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After the Tonga versus All Blacks game, I had an interesting conversation with my cousin regarding the All Blacks’ supposedly lacklustre start to the World Cup.
My cousin, Let’s call him Fiapoto (because I’m Samoan), just started watching rugby when the All Blacks took on the mighty Wallabies in Eden Park this year.
Fiapoto got to see the game and the All Blacks in all their glory. He got to witness the theatrics and the spectacular through not only the build-up and the Test itself, but also the presentation for the Bledisloe Cup.
Fiapoto gained a new respect for the game I love and said “That was awesome! If they can beat Australia like that they must beat everybody else easily!”.
How I laughed, because to be honest, considering the All Blacks had a ‘weaker’ pool at the World Cup, I thought ‘he’s right’.
Yet after the Tongan game I think the reason why I now name him ‘Fiapoto’. In Samoan, fia poto is a word used for someone who doesn’t know what they’re talking about. So Fiapoto is a name that best describes both my cousin and me.
Just so you know, this is not an article to describe how disappointed I am at how the All Blacks have performed so far in the World Cup. I am more amazed at how far they’ve come since 2007.
Fiapoto has now watched five full Test matches: the Blesdiloe decider and also the four pool games, and he has now come to the conclusion that the All Blacks are ‘useless, have become complacent, and aren’t going to see past the quarter-finals’.
Because not many people watch the press conferences after the games, not many people know of how strategy comes into play at the World Cup. I like the fact that Steve Hansen understands that winning pool games in a pool like this with a 50 to 60-plus scoreline each game does nothing for the All Blacks.
Hansen talks of how a lot of people call Pool C a ‘weak’ pool, and how his team talked about what they can gain from being in this pool. The 2007 World Cup showed us what beating teams by a lot in the pool games does if your not mentally prepared for the quarter-finals – nothing.
So how can you prepare for the quarter-finals if you’re in a pool like Pool C?
Build quarter-final-like pressure
The way the All Blacks have approached Pool C has shown how far they have come since 2007. With all due respect, gone are the days where minnows face an assured 20 to 30-point defeat.
In 2007, the All Blacks had high standards, and to meet them people believed they needed to not only win, but to win big. The same can be said for now. Most times people, even rugby analysts, just watch the game and make conclusions on the All Blacks based on that single performance and immediately attack the team. Which, in a pool game, I don’t think is very fair.
Sure, there’s freedom of speech and it is their own opinion, but I think it would be better if they could understand the whole picture and get more information before making conclusions.
Hansen once said in a post-match conference that “Everyone has told us we’ve got this weak pool so how do we manufacture something that allows us to practise stuff we might get later?”.
“I can tell by everyone’s reaction this morning you’re all a little frustrated and you want us to win by 80 or 90. That does nothing for us. We’re in this competition to get something out of it. Not to get a pat on the back for beating Georgia.”
In the Georgian game, the All Blacks’ back line were told to keep the ball in hand to mimic a potential situation, and didn’t take any shots at goal. They kicked about 28 times; five times less than Argentina.
This was Hansen’s way of manufacturing a stronger test. Would the strategy be the same were they in a different pool? Probably. But this still speaks volume of how far they’ve grown and how smart and aware the management is.
I wouldn’t be surprised if in each game, Hansen would have shifted plans between first and second halves, which many would presume as stupid. But judging by how the All Blacks have played in each pool game, it wouldn’t be unfair to say that the All Blacks had specific strategies going into each game. I’ll go further and say they had strategies for each half.
Of course this does not excuse the lack of clinical skill execution or lack of cohesion or flow, but it does explain why Hansen is coach of the All Blacks, and not you, Fiapoto.
Fiapoto has yet to understand the strategic side of rugby, and that it’s not just a physical sport. A whole lot of planning and strategic thinking that goes on behind the scenes.
Each opposition presents a different type of challenge, which is obviously why each game is different. In each game for this World Cup, Hansen has limited the tools available to his players, with the intention of creating a knock-out style pressure to see how his players adapt and how they handle the pressure.
Another example that shows how far the All Blacks have grown since 2007 is that I feel that everybody in the All Blacks squad and management are on the same page, and of course that is what you’d expect for a team as successful as the All Blacks.
It has been evident in every interview. Not just one person, but the whole team, it’s like everybody has been told what to say. There’s not a slip of ego, or big headedness.
When asked who was the greatest challenge from the other pools in the World Cup after the Georgian game, Hansen replied “Tonga’s our next greatest challenge”, followed by a sneaky smirk.
That provided evidence that the All Blacks are not getting ahead of themselves, and they respect their opposition, whoever it is.
It’s like every player interviewed has sat through meetings where the idea of ‘we only have four guaranteed matches’ has been drilled home. Only if they’re lucky enough to make the quarter-finals, can they talk about the quarter-finals. They’re showing that they’re united, and wisely not getting ahead of themselves.
Of course I’m not taking anything away from the so called ‘minnows’, who after this tournament have a real case for playing against tier-one nations more often and maybe even joining in yearly tournaments. Yet most people I have talked to here in New Zealand complain about how disappointed and frustrated they are that the All Blacks have yet to peak.
I think that’s unfair on the All Blacks. I’d rather the All Blacks peak in the knock-out rounds and hopefully beyond, instead of peaking during the pool games and getting knocked out in the quarter-finals.
So to you, Fiapoto, whom I lovingly dedicate this article to, the scoreboard doesn’t necessarily show whether a team is ready for a rugby quarter-final. Like Hansen has said in his interview after the Tongan game, “What has happened is irrelevant”.
Pool games are now over, let’s look forward to the quarter-finals.
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.