Forget it if you think I’m going to panic about a loss to Australia in June. Sure it hurts, but pain heals.
After flying almost fifty hours in a week, with the Springboks in Durban as a stopover, the All Blacks with a rearranged midfield were ambushed at the Melbourne Cricket Ground by fifteen fresh Wallabies, a South African referee and a groundsman who painted the lines on the pitch yellow instead of white … three days after the reinstatement of John O’Neill as Australian Rugby Union CEO. The stars just weren’t aligned.
Anyone who’d underestimated the Wallabies in such a situation, thinking that power up front is a guarantee of victory, was foolish. We are forced to acknowledge the ever-present danger of loss.
One reassuring thing is that not even a World Cup final can equal the physical difficulty of the task they faced. Paris in October might surpass it for mental pressure, but the Springboks and Wallabies as successive opponents on separate continents two weekends running is as gut-bustingly tough as it gets. Throw in a legendary cricket venue that only one current All Black has played at, with the ground painted camouflage green and gold. For good measure, get the Aussie media to character-assassinate their own representatives for a full year beforehand, and you have the perfect recipe for upset.
The fact that Marius Jonker sin-binned All Black scrum lynchpin Carl Hayman for a superb piece of rugby was almost incidental. These are the fixtures where at least one game-turning decision by a shaky official should almost be taken for granted, and the cruelty of the penalty against Hayman was just the flavour du jour … who cares if a mouthful of roadkill has too much salt?
Hayman dispossessed the ball-carrier with a piledriving hit, plucking the ball loose and placing it perfectly with one hand as he cushioned his own fall with a couple of yellow-upholstered lungs. It was hard to imagine a bad angle to view this from. The whistle came immediately though, and the card hard on its heels, Jonker having already warned the All Blacks for repeated infringements.
Strangely, all three tight five replacements had already been made at the forty five minute mark. Now with tighthead Hayman removed, blindside flanker Jerry Collins had to make way for the other prop Tony Woodcock to return. Previously the All Black effort had been energetic and pretty much irresistible. Two tries had already come, one low-gear shunt by Woodcock and one stylish flourish on the right wing by Rico Gear after Luke McAlister had broken the line. Another lightning quick attack had put the All Blacks in a position to close out the game before half-tie, but number eight Rodney So’oialo had grassed the final transfer. The All Blacks already led 15-6, and this would have sealed the deal. As it turned out, they needed a bigger comfort zone.
Our two perceived weaknesses, lineout and midfield, were working as well as could be expected. McAlister at centre hardly looked troubled by the predations of Stirling Mortlock and Matt Giteau in the Wallaby midfield.
We contested their lineout successfully as often as they spoiled ours and the general impression was that New Zealand was playing most of the rugby, but there were too many tired-looking errors (kicks out on the full, lazy offsides and going alone with unmarked men outside) sprinkled amongst the scintillating attacks. Play was also divided into these verses by the chorus of Jonker. Roll away Black, Hands off Black he sang… somehow also finding fault with the scrummaging technique of Hayman and Woodcock although their markers were tunnelling at every engagement and George Gregan didn’t actually manage to feed a scrum cleanly until the thirty-first minute.
Defence was a highlight from both teams. Prior to the Hayman binning All Black tackles were wonderfully committed and organised. Lote Tuqiri got a hospital pass from a team-mate that arrived at the same time as Collins, Hayman and Keven Mealamu. But after the yellow card and pack reshuffle Gear, Richie McCaw and Chris Jack all failed to stop a jinking Adam Ashley-Cooper. Giteau slotted the conversion inside out from the left hand touchline, whereas Dan Carter had missed similar shots and some considerably easier.
Play was also divided into these verses by the chorus of Jonker. Roll away Black, Hands off Black he sang … somehow also finding fault with the scrummaging technique of Hayman and Woodcock although their markers were tunnelling at every engagement and George Gregan didn’t actually manage to feed a scrum cleanly until the thirty-first minute.
We also don’t need to play so close to the offside line at the tackle if our flankers are already more mobile and our midfielders are more highly skilled at the breakdown. We already know the referees are trigger happy, so we need to trust the law of averages rather than the average law enforcer.
And while we should back ourselves to execute in any situation, going to ground with possession cradled is just as often executing correctly as offloading a spectacular pass in traffic is, the commendable inclination to play expressively notwithstanding.
It’s hard to put the 15-20 loss into context historically. In 1999 we got a spanking by Australia in the last test before the World Cup, then went on to lose an infamous semifinal to France who we had already thrashed that same year, and in 2003 we put half a century on the Wallabies at Stadium Australia before losing a World Cup semifinal to them on the same ground … so the psychological effect of a close loss in a hellishly difficult fixture is almost impossible to gauge with the World Cup casting a giant shadow again.
