I have two questions (which may be linked, but don't have to be):

1.  When did pre-match crowing become a part of Kiwi Culture?

2.  What purpose does sacking The Cartel really achieve?

Kiwi Culture

I should preface these remarks by observing that I have been an expat for the last 15 years (nearly a third of my life).  Two weeks at home each year, daily web-site visits (The Herald, Stuff and TSF) and compulsive rugby watching is the only way  I have been able to maintain contact with my Kiwi heritage. 

That heritage - the Kiwi culture that I recall - reflected the quiet "can do" competence of a country perched on the bottom of the world.  Arrogance was considered unattractive; mouthing off (either about one's own attributes, or the attributes lacking in another) was frowned upon.  Understated confidence was the order of the day.

Against that backdrop, some of the comments preceding Sunday's match astonished me.  Less so on this board, where (by and large) posters remember that rugby is played with an oval ball and that the bounce can be unpredictable.  However, Chris Rattue's pronouncements on the eve of the match (see http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=1501233&objectid=10467331) made me uncomfortable before the match, and seem staggering now.

The reason those comments stagger me is that they are written for an audience - people who buy The Herald.  When did Chris Rattue's article ("France pose absolutely no threat to the All Blacks") start reflecting the opinion of the man on the street in New Zealand?  Or even in Auckland?  Even if the average Kiwi held this view (and history suggests the ABs should win the match), when did it become acceptable in Kiwi Culture to dis-respect an opponent in such a blatant manner?

People buy The Herald.  Little comment seemed to be made on Rattue's article.  Does that make it reasonable to assume that the attitude reflected by Rattue's article reflects the attitude of the man on the street (if not the average TSF poster)?  If so, then it become easier to understand why so many Aussies, Poms, Welshmen and even Scots are drawing a certain amount of schadenfreude from the ABs losing yesterday.  It may also suggest why The Cartel are facing calls for their collective heads (see below).

Sacking the Coaching Team

The NZ press is already reporting that Henry will resign before his inevitable dismissal. We lost the match.  It hurts.  It is natural to look to explain the loss - to appoint blame - and the coaching team is the easiest target.

However, this approach seems to overlook two points:

1.   Rugby is a sport.  It is inherently unpredictable, particularly given it is played with an oval ball.  Losses happen in sport.
2.   Sometimes supervening circumstances are relevant.  The referee, for example.

TSFers have, on the whole, been supportive of the policies adopted by the Cartel during their reign.  We have, collectively, endorsed the rotation system (even if many posters have been concerned about the mid-field for some time).  At half-time yesterday, none of us wanted to replace the Cartel.  We had confidence in their knowledge, their coaching and managing techniques, and our belief that they had the best interests of NZ rugby at heart.

I have two points.  First,   I wonder, though, whether we (the AB fans) are as much to blame as anyone.  Are our expectations of the ABs reasonable? Is it our expectations which place pressure on the team (in a way which no other teams appears to face to the same extent)?  Have we, the fans, contributed in some way toward the ABs looking clueless at times?  If so, then we need to be careful about calling for the coaching team to be fired.

Secondly, the NZRFU is as political as any organization, and you can bet your bottom dollar that some people within that organization would benefit from a little organizational carnage.  You can also be confident that those are the people from whom the press will be seeking comments as they seek "to reflect the mourning of the nation".  Some of those people being quoted (either on or off the record) have a vested interest in removing the current NZRFU management and in removing the current coaching team, in implementing "change". 

Perhaps we should be careful before we allow the understandable disappointment which accompanies the loss yesterday drive the replacement of the coaching team.