This is a defining Test for the All Blacks
Roar Rookie By Chris Laidlaw, 17 Jul 2009 Chris Laidlaw is a Roar Rookie
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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
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July 17th 2009 @ 1:22pm
Who Needs Melon said | July 17th 2009 @ 1:22pm | Report comment
KO,
Jeez – I read your article on the centurions which was such a nice, positive article and I thought maybe I’d misjudged you – but I haven’t: You are such a hard marker!
We’ve got so many on this site – Aussies, Kiwis and South Africans – proclaiming that the Australian glass is half full and filling up nicely… but it’s still half empty to you, isn’t it?
I can’t find TOO much fault with your assessment – I guess we haven’t beaten any tough opposition with numerous sparkling tries – but I feel we ARE playing much better rugby under Deans than we have been in a while with improvements in just about every position. What’s more I feel we HAVE shown the ability to play differently as circumstances demand and therefore I have more faith that we can adjust tactics now than simply follow a set formula.
Anyway – time will tell eh? As I’ve said before, I love that people with alternative viewpoints like yourself post on this site. If this site just comprised a whole bunch of people agreeing with each other, it wouldn’t be much fun, would it?
July 17th 2009 @ 1:58pm
Temba said | July 17th 2009 @ 1:58pm | Report comment
The Wallas have momentum and the Deans factor on top of performing players. Deans has had enough time to select and train as he wants to… unlike before when he just joined. No more excuses for him. I still believe he is the best coach in the world and he is now use to the team and the international scene.
On the All Blacks side, if it rains Sivi (the only danger to the superb Aus defence) won’t see the ball and without Dan, Nanu won’t get clean ball in the wet weather. The AB backline is missing something and poor McCaw back for his first game has to face 3 Wallaby fetchers (two on the bench)… It’s going to be a hard day at the office for McCaw.
If the Walla scrum holds up their kicking game and lineouts will hurt the AB confidence. The Aussie backline will do enough to tip them on the scoreboard in the last 20 min when a tired McCaw leaves the field.
Wallabies by 8
July 17th 2009 @ 2:02pm
Temba said | July 17th 2009 @ 2:02pm | Report comment
Ill have to wait and see how the AB’s do in the Haka, I can always tell if they are going to win by watching it.
July 17th 2009 @ 2:06pm
Andrew B said | July 17th 2009 @ 2:06pm | Report comment
“and they will, surely, because he’s a New Zealander.”
Born in Australia, went to Nudgee, plays for Aust and an aussie S14 team. A few years as a toddler in NZ doesn’t mean you can claim him!
July 17th 2009 @ 2:33pm
Jameswm said | July 17th 2009 @ 2:33pm | Report comment
I don’t think anything can be made of how Deans went last year as a coach. The proof starts this year.
What were Australia’s problems before he took over?
1. poor scrum. Lineout’s normally been OK.
2. Poor backing up
3. Poor (and pointless) tactical kicking
4. Non-existent counter-attack
5. Poor ball-handling
6. General lack of thrust in attack – an over-programmed style
Deans recognises that you need structure, but you have to able to feed off it, rather than stick rigidly to it.
If Australia improve in all these areas but still lose on Saturday, will Deans have succeeded?
S14 teams like NSW and Queensland have had the same problem winning at Eden Park for a long time, but they (both – yes, even the Reds) broke that hoodoo this year. I think the previous strength of Auckland rugby was part of the creation of the international fortress – you couldn’t win there at any level. The Wallabies started winning at Dunedin after the Tahs (and possibly others) beat the Highlanders there. Will the same happen to The Fortress of Eden after the S14 results this year?
July 17th 2009 @ 4:03pm
Greg Russell said | July 17th 2009 @ 4:03pm | Report comment
Chris Laidlaw will always have my respect, if for no other reason than he wrote one of my favorite rugby articles of all time after the 2003 World Cup. Here are some excerpts:
“Anyone who doubted the old epithet “form is temporary, class is permanent” only needed to watch the performance of Gregan in the semi-final and final of the World Cup. … If anyone sank the All Blacks and nearly sank England it was George. … In doing so he established himself as probably the finest practitioner in the position that the world has ever seen. … Certainly he is the most tactically astute player in the game today. … Gregan’s display in the semi-final in particular was an absolute phenomenon, an example of a ringmaster simply taking control of the entire proceedings and holding it throughout the match. … As he had done so many times before he mastered the All Blacks mentally and inspired his colleagues to master them physically. … The final was an extremely satisfying exhibition of the way that intelligent, forceful leadership can actually turn a game … His place in the game’s pantheon is now certain.
July 17th 2009 @ 4:11pm
Tarpo said | July 17th 2009 @ 4:11pm | Report comment
Yes always interested to see what Mr Laidlaw has to say. I seem to remember he knows a thing or two about 1/2 back play from his playing days.
It is great to have you with us Chris.
July 17th 2009 @ 4:14pm
Brett McKay said | July 17th 2009 @ 4:14pm | Report comment
Indeed, welcome to The Roar Chris, though I have to admit I automatically smell a rat when New Zealanders openly praise the Wallabies…
Think this could a defining Test for this Australian side and Robbie Deans too..
July 17th 2009 @ 4:15pm
Greg Russell said | July 17th 2009 @ 4:15pm | Report comment
Carrying on in the above vein, I wonder how many people have picked up on the enormous psychological insight in Chris’s ending:
“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.”
One experiences these tensions and emotions on a daily basis in the comments of All Blacks supporters at this website. I say this not in a disparaging or mocking way, but simply as a way of trying to promote understanding. (Can I count on similar understanding from Kiwis if the Ashes turn pear-shaped?!)
Having said the above, Chris has to be pulling the legs of Wallaby supporters to some extent. I mean, to read his article one would think that the Wallabies are superior across the park, and that victory is a formality. Of course it isn’t anything like this. As Knives Out has implicitly stated, the bookies are almost always an accurate guide to the truth.
Here’s hoping for a good game of rugby played in a good spirit and with good refereeing …
July 17th 2009 @ 4:25pm
katzilla said | July 17th 2009 @ 4:25pm | Report comment
Thats a big wrap for O’Connor Chris – The next Paekakariki Express?
The Wallabies are looking the goods, but how will it hold up in the rain against a pack with a better breakdown game?
I think Wallabies are going to be starved and grinded. Will be a close one though.