RUGBY:THE DIFFERENCE in mood is remarkable. On Sunday the city was full of zombies: middle-aged men in All Blacks replica jerseys, staring fixedly ahead as they walked but saw nothing.
One convincing semi-final victory over Australia later and the haunted expressions have vanished. New Zealanders seem more relaxed than they have in ages, quietly confident World Cup salvation is now within reach.
Even Graham Henry sounds as content as anyone personally responsible for 4.4 million people’s dreams can be. And why not? The master coach knows his team could not have played much better against the Wallabies and now face a France side who have reached the final almost by default. The All Blacks’ quest to lift the Webb Ellis Cup for the first time since 1987 is all but complete.
If – or rather when – it happens, the talk will be of banishing the ghosts of 2007 which have swirled around Henry’s squad ever since they lost to the French in the quarter-final at Cardiff four years ago.
The bad news for Les Bleus is that Henry completed his ghost-busting a while ago. The 65-year-old even kicked off the biggest week of his life by mentioning “24 years” on two separate occasions. Rather than choking on self-inflicted tension, Henry’s All Blacks are being invited to maximise a fabulous opportunity.
The psychology of it all is fascinating. Some think Henry is artfully rewriting history by claiming the All Blacks are changed men from last time round when, in fact, little has actually altered. The management insist the squad were so wrapped up in day-to-day minutiae in 2007 they lost sight of the bigger picture and struggled to react when things began to go wrong. Having transformed a fear of failure into something more positive, there is far greater composure this time. That, at least, is the message Henry is preaching.
The management have been clever in other respects, too. Henry now calls the 2007 game the “most bizarre game I’ve ever been involved in”. In doing so, he is basically categorising it as a fluke, pointing the finger at the referee Wayne Barnes without actually naming him. He also believes the All Blacks now understand the realities of knockout better than they used to.
“We have dissected the rugby World Cup and its history and looked at why the All Blacks haven’t won for 24 years. We had a very good look at 2007 in particular. We’ve used that, hopefully, to give us more knowledge and information about how to win this tournament. I think it’s been helpful.
“It’s a sudden-death competition. Having the mentality to handle that is pretty important. Other teams tend to play at a higher level than they would do in a normal Test match. They put a huge emphasis on rugby World Cup. We needed to think about that and how we handled that.”
The result was Sunday’s ruthlessly effective exhibition. New Zealand could have won by 30 clear points had their goalkicking been more accurate. “I thought it was a pretty heroic performance,” agreed Henry. “There was a real edge to everybody’s game . . . it was a great performance. There was a wee bit of tension beforehand, particularly given what happened four years ago . . . They knew the Australian game was a big step in the right direction. Naturally there’s going to be some tension.”
The next step, in Henry’s mind, is to put it to one side and start afresh, rather than allowing complacency to take root. “It’s very important we come down. It was a huge game at the weekend . . . you can’t stay up there. You’ve got to get back to base again, start with a clean sheet of paper and build again for Sunday. Although France didn’t play particularly well in their semi-final, we know they’ve got the ability to play outstanding rugby. They will have nothing to lose and they will play well.”
Two more factors appear to be combining in New Zealand’s favour. The first is the desire of their big lock Brad Thorn to end his distinguished All Blacks career on a high note. The 36-year-old also won enough trophies under Wayne Bennett at the Brisbane Broncos to appreciate that finals can actually be less stressful than trying to reach them.
Last but by no means least, the final will be refereed by Craig Joubert, the same official who presided over the Wallabies match. This is clearly to Henry’s liking. “He’s a very good ref. The players enjoy playing when he’s refereeing and that’s a sign of a good referee. He’s cool out there, he communicates well and makes good decisions, which is critical.”
Guardian Service
