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New Zealand are the shark which has just smelt blood, or the lion mid-hunt.
They’re an apex predator who can be ferocious and brutal at the flick of a switch, but also lethargic and casual when they know a victory is imminent.
It’s a mindset of dominance, and a winning mentality unparalleled in the sporting world. Their record of superiority is hard to match across any code or game on earth.
I, like many punters, agreed New Zealand were underwhelming in the group stage of this tournament. They looked scrappy at times, and conceded too many points to tier two and tier three nations. More than once the final scoreline was not reflective of the contest. They scored most of their points against Georgia and Tonga in the final quarter of the game.
Some pundits mistook these performances as an indication that this is a weaker All Blacks side than we’ve seen in previous years, and in previous tournaments.
Yesterday’s mutilation of Les Bleus flies in the face of that theory, and instead proves this side is one of the greatest rugby teams in the code’s history.
The reason why?
The switch.
New Zealand didn’t perform below par against Tonga, Georgia and Namibia because they weren’t good enough on the day. They played exactly how they wanted to and won with a margin of their choosing.
When you know you’re going to be victorious, you don’t have the same intensity in defence, passing, running and strategy. Of course no side, especially New Zealand, will admit this is the case – but it is.
When New Zealand ran out against the French in their quarter-final, it’s not as if things finally clicked into gear because of effective training this week, or player combinations suddenly synchronised. It’s because they decided to be perfect.
This is what sets them apart from any other side in the game, and arguably any other team in world sport.
They can flick a switch, like a robot or a machine, and become unbeatable. Case in point, the second Bledisloe Test of this year.
New Zealand didn’t like losing to Australia in Sydney. So they flicked the switch, and thrashed the second best team in the world 41-13.
This may be a relatively new ability, acquired after the heartbreak of the 2003 World Cup, but it’s an ability they no doubt possess.
Australia is improving greatly, and along with South Africa pose the greatest threat to New Zealand in the tournament.
But neither the Wallabies nor the Springboks have the ability of deciding when they’ll win and the manner in which they’ll do so.
It takes a perfect performance from any other international side – combined with a lapse in mentality from the All Blacks – for the Kiwis to lose a Test.
Australia never decides when to win a game, or by how much, or how well they’ll do it. We play our best every time, which ends in a myriad of results and performances.
But if we meet New Zealand in this tournament, if we progress so far as to do so, we won’t be up against a side as good as us. We’ll be up against a well-oiled machine who is now, for the second time this year, choosing to play at their best.
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.