Editorial: Winners even before they take the field

On the field, the All Blacks have already produced a sublime performance at this Rugby World Cup. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Editorial

On the field, the All Blacks have already produced a sublime performance at this Rugby World Cup. Off the field, their performance is reported to be equally fine. To read Gregor Paul's account today of their after-match invitations to the opposing team is cause for as much pride as any match result. Under Steve Hansen the All Blacks have made an effort to restore some of the camaraderie of rugby that was lost when the game went professional at the highest level.

They have been inviting the opposition into their dressing room after the pool games and for those such as Namibia and Georgia it would have been awesome in the real meaning of the word. But while the guests took "selfies" with the greats and exchanged gear, Paul's report suggests the All Blacks would have been the modest unassuming Kiwis we expect.

Hansen told him, "When I played some of the best moments in rugby were with the guys you have just gone 80 minutes with, and you find out they are just like us. They are ordinary guys and you make lifelong friendships."

Hansen's friendship with Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer came to light this week when the South African's public comments were too generous to the All Blacks for Hansen's comfort as they prepared for their semi-final tomorrow. The greatest team ever? Maybe if they become the first to win a World Cup twice in succession. They have to win two more big matches and premature praise does not help, as Meyer well knew.

The All Blacks and Springboks have the greatest rivalry in rugby. If the French occasionally lift their game when they face the All Blacks, the Boks just about always do. They are big-boned specimens and their game is hard and bruising. The history of the two countries' rugby encounters is studded with incidents and experiences that are always recounted ruefully, none more than front-row duel of 1956.

Today's All Blacks, as one of them mentioned this week, grew up in the later apartheid period when South Africa was largely absent from the international stage. He did not regard the Springboks with the quite the same sense of heritage, which is probably healthy for all concerned. The Springboks, says Hansen, always come into the All Blacks room after a game.

It is evident as teams leave the field that opposing players in the professional era get on very well. Considering how often they meet in the Super Rugby competition, this probably should be expected. Nevertheless, it is gratifying to see that the pressure on players from the intensity and passion of the rugby culture in New Zealand has not inhibited their ability to express the fellowship true sportspeople share with their competitors. Hansen seems to value this side of his sport as much as the quality of the team he puts on the field.

Sir Graham Henry before him, used to talk about the importance of character in the men he selected.

Together they have build a team culture that we should admire as much, probably even more, than their results. But is easy to say that now. If the unthinkable happens tomorrow, these All Blacks would handle it with grace, would we?

We are not about to find out.

This is in every sense a team with winning ways.