Even the aphorists are no help for once. Thomas Fuller tells us that a stumble may prevent a fall, while W.H. Auden says we are history-making creatures who can neither repeat our past nor leave it behind. Comforting only the spiritually unsure, such old beards always left their wisdom open-ended, of no use except to those of little faith simply casting about.
Better to be strong of heart and cultivate a vengeful way of thinking. The scar tissue left after a wound is tough for a reason. As much as I was prepared to explain away this test as an always-likely loss, I am equally determined that its minutiae be studied for future reference, in order for the come-uppance we’re on the verge of delivering to be handed down that much more righteously.
rachid
Guest
inky, as much as it pains me to say it, what we saw last night was evidence of why nz will win the world cup. australia are classic spoilers, never say die, absolute competitors. the lesson to be taken out of this and almost every nz loss to the wallabies in the last 10 years is that if the ab's entertain the possibility of a loss then its more than likely going to happen. the times when we've been spanked, the ab's have run riot with no regard to us as opposition. if the same happens in the rwc then the result will favour the ab's. the ab's are the roger federer of rugby. if you look at their style of play as objectively as you can they are the rugby benchmark a class above the rest of the world. they just come out and do what they do and win. occasionally they play a nadal [that would be us]and they beleive the hype about bogey teams and when they allow that to happen they lose. it won't keep happening. the fact is nz have not won a world cup for too long a time now and if they fail again in france the country will surely implode. the saddest thing about last night was the walabies seemed happy with their performance. i guess it takes some character coming back from the hole they found themselves in but how they didnt score at least 3 more tries is beyond me. giteau was great against nz when gregan limped off but last night if i hadn't seen him play before i would have sworn he had just played his first ever game of rugby. it is the sort of win you'd be happy with 12months out from a world cup but with the rwc shadow looming large it was well below par.
Rangi
Guest
Jools-USA, Thank you for your comment. True indeed, flying too high and too ckose to the sun with wings of wax will cause one to come crashing down. The lesson to be learnt is that we need to be critical without becoming cynical and dispirited. The desire to fly is a necessary urge but as I said in my earlier post must be tempered with a degree of pragmatism, As for the ABs, I believe Graham Henry has coached them to strive to be excellent in every aspect of the game but sometimes the desire to play this way can blind them to what is happening in front of them in terms of how the opposition is playing, what the ref is doing etc, etc. The voice of caution must be listened to. I have really enjoyed watching this team play the way they do with a freedom and sense of spirit that makes me proud to be a kiwi. Not long to go until until we meet in Paris. Cheers, Rangi
jools-usa
Guest
Rangi, Remember Icarus. Jools-USA
Rangi
Guest
Oh the joys of watching rugby in Australia, the land of jingoism and myopia. One win and all of a sudden the Wallabies are on a roll, a new day is dawning and John Howard always tells the truth. The only thing Australia were better at was yapping. The squawking little bantam never shut up. Does he not know he is no longer the captain ? Still, when your pack isn't fronting up and you are relying on Matt Dunning to give some "steel" to the front row, what does one do ? No doubt the answer would be that the end justifies the means. The pain of this loss has been noted and the full 80 minutes examined and examined and examined. The magnificent record the ABs have built under Henry has been hard earned and will not be damaged by this loss. There is a tremendous sense of pride in this team and they will continue to turn up and play attractive, expansive rugby. Sometimes a little pragmatism is required and the desire to attack takes a back seat to the desire to ensure the win. So, my aussie mates, when the RWC rolls around the ABs will be all the stronger for last weekend and will still be playing rugby and not the ref !!
Sam
Guest
Inky, stop wingeing and cop the loss. Suck it up. Could you make any more excuses for a pathetic choke? The All Blecks should have won, but they didn't. They screwed it up. Carl "the best prop in the world" Hayman knew the team were on their final warning and he thought he could get away with it. He didn't. If you want to blame someone blame Carl "the best prop in the world" Hayman. You have blamed everything from a biased Jarpie ref to the colour of the lines on the ground! Harden up son and cop it like a man.
