Cut some slack, Henry's building for the RWC

Here's something I stumbled across... This is in regard to the All Blacks' loss in the second Test against the Lions in 1993. "Their own media had flayed the team as direction-less and devoid of character in their 20-7 loss in the second Test and illustrious former All Blacks queued up to take a swipe at their successors. Stu Wilson described as "ludicrous" the selection of second five-eighth Lee Stensness for the deciding contest, while Fred Allen accused Sean Fitzpatrick's men of acting like over-paid Hollywood film stars. The fax machine in the team hotel that churns out good luck messages from all corners of the islands, this time spewed out a metre-long demand from a Christchurch radio station to bring back Graeme Bachop in place of incumbent scrum-half Jon Preston. An Australian betting agency reported a majority of their Kiwi clients were backing New Zealand to lose and Waikato captain John Mitchell declared his province would be cheering for the Lions. Mains even planned to keep his backs in the Eden Park dressing room until the last moment to avoid exposing them to the hostility of their own crowd after Frank Bunce was jeered for dropping a ball in the warm-up in Christchurch." The more things change, the more they stay the same.

What is all this squabbling from two sides who are a combined 0-3 against the Boks this year? Deans' failure in South Africa pretty much mirrored Henry and Co. It's hardly worth having a Deans vs. Henry argument now, is it?

Surely we are not talking GreenandGold about the same Wallabies team that has now lost it's last four matches against the All Blacks, the same Wallabies outfit that has not had the Bledisloe Cup or Trinations title for over 6 years, Last 4 matches are as follows 1. Eden park 09 NZ 22 - 16 Aus 2. HK 08 NZ 19 - 14 Aus 3. Brisbane 08 NZ 28 - 24 Aus 4. Eden Park 08 NZ 39 - 10 Aus Most titles won: 1.New Zealand - 37 (including 1931) 2.Australia - 12 Longest time held by Australia: 5 years (1998-2002) (5 Titles) Longest time held by New Zealand: 27 years (1951-1978) (12 Titles) Tri Nations NZ 9 Aus 2 World 7s Series NZ 8 Aus 0 I think New Zealand s record more than makes up for the one more World cup that Australia holds. As for 07 being a disgrace it sure was for that Ref and his touchies for letting a forward pass go that was so far forward they were calling mine up in Denmark.

Look at South Africa in 07, they were happy to concede 3 games to go on and win the world cup they were also happy to then back this up by concedeing another 4 games to their Sanzar partners so yes maybe it is worth losing in between. Many people it seems have not picked up on the fact that NZ doesn't have bad years in between up until now, maybe this is a change in fortunes. I think the world should be worried we are having a bad year now because I very much doubt there will be much tinkering with this All Blacks side from 2010 in. Henrys experimentations bit him in the butt big time on 07 and surely he can't be that stupid to do it again but then again can he.......?

OK say what you like chokers and all that rubbish but seriously who has a better win loss record than the AB's at test level? So every 4 years we seem to watch it sail away.....but the other 3 we beat all comers (apart from the Henry and Hart years). Funny thing if the Aussies hadn't made the final in 2003 the tournament woulda been a financial disaster....and 2007 looked like all 4 sthn hemisphere teams were a walk up to the finals and both aussie and NZ get knocked out insuring a financial success with england and france somehow scrapeing in.......both 2003 and 2007 questionable referring but both tournaments went on to be very financially succesful...... Never trust anything the IRB run, they scream dishonour......just look at what they do to the Pacific Islands and asia.....give them a few dollars and alot of lipservice.....disgraceful! Sack the NZRFU before you sack Henry, It's not his fault they appointed him when he was so obviously incompetent! It's not his fault they let Robbie and Gats go.....disgraceful!

Green and Gold where were your aussies in the weekend? Wasnt i right about Mortlock? Old and looks as if the body is going out the door. (i must say be sad to see him go because he is a great player no doubt about that...... makes the best losing captains speech ever as well.) How about Giteau throwing the game away....... Dan Carter would never have done that. Not sure if u know but Dan back in the All Black camp.... Shivers down the shine of the Aussie team i bet. by the way he scored all of Canterburys points in their win over Auckland. The player with class in your team is James O'Connor who grew up in NZ anyway. Great feedback from the Kiwis the numbers stack up against you!

2005 and 2006 must have been hard years for you then, Benjamin.

Sorry. It was a typo. I meant supports the green and gold.

OJ! Language please - this is a family forum. Tsk, tsk.

At least someone sports wood for the green and gold.

I don't think they're losing on purpose. People are just trying to rationalise why we're playing so badly.

But we've had that in spades Ben J It obviously didn't work.

For guys that a Regulars on here - Greg Smith has 3 accounts. Trophymaster Greg Smith And Greenandgold Don't be fooled by the not so subtle Nom De Plume. Greenandgold in his mind DOES NOT refer to the Wallabies.

Greenandgold, we will all see whos having a chuckle on Sunday morning, when your Green and YELLOW team get a wallopping. We all know its coming... do you? As for your world cup team, will they actually allow Mortlock on the pitch with a zimmerframe?

I would hate it if my team concedes tests 2 YEARS out only to "prepare" for the World Cup. Winning is a habit , not something that can be turned on at will.

Sportphobia - Are there any non kiwi fans on this site? One criticism i do have against Australian rugby is the lack of support!!! I went to the France v Wallabies game at Telstra and there was a serious lack of support. The French drowned any aussie chants. Going back the article - Which Kiwis have stepepd up? You know realise how pathetic Rokocoko is and that Muliana cannot penetrate through defences. Andrew Whore obviously doesn't know the term 'straight' or finds it amusing to overthrow on their own lineouts. Isaac Ross is still getting through Rugby 1011 hence we cannot blame him for coming from an offside position and kicking the ball when SA clearly had it. Yea, there are a number of positives..... if you're an aussie or south african that is.

Does anyone else just laugh at all the comments by 'greenand gold'? "Only SA and AUS can boast that they have won the world cup TWICE. Australia dont even regard rugby as one of their top 3 sports yet they have won more world cups than the kwis. NZ eat & shit rugby yet always and i repeat ALWAYS fall short when its crunch time." On a serious note, some fair points brought up in this article. The fact that players such as Ali Williams, Kevin Mealamu ect is a positive thing for the All Blacks, allowing them to get undistrupted rugby under their belt heading into 2011. I am more concerned about the tactics Henry used against the South Africans in both tests. The talent is there in New Zealand rugby, as is the depth to be the best side in the world. It will just come down to fitness, tactics and combinations in 2011.

HA HA All the Kiwis have come out firing. I know it hurts but don;t worry..maybe one year when the Wallabies and SA dont participate in a world cup..you could battle it out with Wales or England. Jokes aside, why do you guys all think Carter is superman? The fact is he got owned in that semi final against France and please dont give me any 'injury' excuse because there was none. Even Michalak pulled off a better performance !! You may have won 22-16 in Auckland but geez wait til the 22nd when we run riot like we did last year. The players may have changed but the game is still the same.

GreenandGold, I generally dont reply to these but I had to with your comment, 'Giteau is a far better player than Carter will ever be.' Are you kidding? You must be the only rugby fan in the entire world to think this. And I imagine on the 22nd, ONCE AGAIN he will be shown up by Carter.

"Have you forgotten how Giteau single handedly brought the Force back against the Crusaders this year when nothing was going right." .. yawn ... yeah with one of his trademark breaks and even more trademark 2 metre forward pass ... the bloke can't even run a game for 40 minutes let alone for a full game ... but good luck to ya - you'll need it ...