Ali Williams: All Blacks should worry less about style

Ali Williams played at three World Cups. Photo / Dean Purcell

Opinion

Having played at three World Cups, it all comes down to the mental side of things. It is what separates teams at the end of it all.

These days there is not much, if anything, between teams physically. Everyone pretty much trains as hard as each other and there's no real advantage to be found there.

I spent a lot of time analysing what happened after the All Blacks endured that disappointing campaign in 2007.

I spent a lot of time looking back and trying to determine why we failed.

My conclusion was that we didn't factor in the uncontrollables. We didn't take into account things such as the referee, opposition and the effects of pressure.

We went to France with this idea that we would be the best rugby team we could be and then we didn't adapt or react well to circumstances that made that goal challenging.

That's why I think World Cups have tended to be won by teams with a core of experienced players, guys who have been there before and learned from their mistakes and know what it is all about.

That was the advantage the All Blacks had in 2011. We had a reasonable number of players who had failed not only in 2007 but also in 2003 and had absorbed a lot of lessons as a result.

I wouldn't say you need to have failed to know how to succeed, but it helps to have a really clear idea of what matters and what doesn't. It helps to have guys who understand the bigger picture and have the intensity of mental focus to not be distracted during the tournament.

We shouldn't forget, either, that we had a coaching group who had been there in 2007 as well. Typically, you don't get consistency as coaches tend to change around World Cups, but we did and that helped.

The biggest thing for us in 2011 was to accept that it was a case of getting the job done. It wasn't about living up to any notion of what we felt All Blacks rugby should look like.

We couldn't win the tournament using an All Blacks style. The aspiration is always to play in a style that enables the players to feel like they are adding to and enhancing the legacy but at World Cups you have to fight those urges. Style isn't important at all.

The mindset has to change for two months and everyone has to get their heads around that. In 2011, we played our best game against France in the pool round. The rest of the rugby was, should I say, without frills.

The semifinal win against Australia was terrific, but it wasn't attractive rugby that we played. We put pressure on them and kept it on for 80 minutes. And that's what the All Blacks of 2015 need to do.