The Silver Fern

Oh no, not the white jerseys again. They’re like kryptonite, draining the power of the blackness. And don’t France know that? We used to play them all the time without the need to change strips. Think back to the 1987 WC final. France were in their mid-blue jerseys with the racing stripes down the arms. Then at some point they decided to go the deepest navy blue. Isn’t there a colour coordinating commandant employed by World Rugby to prevent these clashes? How can they be All Blacks if not all in black? It’s a conspiracy I tell you! Although at least they have not reverted to the revolting grey kit they wore in the 2007 QF against the French. The All Greys.

@Chris-B I agree. It looks like the ambition to play dazzling, fast and beautiful rugby exceeds the individual abilities of most of the players. It speaks perhaps to a lack of clarity of communication, pragmatism and honesty at the coaching level. Something isn’t working internally, I suspect.

Aside from the messy execution of an overly idealised game plan, I’m also alarmed at the players’ seeming inability to maintain discipline under pressure. This has been going on all year, and may reflect the frustration they feel at the gap between the coaches’ grandiose vision and the reality.

With that in mind, we shouldn’t overlook the distorting factor of money. The Silverlake private equity investment was in an AB brand built on fast, flowing and attacking rugby that is beautiful to watch. Those sort of investors are notoriously impatient, which leaves me thinking Robertson feels he must deliver on that in every game, and those pressures are getting to the players.

What’s needed is a greater sense of pragmatism - of building the strategy around the team, rather than the team around the strategy. I still wonder at what was behind Leon Macdonald’s early exit from the coaching set-up and whether NZ Rugby’s almost panicked early appointment of Robertson has created a culture where people are now frightened to question the boss.

A test more about earning than learning

Both Reece and Talea look like they are in slowmo. I’d be on the phone to Narawa

The best thing about that AB performance was the defence in the last quarter on their own line. Character, stickability, resilience. Very old fashioned.

Red cordial starting to kick in for the ABs.

@nostrildamus It was interesting that moment when Ardie took a pass that was clearly intended for Sititi. Looked like an old leading man pushing the promising understudy out of the spotlight.

Not sure that EdG is 100%. All the promising ABs are the young guns, which is a good sign. ALB showing up JB, don’t you think?

Susie the soup chef back on duty but lacing the broth with Mogadon.

Perhaps the changes make sense. Play the mogadon game with the Millennials in the first 50/60, then inject the Gen-Z ADHD ritalin crew in the final 30/20 when defences are tiring. This only works, of course, if they manage the rare feat of keeping 15 on the field throughout

@sparky On your second point - the lack of awareness of and appreciation for how the game is developing elsewhere - I do think is particularly true for NZ, which arguably suffered more from the post-COVID isolation than anyone. The loss of South Africa from the Super competition and being shackled to playing mediocre Australian teams seems to have left AB rugby with a single focus - speed. That can work as we saw in the first half of BC1, but when it stops working they don’t seem to have an alternative and frustration/ill-discipline seems to creep in. It speaks to a lack of on-field leadership, which is one of your other apt observations, which in turn suggests to me Robertson is stuck in a sort of twilight zone between the Henry/Hansen/Foster past and whatever comes next. He’s done well with the newer generation of Sititi, Vai, Ratima and all, but he’s going to have to roll the dice more aggressively - and try something new - at some point.

@Darth-Sader Good question but hard to answer because it’s not evident to me what he is actually bringing to the coaching beyond setting the overall direction and culture. From what I’ve read, he leaves the on-field tactics to his coaching staff. I do wonder about the falling out with MacDonald and what was behind it. Whatever the truth, the buck stops with him and the fact the team is doing the same things every test is something he has to fix and take responsibility for.

From a grumpy old rugby fan comes this contribution:

The ADHD Blacks

Is Ritalin the best prescription for the compulsively hyperactive, ritually self-destructing 2024 All Blacks?

Clearly, a pattern is emerging. They spend days before each test in media interviews regurgitating vacuous self-help management nostrums about ‘walking toward the pressure’ and ‘embracing the opportunity’ - only to set their dials to full-throttle for 60 minutes on-field before running out of gas.

Perhaps we can put it down to generational change - a break-dancing, surf-riding, Gen-X guru of self-discovery indulging a bunch of over-pampered, over-stimulated, over-praised Gen-Z whizz-kids with a complete deficit of patience, grit or an ability to think on their designer-booted feet.

To me, this looks like attention-deficit, hyperactivity-disorder on the rugby field. It works in flashes as the adrenaline kicks in among the players, eager to impress teacher and add to the highlight reels. Then when the buttons they are pushing on their virtual X-Boxes no longer respond they cave into fits of ill-discipline. “I’m bored now.”

It’s hard to see any grown-up, hard-nosed thinking going on in the AB circles. Perhaps it’s another consequence of what happens when you sell out your culture to US private equity who are all about ‘brand value’ over substance.

Of course, there are the real, practical problems facing the squad - the vacuum left by the departure or retirement of the likes of Whitelock, Retallick, Aaron Smith and Mo’unga, the forced reliance on old warriors past their use-by dates, the absence of impact players off the bench, questions over Scott Barrett’s on-field leadership, questions about poor conditioning and late game fades.

But beyond all that is a suspicion that apart from motivational New Age nostrums about self-expression, there really is little going on below Razor’s sun-bleached locks. If there were, why is his team throwing the same tantrums in every test? It is becoming so predictable - his charges race out of the blocks like men possessed, build a handy lead and then blow it in a flurry of low-percentage miracle passes, Hail Mary high-balls to nowhere and brain-dead ill-discipline.

Are boots applied to backsides anymore, or are the grieving miscreants ‘counselled’ and denied their PlayStations for a day?

Nurse?

ABs in Razor’s mind:

ABs in reality…

@Jet The brand being milked by careerists and chancers is exactly what we are seeing. This is flimflam rugby. There is zero substance to it.

The Emperor? Naked.

The modern game has become too much about the coach. Should have been a giveaway Razor making documentaries about himself before he’d even taking over. He’s a careerist flake, zero substance - branding himself with surf sessions at billionaires row in Bronte with Joey Johns. That game should have been over and done with after 45 minutes.

What’s happened to NZ rugby is what happens when you open the door to private equity and elevate ‘brand value’ over culture. They’ve lost their soul because the game’s administrators are looking at the bottom line above everything else. Neoliberalism claims another scalp.

Razor needs to rethink the AB leadership. Scott Barrett clearly not up to it. Too passive. Too frightened of losing. Not inspiring his troops. Bad appointment.

At least they’re following the script.