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In all sports we have seen rivalries bring out the best in players, forcing a sporting arms race that sees players or teams take the game to hitherto unforeseen heights.
Yes, a sporting nemesis can be a wonderful thing.
But a sporting nemesis can also be a crushing thing, destroying the careers and psyche of good athletes, sucking the joy out of the game for them.
It can also be a bit of both. Open, the excellent autobiography of tennis legend Andre Agassi, leaves the impression Agassi wouldn’t have reached the height he did for as long as he did without arch-rival Pete Sampras holding court during the same period. And vice versa.
In rugby, the rise of the Wallabies in the 90s was in a large part due to the competition and influence of our rivals across the ditch, as well as the return of the Springboks to the international rugby landscape.
However lately I’ve begun to wonder if the Wallabies versus All Blacks rivalry hasn’t become an unhealthy fixation for players, coaches, commentators and fans in Australia. New Zealanders will no doubt interject the joke I’ve opened myself up for here – ‘What rivalry?’ – and over the last decade there is some bitter truth to the fact that the fixation has remained while the level of Wallaby competitiveness has waned.
We are now in a position where after every loss (or even a ‘poor’ win), we see pages and pages lamenting the demise of rugby in Australia. After every win, there is a shotgun splatterblast of articles and comments praising the Wallaby performance but then comparing it to where we need to be to beat the All Blacks.
Just today (24th June) I see articles on The Roar fixating on the All Blacks. The great Scott Allen writes “Do the Wallabies pose a threat to the All Blacks”. Roarer Michael Essa writes about the Wallabies positives and negatives, finishing off with “The All Blacks are still better than us”. Elisha Pearce is perhaps slightly less in awe of the All Blacks but in writing “Five thoughts on the Wallabies series win” still sneaks in that “The All Blacks and Springboks will be a completely new level of competition”.
Who did we play last weekend? We haven’t played the All Blacks in eight months and we’re not playing them for another two months! It’s like there is a big black cloud (with a tiny silver fern in one corner) hanging perpetually over our heads.
After any victory we pat ourselves on the back… and then gaze at the black cloud hanging over us. Depending on your disposition those gazes are either filled with (false?) bravado, or despair.
Players and coaches are peppered with questions after each victory such as ‘Can we defeat the All Blacks now?’ Players seem confused as to whether to answer with confidence, and appear arrogant, or maintain the underdog position, and appear cowed.
In the players’ minds we’ve built up the All Blacks – a no doubt impressive team – into an insurmountable hurdle. They are constantly compared to them. Any time the comparison is made out to be favourable it is ridiculed. We have embedded in all of our psyches that we are not on the same level as this cloud that hangs over us. And, believing that, we never will be.
It’s time we stopped fixating on them. When the players run out on the field they mustn’t be thinking how good the All Blacks are. They need to play without fear and be focussing on the little things – the nuances of their own roles – and let the result take care of itself.
As a Wallaby fan, I’m as guilty as the next man for using the All Blacks as a yardstick. From here on, for my own sanity, I’m boycotting any and all future articles on the Wallaby prospects versus the All Blacks – even if they are written by authors I otherwise religiously read. I don’t want to read them, because they are all so much bluster and over-analysis we’ve all read too many times before.
Any and all future questions to players and coaching staff on the Wallaby prospects against the All Blacks deserve only one response: “We will find out when we play them.”
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.