Trust the All Blacks to think beyond the box when the pressure is really on

CHOKING. It’s one of he most dreaded words in sport.

The Proteas are asked about it at every ICC tournament, while golf commentators recently reminded us of Adam Scott’s meltdown in the 2012 Open Championship, which let our own Ernie Els in through the back door to win his fourth major.

In four rugby World Cups between 1991 and 2007 the All Blacks wore the tag as rugby’s perennial chokers. They dominated every team they played against between World Cups, but only managed to play in one final during that period – in 1995.

It was the Springbok supporters’ ace in the hole. When New Zealanders talked about their dominance, South Africans would eventually hit back with “we have won more World Cups than you”.

That changed in 2011 when the All Blacks beat France on home soil to win their second World Cup and draw level with the Boks and the Wallabies. And it’s almost impossible to look past the world’s No 1 team going into this year’s tourna- act of God can prevent them from putting their hands on the William Webb-Ellis trophy for a third time.

I never felt the All Blacks were out of Saturday’s match, even though the Springboks played some of their best rugby in years, which is scary, because if a Bok team – the No 2 team in the world – playing with so much fire and flair can’t beat the All Blacks, then who can?

The All Blacks always seem to have an extra gear in reserve, an extra something to get them over the line. That lit- tle something on Saturday was an outrageous lineout.

If you look at the game, the first two tries for both teams were almost identical. The Boks scored from a turnover and a linebreak, and the All Blacks responded in similar fashion.

Before the All Blacks’ audacious lineout, the Boks had them on the ropes on their own goalline. But the South Africans couldn’t plant the knockout punch, because they were too predictable in their approach of getting over the line from their own lineout. And then the South Africans didn’t have the confidence to shove back a seven-man New Zealand scrum when Trevor Nyakane came on as a blood replacement for Vincent Koch.

But when the All Blacks got their big chance, they took it. They went for something outside the box and nailed it.

It’s also not the first time they have done it in an important game. Looking back to the 2011 World Cup final, prop Tony Woodcock scored the decisive try of that tournament by also going through the middle of the lineout following innovative move.

That is the sort of thing that sets the New Zealanders apart from the rest of the rugby world, and especially South Africa – their ability to back themselves to pull off such a move under extreme pressure.

You can match the All Blacks physicality. You can match their speed, their power. Maybe one day the Boks can even match their innovation. But at the moment, no other team can match their mental fortitude. For them, it’s never

an over until it’s actually over. And they will always back themselves to come out on top.

Chokers? It seems those days have come and gone.

TWEET OF THE WEEK

@CorneKrige: Believe you can and you’re halfway there. – Theodore Roosevelt

WHO TO FOLLOW

@stranners ( Joel Stransky): The former Bok flyhalf is a bit of an adrenalin junkie these days.

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ment in England. No sports team has dominated their sport like the New Zealand rugby side over the last few years. The All Blacks have lost only four of their last 54 matches – less than 10%. The way they managed to beat the Boks at Ellis Park last...