By Jecker
July 17th 2009 @ 1:43am
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All Blacks fear of failure a big burden to carry
Unless it continues to rain in Auckland, the sport of diving doesn’t have much to do with the sport of rugby. But one of the seminal figures in diving once said something that could be applicable on Saturday.
Dr. Sammy Lee, who won gold in platform diving at two Olympics, said, “Being the best you can be is possible only if your desire to be a champion is greater than your fear of failure.”
When the Wallabies lose at home, the Aussie fans are naturally disappointed, but when the All Blacks lose at home, it’s a much harder blow for a Kiwi to take because of the way rugby is woven into the fabric of New Zealand.
So there was a lot of gloom and head-shaking when the French won at Carisbrook. But they’ll be hanging drapes over the windows if they lose at Eden Park.
Eden Park is the Big Show.
Nobody knows this more than the 15 men in black who’ll run out onto the field on Saturday. A loss at the biggest venue for the country’s biggest sport would really cut deep.
And it’s this fear of failure that puts pressure on the home team, and, in this case, takes pressure off the visitors.
The All Black’s have a matchless tradition and terrific spirit, and when they perform the haka any other place, they’re throwing down a fierce challenge.
But when they go into the haka at Eden Park, the challenge is stronger than ever. They’re saying, in effect, “This is our park, not yours. Got it, kid?”
But what if the All Blacks start wondering whether or not the kid heard them? What if their fear of the scoreboard is bigger than the Wallabies’ desire to come out ahead?
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(4)
ohtani's jacket, said | July 17th 2009 @ 11:35am | Report comment
I don’t agree that the All Blacks play out of a fear of failure.
The attitude that there’s more pressure on them than the Wallabies is what blew up in the Wallabies’ faces last year. The All Blacks focus on themselves come Test match time. People tend to think that Henry’s a grumpy old fuck and that the All Blacks don’t enjoy playing rugby, but I don’t think anything could be further from the truth. Remember last year when Aussie Roarers were saying the All Blacks’ heads were down in the training, their body language didn’t look good, etc.?
The worst thing the Wallabies can do is focus on the All Blacks. Forget about them. Work out what you wnat to do on attack and what you want to do on defence and ignore everything else. France were committed to their rush defence, the Wallabies have to be committed to whatever it is they’re gunning for, which seems to be an ill advised breakdown scheme, but we’ll have to wait and see about that.
The All Blacks spent a looong time trying to figure out how to beat the Wallabies during the MacQueen/Eales era. That was a team that seemed to have an impenetrable psyche. Those “gentleman” seemed like they could win from any position. And the “they did it to us again” mindset plagued the All Blacks as it may plague the Wallabies, but the reality is that things don’t change until there’s a shift in the player balance. This happened between ‘95 and ‘98 and again from ‘01-05.
I think it’s inevitable that the Wallabies will wind up a stronger team than the All Blacks, but if you rush in with the urgency of it having to happen *now*, you won’t be able to deal with the last throws of a once great team.
sheek said | July 17th 2009 @ 1:29pm | Report comment
I would rather be in the AB’s shoes & play out of a fear of losing, if that’s what it is.
Rather than be in the Wallabies shoes & play in hope of winning, rather than any great expectations of doing same.
A 20% win ratio against the ABs is hardly the kind of acceptable record for a nation with claims to being a top-tier rugby giant.
katzilla said | July 17th 2009 @ 4:30pm | Report comment
Your right Sheek, the attitude of some OZ rugby fans leans towards Optimism rather then Confidence.
Last night on the Rugby Club, Campo, MArto and Kafer all used the word ‘Chance’ when talking about how the game will pan out. If you take your best team to NZ against an ABs team without a first five and still are relying on ‘Chance’ then something is wrong.
Greg Smith said | July 17th 2009 @ 4:38pm | Report comment
New Zealand are notoriously ’soft in the head’ and the ‘chokers’ tag has stuck – you got to love it !