Hansen's view carries weight of experience

Steve Hansen with All Blacks' squad - Lynn McConnell pic

Former All Black coach Steve Hansen has always been an outspoken advocate for the game and he thinks the Covid-19 pandemic may well provide a chance for the game's issues to be resolved.

In a wide-ranging two-part interview with walesonline.co.uk Hansen, who was one of the few high-profile people in the game to push for a global season, said the pandemic represented a great chance for all affected parties across the world to come together and do what was right for the game.

"It's been a long time coming because it's been needed for quite some time.

"There has been a lot of self-interest and if we don't do the right thing we could lose the game and that would be a tragedy.

"We have lost our way in rugby a little bit and we haven't been working well enough together.

"Maybe this pandemic has caused a crisis that means we have to. If that's the case, then that's one positive to come out some something that's pretty ordinary," he said.

No one has been at the sharp end of the modern game as long as Hansen. While others have come or gone, moved on to other contracts or given the game away, Hansen spent 20 years at the highest level pouring his energy into five World Cup campaigns, one with Wales and four with New Zealand, coming away with two gold medals and one bronze.

That puts him in a place to offer a rare perspective of life at the top.

No surprise surrounds the fact the 2007 World Cup quarterfinal exit had such an effect on his career.

"I think that was a turning point in New Zealand's World Cup history.

"The New Zealand Rugby Union were strong enough, smart enough, whatever you want to call it, to say we were going to come back in and do it again.

"It was the first time in All Black history a group of coaches had been given the opportunity to take the lessons they had learned from World Cup poor performances and put them into the next one," he said.

Winning in 2011 had been achieved 'by the skin of our teeth under some tough mental issues', the result of not having won the trophy in 24 years.

Apart from losing four first five-eighths they also had captain Richie McCaw with two broken bones in his foot.

"We didn't know they were broken because we didn't ask. We didn't want to know and he didn't want to say.

"What he did in that tournament was phenomenal. Mentally, he would be the toughest bloke I have had anything to do within my coaching career.

"I think he's the best rugby player the world has ever seen," he said.

But the World Cup provided its lessons and with New Zealand having learned more than any other team, it was a case of having to get things right or you lost the opportunity.

"In the one just gone, [2019] we played really good rugby, bar for one game, and unfortunately that one game says, 'right, you don't get a second chance'.

"And England, who played so tremendously well against us, couldn't back it up in the final," he said.

Hansen also admitted to not coaching as well as he might have in the 2017 series against the British & Irish Lions.

"I was pretty disappointed in myself and some of the coaching decisions I made," he said.

At the same time, he felt the series could have been significantly different.

The way the second Test was lost, after Sonny Bill Williams' red card, and with the All Blacks leading into the final moments he was frustrated at the end.

"To lose it on a penalty where a guy tackles a guy jumping to catch the ball from a poor pass when everyone knows that wasn't intentional of that rule, that's frustrating.

"Then the last game was frustrating with the decision at the end [with Ken Owens] that was so obvious to everybody, but no one wanted to admit it," he said.

All Blacks could play Wales three times in Oct-Nov

Should Test rugby be possible by November, the All Blacks could feature in three Tests against Wales.

The two old rivals were set to meet in two Tests in the July international window in New Zealand but with travel restrictions around the world and New Zealand's borders still closed that is highly unlikely.

However, walesonline.co.uk has reported in a revised calendar being drawn up by World Rugby, Wales could play eight matches, three of them against New Zealand.

World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont said 'excellent progress' was being made in discussions among top-tier nations.

It is likely games will be played in October-November to make up for the cancellation of the July tours.

The cancelled July games would be played in October while Wales would also play Scotland to complete its Six Nations programme that was postponed in March.

Then, in November, Wales would play New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina and Fiji.

New Zealand were keen to play their games as part of a tour so that could mean one or two of the Wales Tests could be played at other venues. It was considered unlikely that eight consecutive matches would be played at Cardiff's Principality Stadium.

World Rugby was still keen to see the July programme go ahead but the autumn programme was a possible alternative.

If it does go ahead Wales and the other home nations and France would play 13 Test matches within six months.

Poite still chips Owens on Eden Park penalty

British & Irish Lions and Wales hooker Ken Owens, the man at the centre of the controversial conclusion to the third Lions Test against the All Blacks at Eden Park in 2017, has revealed he still gets chipped about it by the referee concerned Roman Poite.

With the scores level at 15-15 Owens was penalised for playing the ball from an offside position, a position that would have provided All Black Beauden Barrett with a chance to kick a last-minute penalty goal for New Zealand to claim the Test and the series.

Controversially, the ruling was overturned with the game and series drawn.

Owens told Joe's House of Rugby podcast, "Just before it happened, I was going, 'Right boys, exit now, let's restart, get the ball back down the field, switch on' and all the rest of it.

