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I read something somewhere that went something like this: “It isn’t violence that scares people, but the degree of violence. How far are you willing to go to achieve your goal?”
If anyone can source the original quote, I will give you 26% of the internet.
Despite my butchering of that quote, I believe the original essence is there.
The US Army gave a very public demonstration of this very same sentiment with their shock and awe campaigns and it also more or less encapsulates the Springbok mantra.
This, I believe, is the short term way forward for the Wallabies.
There are quite a few battlegrounds in our beautiful game and I tried to present as many of them as I could for the first Bledisloe.
That said, there is none more important than the breakdown. We can argue about who dominated the scrums, who bossed the lineouts, who made more linebreaks etc until the cows come home but none of them have the same influence on a game as consistently as the breakdowns do.
When people talk about 80 minute performances, this is what they are talking about.
The ability to hit a breakdown in the 81st minute with the same aggression as in the third minute is a priceless one and not many have it.
The reason why the All Blacks have been respected and feared in world rugby for over a hundred years is because of this one particular quality.
Until the ref blows for fulltime, they are coming and they are going to keep coming. Hard.
Due to a grievous miscalculation of both the traffic conditions downtown (heavier than thought) and my own driving ability (more Postman Pat than Fernando Alonso), I managed to miss the first 27mins of the game.
Completely missed Stephen Moore’s non-try and therefore cannot comment on it. What I can do though is offer this thought.
There are two ways you can approach the problem of having a overenthusiastic No.8 at the base of ruck with his hands all over your scrum half.
Raise your hand and complain to the referee when he gives you permission to do so, or you can drop your shoulder and the belt the No.8. Hard.
The degree of violence you are willing to inflict, within the laws of the game of course, on your opponent announces that you are here to play. The desire you have to win.
The lengths you would go to help your mates.
The absolute determination you have to bring that cup home.
The pride you have when you wear your country’s jersey.
The All Blacks have distilled these values and concentrated them into the blackness of that jersey and this is one of the main reasons why they are so successful.
Case in point? The biggest difference for me in that second half was what happened with the loose ball.
The ABs chased every single loose ball down and secured possession regardless of where the ball was lost. I was super impressed and so proud to see that.
The way forward for the Wallabies is fairly clear.
England had the right of it last year when they smashed the All Blacks off their own ball and I am absolutely staggered that McKenzie has not even tried to bring in parts of that English gameplan.
It is essentially a very simple plan, pick at least four forwards with the heart to go flat out for the 80 mins or be replaced by someone on the bench who can replicate it.
Get the forwards working together in a coordinated fashion and see the difference it’ll make.
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.