All Blacks skipper Sam Cane can silence his critics against South Africa. Photo / Mark Mitchell
OPINION:
This is Sam Cane's moment to shine. This is the week that he can establish, unequivocally, that he's the right man to captain the All Blacks.
This is the test in which he can change the narrative: halt the negativity that is building about both his right to wear the number seven jersey and his ability to inspire his peers in the mould of the great captains who have gone before him.
The pressure the All Blacks are under isn't unprecedented, but it's about the most extreme it has been since 1998 when five consecutive tests were lost.
The difference, though, between now and then is that the problems besetting the game run much deeper than an inexperienced All Blacks team being unable to find its killer touch which was the source of all the drama in 1998.
What we have now is incomparable because what we have now is chaos.
Assistant coaches have already been fired, New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson won't publicly endorse head coach Ian Foster beyond this series with the Springboks, and a figure as loyal and revered as Sir Steve Hansen has felt the need to publicly berate the leadership and governance of the sport, accusing them both of failing to do their jobs.
Records are tumbling seemingly every week, but not the sort that bring glory to New Zealand; relationships with key allies Australia and South Africa have soured; the high-performance programme has imploded evidenced by two Commonwealth Games Sevens bronze medals, a prolonged lack of success for the Under-20 side and massive questions sit answered about their judgement and processes given the failure to appoint coaching teams to the All Blacks and Black Ferns that were capable of going through the whole World Cup cycle.
Staff turnover at NZR has reached alarmingly high levels and apparently more senior figures will shortly be heading for the exit.
It's not a misplaced sense of entitlement that is causing widespread angst about the state of the All Blacks, but the overwhelming sense they have badly lost their way as part of a rugby ecosystem that has been damaged by its guardians, who have not treated it with the due care and attention that it needs.
No one should be daft enough to fool themselves into thinking that a victory for the All Blacks this weekend in Mbombela would somehow indicate that all is well, but it would at least restore some faith that the national team can be rebuilt without necessarily having to overhaul the remainder of the coaching staff.
Just as importantly, a win would serve as a strong means for Cane to stake his claim to continue at the helm through to the World Cup.
It would be quite the story if the All Blacks, given the national angst and anger, were able to come to the toughest rugby destination on planet Earth and deliver the sort of last stand defiance that has defined the greatest teams in history.
They need a leader to do that. A William Wallace sort of figure who can provide an indefatigable source of courage and smart decision-making to take the fight to the Boks and yet somehow remain cool-headed enough to out-think them.
This is why so much is resting on Cane. Rarely have the All Blacks been in such desperate need of redirection and history tells us that pivotal moments are mostly shaped by the influence of great individuals.
Only sporadically in their history have the All Blacks been in such a dark hole and when they were in the same spot in 1998, they didn't have a leader to dig them out.
Back then Taine Randell was too young and too unsure about himself to drive the standards of those around him to the levels they needed to be.
He wasn't the captain they needed in a crisis, but Cane can be and the best way for him to lead is through his performance.
That's where the pressure is building on him. His captaincy is being doubted because there are those who don't believe his form merits a starting place in the team.
Some would even go as far to say he's the third best openside in the squad behind Ardie Savea and Dalton Papalii. And the problem for Cane, and by extension, Foster, is that those arguments are not easy to refute.
Cane wasn't able to deliver the sort of commanding performances against Ireland to kill the debate and establish his credentials as the leading seven in the country.
And that is really what he has to do this week and next – play with the intensity and effectiveness he did through 2020 and remind everyone that he can do more than tackle hard.
At his best Cane is an attacking force – a link player and line-breaker and at his best, his captaincy is inspiring.
It's time for a nation to be inspired again.