"[It was a case of] Don't f… up and then I f….. up!

"I went straight to Jonathan Davies, who is one of my best mates, and I said I am going to have to move to Trellech – which is about 17 miles out of Carmarthen [his home town], the most rural part of the county – and like hide away for the rest of my life.

"So there was relief in there when it wasn't a penalty," he said.

A scrum was called instead and the Lions held the All Blacks out to secure the draw.

"When Roman Poite refs me now, he does drop in a little quip now and again, with 'Stay onside this time, Ken' or something like that."

Owens said he went into the All Blacks changing room afterwards to congratulate All Blacks captain Kieran Read for winning his 100th cap but he said, 'He wouldn't really speak to me'.

"To be fair, he did apologise after the third-place play-off at the World Cup. There were emotions running high at the time," he said.

Owens added that he had enjoyed playing under coach Warren Gatland, now back in New Zealand and coaching the Chiefs in Super Rugby.

"You know exactly what he expects of you and you can just crack on then and know where you stand. He just gives you massive confidence and gets that winning mentality out of players.

"His man-management is so clever. He knows the individuals in his team and what they need to get the best out of them. Some boys just need to be hammered all the time because that's how they perform.

"Others constantly need the carrot. It was probably stick early on with me.

"He would be different to every player and he would keep changing his tack. It wouldn't be the same way all that time. That was his biggest strength," he said.

Hard man lists contain many omissions

At a time when sports news outlets are struggling for content, list-making becomes much more prevalent.

And imagination has certainly been fired up in efforts to stay engaged with their readership.

It is ultimately an exercise in futility as most lists involve comparing generations and choices that will never be tested in the white heat of combat.

Everyone has their reasons for making their choices and they are often more interesting than the choices themselves.

One especially difficult group of lists has been doing the rounds this week, the choice of the 'hardest' players in rugby.

Inevitably, selections tend to be about as deep as the owner's memory which can be 20 years or 40 years.

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But rugby was being played a long time before that.

Two lists this week have been completed by Stuart Barnes and Graham Price, both British & Irish Lions, from England and Wales respectively.

Barnes' top 10 was: Gareth Chilcott (England), Gerard Cholley (France), Jonny Wilkinson (England), Graham Price (Wales), Eben Etzebeth (South Africa), Wayne Shelford (New Zealand), David Pocock (Australia), Richie McCaw (New Zealand), Scott Gibbs (Wales), Jim Telfer (Scotland).

Price's list was: Cholley, Michel Palmie (France), Alain Esteve (France), Colin Meads (New Zealand), Frank Oliver (New Zealand), Fran Cotton (England), Shelford, Jerry Collins (New Zealand, Bakkies Botha (South Africa), Etzebeth.

For what it's worth, some notable omissions would appear to be: Alex Wyllie (New Zealand), Alain Plantefol (France), Mark Shaw (New Zealand), Morne du Plessis (South Africa), Sebastian Chabal (France), Ken Gray (New Zealand), Mervyn Davies (Wales), Bismarck du Plessis (South Africa), Kevin Skinner (New Zealand), Chris Koch (South Africa), Keith Murdoch (New Zealand) and that's without dipping back into the pre-World War Two era.

Wyllie's reputation is well known and was to the fore in South Africa in 1970 and Britain and France in 1972-73 but most notably with Canterbury who enjoyed a fearsome reputation in the late-1960s and early 1970s as the Lions discovered in 1971.

Plantefol was the player who took on Colin Meads in the Test many All Blacks said was the toughest they ever played, against France on the 1967 tour. It was his actions that resulted in Meads wearing a prolific amount of bandaging under a scrum cap in the Test against Scotland a week later where he was ordered off.

Shaw was a handy player to have around when the going got willing during the mid-1980s while Morne du Plessis, the Springbok captain during the 1976 series against the All Blacks, was a constant menace among a very big pack, several of whom could also have joined the list.

Sebastian Chabal with his long hair and beard, and more than a little ability, was tough as teak and a fearsome player to run into, just ask Ali Williams who had his jaw broken in a clash.

When Colin Meads said Ken Gray was one of the strongest men he ever scrummaged with the commendation doesn't come much higher.

Mervyn Davies' contribution was an often forgotten part of the 1971 Lions' structure in their series win over the All Blacks. But his work at No 8 gave Gareth Edwards and Barry John the ride that allowed them to dictate their side's success.

Hooker Bismarck du Plessis wasn't afraid to mix it in all company while Kevin Skinner and Chris Koch had plenty of history in 1949 and 1956 to the point Skinner's involvement became folklore, even if Skinner maintained it wasn't as bad as was made out.

And it can be safely said that no one ever got the better of Keith Murdoch. Playing through a Test match and then being operated on for appendicitis says it all. His career was short but he made a big impact with his crowning glory his try in the 19-16 win over Wales that preceded his sending home.

