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Well, it’s only a few months till the World Cup, and the pressure on New Zealand is building to an immense level. For as far back as I can think, we’ve been the perennial underachievers of international rugby.
Utterly dominant in the domestic competitions (see Super Rugby, Bledisloe Cup and Tri Nations), we’ve been terribly disappointing come World Cup time.
Our failure to capitalise on our skill and dominance on the greatest stage of all surely puts the All Blacks up there as one of sports greatest underachievers.
Has there been a team (in any sport) that has been so dominant for so long, yet has not been able to claim the ultimate prize?
Many people like to throw the ‘chokers’ tag at New Zealand, which never fails to light up our collective rage. But given the facts, I can’t really see how this can be denied.
Many of my brethren point to our World Cup victory in 1987 as an example that yes, we can and we have won the damn thing.
The one convenient fact that many seem to avoid is that this was in the amateur era, well before the professional approaches, methods, tactics, ideologies and mindsets took root in our game.
I’d love to claim this as a genuine title, but to me it seems hollow.
So now all of this baggage has followed us into our own backyard. We’re hosting the Cup this year, and the stakes have never been higher.
We have a hoodoo to shake, we have the weight of international expectations upon us, we have a public desperate for validation and a decimated city craving a positive outcome.
We have a resurgent Wallabies (who, despite our dominance, are able to do great things come World Cup time), and all of this in the sharp, focused, unforgiving public eye, transmitted to the entire world.
The stakes have never been higher, and the pressure on us could move continents.
Can we do it? With the line-up chosen by Graham Henry, we probably should. But will we do it? I’m not so optimistic.
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.