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If there’s one thing New Zealand rugby fans aren’t good at, it’s paying attention to what other teams and countries are doing. While you can find the odd rugby nerd in pubs and clubs around the place that can tell you about how things are going up north or even across the ditch, they’re very much the exception to the rule.
Rugby knowledge outside our own borders is pretty sparse, it’s unlikely you’d be able to find someone who could name the 14 clubs of the Top 14, let alone who is winning it.
But that attitude has changed a bit lately. New Zealanders are slowly coming around to the idea that the World Cup might not just solely be down to the All Blacks’ (admittedly very good) recent form, in fact the way other teams are going and just what they do to each other may well be the deciding factor in how where they finish.
Of course, there’s a reason why All Black fans are this way. As long as the team is winning, it doesn’t matter who they play and in what order. But while the side couldn’t have had a lead in, with four wins from four games, the events of the last week have definitely ripped the attention away from the All Blacks.
It’s really hard to know where to start, but the news that’s had the most direct impact on the All Blacks’ upcoming schedule is the news that Romain Ntamack is out of the tournament with injury.
Romain Ntamack is a star for France (Photo by John Berry/Getty Images)
Given how Ntamack embarrassed them the last time he played, not least because he’s far better looking than any of the current All Blacks, the immediate reaction was that France had been dealt a fairly hefty blow. However, likely replacement Mathieu Jalibert’s reputation makes this more of case similar to if the All Blacks lost Richie Mo’unga – they have options and it’s not exactly the end of the world.
At least not on paper. Ntamack’s absence may well cause a shift in the way France play, just enough for the in-form All Blacks to exploit.
Then there’s the indirect narratives, because while their World Cup pool is not exactly easy, who they end up playing in the next round is completely out of their hands.
Next door in Pool B, all the talk had been about whether the All Blacks would be playing either Ireland or the Springboks. Except no one told Scotland, who were pretty damn impressive in their recent two Test series against France.
Remember, this is a side that almost beat the All Blacks last November at Murrayfield before an inspired performance from the bench ensured that Ian Foster’s side didn’t create another chapter of unwanted history.
Can Scotland pull off a shock and send one of those sides packing? Because while it’s fair to say the dust will still be settling by the time they move into a quarter final that might be against the All Blacks. Given the way the other side of the draw is looking, it may well end up paving the way for an All Black run home to glory.
Speaking of dust settling, it’s unlikely anyone has got their heads around what Eddie Jones has done with the Wallabies, apart from Eddie Jones. He certainly seems to have taken the Melbourne post-match critique of Carter Gordon quite personally, stacking all his chips on the 22-year-old in a move that could seriously backfire if A. Gordon gets hurt or B. he can’t actually live up to the Jones-generated hype.
A Michael Hooper-less Wallabies certainly got eyebrows raising in New Zealand too. If that is the end of the fearless flanker’s Test career then he will go out as a man who earned the respect of All Black fans the hard way – as in, by playing his guts out every Bledisloe Cup game and still having to make more losing post-match speeches than a player of his calibre deserved.
He will be missed, but time will tell if Jones’ changing of the guard act does pay off.
The conventional thinking is that the All Blacks will run into England at some stage, but of course they created perhaps the biggest story of all this week when Owen Farrell’s shoulder and the RFU’s lawyers combined to set one of the biggest (although not unsurprising) double standards in Test rugby. Enough has been said about this in terms of just why Farrell is allowed to get away with playing like an NFL linebacker despite being a graduate of the prestigious World Rugby Tackle School™, but it should have Super Rugby bosses and refs seeing red as well.
The in-game review system stands as probably the best innovation that the game has come up with lately, a rare case of taking an idea from rugby league and improving it, not to mention one that has come from this part of the world and the Northern Hemisphere has actually admitted works.
Farrell’s tackling misadventure and Richard Smith’s crafty legal work – how did we get to a point where the lawyers’ names are common knowledge – are seriously undercutting something that’s primarily a step in the right direction. Despite the excitement over the World Cup, moves like this are in short supply in Test rugby.
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.