England players looking remarkably fit and fresh following their loss to the All Blacks. There goes another myth about England being slow and not being able to keep up. They finshed the stronger of the two sides.
It was an improved performance by the All Blacks but still nowhere near their best. The forward pack is a yard behind where it needs to be in the pace of the game. The yellow card to Jerome Kaino and foul play citing of Kevin Mealamu is symptomatic of a team that is not gelling and is getting frustrated.
The All blacks went into the England Test with what has to be the most insipid bench in recent history. We are used to seeing players coming off the bench who are at as good as what they are replacing. Andrew Ellis, Stephen Donald, Isaia Toeava, John Afoa, Hika Elliot, Liam Messam and Anthony Boric are good but not world class.
Graham Henry seems to be suffering from the same arrogance virus that struck down Springboks coach Peter de Villiers in July. De Villiers and his charges strutted into Auckland as reigning Tri-Nations champions who had been dominant over the All Blacks the previous season. They got smashed.
The All Blacks of the earlier part of this season were hungry to right the embarrassment of the previous year and it showed. Their forward pack smashed into everything at pace and the slick backline relished the front foot ball they got. The Springboks and to a lessor extent the Wallabies had no answer.
In the weeks following that triumph the All Blacks were lauded as clear World Cup favourites (sound familiar?). It seemed that they read those reports and forgot a bit about what they did that made them successful.
Graham Henry and the other two wise men selected a squad for the final Bledisloe Cup clash and Autumn Internationals that had some interesting selections.
Against the Wallabies Henry put out a team many of which were returning from injury and hadn’t played for a while. This was supposed to be a ‘thank you’ selection for their earlier good work. It backfired with Australia breaking their 10 match losing streak.
Against England Henry put out a team that was improved but had a weak bench. This was partly due to injury, but also due to tour selection decisions and just plain daft thinking.
That the All Blacks won the test is as much due to England lapses at crucial times as to All blacks brilliance.
Credit has to be given to England for having a go at running rugby. For them a cooler head in the first 15 minutes would have taken the penalty points on offer over tap kicks. That would have been enough for them to win the game.
The All Blacks should be good enough to see off the collective challenge of Scotland, Wales and Ireland. But even another Grand Slam success will not mask the fact that the All Blacks have some of the wrong players in this squad and their preparation has not been as focussed as it needed to be.
This was the time to show the world Colin Slade, Aaron Cruden, Sean Maitland, Victor Vito and Robbie Fruean. Some of the older ‘coming back from injury’ brigade could have stayed at home and proven their credentials in the new season of Super Rugby.
Then the selectors would have had a wider squad to choose from for the World cup and a better idea of what they are all capable of at a higher level. But what do we know we are just the fans hoping that this is not another ‘journey’ that ends in self inflicted tears.
