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The All Blacks don’t lose by much. The All Blacks seldom lose. For the last year, the All Blacks have not lost at all…
…until the game at Twickenham. Breathe.
Yes, the game at Twickenham was All Blacks’ worst defeat in a few years.
It was against a most inconvenient rival, in what possibly is one of the worst scenarios to suffer a bad defeat and after such a streak of games without losing that it seemed impossible such a defeat would occur.
Defeat? Perhaps? Defeat by 17? Really difficult. Against England? I think not.
Yet it happened.
Congratulations to England for breaking a nine-year drought and for doing so in this manner. Their team was the best on the day and looked really sharp in the set pieces, at the breakdown, with ball in hand and even their first five showed a fine display of kicking.
Congratulations also to the All Blacks for taking it in the chin.
But let us face it, the ‘disaster; at Twickenham was something the All Blacks had managed to avoid for a number of games during the previous two months.
The game in Dunedin against the Boks could have been a loss, or would have been a loss if only Morne Steyn had shown his form of 2009. The game in Brisbane also had a feeling of “lucky escape” for the All Blacks, whereas it was astonishing to see Italy to come back into the game after the All Blacks had an early 0-10 lead.
Yet there was an aura of invincibility around the team that perhaps was not really justified and England proved that. It seemed that as long as the team could play at pace, they would simply outgun any opponent. It had happened in South Africa, it also happened in Edinburgh, but it did not happen against England.
Yes, it’s good to have a deadly strike like the All Blacks have shown during this season. When the forwards are smashed up front like they were in Soweto, you like to know the team’s still able to inflict a lot of damage.
But the truth is that some of the key aspects of the game that made the All Blacks the best in 2011 have seemingly been dropped as the year grew old. Defence was the key to success for the team in the last two years under Graham Henry.
And defence was a key weapon of the All Blacks against Australia and Ireland in their firsts tests of the year. But in this tour the All Blacks have allowed three tries to Scotland, one against Italy, two against Wales and now three against England.
Forwards dominance was also a key ingredient in the Rugby World Cup. In a year of rebuilding the absences of Thorn and Kaino have been massive but youngsters have stepped up to cover for them.
However, as we already witnessed in the last games of the Rugby Championship there are worrying signs that the halfback had to work with low quality ball and this was again evident against England.
Nothing seemed to be working at Twickenham as Carter’s boot failed to bank easy points, the lineout was shaky, and discipline costed the kiwis many points. Conrad Smith even made a defensive mistake!
And that’s why this loss should be seen as a blessing in disguise. The All Blacks, the coaches, the journos… all were in danger of thinking it was enough. They were in danger of feeling pleased. They were in danger of taking for granted the fear of the All Blacks would be enough. The comfort zone is a dangerous thing to fiddle with…
It is a good thing that the year was ended with such an uncharacteristic defeat. It should be used to shake complacency. It should be used to spark the coaches into better strategies, more alternatives and it should allow all fans to remember that a win in Test rugby is not something to be expected now and again but rather something wonderful to enjoy as if there is no tomorrow.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.