Ben
Guest
Peter I have said in the comments section elsewhere on this site that I am all in favour of two things: (1) simplifying the rules and (2) tougher enforcement. That might even out the disparities in refereeing. Simpler rules would be easier for everyone (even props!) to understand and would less room for interpretation. I think that more would come of tougher enforcement. DF6 said above that refs won't sin bin a player 10 minutes into a match. Why not? For example, if a Wallaby had handled the ball in the ruck on the tryline and prevented Woodcock from scoring, he should have been sent for a break even though it was only 4 minutes into the game. From sitting in the crowd one of the worse things is seeing a team on an attacking drive only to be snuffed out by a cynical penalty. I also get sick of just about every team (and the Wallabies are no angels here) creeping up past the last feet at the breakdown. As long as the team lines up on each other, it looks like they are onside but it cramps the options for the attacking team. I think that after a couple of months of pain from referees handing out more yellow cards and more penalties, teams will get the message and back off a bit. The trouble is, by giving some leeway to teams and issuing warnings without taking firmer action, the ref starts to lose control. The ideal ref for me is one who doesn't intrude too much into the match but when he does, is very strict in enforcing the laws and ruthless about penalties and yellow cards.
Peter L
Guest
Ben - you're right that the ref's decisions were pretty evenly spread between the two treams and (apart from the binning which I think we will always disagree) had no net impact on the game. Certainly I don't mean to imply that the ref had Wallaby glasses on. That said, perhaps it is the overly complex rule set, or the inherent need for recognition on the public stage, or some deeper issue, but I believe the standard of reffing at international level is currently woeful. Paddy O'Brien, a great Irishman who has lived most of his life in Invercargil, NZ, was the last of the refs I have witnessed who was consistently a good whitle blower. For w ahile I thought George Ayub (spellin?) was destined for great things but he has slipped badly - he seems influenced by some of the SA refs such as that nemisis of both the ABs and George Gregan, Jonathan Kaplan - quite possibly the worst ref to grace the international stage - certainly in terms of bias. I can't for the life of me fathom why the referees are not allowed to make more effective use of the technology available to assist in critical decisions. For instance, video review of any incident that might result in a sin bin or a sending off should be mandatory since these acts can (as we saw on Saturday) have a huge impact on a game. It might slow the game slightly, but it would also mean that the ref had less direct impact on the outcome, and that can only be a good thing. the wrap-up though - congrats to the Wallabies for the win Sat - the best team across the 80 min game-span won, and they capitalised wonderfully on the sin bin, and that, sir, is what the game is all about.
Ben
Guest
Peter L I was mainly referring to the header article by Inky, it being chock full of long justifications about how the AB's were superior to the Wallabies but somehow still lost so it could be their fault. But I still think it is whingeing to an extent. To put it in context, the Wallabies (particularly under Eddie Jones) have a far longer track record than the AB's of similar complaints after a loss. I am wallowing in the fact that Eddie may have been the worst at it, but at least Australian aren't the only whingers out there. Mind you, Eddie got so good at it that by the end of his tenure he was able to whinge before and after every match. AB supporters still have a way to go to reach that rarefied level. Yes the AB's were hard done by with the scrummaging interpretation, but there were plenty of decisions that went against the Wallabies as well which Inky seems to be overlooking. Yes Australia had some advantages (rested, home ground etc) but that's the nature of sport. If it was an easy home game against inferior opposition every week then it would be sport. Sometimes it is easy, sometimes it is hard. The champion teams consistently win when it is hard. The AB's have been winning the hard matches but eventually slipped. Maybe it is a single slip. Maybe its the start of the collapse. (Well, Wallabies supporters can live in hope of a miracle). Just grin and bear it as the Hayman decision (as you point out) was not so outrageous as to constitute a travesty. (I still don't think it was wrong anyway). My brother lives in Auckland. Most Kiwis are taking it pretty well (not on Saturday night admittedly). But some, like Inky, need to just get over it. To be fair, the fact we won one tight match doesn't justify some euphoric Australian predictions that we already have one hand on the Webb Ellis trophy either.
Peter L
Guest
Andrew - we will have to agree to differ on that interpretation I'm afraid. I can see that your interpretation could be valid, but I stand by my own interpretation, even in slow mo. No amount of argument will change either of our minds I think. Such are the joys of interpretation. Ben, I don't see any of this as whinging - in my other posts elsewhere I make it clear that I applaud the Wallaby win - the team that played best across the 80 min won the game - simple, and a reasonable outcome (all be it not the one I would have preferred (}-;). But there is no denying what happened and what went wrong and why. If that's whinging I'm a Ref! (and I assure you, I'm not).
