Richard Loe: Leadership worries but keep the faith

I'm writing this column before the Bledisloe Cup match but I will be amazed if the All Blacks haven't produced a more efficient and uplifting performance against Australia after a real glitch against the Springboks last week.

One of the most interesting facets of that game was the All Blacks' lack of leadership. Graham Henry and the selection panel have been making a lot of noise about building up leadership in the team, outside that provided by Tana Umaga.

But it wasn't very much in evidence last week, was it? They kept sending it wide when they were being bowled and pressurised and did all those silly little drop-outs and chip kicks...

It's been interesting to note that Henry's plea for the rugby public not to get too excited and emotional when the All Blacks lose appears to have been heeded - as they have had a pretty quiet ride this week.

But it worries me that leadership was lacking when there didn't seem to be that much to do to get things right. They needed to tighten up their game, take on the Springboks more up front, a bit of pick and drive - basically a bit of real All Black grunt.

That's what we have seen in all All Black performances to date this season and their displays in Christchurch and Wellington were so clinical that it was a surprise to see them look so ragged and rusty last week.

However, there are two ways of looking at this - on the one hand, we can ask: 'OK, where were the leaders? Why didn't someone take the All Black game in hand when it wasn't working?'.

On the other hand, we can say: 'OK, but let's keep the faith in what we are doing and carry things through next time.' I'd say that's where the minds of most New Zealand rugby fans are right now - they want to see the All Blacks continue to use the style they have embraced but maybe get a bit smarter when a team like the Boks puts the pressure on in such an obvious way.

That's where I am coming from as well. I think the leadership and on-field thinking is a concern but the All Blacks could have taken that game at any point if they'd been anywhere near their usual standard.

The real concern will come if they fail to find that standard again versus Australia. But I don't think the Australians have the forward firepower to nullify the All Blacks. They will play like New Zealand - they will try things and try to score tries and that'll bring the All Blacks much more into the game.

Then you have to ask the question: How can Henry and the All Blacks point to rustiness when they have deliberately chosen to go to South Africa after a break of four or five weeks for most of the players?

I mean, you can't have it both ways, can you? Henry's All Blacks lost in South Africa last year because, so they said, they had been worked too hard.

But they lose this year because they were 'rusty'. Again, I think most fans are reserving judgement on all this but I do think there is a balance to be found that the All Blacks haven't found yet.

I don't want to be always harking back to the past, but why not let the players have a club game or even a warm-up match? It worked against the Lions, after all. Everyone was worried about the All Blacks being 'undercooked' but the hit-out against Fiji, although it was criticised at the time, seemed to settle things down.

I know the Lions cannot be judged in the same context as the Bok side last week but playing rugby seems a pretty obvious cure for rustiness.

The other major issue for the All Blacks this week was the possible departure of back-up No 7 Marty Holah to overseas rugby. Whether he goes or not - and the betting seems to be that he'll stay for now - the talk has highlighted that we have a depth problem there.

The All Black selectors have been big on building depth across all positions this year but at 7 you have Richie McCaw, daylight, Marty Holah, daylight again, and then the Otago pair of Craig Newby and Josh Blackie.

While we may yet have Holah's services for a while, you can also see it from his point of view - he's 28, there is a lot of money on offer overseas and he is not getting regular first-team game time.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY