This is a defining Test for the All Blacks
Roar Rookie
By Chris Laidlaw, 17 Jul 2009 Chris Laidlaw is a Roar Rookie
Related coverage
- Rugby Union news
- Wallabies news
- Tri Nations Tournament news
- New Zealand All Blacks news
- 2011 Wallabies squad news
- Wallabies v All Blacks news
Australian rugby union player Luke Burgess is tackled by Jimmy Cowan from New Zealand in the first match of the Bledisloe Cup series in Sydney on Saturday, July 26, 2008. The Wallabies beat the All Blacks 34-19. AAP Image/Paul Miller
How refreshing it is not to have New Zealand installed as stone cold favourites for once. How comforting it must be for the All Blacks themselves not to be burdened with excessive expectations against the Wallabies.
Sure, they are under a certain amount of pressure after some rusty stuff against two teams – France and Italy – whose primary intent was only on stopping them.
The Wallabies are different.
They want to win and therefore they will chance their arm rather more. This may actually make life for the All Blacks a little easier as they go about hunting for turnovers.
Nobody, however, will be underestimating the 2009 Wallaby team. If anything the Wallabies should be favourites here. They have a more settled squad and their younger players are all match winners.
They may not have Lote Tuqiri anymore but Lote has been as much of a liability as a strike weapon in recent times. The likes of Lachie Turner, Berrick Barnes, Drew Mitchell, James O’Connor and Luke Burgess aren’t just good runners. They may not be very big as modern backs go but are all exceptionally quick, very good defenders and very smart.
O’Connor in particular is the closest thing to Christian Cullen that many of us have seen. He is clearly destined to become one of the rugby world’s superstars if his feet stay on the ground – and they will, surely, because he’s a New Zealander.
Two or three years ago there would be loud sniggering on this side of the Tasman whenever the Wallaby front row was mentioned. There isn’t now. The same crowd, Ben Robinson, Al Baxter, Stephen Moore and Ben Alexander are still there and nobody laughs at them anymore.
They are older, tougher and technically better, a match for anyone these days. George Smith has found a second wind. So has the remarkable Nathan Sharpe. James Horwill is now one of the best all round locks in the world and Australia has a real find in Richard Brown at blindside.
The Wallabies have depth at loose forward, particularly at No 7 in sharp contrast to New Zealand.
This is a formidable outfit, particularly when you look at their all-round rugby intelligence and their leadership qualities. There’s Mortlock , there’s Giteau, now the consummate ringmaster. There’s Sharpe, Smith, Dean Mumm and Phil Waugh, all of them strong personalities and able leaders.
By contrast the All Blacks have struggling for decision-makers.
Happily that problem has been eased somewhat with the return of McCaw and So’oialo and with Conrad Smith restored at centre. They are going to need all that leadership and more to master the Wallabies. And they are going to need the kind of inspirational sleight of hand that only a few, Sivivatu in particular, can bring when all the doors seem to be closed.
This will be the defining test for the 2009 All Blacks. If they lose the alarm bells will toll. If they win people will ask why they can’t win all the time? The former is unthinkable. The latter is unbearable.
Chris Laidlaw is a former All Black great halfback
Chris Laidlaw is an ex All Black and occasional columnist for The Roar.
Enjoy sports? Enjoy a bargain? All Sports Online has your favourite sporting brands at up to 70% off. Online only, premium quality sporting goods and merchandise at discounted prices. Get a deal now.
Do you have what it takes to become a sports writer? Write for the roar
Rugby Union articles
- Will Super Rugby crowds continue their slide? (201)
- Will South African rugby force a Super 21 by 2018? (173)
- The real story of how John O’Neill turned Manchester City down (70)
- Dan Parks and the unsolved questions of expat rugby (65)
- Australian teams at Super disadvantage (58)
- Pocock set to be named new Force skipper (56)
- Can the ‘Tahs win the battle after losing the Waugh? (51)
- Wales show Southern Hemisphere how to play running rugby (29)
- What opening matches of Six Nations taught us (19)
- Will Super Rugby crowds continue their slide? (201)
- Clinical Chiefs cost rusty Rebels in Corio (9)
- Six Nations shows rugby is a parochial game at heart (5)
- Goose’s Super Rugby up-and-comer XV for 2012 (29)
- What does the future hold for the Six Nations (50)
Untimelyzapped said | July 17th 2009 @ 6:26am | Report comment
Welcome aboard, Chris. All the rugby folk on this forum will be delighted to have insights from somebody who actually walked the walk as an AB.
Re. the game. Yes, the Wallabies have some exciting backs, but the rain may take the edge off them – the forecast last time I looked was for steady showers Saturday morning and intermittent showers from noon onwards. Still, some positive rugby would be nice rather than KCH rugby – Kick, Chase and Hope for a mistake.
You suggest that the ABs will be under “a certain amount of pressure.” Reading Jecker’s post just now about the All Blacks fear of failure I think he has a point. I think the pressure on the ABs will be immense. And that’s partly because of the venue. Eden Park is, after all, where the ABs hope to be playing the final of the WRC in two years time. Of all the grounds in the world where they’ll least want to lose between now and 2011, Eden Park is No.1. Every team needs a fortress they can rely on. The Ws won last time at Carisbrook but I think Graham Henry will want to keep Eden Park as the Kiwis’ Krak des Chevalier.
Knives Out said | July 17th 2009 @ 6:34am | Report comment
‘How refreshing it is not to have New Zealand installed as stone cold favourites for once.’
That’s not what the bookmakers think, Chris. NZ are 2/5 favourites, and the handicap is 8. It’s only rugby fans who seem to be giving Australia a chance.
‘They want to win and therefore they will chance their arm rather more.’
I think the reverse will play out. The weather will be a factor but my overriding impression of this Wallaby team is a team guided by conservatism.
Who Needs Melon said | July 17th 2009 @ 6:57am | Report comment
“George Smith has found a second wind”. Did he ever lose his first wind?
Seriously: He has the off game or two here or there but has he ever had a serious loss of form (like Sharpe who you mention in the same breath) and found himself on the outer?
Matt said | July 17th 2009 @ 9:57am | Report comment
I think this is the least conservative Wallabies team in a decade. What will be the crucial part, is whether the Wallabies have a plan B if plan A is not working.
Knives Out said | July 17th 2009 @ 10:01am | Report comment
‘What will be the crucial part, is whether the Wallabies have a plan B if plan A is not working.’
How can a team with only one plan – with that one plan being massively based upon kicking and position – not be conservative? There seems to be this impression that the Wallabies have been playing some sparkling, laissez-faire tag rugby, when in actuality they have been incredibly mechanical since Deans took over.
Worlds Biggest said | July 17th 2009 @ 10:33am | Report comment
More ambush marketing from our mates across the ditch !. I am with Melon, when did George Smith lose the first wind ?. Here is hoping he has a big one for his 100th game.
sheek said | July 17th 2009 @ 11:04am | Report comment
With a Kiwi coach & one/two Kiwi born players in our ranks, maybe the Wallabies will find the collective mongrel that seems to be monopolised by our league cousins in Australia.
Whenever the Wallabies have enjoyed success against the ABs, it’s usually because we have some mongrels in the team who take the game (& the fight) to the ABs.
The ABs are essentially no different to anyone else. Get in their face, & they’re not as assured as usual. Sport is about exploiting your opponent’s weaknesses while protecting your own. Traditionally, the ABs & Boks do this better than anyone else.
BTW, welcome aboard The Roar, Chris.
Mike C said | July 17th 2009 @ 11:23am | Report comment
Great article Chris!
At the beginning of the year, I considered Australia’s chances of putting a fight in for the Tri-Nations as little to none. Mainly because of what I saw as their previous form and because I’m a South African who believes the stars have aligned for us for the first time in a while, in that we may have a steady option at Flyhalf for the first time since Henry Honiball.
An ominous sign for NZ at the moment is that they may be entering the same wilderness we were in for so long, unless they can replace Carter with a similar figurehead soon. If you look at NZ’s bevy of flyhalves versus South Africans over the same 10 year period. NZ has had Merhtens, Brown, Spencer, Evans and many, many more. Where South Africa’s expiremented with a mix of utility players there and the gifted loose cannon, Butch James. Nothing against Stephen Donald but players like Carter, along with the McCaws and Haymans’ seem to be in decline for NZ and this will be an interesting era for them to regroup over, in time for their showcase 2011 World Cup.
Sorry… back on topic. Australia. I couldn’t have been more wrong when I doubted them earlier this year.
The Aussies have always played smart and with their scrum time woes seemingly eradicated I’m really looking forward to a good challenge from them this Tri-Nations. I for one have felt for a while that Lote Tuquiri has been the most overrated, over paid players in Australia since the last world cup (no offense to his career in sum). I think Dean’s has rectified what exists in Australian sport as an obligation to unduly maintaining older players, by giving young blood a chance early, and I commend him for that!
I also think the Springboks will be complacent from a B&I Lions tour that I feel they were luckier to win than they realise.
Mungehead said | July 17th 2009 @ 12:41pm | Report comment
“and they will, surely, because he’s a New Zealander.”
Oh please!
Anyway, I’m concerned that too much is riding on returning ABs in this game. This is McCaw and So’oialo’s first outing for the ABs this year, and it’s a must win if we want to contest the Tri-Nations.
So’oialo runs hot and cold, and he’s been mostly cold in the S14 this year. He’s not the guy he was a few years ago. I worry that he will try too hard to make up for it. Was the answer to his poor form really a rest and recuperation period? Henry came right out and admitted that his resting of key players in the last world cup year was a mistake, what changed?
Meanwhile, McCaw is under the greatest pressure he’s ever been under. He’s been out injured, but now he’s returned just in time to be thrown right in the deep end, with the pressure and expectation on him to do what he did last year and lift us to victory just as when we seemed almost out for the count. If he can do it, the man must really be unflappable. Personally I would be a nervous wreck.
Eden Park has become a huge disadvantage to the Wallabies, no doubt about it. But what about the rain? Deans has definitely picked a team to contest up front, and I worry about players like So’oialo, Donald, Nonu, Smith (Conrad) and Sivivatu, some known for fumbling under pressure and some having been previously guilty of trying too hard after having been away for a while. The rain will expose any lapses of execution, and that’s one thing that the Crusaders always had down pat under Deans. I won’t, I can’t worry about McCaw, but will he be enough to carry the day alone?
At the end of the game, either Deans will be shown to be a genius of our time and his choice of two extra specialist #7s on the bench an absolutely inspired move (with Henry’s 4-3 split on the bench a too-predictable selection showing he’s lagged behind) or Deans’ picks will be seen to have been an expensively optimistic mistake and Henry will once again take the limelight.
In my opinion it’s too much to expect the returnees to lift our form above that of the Wallabies (which, looking at the games against Italy and France this year, has been clearly better) without a wheel or two falling off along the way. I would like to think that it will be ABs by three, but I’m afraid it will be Wallabies by ten. Prove me wrong ABs!!
simon said | July 17th 2009 @ 12:58pm | Report comment
Never trust the bookies! This game could go either way… as just about always in recent times.