Backy: Pressure on All Blacks
Fri Aug 07 09:08AM
The pressure is very much on New Zealand coach Graham Henry ahead of the All Blacks' next Tri-Nations game, which is in Australia later this month. Henry has to get the All Blacks back on track, and quickly. They were very un-New Zealand like during their second consecutive defeat to South Africa, and the thing that struck me most was their lack of discipline.
I'm not sure whether it is down to pressure from the Boks or due to interpretation of the breakdown laws, but they are getting really pinged by referees at the moment. And far too much.
Any side that concedes that many penalties at international level is going to get punished, especially when the opposition have a kicker like Morne Steyn.
Their situation reminds me of where England were last autumn, when they continually fell foul of the referee. England suffered back then and the All Blacks are suffering in a similar way now.
There appears to be a lack of confidence in the New Zealand squad which is affecting their decision-making. There were plenty of examples of this - Joe Rokocoko failing to touch down behind his own line, Sitiveni Sivivatu not calling for a mark, Jerome Kaino breaking his binding - and every time they increased the pressure on themselves.
Although one can understand it, they seem to be trying too hard, trying to force things when they have not got the basics going right. Maybe it was out of desperation, but I do not think they had to try and run the ball from all areas of the field.
That approach is fine when your confidence is up and other parts of your game are going well, but not when the team is playing poorly.
What I have also noticed in the New Zealand performances this year are the number of basic errors they have made. Again, this is not what we expect from the All Blacks, who we have always admired for their technique.
After their first defeat in South Africa, I was expecting a much-improved performance by New Zealand, expecting them to play with much more efficiency. That they didn't is very uncharacteristic of them.
Usually the All Blacks are masters at fixing things in time for the next game, but they really were no better than when they went down to the Boks a week earlier.
The pressure on All Blacks players and coaches from the New Zealand media and public is always intense. They are expected to win every game and be the best in the world - anything less is unacceptable.
The All Blacks are not bad players and not a bad team, but the next game will be a real test of their character. Perhaps even more so for the coaches.