The All Blacks need clear defensive strategies against Australia’s strong attacking backs at Eden Park.
Scott Robertson faced criticism for his calm approach compared to Rassie Erasmus’ fiery halftime speech.
Allowing overseas-based players in the All Blacks could harm local competitions like Super Rugby and NPC.
Comeback kids
Can a team come back from a hiding like the All Blacks received in Wellington from South Africa?
It won’t be easy but it’s certainly far from impossible. It was interesting to hear star halfback Cam Roigard, who was in the crowd in Wellington because ofinjury, say there “was an edge” to “some tough conversations” when the All Blacks gathered in Auckland for the Australian test. An embarrassing defeat can be a powerful motivator.
How important will it be for the All Blacks to have clear instructions at Eden Park?
Vital. A veteran All Black who was part of the Blues squad during one of their fallow periods in the 1990s said to me at the time: “I don’t want fluffy team talks or individual pats on the back. What I want is an explanation about tactics for a match and what the coach wants from me to make those tactics work.”
The Wallabies are stacked with terrific attacking backs so it’s essential the All Blacks’ defensive patterns are clear and fully grasped, especially by our backline.
To be blunt, the All Blacks backs looked disjointed in the second test against South Africa in Wellington. That meant they offered far too many attacking chances to their opponents. If they’re not better drilled at Eden Park, Aussies like Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i could tear them to shreds.
The All Blacks take a moment during the second test against the Springboks in Wellington. Photo / Photosport
Cameras in the changing sheds during the test in Wellington against South Africa showed Boks coach Rassie Erasmus appearing to blast his team at halftime. By comparison, Scott Robertson in the All Blacks’ changing room looked relatively quiet and composed. He suffered some online criticism for the contrast with Erasmus.
The comparison is actually worthless. For a start, the All Blacks were ahead 10-7 at the break. The 36-point, second-spell South African deluge had yet to come. For another, the All Blacks dropped red-hot, paint stripping speeches by the coach back in 2005 when captain Tana Umaga suggested to former coach Sir Graham Henry that such talks were possibly more for the coach than for the players. A fire-breathing speech worked for the Boks in Wellington, but a calmer approach succeeded in 2011 and 2015 (and almost worked in 2023) at the World Cup for the All Blacks.
Open borders
Should overseas-based players be eligible for the All Blacks?
Not unless we want to kill off our local competitions. We’ve already seen how losing Super Rugby Pacific players has decimated the NPC. If all our best players are in France or England or Japan, can you imagine how hard it would be to persuade fans to bother with Super games? And make no mistake, our best players would be flooding out of the country, given the huge amount of money imports are paid in Europe and Japan.
All about aura
If the All Blacks lose at Eden Park, will that be the end of the All Blacks’ aura?
Stick around for long enough and and you’ll hear the question of whether the All Blacks have lost their air of invincibility plenty of times. It might have been when they lost five test matches in a row in 1998, or you might go even further back to 1983 when they drew with Scotland and then lost to England, 15-9.
Fleet Street hacks revive the old question every time the All Blacks falter. Thankfully, history shows it’s easier to be unafraid of the All Blacks from the comfort of the press bench than when facing them on the field.
The Shaza factor
Will the All Blacks’ run of victories at Eden Park intimidate the Australian players?
Confidence has always been very much a part of the Australian psyche. A prime example? In the late 1990s, as the Wallabies morphed into the brilliant team that won the 1999 World Cup, they used their star fullback Matt Burke in a television ad for a test in Sydney. Burke was patting a sheep called Shaza. The voiceover (as I recall) said: “The All Blacks are coming and Shaza’s nervous.” Burke had the last word. “Don’t worry Shaza, we’ll look after you.”
It was basically 60 seconds of motivation for the All Blacks. But Australia won the test.
Phil Gifford is a Contributing Sports Writer for NZME. He is one of the most-respected voices in New Zealand sports journalism.
