“How do we become New Zealand? How do we get to the point where we can claim to be the best and no one dares question it afterward?” Two questiosn the rugby world wants to know.
What New Zealand has is what everyone wants. With plenty of consideration I believe I have found a way to usurp the All Blacks, but it’s a way that would frustrate the majority of Roarers.
And yet I believe in my sentiments fully because it makes the most sense. But the first step in becoming the best is to define the best. We must understand what makes you the best. Then, and only then, can you gun for it yourself.
In the game of rugby union there are three very sought after achievements that every team wishes to possess. Of all the teams competing on the world stage only one has succeeded in acquiring all three – the New Zealand All Blacks.
The three achievements I speak of are obvious. They are winning percentages against every Test playing nation in the world, the IRB’s – albeit dubious – number one ranking and, of course, the William Web Ellis trophy.
Unfortunately the best team in the world cannot be claimed by obtaining only one or two of these accolades. A team must possess all three in order to be the very best in the world.
Why? Because winning percentages show you the dominance of a team throughout their history, but not necessarily if a team is currently on form. A prime example of this would be between the Springboks and the Wallabies.
The Springboks have had about a 60 per cent winning record throughout their history, but the Wallabies have had the upper hand since the dawn of professionalism. How then could you claim either to be better than the other without resorting to the categorisation of different eras?
The IRB’s number one ranking is just too inconsistent to be considered a true reflection of a team residing on the world’s summit. For instance, the Boks had just beaten the All Blacks and in doing so closed the gap in points between the two quite considerably. Had the Boks played the All Blacks again the weekend after, and won, then they would find themselves at first place.
But how can that be achieved so easily when New Zealand dominated the world and the Boks for the past twenty games?
What the IRB rankings promote is the idea that one-off wins can make you better than other teams. It also indirectly states that the rankings don’t care about periods of domination.
The only thing they want is the illusion of surpassing your superiors, courtesy of a solitary win over them regardless if you’ve lost against then the past ten times.
For me that doesn’t quite cut it.
And then there is the World Cup. Fabulous tournament, magical atmosphere, a sudden-death competition with everything on the line – but unfortunately completely pointless.
The World Cup would have you believe that nothing else matters. Not the four years preceding it anyway. If we were to believe that the World Cup truly does crown the leaders in world rugby then Australia and South Africa are tied for first place – with New Zealand and England battling out for third. It doesn’t make sense does it?
As you can see defining the best is very tricky and yet the All Blacks are considered the best quite casually.
When studying the archives of our great sport we often come across a very defining term commonly used when describing the All Blacks. They call it the ‘All Black Aura’. Ah yes, the All Black Aura. We know it too well don’t we my friends? Or do we?
The All Blacks are the best because they have an aura of majesty, superiority, godliness – all those things our Kiwi cousins call their team and all of its players. In reality, it just means they win so often that losing can’t be associated with the team.
In fact they win so often that the three holy trophies I mentioned have made New Zealand their natural habitat.
So now we know why they are the best, the question now is how do we achieve it? The ‘know-it-alls’ will say that you just need to beat them consistently to dethrone them.
This is true, but how? It’s easier said than done.
The secret is one that will make most readers cringe. To become the All Blacks you have to become the All Blacks of the number two spot in the world. It’s as simple as that.
When was the last time that a team has dominated the number two spot in the world for as long as the All Blacks have secured the first?
The sad reality is that from two to about eighth in the world, we have a classic case of musical chairs. South Africa are second one minute then Australia and then England. Even France have plied their trade there. There is just consistency, unlike at the top.
And the reason for that is because every team just wants to focus on New Zealand. Beating them is everything, beating them is the alpha and omega in rugby union. And it should be, but it does not mean that you should take your current position for granted.
This in my mind has been Australia’s biggest downfall. They become so obsessed with beating the All Blacks that they forget the chasing pack. When reality slaps them in the face they find themselves beaten by France, England or Argentina – or even worse, Scotland.
What bothers me with the Australian mentality is that when, and only when, they’ve fallen against New Zealand they start focusing on retaining their spot or going one lower. Case in point being Michael Hooper’s statements before the Newlands game.
At that stage they were ranked third in the world. They gunned for first forgetting about all else and lost. After that, they gunned for second only because it’s the next best thing. In the end they ended up at fourth yet again.
Now I’m not suggesting that if you’re third you forget about first and second. When you play them you play to win at all costs, but don’t become so fixated on progress and forget the threat of regression.
The Springboks under Heyneke Meyer have done things right. During his tenure they have only lost against a team ranked lower than them once – and that was in Perth this year. Spot the contradiction.
Ewen McKenzie when his tenure started claimed he holds the key to the New Zealand lock. He promised the Bledisloe but never mentioned the Springboks or the tendency of winning before he confronted them.
