The relationship between money and playing success is not absolute, writes Gregor Paul. Photo / Photosport
The relationship between money and playing success is not absolute, writes Gregor Paul. Photo / Photosport
OPINION:
There was an unmistakable theme emanating from rugby HQ last week that New Zealand is falling behind the rest of the world.
NZR chief executive Mark Robinson is clearly worried that New Zealand's long-held place as one of world rugby's most respected and revered territories is in danger ofslipping away.
His fear is based on a conviction that there is a direct correlation between money and high-performance excellence in professional sport and that New Zealand's rivals, as a result of jumping into bed with private equity partner CVC, are building war chests and sustainable revenue streams that will enable them to play better and win more.
Money, so the argument goes, is the engine that drives everything: it attracts and keeps the best coaches and players, it provides access to the latest tools and practices and ultimately opens the way for sharper thinking and better performance.
There is an almost compelling logic that money is the great enabler – and that the more a country has, the more advantages they can exploit and the more consistent and better their national team will become.
Money is important as evidenced by the plight of the poverty-stricken Pacific Island nations of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga who are hampered by their lack of basic resources.
But the relationship between money and playing success is not absolute.
There comes a point where tipping more money into a rugby programme will produce diminishing returns because the differentiators in high-performance sport are typically factors that can't be bought.
Money wasn't solely responsible for developing Richie McCaw into the greatest captain and player the world has known.
England threw more cash at Jonny Wilkinson than New Zealand did at Dan Carter and yet it was the latter who produced more moments of instinctive brilliance.
Sonny Bill Williams threw a handful of game-changing offloads at the 2015 World Cup none of which were down to financial investment but were all about the time he spent in his younger days, with a ball in his hand, practising ways to flip it to his mates.
Money has given New Zealand the basis to compete, but what has kept the country ahead has been a complex mix of genetics, lifestyle, hard work, rugby intelligence ingrained over a century and an almost innate ability to develop effective strategic ploys that accentuate strengths and hide weaknesses.
And hence Robinson is right to be fearful that New Zealand could be falling behind other nations, but it is a red herring to infer that it's because of a lack of financial clout.
Based on what we have seen in Super Rugby so far, New Zealand has two distinct issues, that if they manifest in the All Blacks, will make winning tests decidedly difficult.
There is now reason to believe that New Zealand has endemic ill-discipline and skill-execution problems – neither of which can be solved by throwing more money at Super Rugby teams.
These last few weeks have made painful viewing seeing New Zealand's best players constantly infringe and in doing so either recklessly kill opportunities they have created or compound the pressure they are already under.
Penalty counts have been unacceptably high as has the volume of red and yellow cards and the All Blacks can't possibly expect to win against the toughest sides this year if their players bring such a cavalier approach to the test arena.
Lack of discipline has been a theme of this Super Rugby season. Photo / Photosport
Life will be equally difficult if there is not a fundamental raising of the bar when it comes to basic skill execution.
What has significantly enabled New Zealand to stay ahead of their rivals has been an adherence to getting the basics of their game finely honed to the point where they can be performed faultlessly under pressure.
The All Blacks have won so many tests by simply executing their pass and catch with a consistency and accuracy that their opponents can't match.
They have thrown their lineouts straight, found touch with their kicks, passed to the man next to them so he doesn't need to break stride or dip to catch the ball and they have run straight lines to commit defenders.
The magic of the All Blacks has been pulling off the illusion they are doing something creative and clever when in fact they are just doing the same things as everyone else, but so much better.
That magic has not been present in Super Rugby this year – not consistently and not as sharply as the All Blacks coaching staff would expect.
Robinson is right to be fearful about New Zealand's place in the world, but that concern can't be remedied by an injection of cash.
Too much rugby has been riddled with basic errors and what the professional game needs right now is an investment in application and concentration and for players to remember that good discipline and sharp pass and catch is at the core of high-performance excellence.
