The New Zealand All Blacks celebrated a fifth consecutive year atop the IRB World Rankings last weekend with a win over Scotland in Edinburgh. The All blacks have historically been a force to reckon with in world rugby, but the dominance they have displayed in the last half decade is exemplary and unparalleled.
Since 2010 the All Blacks have played 68 tests of which they have won a whopping 61, having drawn 2 and lost just 5 with a win ratio of nearly 90%. In a span of five years to have amassed this kind of record and revealed such complete dominance with newer and improved world team coming at you over and over, is perhaps a deed that has never been replicated, not just in Rugby but in sporting history. Over the course of the last half decade the Kiwis have beaten Australia, South Africa, Argentina, England, France, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Fiji, Japan, Canada, Tonga and the United States. Of these fourteen different nations, New Zealand has only lost to South Africa, England and Australia in the last five years. An even more impressive statistic is that in the period, the All Blacks have won every one of their 36 games on New Zealand soil. Which gives them an unprecedented 100% win record at home, in a five year span.
Since 2010 the Kiwis have won the Bledisloe Cup (vs Australia) five times, the Freedom cup (vs South Africa) five times, the Hillary shield (vs England) twice, the Gallaher trophy (vs France) twice, the Rugby Championship (formerly tri Nations) four times and perhaps most importantly the Rugby World cup. The men in Black also picked up the Northern Hemisphere grand slam in 2010 along with home test series wins against, Wales, Ireland, England and France. In 2013 they also became the first team in professional rugby history to complete a calendar year unbeaten, winning all 14 of their test matches.
With their historic World Cup win in 2011 the All Blacks earned the title of world champions and have since lived up that tag with fervor.
Not many sporting teams have displayed this level of continued dominance, perhaps the all-conquering West Indian cricket team of the 80’s or the Chicago Bulls of the mid 90’s. In more recent times there has been the Spanish football team that picked up 2 Euro Championships and a World Cup. Although there is no reasonable way to compare these teams as they are from a variety of sports and even more varied eras, the current New Zealand rugby side have certainly etched their name in history.
All this success intrigues you to want to peek at what makes them so exceptional. What is the make-over of New Zealand rugby? What do they do different to the rest of the sporting world? What is it that makes the All Blacks such a force of nature? Why is it so challenging to defeat them? How is it that New Zealand with a population of just 4 million, can produce the best rugby players in the world?
Many pundits have come up with a variety of simple answers over the years, but simplicity is not something one usually associates with the All Blacks. You could say it is because rugby is like a religion in New Zealand, or because New Zealand players get the best coaching and training from a very young age, you could say it is just happenstance that New Zealand happens to produce of the best players of this generation, which would all be valid points. But there is simply no singular solution to this complexity that is ‘New Zealand Rugby.’ A multitude of factors have come together over the years to give the All Blacks that oomph they seem to attired in the last 5 years.
First and foremost it is the culture the coaching staff, administration and players have formed. It is a tenet of absolute professionalism along with a winning mentality. There is an anticipated sense of discipline expected from you as an All Black and that leaves no exceptions. This was made very clear in 2014 when Aaron Cruden was dropped from the team for being late. Cruden who is the heir-apparent to Dan Carter and is one the key players in the All Black side was not shown any level of special treatment even though at the time he was their most prominent available playmaker. More importantly there was no drama and controversy built up around the incident. Cruden accepted responsibility for his actions and displayed professionalism in apologizing for his mistake. That inculcated sense of accountability seems to be engraved into every Kiwi from player to followers to administration to media. Not a murmur is uttered against it; its national. The attitude that all the kiwis are expected to don is, that of champions, it is what you do if you are the best in the world.
Every player knows that when he puts that Jersey on he has to live up to that title of World Champions whether he has been an All Black for 10 years or 10 days. There is a sense of pride and for the Black jersey and as an All Black there is a guideline to how you are supposed to conduct yourself both on and off the field.
There is also an attitude of never surrender, never give up and nothing is impossible. This is why over the last five years we have seen the All Blacks come from behind time and again to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. In 2013 the All Blacks rallied late to win the game in the last minutes of the last encounter of the season against Ireland. We saw this again in 2014 when they cut down a 10 point deficit in the final 10 minutes to beat the Wallabies in the third game of the Bledisloe cup. It must be said that this match had nothing riding on it, the All Blacks had already won the trophy and had absolutely nothing to play for. They still battled for 80 minutes throwing everything they had at the Wallabies to take the game in the 80th minute. This is the temperament coach Steve Hansen has instilled in his player. It must be pointed out that this mind-set was initiated by the now retired Sir Graham Henry who was Hansen’s predecessor. To be fair Henry is conceivably responsible for most of the culture within the All Black camp.
