’s a big Goodhue fan as a player. If not his banter. ‘‘On the field yes. Off it, questionable,’’ said Williams of Goodhue’s chat.