The Wrap: All Blacks and Wallabies fans, don’t worry, be happy

The All Blacks quickly discovered the best way to get Aaron Smith off the front pages; turning the focus squarely back onto the rugby, in their record breaking 57-15 win over South Africa in Durban.

Nine tries to nil, a mixture of patience, purpose, collective ability and irresistible self-belief in the game plan. Unfortunately, not enough to make some fans happy, if comments made post-game in various media outlets and forums are anything to go by.

Make no mistake; there is nothing sad or boring about a side which plays positive 15-man rugby, prides itself on operating at peak fitness levels, defends like its life depends on it, and demands of itself, superior execution of skills and total performance. Would these critics really be happier or less bored if the All Blacks bumbled around and lost?

In today’s rugby, when the result is already known, or too many replacements drain the structure and continuity out of the contest, games often fizzle out in the final ten minutes. Not this one; this was one of those matches true rugby fans shouldn’t have wanted to end.

Too often, rugby can be ordinary; slowed down by scrum resets, or plagued by handling errors or aimless kick to kick. So when it is played at the highest level, such as the All Blacks operated at for the second half, the rugby should be savoured and treasured, not the result dismissed as ‘boring’ or ‘sad for rugby’.

South African fans can of course be excused for thinking otherwise; their side abjectly dismembered on the field and humiliated on the scoreboard. This despite a lot of honest, defensive endeavor, which at least kept the Springboks in touch for over sixty minutes, before the almost inevitable black tidal wave towards the end.

There are many things crook with South African society and South African rugby which, to do the matter justice, are best left for different essays on another day. However, rugby in South Africa is not in such a parlous state that there can’t be things that can be addressed and fixed immediately, using the resources available.

For all of Allister Coetzee’s shortcomings, if he were to leave his coaching position today, his primary legacy would be that his side has no identity. No discernible way of playing, that fans, and his players even, can recognise and buy into. And before anyone suggests it, sitting a fly-half deep in a pocket and aimlessly kicking possession away, hoping for some opportunist errors, and to pick up a few penalty goals, is not a viable plan, or way of winning hearts or matches in 2016.

Sure, it may have got the job done against Australia last week, but the pursuit of mediocrity is no viable strategy with which to take on this All Blacks side. Consider that even if the Boks had been awarded a try each time a player took the ball into the attacking 22, they would still have lost by 25 points.

That’s not an official statistic of course, but the regular ones are just as telling; 754 run metres from 162 carries by the All Blacks versus 148m from 56 carries by the Boks; 40 defenders beaten versus 3; 69 per cent possession versus 31 per cent.

Some of the Springbok possession came about early in the game, when the All Blacks didn’t quite have their handling and co-ordination right, pushing a couple of passes at the wrong moment. The Boks certainly worked hard to keep them off their game, but once the correct rhythm and pace of the game was found, the improved All Blacks ball security was the trigger for the floodgates to open.

It’s tempting not to start naming players, for fear of not being able to stop – there was not an average player on the park wearing black – however three stand out for special mention. Brodie Retallick, in one of the few positions where South Africa is actually world class, completely owned the midfield.

He was unlucky to miss a try from a lineout drive, although that was a fair square up for TJ Perenara’s first try, for which the TMO and referee inexplicably missed a fumble.

Anton Lienert-Brown goes from strength to strength; he has the running power that modern centres need, combined with a good set of hands and superior decision making ability. With each passing week, the memories of Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith fade further.

Last week, Liam Squire had one of those matches where not much went right, including two spells in the sin bin, but his effort after replacing Jerome Kaino was easily his best in the black jersey, and may be the breakout performance many were looking for from him. While he was flattered slightly by a tiring opposition, the directness of his contribution was outstanding.

After the match Jerome Kaino spoke about the players enjoying their rugby; which may be self-evident when you keep winning in such a manner, but what he really meant was that this team clearly gets a buzz from their togetherness, the training, the competition for places and the striving for continual improvement.

That is something that Aaron Smith, back in Dunedin, can take heart from. He still has a hearing ahead of him, and no doubt some tough days at home but, suitably chastened, he will surely return desperate not to ever again miss out on being part of this wonderful team. If news that he has removed himself from all social media is true, then that is the first inkling of some better decision-making on his part.