Meyer on the other hand had this to say following his appointment.
“Naturally we would like to beat New Zealand in every game we play them. That should be the goal for every team in the world. But the reality also is that we are currently ranked fourth in the world and that isn’t good enough for us.”
“My aim is to win every game we play especially the ones at home. We have to face every game with the same intensity as when when we face New Zealand. When you secure your spot in the world you begin building momentum and that momentum creates a winning culture. You will find yourself at first eventually if you focus on winning every single game against every single team.”
That year the Boks jumped to second and they haven’t looked back since. They have beaten New Zealand. While they are still ahead, it means that the Springboks have built an aura of their own at second.
That is the key to becoming the best. It is no coincidence that the Springboks are currently ranked second and have winning percentages against every team in the world except the All Blacks.
I hope Michael Cheika understands this. You will never be the best until you secure your current standing. You must beat every team ranked lower than you and from there work your way up slowly. Patience brings good fortune. Think long term, not short term.
The Springboks are proof of this. They have been second in the world comfortably now for three years running and they are gaining serious momentum because of it, the win at Ellis Park reinforces this idea.
Should the Boks dominate the rest of the world and stay second for the next ten years, then every team lower than them will consider them as unbeatable as they consider New Zealand. The Boks will build an aura equal to the All Blacks’.
Should they continue this consistency I firmly believe they will contest that number one spot.
Unfortunately becoming the best takes years and loads of patience. That’s just the way it is.
We all say ‘two is not good enough’. But when we open our eyes after being so obsessed with only the number one spot, we find that second and third was just stolen from us faster than Julian Savea to an open try line.
Alex Wood
Roar Guru
Armand, great article. Very well written and raises some valid points about the Australian mentality accross all sports, not just rugby. We went through a time where as country we were dominant in Rugby, Leauge, Cricket (Test and ODI), Hockey, Netball and Swimming - all at the same time and ever since then Australians have treated the Number 1 spot as if it was our birth right. The problem is that if you're not number 2, this attitude leads to short-sighted tactics to try an snag the #1 ranking, rather than fundamental development of teams which makes them better over months and years. Thanks for putting it together, keep up the good work!
Mike
Guest
Very well written. Thanks.
Toadflax
Guest
Totally agree - an away win at RWC (or other team sports) is very difficult to achieve. Not being provocative but last RWC, if it had been played in Paris not sure ABs would have got home - crowd lifted them for sure
Kavvy
Roar Rookie
As you've eluded to I think it has or is already happening/happened. The Boks are clear #2 and don't look like shifting downwards for a while. In fact one could argue the Boks are as likely to move up to #1 as they are down to #3 in the next few years. In relation to Australia, you can talk about attitude to winning all games and respect all opponents equally and that is fair enough, you can also talk about discipline and that is more than fair enough but to be honest the best way for the Wallabies to have serious #2 or #1 aspirations long term is to grow the code at the grass roots. Rugby is clearly the #4 football code in Australia until that changes and it moves to #2 or #3 among the football codes then I can't see the Wallabies consistently being #1 or #2 in the world on a regular basis. It just has to do with increasing the depth of the talent pool (when you can replace gun A with gun B pretty easily then gun A is less likely to be undisciplined as they know they are replaceable)
Old Bugger
Guest
Birdy Probably because the ABs were always picked as favourite leading into each RWC - which was always beyond my comprehension - and probably ranked No 1 team due to the current but diabolical, international ranking system used by the IRB. In particular,I suggest the ABs weren't deserving of any such accolades going into 1995, 1999 and 2003 RWCs. In '93, we were lucky to beat the B&I Lions. In '94, we got pasted by the French. In '98, we came last in SANZARs tri-nations tournament and in 2003, we got done by the poms (who beat everyone else also) but beat the SBs & WBs to win back the BC. But, the ABs entered each RWC as favourites....go figure. I think the eventual RWC winners in '99 and '03 could quite easily have been more deserving of No 1 ranked team than the ABs.....but, that's just my consideration despite what the IRBs rank system determined.
Jerry
Guest
It's not rare at all - there's only been 2 RWC's played under the ranking system for a start and one of those winners wasn't #1 before the tournament, got to #1 courtesy of the double points system and lost that ranking halfway through the following season.
