Recent losses show All Blacks have learned nothing from World Cup loss

After suffering two Tri-Nations losses in a row, the All Blacks now find themselves under siege from the media and rugby public, all because it seems that nothing has changed since that fateful October evening in Cardiff last year.

The corpse of Graham Henry’s World Cup dream just refuses to stay buried as the causes of its untimely demise are still present in the 2008 incarnation of the All Blacks: Poor on field leadership, no plan B and a new affliction for 2008, lack of depth at key positions.

The All Blacks’ failures in Cardiff are well documented, but to have them rear their ugly heads again in 2008, especially after all the excuses of 2007 is almost unforgivable. In 2007 the rugby public was told the coaching staff knew what they were doing and to have faith, then when the All Blacks crashed to their worst ever World Cup result, we were told it wasn’t really anyone’s fault and saw that same coaching staff given another chance.

Two weeks ago in Dunedin the All Blacks suffered their first home loss to South Africa in 10 years, partly because the team didn’t know how or when to set up for a drop goal (sound familiar?). With just under three minutes to go, Ma’a Nonu busted the Springbok line and was tackled just 10 metres out, right in front of the posts. Instead of lining up for the match winning drop goal, Dan Carter took off out to the left in an attempt to score a try, which, of course, didn’t pan out and the All Blacks lost their first game at home in over seven years.

Fast forward a week, and the other issue which undid the All Blacks in Cardiff, no plan B, was clearly evident in their loss to Australia. Plan A looked like the All Blacks were trying to play a possession game, refusing to kick and keeping the ball in hand, but when their handling began to let them down and they lost the battle at the breakdown, there was no change in tactics, just more of the same.

The blame for the lack of leadership could be directed at the absence of regular captain Richie McCaw, who missed the game due to injury, but the Wallabies were also without their skipper Sterling Mortlock, and they adapted and even withstood the All Blacks’ comeback, something that could have undone lesser sides.

Whatever the reason, the All Blacks need to sort these issues out quickly, as the rugby public of New Zealand is getting tired of seeing these lacklustre performances which all seem to boil down to the same problems. And if these aren’t sorted soon, coach Henry may not survive past the end of the Tri-Nations.

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The Recent losses show All Blacks have learned nothing from World Cup loss by Hamish McBrearty, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.