Ben
Guest
I am glad to see that Australians (the Eddie Jones era) do not have a monopoly on whinging and blaming everyone bar the players after a loss. It makes me feel better that we are not the only poor losers in the world. As for Hayman, he contested the ball on the ground (notwithstanding Inky's revisionist analysis) and only minutes after some exceedingly blatant and silly infringement by the AB's which prompted a warning. Another infringement that soon after a warning, even if it wasn't really in striking distance for the Wallabies, and what else can the guilty player expect? Overall the effect of the referee was not really in favour of either team. The Wallabies got a very easy ride at the scrums. Tuqiri could easily have been penalised for his lazy return to the onside position. On the other hand, there was a fair bit of (borderline) offside play by the AB's and some of the crooked line-out decisions were pretty dire. It was a pretty ordinary referreeing on all accounts. Looking at the AB's, the backline was practically non-existent in the second half. Carter, Mauger and McAlister were all quiet and were outplayed. The AB forwards were a fraction better than the Wallabies until they lost Hayman and had to swop out Collins. Frankly, the AB forwards have gone from strength to strength but the AB backline seems to have gone backwards since their dominance in 05/06. Lessons for the RWC? Look for parity in the forwards. You probably won't be able to beat the AB forward play unless stupidity in the form of blatant infringing rears its head again. The backline may be susceptible to being fractured. In particular, outside centre is a real weakness since Tana Umaga left. The wingers are still devastating so straight running in the 12 and 13 channels is the order of the day. (interesting Giteau is too small for this style but Staniforth is ideal). Besides, the AB's can't complain that they played 10 mins with 14 players. We played 80 minutes with only 14.5 players (Huxley being worth only half a decent international level player. Wildly misdirected kick-offs a speciality!)
Temba
Guest
eeek I thought Burger had the world record! So who can tell us the person that has had the most international yellow cards (any cards)????
DF6
Guest
Yep im pretty sure Burger holds the SA record for yellow cards in tests. Selwyn, ease up mate, one loss, Jake White commented the other day about how proud he was to have beaten the all blacks in the last few years, if they hadnt he thinks they would have had a 50 win no loss record. not sure you should start making hasty comments about the all blacks just yet. Ok fair enough that hayman got binned, i personally thought he was almost within his rights and its one of those calls that could have gone either way, the fact the all blacks were guilty earlier in the play didnt help him, my concern with jonker was the amount of free kicks and penalties at scrum time, both teams may as well just said lets go to golden oldies, i felt jonker gave poor interpretation of the infringements at the scrum. I dont think the all blacks will see the northern hemisphere refs as a disadvantage, however its the australian refs they have to worry about (dont worry aussie fans, kiwi refs suck aswell but they cant control all black games)
Selwyn
Guest
Inky's diatribe brings tears to the eyes. How can the ABs be expected to play when the lines were marked in yellow? Just so unfair. ABs normally peak at the quarter finals of the RWC. This year it's a bit earlier. Why? Daniel Carter. He's protecting an injury. Or he's simply become afraid of the forwards from the other side. Either way he's a shadow of what he was And the ABs will struggle without him. McAllister has shown that he doesn't have the brain power to adjust to a new position. Gear has shown that tattoos and an angry face at haka time is not enough. I love it.
Temba
Guest
Yes the AB's should have won it…its all that refs fault but what do you expect from a South African, lets along with the boks kick the SA refs out of word rugby to. I mean from what I read neither of them are good enough or worthy of carrying a tennis ball never mind a rugby ball. Jake White has complained on many occasions that the AB are killing the ball to often when there opponents are in good position or the AB defense is unorganized. It’s a fact so excuse Jonker for trying to rectify it. He told Macaw clearly on fox "ill give you time speak to your team, that was the last time" Any person with a little sense will keep the game clean from then, or at least more then 5 minutes. To be honest everyone does it, it's a risk you take as a team, if you do it to often you will pay a price. Schalk Burger is a very guilty boy when it comes to that and he has had a few Yellos showed to him. Its just what happens in the game of rugga
Andrew
Guest
Ok Peter L, I'll bite. Go to www.sareferees.co.za - home page has a little clip of Carls sin-binning, and a discussion about it. At about 6 seconds in on the clip, you can see Carl is off his feet, and certainly is not in possesion of the ball. He rips it after he is on the deck. The refs interpretation of the 'red' zone (whatever that is, its in no law book I own) was strange, I'll give you that. But BOTH teams infringed too much at the breakdown, and Hayman just happened to do it at a bad time. Also, well done fixing the AB outside centre problem - aparently Haymen is the best man there! Hehe, I'm just stirring now...