Coach Steve Hansen poses during an All-Blacks press conference at NewZealand Rugby House on April 10 2013
The All Blacks have also developed a unique leadership structure. At the top is skipper Richie McCaw who has now led the All Blacks in a phenomenal 100 test matches of which they have won 88. The Blacks also have a core group of senior players assigned to two different groups. The first group is in charge of leading on the field and the second is for off the field. The on-field group led obviously by McCaw is tasked with making all the decisions in the field of play. The likes of Conrad Smith, Keven Mealamu, Mils Muliaina, Kieran Read, Dan Carter, Andrew Hore and Tony Woodcock are or have been a part of this group. They decide the game plans to implement, what options are available to them and monitor players during the game. This group of leaders is also said to work very closely with the coaching staff in strategizing and implementing the game plans. On many an occasion McCaw has stated that this group is vital to the level of control the All Blacks display in the game.
The senior players are also responsible for bringing the younger players through the system. They are often seen helping the less experienced players through training sessions. One clear illustration is how Dan Carter seems to be grooming his under-studies Aaron Cruden, Beauden Barrett and Colin Slade. He appears to have taken them under his wing and is playing the role of a mentor which you don’t often see in rugby. The same applies to McCaw with Sam Cane and Matt Todd.
So often we see senior players like Carter, McCaw and Mealamu, even when injured or are being rested, on the side line running water in a game. These are three star players who have each played over a 100 test matches and certainly don’t need to be running around with a water-boy vest on, yet they are always around. This is something you will never see in any-other team from any sport. It is the equivalent of Lionel Messi running water for Barcelona FC, or Sachin Tendulkar pushing the drinks trolley on in the middle of a test match. These are tasks that players of this calibre would never undertake and it shows the character and humility of the senior All Blacks and more than all engraving the ether that nothing is too little or too demeaning a task for the cause of the ‘All Blacks rugby’ into the next generation.
The determination, guts and heart the All Blacks have displayed over past few years bars none in professional sports. Consider the coaches and McCaw after all the criticism he faced post RWC 07, the courage it would have taken him to step up and lead his team forward. It would have been very easy for him along with Graham Henry, Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith to simply walk away. Instead they learned from their mistakes, evolved and built a line-up of gladiators. McCaw’s audacity in the last three weeks of the world cup to have battled through on a foot with three fractures is a feat unheard of in sports. “Better on one leg during the world cup than most players on two” was how Paul Ackford a renown rugby columnist described McCaw’s performance.
The next element of the All Blacks success is the depth they have accumulated in their squad. The coaching contingent have the options of 3 or 4 players in every position, each one capable of fitting into the side seamlessly. For instance, Carter who is arguably the best player of this generation if not every generation was out injured for an entire year. He was their best player and their most prolific goal kicker and the All Blacks still maintained their dominance in that year with Cruden slipping into his position. It is uncanny how the All Blacks can field a second choice or even a third choice squad and still be as good.
The All Blacks are a dominant force as a team but they also have individuals who put their hand up and prove their worth day in and day out. These singular performances have on many an occasion won games for the Kiwis. It is unconceivable how in the four out of the last five years an All Black has been named the IRB player of the year with McCaw, Carter, Read and most recently Brodie Retallick taking the honour. The coaches have also collected decorations as the IRB coach of the year five years running; the invincible Sir Greame Henry 2010 and 2011 and lately in 2012,13,14 – Steve Hansen.
The All Blacks are also the fittest and strongest team out there. They make it a point to work on the fitness be it individually or within the team. New Zealand does not produce the biggest players in the world but they certainly produce some of the strongest. They have a very strict workout regimen paired with supplementation plans and dietary plans. The All Blacks have an entire retinue of behind the scenes staff who are in charge of their fitness, diet and health. The staff include a strength and conditioning coach, a dietary planner, team doctor and physio and even a mental strength coach who works on motivation and the mentalities of the players. They are fully qualified in their respective fields and provide the players with the best modern techniques of getting themselves both physically and mentally prepared for their games.
This overall preparedness is what makes the All Blacks such a force on the field. They are trained in how to handle every situation, be it an injury to a key player, a harsh referee or even a situation where they are trailing. This vigilance was on show in the end stages of the world cup; the method in which the team handled losing three play-makers, and having to hold-off a passionate France in the dying stages of the final proved how valuable that preparation was.
The All Blacks from 2010 through 2014 have arguably been the best if not the most dominant team in sporting history. This indomitable force from the deep south have built up an incomparable record and will look to seal it with a dominant 2015 by hopefully becoming the first rugby team to successfully defend the Webb Ellis cup.
