All Blacks Will Jordan and Rieko Ioane. Photo / Photosport
All Blacks Will Jordan and Rieko Ioane. Photo / Photosport
OPINION:
The All Blacks can win the World Cup in France.
Don’t mortgage the house on it. Not just because bank rates are sky high, but because, like any sporting event, the Cup is never a sure thing.
Quite rightly, Ireland and France are the hot favourites, but for oncethis could be the year for the All Blacks to play the upsetter role that France did so well in 1999 and 2007 against New Zealand, and came within one point of making it a trifecta in 2011.
What are the points of light for the 2023 All Blacks?
The last time the French were at home for a World Cup, in 2007, they choked, 14-9, in a semifinal against an England team even more stupefyingly boring and limited than the English side that won the Cup in Sydney in 2003. Volatility is at once, a French rugby sides’ strength, but also their Achilles heel. If they can channel and handle the passion inside the team, and from a wired fan base, it’ll be all tears and kisses at the Stade de France on October 28. If they can’t it’ll just be tears.
There are All Blacks forwards who’ll do the grunt work
The weirdness over coaches has obscured the fact that, if injuries don’t interfere, a very good All Blacks lineup can be fielded. Ethan de Groot and Tyrel Lomax comfortably handle test-level propping, while at hooker Codie Taylor is back in form, and for impact there’s no No 2 in world rugby more dynamic than Samisoni Taukei’aho. In the second row Brodie Retallick is playing committed and canny football for the Chiefs, and Sam Whitelock’s lineout skills and work rate remain extraordinary.
Scott Barrett, Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock will combine once again as a lineout triple-threat for the All Blacks. Photo / Photosport
And others to do the flash stuff
There’s no question that French captain Antoine Dupont is a once-in-a-generation halfback. But, while he’s not as physically imposing as Dupont, so is Aaron Smith, and, as with Retallick and Whitelock, it’s heartening to see Smith looking so sharp this year. Thankfully the second-five issue is settled. Jordie Barrett offers the size and strength to deal with the giants who dominate the centres in the northern hemisphere. Despite the sad loss of the effervescent Sevu Reece, there are wings to spare.
Cup winning teams, going back to the inaugural 1987 All Blacks side that was lit up by the brilliance of Michael Jones and John Kirwan, have usually had special players. After Jones and Kirwan came David Campese and then John Eales in the Wallabies, Jonny Wilkinson for England, Richie McCaw and Dan Carter in the All Blacks, through to the dazzling Springboks wings, Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe, in Japan in 2019.
Kindness dictates nothing but good wishes for Will Jordan, who’s dealing with a persistent migraine condition. But there’s a second, more selfish, reason to hope he soon enjoys good health, as a fully restored Jordan could be the star of the Cup in France.
There are touches in Jordan of not only Christian Cullen, but also Carter. The Cullen resemblance comes when Jordan’s running and then, as Cullen did, flicks on invisible afterburners that leave tacklers grasping air. Jordan also has Carter-like gifts in his innate, uncoachable, ability to somehow see two or three moves ahead, and effortlessly make decisions that take him to a space that’s about to appear.
Then there’s the Irish
If the All Blacks are relying on several veterans, imagine the shiver that ran through Irish rugby with the news this week that their captain, first-five, and talisman Johnny Sexton needed a “procedure” for a groin injury suffered in the Grand Slam winning test with England.
His club Leinster swore Sexton, who turns 38 in July, should be fit and ready for the World Cup. I hope so. The Irish rugby revival, started by Kiwi coach Joe Schmidt, has advanced again under Andy Farrell.
They present as an even bigger danger than France, helped by the fact Farrell is as grounded as the red brick industrial buildings in his hometown of Wigan. They embarrassed the All Blacks last year. The ray of hope if the All Blacks face Ireland at the Cup, is that forward coach Jason Ryan wasn’t drilling the pack then.
Other Southern challenges?
The Wallabies under Eddie Jones? Nah. The Springboks? If the All Blacks could beat the Boks at Ellis Park surely they can do it in France.