Peter L
Guest
The analysis of Hayman's taking of the ball in this article is spot on. He contested the ball in the tackle (legal) and when the two hit the ground he roled and placed it (legal). he did NOT contest the ball on the ground - he had won it by the time he was on the ground - watch the replay carefully, it is a fact. Jonkers absolutely got that wrong - but in context of the warning to McCaw, that mistake was understandable, perhaps inevitable, but not forgiveable for a ref at that level. The warning itself was ludicrous. The ref told McCaw that they repeatedly infringed in the "Red Zone" - but they were some 45m from the line at the time and the Wallabies had spent less than 1.5 min inside the 22 at that time - not really enough time for that many "repeated warnings" IMHO! Hayman was pinged roughly 45m from the line, too. Just how big is the Wallaby red zone? How's this one too - Lote Tuquiri was warned twice by the ref about returning to onside positions through the playing area - tiwce, OK - and on the THIRD occasion Jonkers told Lote to be careful or he would be PENALISED (not binned). This was clearly heard on Foxtel listening to the ref's mic. So how does that work? The last of these, BTW, was on the Wallabies 22m line, hard on defense, with the ABs in posession. Terry Kidd, you're joking that the binning wasn't the turning point? With Hayman in the bin the AB cover defence at number 13 was eroded and Mortlock, with help from faster delivery from Gitteau, had more room to move. A very, very direct impact. If not, why did the Wallabies score their only two tries during that 10 min period, and not look like scoring again afterward? Bob McG - the ABs, like all major Rugby sides, push the envelope in search of competative advantage. The Wallabies are as guilty as any - George Gregan works hard to influence the ref to his own advantage and it was arguably this that sent Hayman to the bin as much as anything else. George Smith has always played within millimetres of the laws (and either side of the line too). Don't single the ABs out there - the truth is the rules are so complex and open to interpretation that any side worth their salt are going to test them, continually. Phew!
Temba
Guest
Very funny Darryl…eh bro!! Its good to see amongst other things humor is still alive! As for Barry's comments, I don’t know what class the Canadians are flying but I have been in a 747 and I can tell you these lads don’t fly Cattle class. Its business class all the way… I was lucky enough to get bumped up to Business about 2 years ago whilst flying west (as you say) and I don’t know what all the bitching is about. Its like sitting in my lazy boy at home getting table service.
jameswm
Guest
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the piece I must add, even if it was (presumably deliberately) biased. One point - you said Inky that the ABs won't face the same physical challenge in the WC but the mental challenge may be tougher. You wrote that Inky, and doesn't it worry you?
barry longsugar
Guest
Inky, in the first sentence of your excellent and suitably biased essay, you make an exemplary case for disbanding SANZAR. Fifty hours of flying in a week is ridiculous. A post-game emergency is just waiting to happen, and if you’re five hours out of Perth heading west, or 5 hours out of Durban heading east, you have to turn around and go back, and that’s 10 hours in the air with an emergency on board (like necrotizing fasciitis which developed in the right leg of the Canadian hooker, Pat Dunkley, who came perilously close to having the limb amputated). I saw the game on TV – with Kiwi commentary which, mercifully, dispensed with Murray, the blue ribbon winner at the last agricultural show – so I saw only what the director chose to show me. I didn’t notice that the side lines were yellow – that’s a sin right there and should have been challenged. The referee, Marius Jonker, accepted a lot of smart nonsense from Gregan’s repeated refusal to put the ball in, but perhaps this is a fault of the ludicrous rules, in which case Jonker was only doing what he’s paid to do. The main bone of contention remains: who should have been carded - Mageur or Hayman? It would have been a blessing to the ABs if it had been the former as he played like a man with a migrain. But when Hayman was forced to walk, there went the ball game. (At the seven versus eight scrum, Tony Johnson joked that the ABs might take it anyway. They didn’t, there was fast ball, and the Ws were off and running.) Re. your final paragraph where, like a foam-flecked prophet, you shake your fist, quote Auden and Tom Fuller (a little speedy for this site, but a welcome upgrade), and promise retribution. You’ll get it. No way the Ws win Saturday week. Partly because they’ll be playing away, partly because Henry will tell his team, in private, that if they ever play as badly as that again they’re dogmeat, and partly because the ABs have a magnificent scrum (when it’s not being binned), and the Ws don’t.
Darryl
Guest
Nice work Incky, Aussies never deserve any credit eh bro?. Good to see the very modest Kiwi's putting this obviously very unlucky loss into perspective. If it wasn't for the travelling, the referee, the sin binning, the cheating aussie scrum, the stars, George Bush and Paris Hilton the Blacks would have won easy. In fact let's pretend this loss never happened - what do you think Laurie Main, John Hart?