All Blacks could go all the way with SBW

England can take solace in the honour of having experienced first-hand, before any other nation, the phenomenal talents of rugby’s newest superstar Sonny Bill Williams (aka SBW) on debut.

The massive frame that was loitering right in the heart of the Twickenham perimeter, helped the All Blacks kick-start their Grand Slam project with a 26-16 old-fashioned, if not conventional victory.

Given the recent triumphs the All Blacks had achieved over their northern foes, it was merely a formality from the outset as to how the world’s number one ranked team were going to win this game.

They indeed produced a conservative approach with the dominant scrum once again laying the foundation, albeit another tough day at the office.

Somehow, French referee Roman Poite saw it differently as the match progressed and accordingly, the world’s best tighthead prop Tony Woodcock suffered in giving away a few penalties that he himself found rather confusing.

Even the ever-present and danger skipper Richie McCaw was heard to be a little flustered with the whistleblower. McCaw at one time late in the game sarcastically scoffed and jogged back to his defensive line after he couldn’t understand the gibberish from the referee (neither could we, the viewers) , after turning down an off-the-ball indiscretion the English had instigated which led to a minor melee between the players.

Otherwise for me personally, the highlight of this game – apart from the presence of SBW – was the non-appearance of Stephen Donald, who thankfully remained on the bench. Donald’s seating throughout the entire match was at a fairly high temperature, that next week the Wallabies would still feel the warmth of that bench when they arrive to confront the Englishmen themselves.

Fortunately for Donald though, it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that he will get his chance at redemption when the All Blacks take to their next stop, Scotland’s pride of Murrayfield Stadium.

I will probably reserve my judgment until maybe after next weekend, because quite frankly by then I know I still wouldn’t have to make one. He is that bad, and as former All Black tackle-busting juggernaut known as “The Human Tank”. ‘Inga-the-Winger’ Tuigamala perhaps summed it up for us, that Stephen Donald should be axed from the All Black plans.

Despite the likelihood of an experimental side to be chosen, playing with history is definitely a preconception that coach Graham Henry would carefully like to avoid, fully aware of the startling fact that New Zealand has never been beaten by one of such proud traditional rugby union nations.

Nevertheless, the other reserves that saw no game time, namely Liam Messam and Hikawera Elliot, should slot in easily for the match with the Thistles and have duly earned their stripes as starters.

Incumbents Keven Mealamu and Jerome Kaino deserves a break and next week’s showdown would be ideal for them to come off the bench, if required, pending Andrew Hore’s recovery and the rotation of the loose forward positions.

A thoroughly deserving man-of-the-match honours, Dan Carter was always a step ahead of the pack in this particular game, thanks to his pin-point territorial accuracy from the boot, goal-kicking prowess and an outstanding all-round performance in general play.

His vision is peerless and to top it all off, he was willing to get down and dirty with some fantastic defensive efforts.
Names like Barry John, Hugo Porta, Grant Fox, Naas Botha, Phil Bennett, Jonny Wilkinson and Mark Ella are constantly reminded of their tactical brilliance and sublime distribution skills but arguably in a few years time, the name Dan Carter will sit on top of the tree, as the heir to the throne.

Some lowlights also came about and unfortunately for Joe Rokocoko, he may have confirmed his ‘has-been’ status to a perfect 10, after some ridiculous errors that you don’t, or should not expect from an experienced campaigner.

I had read somewhere how he played great, looking for work. Maybe I was watching a different game but the truth is, ‘Roks’ has lost the pace and flamboyance he was well-known for. The powerful return of Hosea Gear is putting increasing pressure on the coaches in continuing with the Fijian flyer, with Cory Jane recovering well, and a stack of other wing candidates left behind.

With the impressive Sam Whitelock brought in for his first start, the forwards seemed much more settled and on the verge of superstardom if they continue their dominance in the tight five engineroom, and the controlling influence from the loosies.

However, the All Blacks backline are not the full complement of world-class beaters and are admittedly shaded by their Wallaby counterparts, who arguably have the best backline troops going around at the moment.

But if the All Blacks were given the luxury of injury-free options, a dream backline of Piri Weepu, Dan Carter, Hosea Gear, Ma’a Nonu, Sonny Bill Williams, Cory Jane and Mils Muliaina could quite possibly be one of the best ever assembled. Even though the likes of Conrad Smith, Richard Kahui, Isaia Toeava, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Rene Ranger and Israel Dagg are more than capable themselves, the fact that Australian coach Robbie Deans’ youth-policy is bearing the fruits of labour at his disposal, which may perhaps be the catalyst of his World Cup ambitions.

Meanwhile, Shontayne Hape’s no-try sour grapes of the so-called Toeava shoulder-charge is quite laughable to say the least. Any rugby player on the planet would’ve done exactly the same thing, in order to prevent the try. What was Toeava suppose to do, slide in with his boots in a dangerous manner ? Or was he meant to fly kamikaze wrestling-style with both feet to ram Hape’s head ? Maybe leap with the knees to his back or ribs ? Fortunately, Toeava – on instinct or not – sensibly chose the safest choice and not only were both players uninjured, but the officials did not even see any malice at all – end of story.

As for Sonny Bill Williams, he passed his first major hurdle and will be confident after a full 80 minutes of Test rugby.

His introduction resulted to just two simple things for the unfortunate Red Rose to remember fondly about the ‘SBW’ specimen. They ran into a ‘Solid Brick Wall’, as well as witnessing a ‘Superb Ball Wizard’.

The rest of the world have been warned.