Louisa Wall: The thread that binds is loose but not in the Bay of Plenty

COMMENT

A pearl of wisdom from the Black Ferns: "The forwards win the game and the backs determine by how much." And, in combination with the ethos of "no one crosses our line", that was enough to guarantee the Ferns success.

So what a luxury to contemplate idealism about a rugby philosophy. It is simple, really. We must play to our strengths, devise a game plan that connects the players and, as Lois Muir used to say, there must be an invisible thread that binds the team, players must sing from the same songsheet and believe in what they are trying to achieve.

So what role has the media played in undermining the All Blacks' flat backline?

What a lot of ranting and raving about how we want to play the game. If it works, we will all squeal (not just the girls) because they will score tries - good ones - from anywhere and, yes, we will win.

We lost last week because our defence was pathetic. The best defence is attack. Other than this, offensive defence is the key, as displayed by South Africa.

The power of Nelson Mandela's appearance to inspire the Springboks and intimidate our players also requires contemplation.

Something else that seems to have been ignored was the impact of the loss of Richie McCaw. He is a legend and we missed his dynamism, thievery and leadership. But this is all within our control and I have not lost faith in Graham Henry and his team of officials. He has the guts and foresight to plan a pattern that he thinks will work to our strengths, and some soft wiring of the team mechanics is required for everything to function as it could.

The mighty Bay of Plenty proved in their Ranfurly Shield upsetthat anyone can win if they believe they can. Hopefully, the Bay team and supporters have clear heads after a week celebrating. I am certain Waikato will be celebrating just as much if they take the trophy tomorrow. It would be an added bonus for coach John Mitchell in what will be an incredibly successful start to the season. There will be those who will want to revisit his coaching demise post-World Cup because he will suddenly be flavour of the month.

We are good at that. Go the underdog, even if they were once the focus of great public animosity (which qualifies you for underdog status in the future). And let's build you up and help you get there, but boy, watch out if you get too big for your boots. What is that all about?

I was overseas during the Soulan Pownceby controversy and missed the debate. For me the discourse was about the role of sportspeople in New Zealand society.

What are our expectations of people who represent our country on the sportsfield? Usually people are seen to have transgressed post-fame as opposed to when they were younger.

How deserving must they be to receive our accolades?

Some predicted that Pownceby would assert himself in the ring and they pitied his opponents.

But his action in the ring reeked of a scared individual who had prepared for years (physically he looked up to the task), won selection via an Oceania Games gold medal, but who, when confronted with the opportunity of the ultimate competition, just could not function.

His immediate action post-match was to avoid any interaction and he wanted to stay in Athens with the team.

They know what it took for him to have been selected in the first place and it is interesting that there were some putting in the boot immediately post-fight. He was representing New Zealand after all.

Supposedly, we are a nation that believes in a fair go for all, but that is unclear in this debate. But it was great to see Dave Currie protect all members of his Olympic whanau and provide Pownceby with a support role for the remainder of the Games.

Maybe sport has much to teach us about humanity after all.

* Louisa Wall was a New Zealand netball and rugby representative

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