All Blacks Hit the Bottom, not the Rucks
There was a lot of focus on the venue leading up to the ABs do or die game at the weekend.
Sadly, as Chris Rattue noted in good old Granny, the ABs reached their nadir in Hamilton instead of nirvana.
Smit will go down as a colossus of world rugby, in the pantheon with the likes of Martin Johnson and John Eales, but the All Blacks are simply going down.
Ouch.
It gets worse – perhaps the mad Yarpie coach was right after all??
Referee Nigel Owens and touch judge Wayne Barnes combined to bolster the New Zealand scoreline with two and perhaps three crazy penalty rulings, from which Carter goaled, and a wonky decision which helped turn what should have been an attacking Springbok lineout into a Sitiveni Sivivatu try.
This handicapping of the Springboks started from their opening kickoff reception when Owens awarded the All Blacks a ridiculous penalty. He was at it again with a bizarre kick-chase offside call, and probably got a ruck penalty wrong as well although that is par for the course in rugby.
The result leaves more questions than answers.
Like why did we reappoint Henry and his partners in crime?
The always faulty, disingenuous theory that losing World Cup coaches, men who ruined their own team in 2007, would somehow be better for the experience was given humiliating last rites in Hamilton on Saturday night. So much for the NZRU’s claim that this trio is the dream team.
Mind you, if he thinks the coaches are bad, wait till you see what he has to say about Donald and Nonu:
Donald runs at the defensive line in the manner of a startled horse, and his presence has the effect of sending panic throughout the stables. He should never wear the black jersey again, because he simply isn’t good enough.
Outside him, Ma’a Nonu dropped the ball four times in a display that should also end his test days.
Don’t hold back Chris!
Mind you, as Rattue points out, for once the ABs looked better when Isaia Toeava came onto the pitch.
Still, he was just warming up for a grandstand finish, just like the ABs:
The wanton selection theory which led to an inevitably useless midfield pairing should send alarm bells ringing at rugby HQ, because it is just this sort of miscalculation which brought the All Blacks down at the last World Cup.
If losing World Cup coaches really do learn their lessons, how come poor, over-matched and out-of-position Donald and blunderkind Nonu were sent out together against the best team in the world?
Looks like it’s not going to matter how much tickets to the RWC final will be in 2011!
