OPINION
Chris Rattue runs through the winners and losers from the sporting weekend.
WINNER: This adage...
... the definition of insanity is making the same mistake again and again and expecting a different result.
Chris Rattue’s Winners and Losers: The ups and downs as the Rugby World Cup kicked off in France
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All Blacks coach Ian Foster’s handling of Tupou Vaa’i in the World Cup opener is concerning on a couple of levels.
Hurling Vaa’i into the unfamiliar role of blindside flanker against the power of France in Paris defies belief, particularly when you consider the similarly-disastrous selection of Scott Barrett in the World Cup semifinal against England four years ago.
Vaa’i has hardly even played as a loose forward for the Chiefs. I’m not sure Vaa’i is test quality as a lock, but he certainly isn’t a test loose forward on his brief outings there in the black jersey.
For a while, some time ago, the All Blacks had a weird fascination with picking fullbacks at centre in the World Cup.
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Now, the World Cup wobbles involve making snap decisions to turn locks into flankers against powerful, in-form opponents.
Vaa’i was terrible at blindside in the World Cup opener, something he now has to live with, most unfairly, after covering for the injured Sam Cane.
His selection also left Luke Jacobson on the bench, robbing the dedicated loose forward of a chance to prove his worth. Jacobson is a starter-type, not an impact player.
Four years of build-up should not lead to unnecessary rolls of the dice on the big stage, surely. The tournament is not a wild audition.
Foster has inferred that the All Blacks are building within the tournament (of course he does), but a Hail Mary selection doesn’t actually do that.
Instead, it confuses the game plan.
LOSER: Player power
A New Zealand Rugby “documentary” apparently confirmed that player power saved coach Ian Foster, when senior test stars including Ardie Savea, Aaron Smith and Beauden Barrett met NZR boss Mark Robinson in a South African hotel room.
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It’s hard to know if they represented all the players’ feelings. But player power of this sort is a dangerous business because the players themselves, inherently, are acting in self-interest.
In this case, Savea was quoted as saying that Foster is a “great coach”.
There is simply no way in the world, with Foster’s mounting list of unwanted All Blacks firsts, that he could be described as a great coach.
WINNER: Player power
Ethan Blackadder is an encouraging World Cup replacement. He plays for keeps and these All Blacks need to raise their physicality.
WINNER: European crowds
What an amazing atmosphere in Paris. Test rugby is a magnificent beast – a game of incredible flaws rises to these occasions.
LOSER: Nisbo
I haven’t enjoyed Grant Nisbett’s rugby commentaries for a long time, the main reason being that he is too biased towards the All Blacks.
It is more than okay to show national loyalties, but this shouldn’t overly colour the analysis.
After a solid first half doing run of play in the World Cup opener, “Nisbo” reverted to type early in the second half, almost scoffing at things that didn’t go New Zealand’s way.
His adamance that Rieko Ioane’s long pass for a Mark Telea try was not forward did not stand up to scrutiny. It was clearly a marginal decision worthy of debate rather than an aggressive statement – I actually thought the ball went forward from Ioane’s hands.
Nisbett also described a French player’s fall as “histrionics”. He would never accuse an All Black of that, of course.
This was a historic occasion of sorts, the first All Blacks defeat in a World Cup pool game. Yet the commentary gave you virtually no sense of that.
The co-commentator former All Blacks have their work cut out, stopping Nisbett from sounding like an All Black.
LOSER: No 10.
Yes, Richie Mo’unga nailed down the first five-eighths job a while ago. But he only did so with tacks. Mo’unga remains unconvincing – and so does his goal-kicking. The bigger the game, the more he seems to fade away.
WINNER: Aaron Smith
Surprisingly, he won the battle with France’s outstanding Antoine Dupont.
WINNER: England
It was a shock victory of sorts, with Steve Borthwick’s struggling heavyweights beating Argentina. That’s what tournaments are all about – rising to the occasion.
WINNER: Robyn Broughton
This is a rugby column BUT... RIP Robyn Broughton, the remarkable netball coach who helped keep Invercargill on the sporting map.
