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Opinion
Life is not all peaches and cream, we take the good with the bad, it’s what life is all about.
Therefore, I have been prompted by a Roarer, namely Spew_81, to compare two of the All Blacks least successful teams, namely the 1998 All Blacks who lost five games in a row, and the 2022 All Blacks, who lost three in a row and could easily have lost more games.
The 1998 All Blacks lost all their Tri-Nations matches to Australia and South Africa, going down three times to the Wallabies and twice to South Africa. Former All Black coach John Hart responded to critics by saying that three of the five defeats were by five points or fewer, still not appeasing those requesting his head! He added that the “All Blacks were human and we are going through change.”
Because the All Blacks were rebuilding, the inexperienced players, captained by youthful rookie skipper Taine Randall, did not know how to win when in a commanding position to do so. Randall was selected as captain in 1998, even though Hart acknowledged later that he was not ready for the role.
Former All Black flanker Josh Kronfeld also confirmed that it was difficult for the senior players to be guided by someone so green. Randell admitted in a NZ Rugby World interview in 2002 that “getting the captaincy so young was just wrong.”
Not that he was entirely to blame, as by the end of the Tri-Nations series the All Blacks had lost approximately 450 international caps and the average age of the players was only 24.
Going into the 1998 season, the All Blacks had every reason to feel optimistic as under Hart they had won 24 Tests with only one defeat, and in 1997 won 12 out of 12 Tests. Hart had also led the team to the historic series win against South Africa in 1996.
While the All Blacks were on a downward trajectory because of ageing players their opposition were on the rise. The Wallabies had been on a seven-match losing streak and halted this with a first-up 24-16 win over the old foe at the MCG.
Coach Rod Macqueen was blessed with some of the greats of Wallaby rugby, including John Eales, Tim Horan, George Gregan, Stephen Larkham, Matthew Burke, Toutai Kefu and Phil Kearns. Oh, for the Wallabies to have those players today!
When defending today’s players against yesterday’s, people talk of modern methods, professionalism, bigger, faster athletes, who would be much superior to the past, but that does not really apply in this case does it? The Wallabies went on to win the Rugby World Cup in 1999, confirming them as one of the great Wallaby sides.
The Springboks were also on the up, rebuilding after winning the 1995 Rugby World Cup and putting the Tri-Nations trophy in the cabinet for 1998. The forward pack included such notables as Rassie Erasmus, Mark Andrews, A.J Venter and Bob Skinstad. The backs offered the wonderful Joost van der Westhuizen, Henry Honiball, Stefan Terblanche, Pieter Rossouw and the legendary Percy Montgomery.
So, I guess the scenario between the 1998 All Blacks and 2022 were similar with both sides losing players of great stature who were not replaceable immediately. Michael Jones, Zinzan Brooke, Sean Fitzpatrick and Frank Bunce were either lost or about to be dropped from the starting line-up.
Same as in 2022 with Dan Carter, Richie McCaw, Kieran Read, Ben Smith Conrad Smith and Ma’a Nonu leaving big boots to fill. It is always a challenging time to let go of long serving players and bring in youth, which the 1991 All Blacks found when exiting the Rugby World Cup.
The 2022 All Blacks lost three in a row to Ireland and South Africa and won only one game out of five. I do not need to remind you of the pall of doom that pervaded New Zealand when the team at the start of the season played seven, won three and lost four.
(Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)
Previously beatable teams like Ireland and Argentina were now the victors, with an apparent lack of mental toughness to blame for the All Blacks demise. The team did improve over the rest of the season but escaped with a narrow loss to the Wallabies and a draw to England. This also follows on from losses in 2021 to Ireland, France and Argentina, not providing great hope for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
After five straight losses in 1998 coach John Hart was retained, as was Ian Foster in 2022. Will Foster do better than Hart did at the 1999 Rugby World Cup?
To the teams:
Christian Cullen versus Beauden Barrett: next, 1-0 to 1998.
Jeff Wilson versus Mark Telea: 2-0 to 1998.
Scott McLeod versus Rieko Ioane: two category B centres. Ioane just, 2-1 to 1998.
Jonah Lomu versus Caleb Clarke: too easy at this point, 3-1 to 1998.
Walter Little versus Jordie Barrett: North Harbour rules, 4-1.
Andrew Mehrtens vs Richie Mo’unga: Mehrtens the winner, there were players who were replaced during the series, Mehrtens being one, by Carlos Spencer, but I will stick with the first named. 5-1.
Justin Marshall versus Aaron Smith: Smith wins this, 5-2.
Taine Randall versus Ardie Savea: Randall also played flanker, he was called the world’s best prior to captaincy, but Savea prevails. 5-3.
Michael Jones versus Scott Barrett: even though Jones was nearing the end of his career he wins this by the length of the straight! 6-3.
Josh Kronfeld versus Dalton Papali’i: Kronfeld, 7-3.
Ian Jones versus Brodie Retallick: tough one, Retallick by a nose. 7-4.
Robin Brooke versus Sam Whitelock: both will have fans, but in this Whitelock wins. 7-5.
Olo Brown versus Ethan de Groot: go Olo, 8-5.
Anton Oliver versus Codie Taylor: from memory they both had lineout throwing issues? Taylor pipped by Oliver, 9-5.
Carl Hoeft versus Tyrel Lomax: Hoeft over Lomax. 10-5 for the 1998 team. 1998 wins.
Does this mean anything? No, probably not, but it is interesting. There were great players in the 1998 side who were on their way out, whereas in 2022 some are just starting. But do they have the ability and I say it again, the mental toughness to establish themselves as legends of the game?
Does it say anything about the state of New Zealand rugby?
Over to you: who was the least successful team?
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.