All Blacks coach-elect Scott Robertson. Photo / Photosport
All Blacks coach-elect Scott Robertson. Photo / Photosport
OPINION
However much the experts profess rugby to be a game of collision warfare, won and lost on the frontlines of set-piece and tackled ball confrontation, it remains a sport where strategic application continues to be the key to success.
The rough and tumble obviously matters. It’s an easier gameto play with forward momentum and quality of possession is more likely to swing a contest than quantity of possession.
But what was confirmed in the Six Nations and is likely to become apparent in Super Rugby, is that the best teams are those who boast world class decision-makers in their key strategic positions to ensure that they capitalise on the solid grunt work.
Ireland won a Grand Slam partly on the back of a terrific campaign by their forwards, but it was the supreme tactical management of first-five Johnny Sexton that set them apart.
France have an enormous pack, one loaded with natural athletes, but again, the brilliance of Antoine Dupont, who does that wonderful French thing of wearing nine but playing as a 10, and their actual first-five, Romain Ntamack, elevated them to a different level.
Scotland are a team on the up and some of that is because they have found a front-row that can scrum, but so much of the threat they pose comes through the play-making magic of No 10 Finn Russell, who would rank as the most creative and flamboyant first-five in world rugby.
The physical stuff is a ticket into the game, but the Six Nations provided yet one more reminder that it’s the way the ball is used, the gameplan implemented and the ability of the primary playmaker to make smart, instant decisions which determines test match outcomes.
If there was one thing to take out of the Six Nations, it was confirmation that great teams need a great No 10.
And this opens the question about how well-placed New Zealand is to win a World Cup this year, and whether there is a great first-five lurking in the midst of Super Rugby — one who could be thrown into the test side next year and reach 2027 as a world-class operator.
Richie Mo'unga and Beauden Barrett will both be leaving offshore after the World Cup. Photo / Photosport
The first question is easier to answer. Richie Mo’unga, while he hasn’t shown the consistency of Sexton or the same big-game mentality which has defined Ntamack, has sporadically delivered the poise and vision that the All Blacks have needed to reclaim rugby’s summit.
At his best, Mo’unga has been controlled and inventive and so the answer as to whether New Zealand has within its talent pool a No 10 who can win the All Blacks a World Cup later this year is yes.
Mo’unga has everything he needs — the running game, the tactical nous, the kicking portfolio and instinctive decision-making.
It’s all there — it just needs to come out in France, not sporadically but for the duration of the campaign and the All Blacks can win this World Cup if they can get Mo’unga to be at his best in every test he plays at the tournament.
He can sign off — he’s heading to Japan after the World Cup — maybe not as a great All Black, but one who delivered a great campaign that helped deliver a great outcome.
What lies ahead for the All Blacks next year and beyond is harder to tell.
Mo’unga won’t be available and it’s not clear what the situation is with Beauden Barrett, who has not yet confirmed whether he will play one or two seasons with Toyota Verblitz, and whether he may re-commit to NZR for the last two years of the next World Cup cycle.
Regardless, New Zealand need to find more options at No 10 and while All Blacks coach-elect Scott Robertson faces multiple challenges in his quest to build a great All Blacks team, the highest priority will be identifying and then developing a first-five who can become a world-class operator by 2027.
Stephen Perofeta of the Blues on attack against the Force. Photo / Photosport
From what’s been on view so far in Super Rugby, Blues No 10 Stephen Perofeta looks like the one to develop.
He’s found a level of composure that was missing earlier in his career and his running game is sharp enough to trouble any defence.
But it will be a long journey to transform him into a world-class international first-five.
He’s barely played test rugby and much of his club football in the last two seasons has seen him picked at fullback.
And it will be a longer journey still to build any of the other options — Fergus Burke, Brett Cameron, Ruben Love, Damian McKenzie, Bryn Gatland — into great All Blacks No 10s.
This, though, is what must happen if the All Blacks are to build a great side in the next World Cup cycle: they have to find a great No 10 as history is clear that no side can become great without one.
