Originally published in NZ Rugby World #147, page 28
Redemption
REDEMPTION IS never easy to find. For the All Blacks of 2011 it felt like it may never be found. From having one hand on the trophy 30 minutes into the World Cup final, it suddenly looked like that was as close as they were going to get.
One fleeting touch, a damned good look and then a long slide back to the most unforgiving earth. These All Blacks would have really made a mess falling from that height.
If France had managed to see the job through; if Francois Trinh-Duc had nudged over the penalty he missed on 68 minutes or if somehow they had landed a dropped goal, New Zealand may never have recovered.
No one would have been able to cope. The agony would have been too much. But of course that didn’t happen. Maybe it was never going to happen despite it feeling so real; so close.
The All Blacks of 2011 are a special bunch; made of sterner stuff than many of their predecessors. History will rightly place this All Black side in a deservedly good seat in the Pantheon.
A World Cup will do that. A World Cup won by grit, bravery, inspiration and the most incredible strength – that will have everyone reaching for a moniker; Incomparables, Invincibles…that kind of thing. One newspaper proposed they should be the Unshakeables, what with it being the year of earthquakes and them staying so rigid. It wasn’t bad, especially when, in the days and weeks to come, the full realisation of what has been achieved starts to dawn.
We think we have a handle on it already. But actually we don’t. It takes time for emotions to settle. They are like sediment that when you shake them all up, they don’t necessarily fall as you expect. The immediate reaction contained, inevitably, a measure of relief. There was the obvious relief that a final few were expecting to go to the wire was all over. How many hearts would have been mouths in those final 20 minutes?
How many New Zealanders, despite their confidence – their conviction even – that it was going to be their night, started to have doubts after Thierry Dusautoir burst over to score a try?
Memories of Cardiff 2007 were hard to shake at that point. The parallels were everywhere, not the least of which was Dusautoir scoring a try to ignite the French four years previously.
But there was also the relief of knowing that the World Cup had been won. When Richie McCaw stood in the middle of Eden Park and lifted the Webb Ellis Cup – there were roars across the nation; there were smiling faces but so much of that was relief. For there was always this inescapable dread from the moment the tournament kicked off that life would be just unbearable if the All Blacks came up short again.
The routine of failure had become familiar and it had most definitely bred contempt. No one wanted to go down that road again. No one wanted the air waves jammed with acerbic and bile-laden callers venting on the idiocy of re-appointing Graham Henry for another term.
No one wanted to read comment pages on websites that could have stretched for miles – all devoted to despair and a sense of wretched loathing.
It was time for something else. There would have been some seriously depressed souls at the thought of yet more introspection; of yet more inquiries into where it all went so wrong after appearing to be on the right track.
It’s because of that relief and desire to finally win the blessed thing that it’s perhaps right to be cautious about grading the achievement.
Previous World Cup failures have induced angst; an uncomfortable tension and desperation that may have distorted the picture.
It is a big deal to win a World Cup – a serious achievement indeed. But could victory in 2011 hold a heightened importance? Will it be seen for being more than it really was simply because everyone wanted it so much? That’s a danger but it would also be a little disrespectful to the stature of the tournament. The fact that France were so gallant, so brave and so close to winning the final when they had been nowhere near that level at other stages in the tournament did plenty to sharpen minds as to how hard it is to win a World Cup. For that reason alone we should see relief turn to pride in the coming period. There is every reason to rejoice, to even get a little carried away with the victory. This All Black team is worthy of a little over the top celebration. The last two years have been among the best produced by any All Black side; by any international side.
Back in early September 2009 the All Blacks were in chaos. They were struggling with kick and chase rugby – had no idea or desire to play it but the laws were being interpreted such back then that they had little choice.
South Africa were in their element and they beat New Zealand twice in the Republic and then managed a third successive victory when they came to Hamilton.
The All Black lineout had been reduced to rubble and it was comic at times how poor some of the team were under the high ball. That was the nadir but thankfully the renaissance began against Australia in the final Tri Nations game.
That was the beginning of the golden period. In came Tom Donnelly to fix the lineout. The template changed for the back three with quality under the high ball becoming the key criteria. The All Blacks spent longer on their scrum technique. They spent longer working on their basic skills and they improved the way they targeted the collision. It’s not as if they had neglected these areas before – it was just they sharpened their focus and became determined to find micro improvements across the field.
The big one was coming in the way they dealt with the high ball. No longer would they stand under it hopefully. They learned how to attack it in the air. How to come forward and claim possession and then use it. The philosophy became aggressive and positive again – the idea being that they felt if they could ignite their counter attack game they would deter teams from kicking the ball to them. Defence would quickly become attack and those who thought they could pressure the All Blacks by kicking high would be forced to think again.
By the end of the European tour in 2009 they had shown they were capable of fielding high balls and running them back with deadly effect. The benchmark performance was against France. Both teams played ball in hand and the All Blacks ripped through them 37-12.