The Wallabies too, have plenty to be happy about, overcoming Argentina 33-21 at Twickenham. There were the usual caveats; ill discipline and skill errors at crucial times but, in the end, it was another comprehensive win against a difficult side.

The match started with a superb offside pick-up by referee Mathieu Reynal, whose night, it must be said, headed south after that. Although he couldn’t be blamed for the second TMO snafu of the day, Rowan Kitt somehow stating that Dane Haylett-Petty did not lose control of the ball in the lead up to Adam Coleman’s stretching try.

Reynal however did find reason to sin bin Michael Hooper for what was nothing more than a regulation penalty, and suffered as he became as increasingly frustrated with the players as they were with him.

The Wallabies best were Samu Kerevi, a handful with every touch, and skipper Steven Moore, who linked well and was busy on defence. Lopeti Timani didn’t get many running opportunities, but worked his butt off in defence, making 14 effective tackles (note the All Blacks only made 71 in total, in their match).

On the downside, the Wallabies didn’t control play as they wanted, and their propensity to switch off at key moments was again evident. What on earth Dean Mumm was daydreaming about when he let Martin Landajo take a short 22 is anyone’s guess, and the whole team fell asleep when Jeronimo de la Fuente scored from a quick tap, despite there being ample time to man up properly.

Argentina once again let their ambition get ahead of their ability, with too many offloads aimed at the shins of support players. They suffered too from some Beauden Barrett-like goal-kicking by Santiago Gonzales Iglesias (the speedy singer). They missed Facundo Isa and do not yet have the depth to cover for their frontliners.

The jury is out on whether Argentina’s gamble to take a home match to London paid off or not. On one hand, an announced crowd of 48,000 represents three times what they would have got at home, but who knows what to believe these days? The official SANZAAR website yesterday touted “limited availability” of tickets for the match, which was patently not the case. Certainly there was a distinct lack of atmosphere, with the true crowd figure likely to be far less.

The big talking point of the match centered on the penalty against Nick Phipps for pushing an Argentine ‘Medic’. To start with the easy piece first; no question, anyone who is not on the team sheet as a player or is a ball-boy, shouldn’t be going anywhere near the ball.

But context is also important. The ball was not in play at the time, and was simply being thrown onto the pitch by a ball-boy, seemingly to the Medic. Phipps could just as easily have said, “no worries mate, I’ve got it” and that would have been the end of it.

Play was stopped, the ball was dead, it was a ‘nothing’ situation, and thus Phipps’ push was unwise and foolish; unfortunately symptomatic of a ‘faux tough guy’ streak which runs through this team.

Australian fans do have another reason to be happy – the NRC. Round 7 started with a sensational ‘hail mary’ pass by the Ram’s Paul Asquith, to set up everyone’s favourite rampaging no 8. Tyrone Viiga. It wasn’t enough however, title favourites NSW Country doing just enough to hold on 44-40.

In Canberra, Perth Spirit also confirmed their finals credentials, far too strong for a Vikings side that failed to offer enough initiative in attack; Brynard Stander enjoying his best match of the competition.

In another ridiculously windy match in Melbourne, Colby Fainga’a afterwards described the second-half conditions as, “at times unplayable”. Both teams got what they wanted, the Rays a good hit out before their home final next week, and the Rising, despite the 32-28 loss, a ticket to the finals as well, where they will hope to have some of their injured players back on deck.

Taking the match to Frankston Oval as part of Pacific Islands day proved a winner, a superior playing surface and better infrastructure feeding into a healthy crowd; just a shame about the hurricane blowing down the ground.

Then to finish the season, a record score for the NRC, resembling a 20/20 cricket match, Brisbane City outlasting Queensland Country 58-52. No NRC joy this year for Queensland, but next week’s two finals in Newcastle and Sydney are full of promise.

Finally, ‘don’t worry, be happy’ certainly doesn’t apply for the English clubs getting their players back from a two-day England camp in various states of disrepair; including a broken jaw, broken leg and serious hamstring tear. At this rate, all of the credits Eddie Jones gained from the series victory against Australia will be used up well before Xmas.