By Brenden Nel.
Those writing off the All Blacks after their series loss against Ireland this past weekend and ahead of their two tests against the Springboks would do well to look back in history to know how foolish an endeavour this would be.
After all, while they were soundly beaten by the Irish and while there are several post-mortems and finger-pointing exercises going on in New Zealand, a nation as passionate about rugby as they are will only accept one thing ever – and that is victory.
The obituaries that being prepared for current coach Ian Foster are nothing new in South Africa, where coaches have often been fired over poor results, and there have been several low ebbs in the last few decades of Springbok rugby.
Foster’s current test record is a 67% win rate – something that isn’t bad considering some Springbok coaches records. But it does come with an asterisk, and that is that several of these victories have come in COVID times, and include wins over Tonga and Fiji.
The bigger stat that most of New Zealand has focused on is four losses out of their last five test matches – including three to Ireland and one to France.
But while a week is a long time in rugby coaching, the All Blacks were seen as the number one side in world rugby even though the Boks held that official ranking. After all, didn’t we hear the Irish say that ad nauseum during their tour of New Zealand.
So the fall has come on the back of four defeats and Foster is a marked man as New Zealand does a “snap review” of the results before they head out to South Africa.
Whether he is still in charge of the All Blacks, a year from the World Cup and on arrival en route to Mpumalanga waits to be seen.
The one thing that won’t be negotiable for the men in black will be redemption and restoring pride in the jersey.
While some may write them off ahead of the two tests, history has shown that both the Boks and All Blacks, no matter who is on top – and to be fair it has been them on top for the majority of the professional era – the other side lifts its game significantly for the clash.
A wounded All Black side is like a wounded Bok side, dangerous and unpredictable and with the margins of error so small at test level, any thought that this will be a one-sided contest has never taken into account the history between the two sides.
Even at their lowest ebb, after the 57-0 loss to the All Blacks a few years back, the Boks faced mounting pressure and lost by a single point two weeks later, in a game they could have won.
This All Black side will arrive in the country with the weight of their nation on their shoulders. They would have endured a few weeks of scorn and anguish, of talk of who deserves their place and who not, of worries of a year out from the World Cup, and of a legacy of those black jerseys before them being filled with pride and success.
They will arrive possibly with a new coaching team, or possibly with one looking for redemption.
They will arrive desperate to do well, desperate to claim some sort of win to restore a nation’s pride.
They will not give an inch, as they have never done before.
Normally it is the Boks with their backs to the wall. Being favourites doesn’t often sit well with the Green and Gold, but they will go into the Mbombela game with that tag precisely because of Ireland’s achievements over the past few weeks.
But mark my words, the All Black side will arrive desperate and determined.
And those who write them off, careful what you wish for. Anyone who thinks it will be a walkover should have their head read.