2ztala
Guest
Excellent article. NZ has powerful mix of cultural groups for team sport with the main 3 being the Pakeha, (hard working, disciplined,never gives up, especially them white boys from the Sth Is), the Pacific Peoples, (big, strong, fast and talented) and the Maori (the rebels, square pegs in a round hole, we think outside the square, challenge the white authority always, and we got cunning and strategy you never even heard of. And finally when it comes to our country NZ we the Maori know who we are fighting for: us, NZders. We take our heart and our pride into the game.) If the ABs get the mix wrong we lose the world cup. If the team is too white; useless. If its too brown; useless. Only issue we have is that the management over each of the world cups has been too white. In 1988 the NZ govt paid $4m to an American economist, Michael Porter to improve management in NZ. He told NZ their managers were too mono-cultural and would never compete on the world stage. Fischer and Paykel changed their management structure straight away and became a world leading producer. We need managers who understand this mix. Hansen does. Henry didn't that's why he needed 2 goes at it. Trial and error. I think the Springboks could beat the ABs but they got to get rid of their thuggery and bullying ways 'cause it will never beat character and righteous human spirit. The Aussies could beat the ABs too but they're so full of it- about how good they have done or about to do. LOOK AT THE TRUTH. Where is that fighting Aussie spirit we know from the ANZACs. Where's that cockiness that all great Aussie Rugby teams had. Hardest team to beat is a cocky Aussie team that's down to earth. Good luck Your management is oh so bad.
Jake
Guest
So does your mum
Disneychilly
Roar Rookie
You get some scenarios with great teams/sportspeople having a great rival to push them to greater deeds-obviously Frazier/Ali is the quintessential example. I get that with NZ and SA at present and probably historically-and both have been at the position of top of the tree and just below. You see that in the respect of the teams towards each other. SA only lost twice last year which is a satisfactory year-those losses were against a special NZ side. But they know and have always known they can knock NZ over in any situation. The five games previous to Ellis Park were more of an annoyance to the team than a monkey on the back that the media was portraying. I understand Australia's desperation to get the Bledisloe but it mustn't be ignored that they have had some mighty impressive performances during that drought. They just haven't been against NZ and psychologically that can mess with a team. You're going ok but you really want to beat Team 1. So you focus your main energy on that and get tipped up by other teams on occasion. That coupled with lack of success against Team 1, which is your main focus, means you don't achieve what you could and it could affect the mental state of the team. That's where the consolidation of results comes in-you have to treat every test as a bloody important game. RWC wise you don't even really need to believe you're a better team than your opposition. You can just believe that you can beat them. France are an example of that to me-conceding that they couldn't beat NZ twice in a WC so would aim for the once. Consistency in results and performance is a nice thing to have going into a World Cup but it's not the be all and end all. You don't need to be a consistent side to beat NZ, and NZ will be all too wary of that. But in terms of building a legacy and moving up the ladder, or staying there after a WC, then you need to consolidate positions and performance. Away games are usually a great barometer.
Daz
Guest
Not a guru mate just a wise old man who had seen a lot and done a lot from being a drover at thirteen in the depression to a grazier. He went to grade four but could recite classic poetry.
Birdy
Guest
That's OK, Chris, as a pom I'm still not at the stage where I can cheer for the Wallabies against them (or indeed against anyone).
Birdy
Guest
OB - its is actually quite rare for the winner of the RWC to not also be the number 1 team in the world on a range of other measurements. If England had won in 2007 or France in 2011 then you'd have more of a case; but of course they didn't.
firstxv
Guest
That would do it. And if the entire world only played rugby NZ would drop in the rankings so quickly.
firstxv
Guest
If the last two tests showed anything it is that we need consistency in midfield, especially while the boks and ozzies are going hard out on attack. That has always been the case in pressure world cup matches. Barrett and fekitoa replacing cruden and nonu at the same time plummeted our quality of attack and defence. From those two we got fluctuations of good and bad bug sacrificed consistency. Don't mess with the midfield. How many times do we have to hear that.
Chris
Guest
Well I am at that stage now where I don't care who is number one just as long as it is not NZ :D I like NZ and have relies in Christchurch blah blah but they really need to stop being selfish pr*ck$ :P In saying that, i have yet to stoop to level of wanting England to beat them.
ohtani's jacket
Guest
The All Blacks scored tries this year but they were part of comeback efforts and not as tit for tat as last season. Nonu goes missing in defence at times but not as badly as Fekitoa who is clearly out of position at 12 defensively.
Canetragic
Guest
Our kids get the best of both worlds....the All Blacks in the rugby and the Diamonds in the netball :)
Canetragic
Guest
If you had to lose a RWC final that was the one.....incredible man, incredible statesmanship, and.....I cant think of what else to say! Many of our current crop of leaders would do well to take note.
He can't afford me ;)
Chan Wee
Guest
"@ Old Bugger ; while there will be new guys putting up the hand, NZ will need to look at the number of young guys who will head overseas looking for international prospects. lot of countries will look at the limited opportunities for many NZ players and try to lure them . also the chance to make more money will definitely be an attraction. for e.g. in the french top14 there are few NZ players who i've never heard of but seem to do well for the clubs. another thing is the new concussion protocols which will hasten the careers of a few.