Beauden Barrett looks on after the All Blacks' 16-16 draw with the Springboks. Photo / Getty
COMMENT:
So apparently it is not just the Great Wall of China and Scotland's tangerine change shirt from the early 2000s that are the man-made objects visible from space.
So too, would it seem, that acts of cynicism by the All Blacks can be spotted from that far and used to construct this myth that they are the only side in the world that has ever pushed the ethical boundaries on the rugby field.
Rugby, like all sports, has an endemic culture of gamesmanship that borders on cynicism.
For all that rugby likes to sell itself as a fraternity, governed by a code of honesty and fairness, that's only true in times of off-field strife.
Give rugby a genuine tragedy and the generosity of spirit could melt the coldest heart.
People think nothing of travelling halfway around the world to donate their time or money to an old foe in need.
On the field, though, the ethos is quite rotten and any means to sneak an advantage is deemed all part of the game and no side, anywhere on the globe, is above it.
If there is one facet in which players have universally improved it is in their sharpness in spotting an opportunity to create what Donald Trump would call fake news with which to con the officials.
No side is even pretending to take an active stance against it, yet it continues to be the All Blacks who are portrayed as exclusively, manifestly corrupt – the sole bad egg in an otherwise universally Corinthian spirit of fair play.
A reminder of this has been provided by the reaction to Beauden Barrett's sneaky theft of an extra metre when he rolled the ball closer to the posts after the All Blacks had been awarded a penalty last weekend.
To be clear, this wasn't a grey area or an act of gamesmanship that should be open to interpretation. It was out and out cheating and so those who howled in protest have a valid gripe.
But Barrett being pilloried isn't the issue. It's the fact that the rest of the world sees only what it wants to see when it comes to the All Blacks and invokes double standards whenever it suits.
Who doesn't suspect if it had been Owen Farrell playing for the British Lions against the All Blacks who had nudged the ball ahead of the mark while the referee's back had been turned, that it would have been reported as a cheeky means of exploiting rugby's oldest rule of getting away with what you can.
This is how things went down two years ago when Lions captain Sam Warburton and other senior players badgered referee Romain Poite to refer the All Blacks last minute off-side penalty to the TMO.
They all knew that the incident couldn't be referred as it fell outside the jurisdiction of the TMO and yet the fact they effectively bullied Poite into making a mistake was hailed as great captaincy.
If All Blacks captain Kieran Read had done it, we all know that it would have been portrayed as intimidation and an abuse of his position.
It's cheating when the All Blacks do it, grey area territory when it is other teams. This is not ridiculous or paranoid, but a simple fact that after 10 years of relentless success the All Blacks have made themselves a target to those desperate to see them knocked off their perch.
In 2015, former England lock Paul Ackford who writes for the Daily Telegraph, mock lauded the All Blacks for the depth of their cynicism in the World Cup final.
He observed that mid-way through the first half Aaron Smith jumped over Stephen Moore in the most exaggerated fashion to bring to the referee's attention that the Wallabies captain was offside.
"Smith, like most scrum halves, has history," wrote Ackford. "He'll fire passes at defenders trying to get back onside to get penalties. Sometimes those defenders are consciously slothful, sometimes they are not, but Smith rarely misses an opportunity to ask the question of a referee and - often - buy another penalty."
When British and Irish halfback Rhys Webb threw the ball at a prostrate Wyatt Crockett to milk the equalising penalty late in the third test of the 2017 series against the All Blacks, there was not a peep from anyone about the cynicism of those actions.
But Webb could have made the pass. Crockett wasn't interfering with the ball and World Rugby has subsequently directed referees to penalise halfbacks who try to con penalties that way.
Whatever Smith was guilty of in 2015, so too was Webb in 2017 but only one man stood trial in the court of media and public opinion and it is quite laughable that the All Blacks are vilified for being cynical rule breakers, while every other team is almost admiringly credited for being entrepreneurial, rule benders.
There was more evidence of that last year when Irish wing Jacob Stockdale freely admitted to having committed a stunning act of poor sportsmanship against the All Blacks.
He tried to chip and chase out of defence but his kick was charged down by Read. The All Blacks captain just had to gather the ball and canter 40 metres for the try.
But he dropped it, prompting Stockdale, who had scored Ireland's winning try, to say after the game: "It was probably not the best decision I have made on a rugby pitch. I was screaming 'drop it' [at Read] and he did, so he must have been listening to me. I suppose I got a bit lucky."
Again, Stockdale was portrayed as the hero of the day, upon whom the Gods were obviously smiling. What a great story, the luck of the Irish and all that.
If screaming at an opponent to drop the ball seems to be at the lower end of the cynical spectrum, ask how we would all feel if 10-year-olds everywhere started doing it.
Or just as importantly, ask how the world would have reacted had the roles been reversed and it was Rieko Ioane shouting and Ireland's captain Rory Best who had dropped the ball.
The All Blacks are neither pure nor beyond reproach, but they hardly sit beyond the pale.
They are no more cynical than any other international team and it seems that priorities have come dangerously out of whack when Barrett's stolen metre is deemed more of a concern than the offside cleanout by RG Snyman that dislocated Brodie Retallick's shoulder.
Acts of cynicism are going to be seen across Japan next month. They will be committed by players from every nation.
There will be players who subtly change their support running lines to block a defender. There will be defensive lines that sneak an extra metre whenever they can.
Some players will expertly make it look like they are attempting to win a turnover but are actually pretending – hoping to win a big reward for a cheap investment of poor body position.
Reserves on the sideline will find a way to touch a clearing kick to stop the opposition from taking a quick throw.
Jerseys will be pulled at rucks, blockers put in front of kicks and any number of almost undetectable illegal stunts pulled at scrums.
It will be seven weeks of endless cynicism and lack of sportsmanship because this is what rugby has become or maybe has always been.
It is sad that it is like this but sadder still that there are those who prefer to manufacture the lie that it's not and tainted instead by just one team.
Barrett can't be condoned or berated unless those who judge are prepared to stop seeing grey when it suits.
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