Did the All Blacks lose – more than the French won?
Roar Guru By James Mortimer, 15 Jun 2009 James Mortimer is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- All Blacks, France, Graham Henry, Rugby Union
Despite being without nearly 400 test matches worth of experience, the All Blacks fell to a tenacious and aggressive France 27-22 at Carisbrook.
In just New Zealand’s fifth loss at the fabled House of Pain, the French recorded their third highest ever points inflicted on the All Blacks, and will now eye a piece of history, looking to become just the fifth team to ever beat New Zealand twice in one year at home.
Excuses are not feasible, and as it was widely said prior to the game, there is no such thing as a weak All Blacks side.
They were missing 19 players from their 2008 test squad (through injury or being overseas), which doesn’t include players simply not selected. In retrospect, one wonders why so many, myself included, thought that an All Blacks win was a formality.
However, despite the fact that so many key players were missing, there was still enough talent in the match day 22 for the All Blacks to take this match, seven All Blacks on the starting XV and bench had more than 30 tests. Even their debutants and less experienced players were there on merit.
So much was summed up initially by Graham Henry. The All Blacks coach remarked that for his debutants in particular, the step up in physicality was to be the key.
Wayne Smith, the New Zealand backs coach, made similar remarks at half time during the match, saying that the contact was not being won, and that the All Blacks were being dominated at the tackle.
The All Blacks ordinarily reign supreme in these areas.
The back row missed an intimidating presence. Even Liam Messam, the most physical of the trio who traditionally plays at blindside flanker, is used to having a power player like Sione Lauaki or a worker like Rodney So’oialo to contribute.
In Carisbrook there was neither.
It was here that the tight five, which would have been classed as full strength with the exception of debutant Issac Ross, must shoulder the responsibility. The French terrorised the pillar defences of the All Blacks, and the script was in place by the end of the first quarter, where Les Bleus had turned over four All Black rucks.
By the end of the match the All Blacks had conceded over 20 turnovers. It has been a long time since a team that could be credited with the art of ruck and tackle supremacy, has come up second best.
In this, rugby for all its complexities is a simple game. Physically dominate, and the match is already half won.
In the backs, it was a solid effort, with captain Mils Muliaina and Cory Jane in particular injecting into the game whenever possible. Jimmy Cowan had a solid game, but the physical presence of Piri Weepu almost changed the tide for the home team.
The midfield combination of Isaia Toeava and Ma’a Nonu didn’t fire, with the two players of similar styles not complementing each other. The All Black three quarter line missed the presence of a specialist number 13 – the intelligence of a Conrad Smith or Richard Kahui.
Still, the fact that a strong French team beat an under strength New Zealand team, and it is still called an upset, is a testament to the – as Thierry Dusautoir called it – the mystique of All Blacks rugby.
For France, it was their beautiful simplicity that allowed them to squeeze the All Blacks out of the game. There were small doses of flair, but by in large it was a brilliant defensive effort, seemingly a mix of an umbrella pattern and inward drift defence, that disallowed any form of cohesion for the home side.
One could argue that in theory, it would be simple enough to counter such a basic strategy.
But it is not the first time in modern history that the All Blacks have been unnerved by an aggressive defensive blueprint.
The French, always so full of respect for a team they regard as the worlds benchmark, looked as if they had won a World Cup with their reaction after the match.
Captain Dusautoir, who looks like the world’s finest flanker when he plays the All Blacks, remarked that the team was nervous before going out to play the home team.
But equally, remarked later that he was unimpressed with the Haka, and his team certainly followed his lead, when 80 minutes of flooding the ruck with French bodies ensued.
The French, missing only three first choice players, and players from Clermont and Perpignan (due to the Top 14 final) will be joined by the latter in camp this week.
However, Lievremont may be loathe to tinker with a match winning team.
Irrespective of broken New Zealand hearts, or cries of “Allez Les Bleus!” in the streets of Paris, the reality was that this was a classic test match, showcasing all that is good with rugby.
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- Explore:
- All Blacks, France, Graham Henry, Rugby Union
June 15th 2009 @ 1:10pm
JamesB said | June 15th 2009 @ 1:10pm | Report comment
Cowan was awful (not solid), and looked like a man who hadn’t playyed for a month. McCallister shouldn’t have been included after not playing proper footy for 3 months. We do need Hayman and Carter back if we are to win in 2011. AB’s at full strength still look a truely awesome team. Early days yet, and this loss maybe a blessing in disguise, even if it looks horrendous today.
