Leading the way to a new legacy

As the All Blacks trudged off Ellis Park in August 2004, Graham Henry and his management team knew they had to instigate radical change.

The fault lines running through the All Black psyche had once again been exposed, this time by a rampant Springbok team galvanised by the presence in Johannesburg of former president Nelson Mandela.

The sight of All Black teams capitulating under pressure had become all too predictable. There was the 1999 World Cup semifinal - the most heinous choke of all. There were last-minute Bledisloe Cup losses in 2001 and 2002 and then, of course, the World Cup semifinal in 2003.

The 40-26 defeat in South Africa in 2004 came a week after an equally insipid performance in Sydney where the All Blacks had played with as little cerebral application as they had on the same ground 10 months earlier in the World Cup.

Enough was enough, reckoned Henry and his mates. The All Blacks were in a rut and the management team didn't need reminding that the only difference between a rut and a grave is depth.

They had to climb out and the best way to achieve that, they felt, was to empower the players and make them more responsible and accountable for delivering performance.

"I think it really came home to roost in that Johannesburg test that we lost," says All Black manager Darren Shand. "We looked at teams prior to our tenure as a management group and saw poor decisions being made under pressure and people not being able to react under pressure. Probably in our first campaign, including that Tri Nations in 2004, we didn't see any shift in that area.

"Between the Tri Nations and the end of season tour, we established a leadership group. The focus was on picking the best performers, the best players. That was one of the really early criteria - you had to be on the paddock each week and through your development as a leader, you would provide us with the outcomes we are seeking.

"It was a combination of getting that leadership right and us understanding ourselves as New Zealanders. Seeing the sense of nationalism that the Springboks had and seeing them play well, we felt we didn't have that. In any campaign, there is always a link between the management and the players and where that line in the sand is changes. What we decided was we really needed a player-centred model where we gave them real responsibility and accountability.

"A lot of the campaigns that we had all been involved in did that to a lesser extent. They were more about committees and built around fun and entertainment. There was no real accountability about delivering something that the team needed to get the win each week. We stripped it back to its most basic level - what does it mean to be a role model? How are you going to behave for others to perceive you as a role model? What are the different leadership styles? We had to agree on what was going to be our style and how we would go forward with that and that is when we decided that we would work as a management group with the senior players contributing side by side."

The line in the sand had been moved, probably more than it had since first All Blacks coach Billy Stead was appointed in 1921. The management team felt they had no choice. Watching the Ellis Park crowd wave flags and celebrate being part of their nation hammered home that the ethnically diverse All Blacks were struggling to understand what and whom they represented.

They were wearing the most iconic jersey in the game but there wasn't a clear understanding of what values they were expected to uphold. If anything, there was a sense the glorious history of the All Blacks was holding them back.

"The legacy they inherited was a burden for them," says Shand. "It was kind of a negative burden in that the expectation was presented in quite a negative way - 'don't let the jersey down ... this guy has gone before you,' and that kind of stuff. We wanted to flip that on its head.

"We were proud to wear the All black jersey but let's put a positive slant to that. Kapa o pango was born out of that, of us understanding ourselves and us putting some concrete blocks in the ground and saying this is our team and our legacy and what we are all about. That gave us a massive sense of what this All Black group is all about. We wanted to respect history but we wanted our time to be remembered."

Results will dictate the way this side is remembered and whether the player-driven culture has improved on-field leadership.

On the evidence so far, there is reason to believe significant progress has been made in terms of leadership. In 2005, the All Blacks were 13-0 down to the Wallabies in Sydney but didn't panic, allowing them to come back for a 30-13 victory.

They were under huge pressure against England at Twickenham for most of the second half and held on despite having two players sent to the bin. Again this year, they weathered a feisty Irish side on consecutive weekends and then came from 20-11 down to beat the Wallabies at Eden Park.

In previous years, the All Blacks were never a great bet once they had gone behind. The panicking of old has been eliminated.

Irish captain Brian O'Driscoll said in June: "You can't relax against them. Even if you have a 30-point lead with 15 minutes to go, they will score 30 points."

And he meant it. Now the All Blacks have faith in their ability to make the right decisions at the right time. Now they don't look so vulnerable under pressure. Not infallible but certainly better equipped to handle the intensity of test football.

Henry came into the All Black job and stated that talent alone would not be enough to win the World Cup. Ability needed to be supported by leadership. It was a kind of election pledge and constituents can feel that he has gone some way to delivering what he promised.