That was enough to persuade the IRB to take control of the game and force tacklers to roll away and with that simple directive – 2010 became the year the All Blacks came alive. Really alive to the extent they were sitting on a 15-game unbeaten run by the end of the Tri Nations. No one could live with their speed, their skills and their desire to run from everywhere.
The only blight in 2010 was the loss in Hong Kong but in the space of 14 months the All Blacks had played 20 tests and won 19. There were two seriously big wins against Australia in there and one brilliant effort against the Boks at Eden Park.
Redemption came because it was earned. What the All Blacks couldn’t do in 2007 they could in 2011. And they could because they were mentally stronger. Of all the improvements they made in the four-year cycle, none was more important than the level of leadership and maturity they developed across the board.
Now they have played 32 tests since losing to South Africa in Hamilton and have won 29 that include a Tri Nations, a Grand Slam and a World Cup. Add into that the number of legendary or potentially legendary All Blacks who have formed the core of the team since late 2009.
Owen Franks and Sam Whitelock are on their way to being memorably good All Blacks. Tony Woodcock is the most capped prop in New Zealand history and Keven Mealamu will undoubtedly hit 100 caps next year. Brad Thorn is a phenomenon and Piri Weepu was shortlisted for the IRB player of the year award as was Ma’a Nonu, whose partnership with Conrad Smith is possibly the best in All Black history.
Jerome Kaino was also on that short-list and was a good chance of actually winning it while Kieran Read is a future captain and probably the best No 8 in world rugby.
Mils Muliaina holds a special place as one of the best fullbacks of this or any age and then there is Daniel Carter and Richie McCaw – where do you even begin with these two?
Great players across the team and a phenomenal record – that surely earns them some kind of irrefutable standing alongside the very best All Black sides in history?
Even all that doesn’t get to the nub of what it is that makes this team really special. For anyone who wants a digestible answer to the question of what made the 2011 team different to the five other All Black sides who had failed at World Cups, an answer is provided by Henry.
“This thing is about winning and I am delighted we won,” he said about the World Cup title. “A lot of the guys played in the last World Cup and went out in the quarter-finals. Our guys are very self-reliant and they took ownership of the team. They didn’t give penalties away and were defensively strong.
“We have been the number one team for a long time and it is nice to be able to hang in there and get the job done under pressure. We had to play a situation that was unexpected and the French played really well and held on to the ball. The ability to hang in there and get the job done was probably something we couldn’t have done two or three years ago.”
Redemption came because it was earned. What the All Blacks couldn’t do in 2007 they could in 2011. And they could because they were mentally stronger. Of all the improvements they made in the four-year cycle, none was more important than the level of leadership and maturity they developed across the board.
They became a team that relished pressure –rather than wilt under it. The idea of the 2011 team bashing away for 12 minutes looking forlornly for a penalty or dropped goal is too hard to comprehend.
Look at the pressure they were under in the final and the decision-making stayed strong and accurate. They closed out the last three minutes of the game because they were confident and had belief – and they had it through the team. The senior players, almost to a man, were big personalities who could read the game; change the game. That was never the case in 2007. “I wasn’t going to continue after 2007, but from of the reaction of the players they wanted the same coaching team and that is why we stood,” said Henry. “We put a lot of pressure on the players to perform. In 2007 I had to stand up because that is what we expected of the players.
“I think we learned a lot from 2007. The players are older, more self-reliant and control this team.”
Continuity was critical. The NZRU board had the bravery to reappoint a coach who had failed at a World Cup. Some felt at the time that it was madness – that the wrong man had been given the job.
But no one thinks that now. The All Blacks were tactically and technically superior to the Wallabies when they clashed in the semi-final. It was one of Henry’s finest coaching performances and the man many felt should have got the All Black job, Robbie Deans, masterminded a dud with the Wallabies. Strangely, the Wallabies looked short of ideas on the night and continued to bomb the All Blacks with high balls despite the fact Cory Jane and Israel Dagg kept catching them and launching effective counter attacks from them. This was Deans’ big chance to show the NZRU they had made a horrible mistake. He didn’t land a blow. Henry was too smart. The All Blacks were too good. All that knowledge they learned from failing in 2007 was with them on the night; through the whole tournament. By falling so hard four years earlier they were able to climb so much higher in 2011.
“I don’t think so,” said assistant coach Steve Hansen when he was asked before the final whether winning the World Cup would automatically bestow the title of ‘great’ on these All Blacks. “We are a good side. We play good rugby and we have some good men. But it is for other people to decide whether we are ‘great’.”
Consider this judgement time – consider this All Black team one of the greats and for all those in it to be redeemed.
Two comments
illiterate
I cannot find out how to enter the "Cool STuff" It used to be simple for this oldie but it has changed
Help Please !!!
pattens@clear.net.nz
Thankyou Rare Patten
karl beaumont
what has happened to the option of purchasing back issues? i live in australia, and im wanting to purchase the recent 25 yrs of all black rugby special edition. how do i go about that?
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