June 15th 2009 @ 4:18pm
mudskipper said | June 15th 2009 @ 4:18pm | Report comment
The All Blacks were directionless… Donald decision-making was poor and Ma Nonu’s first half was sloppy… Unnecessary off loads by the ABs forwards just through away possession and failed to build any pressure with multi phase play…
The All Blacks failed to respect the French. Furthermore the All Blacks failed to dominate any of areas of play and the final score line flatted their performance…
However Weepu and Jane had good matches…
I expect the ABs to be a very different team come next weekend…
June 15th 2009 @ 4:40pm
Ben J said | June 15th 2009 @ 4:40pm | Report comment
One team loses because the other team scores more points. A good article ruined by a nonsensical headline.
June 15th 2009 @ 8:16pm
OldManEmu said | June 15th 2009 @ 8:16pm | Report comment
No the All Blacks just lost.
June 15th 2009 @ 8:36pm
brad said | June 15th 2009 @ 8:36pm | Report comment
The worst part for the All Blacks is that they picked their best possible side. When the French got thrashed a few years back they could say that because of Top 14 about 15 first choice players were unavailable unfortunatley the all blacks have no such cushion. This was the best team that the all blacks could field. Its no use saying that they did not have the services of carter and mcaw, they may have well said they do not have the captaincy of Fitzpatrick. Worst all blacks team since 1998.
June 15th 2009 @ 9:02pm
Jerry said | June 15th 2009 @ 9:02pm | Report comment
I would say there were some more ordinary sides in 02, to be honest. And yeah, this was the best side available. At the moment. It’s hardly like 98 – the guys who are missing are injured, not retired and in 98 it was 3 guys (Bunce, Fitzy and Zinny) that were missing, at the moment there’s 7 definite starters out plus 3 or 4 fringe guys.
June 15th 2009 @ 9:46pm
Katipo said | June 15th 2009 @ 9:46pm | Report comment
I think it is unfair to blame the all black players. They are poorly coached. For example this coaching regime has been championing Toeava since 2005. According to Wayne Smith ‘ice’ was going to be the star of the 2007 world cup. Well he wasn’t. It’s now 2009 and the coaches still haven’t settled on a position for him. He still can’t even catch the ball properly. No brains in the all blacks backline. Start to look at the coaches eh. They have been in charge since 2004.
The Graham Henry old-school-master swearing and yelling at your players to motivate them just doesn’t cut it these days. The AB’s are not growing or improving under his tyrannical rule. Expect more losses.
June 15th 2009 @ 9:50pm
Rich_daddy said | June 15th 2009 @ 9:50pm | Report comment
Saw the first half of the match, All blacks were ordinary but give credit where it’s due. France were prepared to take it up to the All Blacks and it paid off. Beating New Zealand in New Zealand is never an easy task, particularly for a Northern hemisphere side touring at the end of their season. Come all AB supporters, eat humble pie and give the Frenchies a congratulatory pat on the back.
June 15th 2009 @ 10:16pm
mother teresa said | June 15th 2009 @ 10:16pm | Report comment
katipo.yes this ab coaching panel is a very comfortable triad.wayne smith has had every position possible in the ab set up not to talk about his abortive time with the sevens.more the gimp than the guru.the gifted selection foresight of toeava will work in a spastic way but not reliable under mental strain;the combo of nonu and toeava against a solid defence is foolhardy.do your homework better coaches or suffer the consequences
June 16th 2009 @ 1:06am
ohtani's jacket, said | June 16th 2009 @ 1:06am | Report comment
I’ve seen the All Blacks lose 40 times. I remember most of those losses pretty vividly; a few of them are amongst the finest Tests I’ve seen. Saturday night wasn’t one of them.
I wouldn’t call it the worst All Blacks’ performance I’ve seen, but it’s certainly a weak team. I dunno if the scoreline flattered the All Blacks; that would be overrating the French performance to my mind.
There’s basically two ways this can go:
1. The All Blacks win and it becomes a footnote — “remember that Test where we didn’t have any players and the French beat us in Dunedin”
2. They go down in infamy as an All Blacks side who lost a series at home.
The latter would be HORRENDOUS — the ’37 Boks, the ’71 Lions, the ’86 Wallabies, the ’94 French and the 2009 French. It’s like a Sesame Street song.
We’ll see if the French can match their intensity from the first Test, and I guess the All Blacks will figure that they can play better than that, but we’ll see if they can rise to the occasion.