Why it’s Not All Black, After Another Loss!

This is now two “Opinion” pieces about rugby… things must not be going so well.  If you are conversant with the sporting fraternity in NZ, it is rather boring when things are going great guns.  But give the All Blacks a loss, and all Gehenna will break loose on Talk-back, etc, with every ex-pert [he says as he is about to opine] ready to diagnose the problems at hand and the “obvious” solutions if only the wise men would listen.

I think it is time that we stopped all the fighting and had a national group hug… come on, unload the burden on your four million comrades on national service for fallen brethren on yonder shores.  Are we still talking rugby?…  You betya!

What I am Jonny King is about to unload may taste bitter in the mouth, but in the stomach that will be 2011, such may be sweetness to savor as we reflect on the journey that will lead to “World Cup Champions” [when we lose], but not this time… in 2011, when we win the ultimate prize and gain our rightful place as “World Champions” circa. 2011 and beyond.

Therefore, read on as I affirm why it has been my conviction that such a season as we have been having, in light of the progression between previous world cups, is not something that we should be overtly concerned about.

Call this lesson 101 in being Philosophical, some may say blindingly!

1) Our present form.  Read the Newspapers and listen to commentary from selectors from Cape Reinga to the Bluff, and you will hear about a mistake-ridden game where these men played well below their potential, thereby, in many respects handing the game to the Boks, in Durban.

To be sure, some of this will be based on one’s righteous reflection of what was a error-strewn game, which resulted in a loss that should not be viewed as acceptable.

However, let’s get a little perspective on the game.

We did not get beaten through the scoring of tries [yes, the scoreboard is what counts], even when we defended in our 22 four times more than the Boks, which affirms that our defense is as solid as ever.  This is a vital point to affirm, as winning the big matches is all about having one’s defense sorted.  The only try they scored was what one may be generously called, one of those things that can happen on the rugby field [ball coming out the side of the scrum... try]!  Our big problem is that we do not have a backline general to control the game [but Dan is back... will they pick him], and when we gave away penalties, we gave them away in point scoring places, as the Boks dominated territory.  This, murdering at the penalty count, has been a major problem in the last two weeks.

Reports from authorities at the ground affirm the loss of one pea, as referee Nigel Owen, effectively blew his pea to all kingdom that will not come with such officiating, thereby, offering Morne Steyn some 9 offerings at the posts via penalty.  Yes, this is part of the game of rugby, putting your opposition under pressure that causes them to infringe, but such a penalty reality is also about other factors, which, if you have seen Nigel referee before, he is not backward in coming forward.

What are the other factors?

Home ground advantage is so important.  What will one say of the results in South Africa when/ if they are reversed at “Hicksville,” I mean, Hamilton.  The fact that SA will have had two home games will only prove that they had two opportunities when we had one.  Second, home ground advantage tends to makes a big impact on who wins the penalty count, which means the penalty problem may not be as big as it is today!  Thirdly, and most importantly, many of these mistakes are technical and even form-related, which means, time, experience, and technique will prove definitive in rectifying these situations, and it is true that we are not in the best of form presently [surely such a reflection is a cause for hope, for what could happen when we hit form]… remember this, form is temporary, but class is permanent, and our class will return to the playing field one say soon.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting that we should find the previous two results acceptable, but we need to think through what transpired and why, taking into account all the data, maybe holding fire until we see how things unfold when it is SA who have the divine reversal of rugby contexts placed in their path to deal with!

2) This reflecting is the all-too-close rugby context, but my thinking has 2011 all over it, which means that my hermeneutics is forward-thinking… one could say, Christological,  where I also think it is helpful, one may say needful for us to view our past as we think through our future as 2011 NZ, comes closer and closer, as this is the war we need to win, even if it means we lose some battles in between… and you know what they say, “Those who don’t learn from their past… are bound to repeat it.”  What?

If World Cups affirm anything, they make it clear that we are so learners!

AGAIN: This does mean that we should celebrate such present times, and there is no guarantee that should we have a continuing lean trot in 2009/10, then this will translate to a successful 2011, but our recent past has followed a similar trajectory in between world cups, with this coaching panel the first to have the advantage of learning from their mistakes, with a subsequent opportunity to put those lessons into a future opportunity.

Let me explain!

If one remembers the master-class AB’s from 2005/06, one will remember a team that was far and above the other international teams.  Can you remember how we dismantled France in France on three different occasions.  It really looked like men versus boys… a quick pan to Cardiff 2007, and all we can do is cognitively look-away from what is still too close for any kind of comfort for the loyal!

What sticks in my mind from time post-script to this event was a revealing interview with Anton Oliver in the British media about that time, where he reflected on what went wrong.  One of the things he identified was that they became a bit stale at the top.  In international sport, staying at the peak of one’s form does not last for an interminable period.  As in the period between the previous world cup in 03, we have peaked in between world cups, providing a brand of rugby that was peerless.  The other international teams realised that they could not match this, at that time, but the important thing that they knew that they had was this… time… time for them to improve and get a hold of the AB’s game plan, and time that would impact on the ability of the AB’s to stay at the top… we all know the result.

At the time of the 07 World Cup, I was hoping that the AB’s had not unloaded what their game plan would be, come the big games… I guess we will never know, as France in Cardiff would not be a stopover, but their very un-final destination.

One thing that I also remember about the World Cup in 1995 [don't mention Suzie] and the lead-up to those festivities was that we had a quite a newly formed team that year, with the AB team not that successful in the previous years.  But with the new additions, I remember in a warm-up game versus Canada at Eden Park, this team was playing a style unforeseen in their context to date.  When we hit South Africa, one Jonah Lomu went Rhino, as we made rugby the beautiful game, as we played a new brand of rugby union that made us peerless, but fortunately, not poison-less!

3) Here is the point… this is not the time to show our cards for 2011, nor is it the time to conclude that because we have a moderate season that this is overtly problematic [England in the 07 World Cup made the final, however, they couldn't win a significant game in the lead-up... in other words, for all my posturing, the science is not settled in what to do].

In fact, this is the time to start building to the peak of 2011, not the time to set-up base camp and hold on for another couple of seasons, which is why I will “put up” with a season where we win all our home internationals [in the Tri-Nations], as this really means that we have had a par season, in line with the other 2 nations!

I will not enjoy this or celebrate such a time, but I will endure it, with the belief that when our arsenal has been set, with Messrs Carter, Hayman, Evans, Jack, Williams, and all number of other internationals [I read that approx. 35 of the 85 internationals that Henry and co. have picked in their time are now overseas] all back in the fold, we will be ready for war, and at home, when we come to play there is only ever one winner!

Talk is cheap, I am easy on the word count, but what I say will only be theory, and may provide little consolation for the faithful [and much scorn for the reprobate], but time will be my friend, and should the always-good-God lengthen my blogging days and should I be promulgating one October day 2011, it may only be on that occasion where I can say, “I told you so,” and you will say, “tell me some more,” as we leap like lambs in spring that rugby life has returned home and we are there to tell its tale!.

4) As a final redemptive reflection, can I remind the redeemed at such times that as significant as the AB’s play in our kiwi acculturated lives, they lose every time when compared to all that we have in Christ, and all that His life means to our lives 24-7-365.  Often it is only when we lose that the poverty of living in that hope is affirmed in all its bankruptcy, which we should jealously see as a sign of God’s grace in our lives.

We love the AB’s, but we love Christ more, and more… and more.

He is the ultimate gift that keeps on giving!

Until Next Time

I am Jonny King

BTW: As a final little note, remember, Dan is back!