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Written by His Bobness
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Tuesday, 03 July 2007 |
Let the wailing and gnashing of teeth begin.
A tired All Black side, bruised after a torrid win against the Springboks one week before, goes down to a valiant, street-smart and rested Wallaby outfit playing out of its skin.
In a game vaguely reminiscent of the one that never happened in November, 2003, that perpetually scowling leviathan of centres, Stirling Mortlock, cut through the All Black midfield defence like a knife through butter and sank yet another blade into a million Kiwi hearts.
Once again, a calculating Australian Australian team, including that ever wily thorn in AB sides- George Gregan - played through its deficiencies at setpiece to steal a victory few would have forecast.
And once again, thousands of black attired, formerly hopeful All Black fans slunk away from an Aussie stadium with the jeers of "chokers" ringing in their ears.
Some here have taken solace from the fact that the unthinkable occurred two months out from the World Cup - and not, as is customary, in the play-off stages of the tournament itself. If there was a game to lose this year, this was the one, goes this thinking. The Bledisoe and Tri-Nations remain alive and the All Blacks have the chance to redeem themselves with consecutive wins against the Boks and Oz at home.
And yet there should be enough troubling questions about this loss and the unconvincing run-up victories against France, Canada and the Boks, to give the glass half-full, happy talk brigade pause for thought.
Firstly, why did the ABs not play the percentages in the second half when they were 15-6 up? McCaw and Muliana have asked that question themselves in the aftermath. Instead, we saw 50-50 passes being thrown, again, and a team that insisted on playing the game in its own half.
Secondly, why do All Black teams that play Australia continue to let Gregan run the referee? Someone pointed out that Gregan did not actually put the ball into a scrum until the 31st minute, so adept is he at milking penalties and free-kicks from non-existent scrum infringements.
Gregan's also successfully pressured the referee over All Black tactics at the breakdown ("every time they are under pressure, they kill the ball"), despite the fact that the Australians were employing the same strategy - a fact reflected in the virtually identifiable penalty count. It was this pressure that led to Hayman being yellow-carded in the centre field and a mile away from the "red zone' that the referee had identified.
Thirdly, what is it about All Black selectors that makes them insist on deploying at centre in key matches players who have little or no experience of playing in that key defensive position? Granted, the losses through injury of Smith, Toeava and Macdonald had limited the selection options. But surely against Mortlock, the wiser option would have been Muliana at centre?
Finally, surely it is time to put to bed the tired notion that forwards win matches and backs decide by how much. How many times now has Australia, with an inferior forward pack used mental agility and clever back play to put away New Zealand sides? It should be manifestly obvious by now that brawn without brains is a recipe for defeat.
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![546med[1].jpg](http://www.thesilverfern.com/images/abs_157/546med[1].jpg)
