This article was first published in the Nov issue of Newstalk Magazine for iPad
Let’s get this straight from the start, they are not ‘All Blacks’ they are simply New Zealanders.
They are not superheroes, gifted with exceptional powers. They are just men who play good rugby and they can be defeated.
The New Zealand national rugby team like to intimidate their opponents at every opportunity. Even the name ‘All Black’ is a weapon of psychological intimidation. To refer to them as All Blacks only encourages the myth. Other countries are named after native animals like the Wallaby’s or the Springboks, but the New Zealanders have named their team after themselves.
To me they are simply "BNZs". Bloody New Zealanders.
If the intimidation commences with the mythology of the self-titled name ‘All Black’, and the black jersey being unbeatable—then the intimidation is personified in the Haka.
MÄori challenge
The IRB regulates that during the ‘MÄori challenge’—which has become much more violent and confronting in recent years—the opposition team has to stand twenty metres away and accept the intimidation, square on the chin.
The right of the New Zealanders to intimidate is regulated into the laws of the game by the governing body. No wonder the rest of the rugby world feels there are two sets of laws. One set for the New Zealanders and one for the rest of us.
Don’t get me wrong, the New Zealanders are the best team in the world and have been for many years. They play superb rugby and have a seemingly endless production line of sensational players. It is just that the Kiwis expect us all to lie down and accept our fate as eternal losers. They see world rugby domination as a birthright. Worse still, if you have the temerity to rebel; take them on and say some of this simply ain’t fair, they don’t like it.
Irish deafeatism
Rugby people in Ireland buy into this defeatism and fall at the feet of the Kiwis like serfs before a Lord and it really annoys me. The Irish rugby community place the New Zealand national rugby team on a pedestal that is way too high. The fact that Ireland have never defeated New Zealand is a terrible indictment on Irish rugby.
Ireland are 0-1-26 against the BNZ over more than a century of contests. In light of those numbers, I consider it fair to suggest that Ireland have a psychological problem with the New Zealand rugby team.
Ireland have the motivation to send out their greatest ever player, Brian O’Driscoll, with a monumental win. This sounds great in the media, but this is not the fuel required to power a victory over the greatest team on earth.
To even consider beating the Kiwis you have to start with a mountain of aggression and anger in every Irish player. Ireland then needs to dare to win, with the desire to attack and run the ball. Penalty goals will not defeat New Zealand. Ireland will have to score more than twenty-five points to win.
This is easier said than done.
The template of attack displayed by the Wallaby’s in the third Bledisloe test is a good one. They made line breaks and created numerous attacking opportunities.
The negative is that this exposed the Wallaby’s to the Kiwi counter attack from turn over ball. The Kiwis are brutal at the breakdown and any error in maintaining possession was punished with crushingly brilliant counter attack.
Referees
Lets be honest, New Zealand break the laws at the breakdown and they get away with it. They intimidate not only oppositions but referees as well. The South African referees in particular seem mesmerised and powerless to whistle players who are off their feet or attacking the ball with their hands in what is clearly a ruck.
Ireland will need a referee brave enough to stand up to the NZ intimidation.
The fact that the New Zealanders are the best in the world is no accident.
What more motivation do the men in green require? The opportunity to take on the best on the planet and be the first Irish team to down the Kiwis and send Brian out as a winning legend. That opportunity does not present itself every day. It is a rare challenge that the Irish team should grab with both hands.
The Irish team will also need the ‘rub of the green’. Maybe that's one aspect were we have an advantage over the Kiwis.
