Sam Cane: "We’re in a good spot. We also realise how quickly things can turn." Photo / Photosport
Sam Cane: "We’re in a good spot. We also realise how quickly things can turn." Photo / Photosport
Consistency doesn’t come easy at the elite end of the test arena.
Many nations conjure bold, one-off performances – those head-turning upsets. Think Japan’s “Brighton Miracle” against the Springboks in 2015, and their pool victory over Ireland in a home World Cup four years later. Samoa stunning Wales in 1991.Tonga trumping France in 2011. Backing it up proves incredibly difficult, though.
Top-tier test teams can produce repeat efforts, but when the best of the best collide at the peak of their powers, winning three headline assignments in a row is a fraught task for anyone.
There’s a strong case that it’s been eight years since the All Blacks achieved such a feat. Let that sink in for a minute.
At the 2015 World Cup, the All Blacks extracted revenge by smacking France in a flawless quarter-final in Cardiff. The next week, in driving rain at Twickenham, the All Blacks were far from their best in a tense semifinal. Dan Carter’s clutch drop kick and Sam Whitelock’s pivotal lineout steal pushed Steve Hansen’s men past the Springboks and into the final, where they never lost their nerve to comfortably defeat the Wallabies.
The following year, the All Blacks won 10 tests in succession but that run included three wins over Wales in New Zealand in July, and a Springboks team at a low ebb under embattled coach Allister Coetzee.
In the pinnacle series of 2017, the All Blacks record against the British and Irish Lions was 1-1-1 after the infamous Eden Park stalemate. The next year, they suffered losses to the Springboks in Wellington and a defeat to Ireland in Dublin, after sneaking past England at Twickenham in a concerning end to the season.
At the 2019 World Cup, the All Blacks delivered a dominant display to dump Ireland out in another quarter-final exit, only to fail to rise to the same level mentally the next week in their crushing semifinal loss to England.
Prior to this year, Ian Foster’s tenure was punctuated by frustrating inconsistency.
The All Blacks won three of six tests in Foster’s first Covid-affected year at the helm, and 12 of 15 tests in the 2021 season that included victories over Tonga, Fiji (twice), the USA and Italy. Last year’s wild ride then featured eight wins from 13 attempts – after two victories from their first six tests, before changing assistant coaches.
While the All Blacks improved markedly following Jason Ryan and Joe Schmidt’s mid-year introductions, true consistency has only come this year after the new coaching team savoured the benefit of a full off-season to plan and plot.
The fruits of travelling to scout the Six Nations in February and further drill down to establish a clear blueprint – that revolves around forward dominance, patience, playing at speed and exploiting space – for the senior leaders is evident in the clarity the All Blacks have adopted this year.
From the opening whistle in Mendoza, there was no hint of rust.
All Blacks skipper Sam Cane in action against the Wallabies. Photo / Getty Images
For the first time in Foster’s reign the All Blacks stitched together three commanding, statement performances against the Pumas, Springboks and Wallabies – two of those away from home – before using the final home test in Dunedin to hand fringe prospects opportunities.
A cynic could suggest the Pumas were caught cold,the Springboks’ split squad strategy left them severely undercooked and Eddie Jones’ Wallabies are, well, average at best – but the significance of three successive compelling victories cannot be understated for an All Blacks side that emerged from the brink of collapse and a full-scale coaching cleanout last year.
Self-belief is a powerful motivator. From that perspective alone, the All Blacks are a transformed beast.
“In terms of unity as a team and connection, having gone through challenging times and come out the other side, that certainly brings a group closer together,” All Blacks captain Sam Cane said.
“During those times you’ve got to narrow down and focus on what’s important in your game. It’ll be the same at the World Cup. There will be a lot of outside noise. There will be a lot of distractions; a lot going on. Hopefully deep down we draw on that and make sure we knuckle down and get what’s important right.
“It feels like it’s been building to this moment for a while. There’s been a lot of anticipation within the squad. Now that it’s here the overriding emotion is excitement. Excitement for where we’re at as a team; how much further we believe we’ve got to go and for what’s ahead.
“We can take a lot of confidence from where we’re at as a group and belief that when we get our game right we can beat anyone, and we can dig ourselves out of holes.
“We’re in a good spot. We also realise how quickly things can turn and change so we’ve got to make sure we always keep our feet on the ground and worry about the next performance and maintain the mindset of seeking to improve.”
Sam Cane: "Now that it’s here, the overriding emotion is excitement." Photo / Getty Images
Knowing they can achieve the required consistency to win three tier one tests in a row is one thing for the All Blacks. Replicating that in the pinnacle arena, at the knockout stage, is another entirely. Herein lies the not-so-secret path to World Cup success.
This is where lessons imparted from the 2015 All Blacks – the likes of Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Keven Mealamu and Conrad Smith, who have joined Foster’s team behind the scenes this season – could prove invaluable.
So, too, will the 16 All Blacks returning from the last, painful World Cup experience be heavily leaned on in the defining pressure cooker moments.
“The most important lesson is previous form or how you’ve been going doesn’t matter,” Cane said. “It’s a one-off game and it’s who delivers on the day. Games like that could come down to a miss[ed] clean or a turnover or handling error.
“You can look at that in two ways. It can be daunting and it can make you worry, or you can make sure you’re the ones who execute those moments under pressure. A lot of our training and everything we do building up to that will be making sure we deliver in those moments that count.”
