Boks are favourites
by Tony Johnson | 28 June 2010 (08:32)
The Springboks have reasserted their favouritism for the upcoming Tri-Nations, the All Blacks look in reasonably good shape, and I’m not sure what to make of the Wallabies.
The All Blacks didn’t exactly set the world alight with their final June test against Wales.
Wales coach Warren Gatland flagged his teams approach when he said they were after “respectability”, and their main aim seemed to be to keep the score down. They were helped by a New Zealand team that committed 15 handling errors on a greasy surface and squandered at least two clear scoring chances, while an unusually zealous performance by referee Jonathan Kaplan blew the game into slow motion.
The best thing you could say about the All Black effort was that they never looked in any danger of losing, and after two easy wins in previous weeks it might have been a timely shake-up ahead of the tougher matches just around the corner.
It has certainly cost a couple of players an All Black jersey.
Neemia Tialata, Zac Guildford, Adam Thomson and Adam Thomson have been ditched in a selection shuffle that is both ruthless and inconsistent. How they have not been able to find room for Hosea Gear and Luke McAlister after their excellent performances for the Maori is baffling.
Still, because they have two home games against the Springboks this All Black side should put up a better fight in this year’s Tri Nations after a woeful effort against the Boks last year.
I watched Australia struggle to overcome Ireland and wonder what is going on inside the Aussie team. They have talented individuals but they seem out of sync with each other.
South Africa looked in imposing form against an Italian side that featured a whole bunch of changes, but given the key players rested for the match it was an excellent shake-down for the Boks ahead of their trip to New Zealand.
Other than that it has been quite a week in New Zealand.
It got off to a great start with our Under 20s winning the IRB tournament for the third straight year, a great effort for a team with just one survivor of the previous year’s side.
Having watched the semi against South Africa and the final against Australia, I believe a key difference was coaching. There was plenty of talent, some of it already proven at Super 14 and Sevens level in both the South African and Aussie sides, but to me the difference was the quick ball a well drilled New Zealand side was able to provide for its backline. That enabled them to play at pace and give full reign to their backline talent.
We know age group success doesn’t necessarily translate to top test level, but it’s good to know the talent is still coming through.
Then on Wednesday we were treated to a real spectacle as the New Zealand Maori played and beat England in the last match of their centenary series. In front of a capacity crowd in Napier England made a great start and finished strongly but in between the Maori scored some breath taking tries, three to Hosea Gear, and held on to win a thrilling match.
It caps a great series for the Maori, with three exciting matches played in front of big crowds, guaranteeing the future of this iconic team.
England deserve credit for the way they tried to play attacking rugby, but while they have some talented individuals capable of playing the running game, it is not exactly second nature to them in the heavily patterned and methodical world of English rugby.
The worst thing that will come out of this defeat is that they’ll say attacking rugby didn’t get the result and they’ll go back to the old grind and bash in future.
