Two Tests to go before the real RWC test

 
Spiro Zavos Columnist

By , 12 Jul 2007 Spiro Zavos is a Roar Expert

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At the end of 2006 the All Blacks were odds-on favourites to win the 2007 Rugby World Cup. The Wallabies seemed likely to struggle to win their RWC quarter-final against South Africa or England, and a chance to lose their pool round match against Wales at Cardiff.

The Springboks were struggling to win anything out of Africa and were expected to lose their RWC pool match against England which would throw them into the NZ half of the draw.

What a difference a new season makes. The All Blacks remain favourites but at longer odds. They are playing nowhere near as well in 2007 as they were in 2005 and 2006. Have they peaked, as Bob Dwyer suggests?

Certainly the controversial policy of taking 22 All Blacks out of the Super 14 does not seem to have worked, yet. There were reports that in the training period the reconditioned All Blacks had became much bigger, much more powerful and much faster. So far there has been no evidence of this. The two best All Blacks in the past two years, Daniel Carter and Richie McCaw have, in fact, been playing well below their best.

The South African sides, in the absence of the All Blacks for 7 matches, had an outstanding Super 14. Teams won out of Africa and the Bulls, powered by two great locks, Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield, and a sensational Bryan Habana on the wing, became the first South African side to win the Super 14 tournament. The Springboks took this form into their early test matches but stumbled against Australia, requiring two drop goals to win a close victory, and then going down to the All Blacks.

The Wallabies have made the best progress of any of the Tri-Nations sides. John Connolly has finally opted for his old heads George Gregan and Stephen Larkham in the backs. The scrum has become smarter, although under a strict referee it is liable to get smashed. George Smith is back to his best. The Wallabies played poorly against Wales, burst the Springboks bubble and then defeated the All Blacks at Melbourne, after being down 15-6 at half time.

This was the first time in 55 tests the all Blacks had lost after leading at half time. It was the first time, too, in 71 halves of rugby that the All Blacks were held scoreless in 40-minutes of play.

Jake White, the Springboks coach, has opted out of taking his number 1 side to Australia and NZ. A mistake but an understandable one. He doesn’t want to risk the curse of not winning overseas on to his main team. He is now saying that his players will get a huge lift if they beat the All Blacks, or are competitive at Christchurch.

For the All Blacks, sitting on a world record 24 consecutive home victories the next two tests, at Christchurch against the Springboks and the Auckland test against the Wallabies, are all about playing ‘much better’, according to Graham Henry, than they have this year. The All Blacks will need to do this to maintain the momentum they have built up in 2005 and 2006 leading into the World up year.

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