The All Blacks rarely eat their own.
No, once an All Black, always an All Black.
While those of us watching from the cheap seats occasionally voice dissatisfaction with selections and performances, those who’ve worn the jersey before tend to back the current coaches and players to the hilt.
That courtesy came to mind as I read comments from Wayne Smith and Tony Brown in recent days.
Neither roundly endorsed the tactics and selections of All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. Rather, they hinted at there being room for improvement and, in Smith’s case, expressed optimism that the team would get things right eventually.
Bok star Libbie Janse van Rensburg on that iconic 15-player line-out
Bok star Libbie Janse van Rensburg on that iconic 15-player line-out
I think that’s telling. I think the default setting has always been to say the team’s on the right track – regardless of whether they are or not – and that we have to remember they’re playing elite opposition and perhaps not getting the bounce of the ball.
You rarely, as Brown did, suggest “maybe the All Blacks are not quite getting it right’’ or, like Smith, tell Robertson to “be brave’’ and emphasise that the team “are going to have to take risks.’’
First things first, I don’t question the motives of Smith and Brown here, nor do I even remotely hint at them seeking to undermine or overtly criticise Robertson.
I just find it interesting that, in public statements they know are going to be widely circulated and speculated upon, that neither man lavished the All Blacks with praise.
To me, that says a lot about where a couple of our brightest rugby minds believe the All Blacks are.
Look, the team continues to be clunky. And, how could it not be? You don’t introduce 19 new players in a year and a half, as Robertson has, and get cohesion.
But I’m trying to look at this glass half-full. I’m trying to look for historical precedents and signs that Robertson is taking a leaf from an old book.
In that regard, I’m thinking of Laurie Mains and the way he began turning the team over in 1992 and what we ended up with come 1995.
Mains’ teams often weren’t great and some of his selections were baffling. In hindsight, though, maybe he did have a plan all along.
I prefer to believe he stumbled upon one when, in desperation against Australia in 1994, the All Blacks threw the ball about with total abandon. That offseason was dedicated to finding and training a group of players capable of playing all out running rugby at the 1995 Rugby World Cup and we all know how that turned out.
Where, for three years there’d appeared madness, suddenly there was a method to it.
So, I’m trying to give Robertson the benefit of the doubt here. I’m trying to believe that he knows what he’s doing and that the finished article will have been worth waiting for.
I’m hoping we’ll end up with a settled squad. I’m hoping that, having worked hard on building strength and depth in the pack, that the set pieces will stand up to scrutiny against the better sides.
I’m hoping that having employed conservative tactics and built the All Blacks’ game around field position and defence, that creativity will be the final ingredient added.
But when Smith is saying they should look to throw caution to the wind and when Brown believes they aren’t quite getting the balance between attack and defence right, then I do wonder if I’m being too optimistic.
Mains’ tenure really wasn’t a great one. Players did come and go, often without much rhyme or reason. Gameplans did appear to be chucked out from one series to the next and there were repeated calls for Mains to lose his job.
Only it ended kind of well, with rugby played in a style that subsequent generations of All Black teams and fans continue to aspire to.
I don’t think there’s any dispute that the current team is making only minimal progress under Robertson. It’s all about whether they will do in the end.