Memory is selective and some of the toughest players are known only to their opponents, doing their job buried in the tight and winning little obvious recognition but gaining respect nonetheless.

Bender puts Cup behind him and settles in to France

Retired All Black Ben Smith has put the disappointment of the All Blacks' third place at last year's Rugby World Cup behind him and says on reflection that the event had been very competitive.

Now playing his rugby in France, at Pau, although now in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, Smith told The Rugby Paper, "I thought the 2019 World Cup was very competitive, with Japan doing so well and so many other teams playing really good rugby.

"World Cups are really tough and even when we won it in 2015, I remember we were probably lucky to beat a good South Africa team in the semifinal. Things might not have gone our way at the end of that game, and then you look back to 2011 and the final against France when we had a wee bit of luck as well.

"That's what I took from World Cups because the margins are so small between going forwards or going home.

"The thing I love about rugby is you can never take what's happened before as an indicator, it's all about what you do on the day. I remember how people were giving the French stick going into that 2011 final but they played out of their skins and nearly beat the All Blacks in Auckland, so I enjoy that aspect of rugby because it means you
can never get complacent," he said.

Smith had his disappointment in Japan when not included for the playoffs games but said he still had to contribute to the preparation of the side.

"Selection was in someone else's hands and I had to just get on with it. The way I look at it, I was still lucky to be involved in a World Cup and although it didn't go how we wanted, I still managed to contribute and to bow out with two tries and a big over Wales was nice," he said.

Smith acknowledged England's effort in winning their semifinal with the All Blacks.

"Test matches against England are always special and I played in a fair few, but most people who watched that game will say they played better than us and deserved their win.

"The good thing about rugby in a World Cup is that whoever turns up on the day and plays the best rugby gets to go forward in the competition – and England well and truly did that in that semifinal," he said.

Smith is sharing the lockdown in France with Highlanders and All Blacks teammate Luke Whitelock and his family outside of Pau because there was more space for their children to roam around.

He said there was a good core of New Zealanders at Pau with Tom Taylor, Colin Slade and Daniel Ramsay still playing and Conrad Smith and Paul Tito on the coaching team.

Smith said he hadn't been tempted to stay in New Zealand to try and get 100 Test caps.

"I thought now was a good time to move on. I was 33 and at some point, you want a different challenge. I saw coming to Pau as fulfilling that challenge and a chance to spend some good time with my family after spending so many years on the international circuit in Super Rugby and with the All Blacks. I really enjoyed my time in New Zealand but just felt it was the right time to do something else," he said.

It helped that Bordeaux, Biarritz, Andorra and Spain were all close to his Pau base.

Lions legend says Twickenham Test a 'nonsense'

British & Irish Lions rugby great Willie-John McBride has poured Guinness all over Warren Gatland's suggestion to have a Lions Test against the All Blacks at Twickenham next year.

A former captain of the Lions, he led them to a series win over South Africa in 1974 on his fifth Lions tour, McBride told The Rugby Paper such a game was 'completely alien to the ethos and history of the Lions'.

"For the Lions to play a home Test match is nonsense," he said.

The Lions have only ever played once in Britain, against Argentina before the 2005 New Zealand tour.

McBride took issue with Gatland's suggestion the Test could generate $NZ10 million.

"That's the problem with the world of professional sport at the moment. It's all about money, not about sport. Therefore this [Test] is going to be played purely for money. It would be meaningless," he said.

McBride said looking at the state rugby was in at the moment it was obvious lessons should have been learnt from the mess the game had become.

"The ethos of the game has been damaged so much. It used to be run by rugby people. Now it's run by (supposed) financial wizards. The grassroots game is dying, or it certainly is in Ireland.

"If they are going to have a Lions, then have a proper Lions tour. They keep saying they can't squeeze the Lions into the curriculum once every four years yet they always seem to find room for some stupid idea to fill Twickenham.

"Surely it is possible to have a proper Lions tour. I think it's scandalous that the Premiership clubs in England are dictating the future of the sport.

"The game has gone back since the advent of professionalism. It's a mixture of Rugby League, Rugby Union and American football. A lot of it is quite boring. I played in my share of boring games but there would always be a spark," he said.

Another Lions captain, Phil Bennett [to New Zealand in 1977] said he also believed the Lions should play their games overseas and while he saw himself as old-fashioned, playing away was what made the Lions unique.

But at the same time, he saw merit in Gatland's idea, especially if one million pounds of any gate money was donated to the National Health Service.

One-off All Blacks-Lions Test appeals but not as a 'decider'

Chiefs coach and next year's coach of the British & Irish Lions team to South Africa, Warren Gatland has floated the idea of the All Blacks and Lions playing a 'series decider' ahead of next year's Lions tour.

Is it a goer?

Optimists and they are people to listen to in times of coronavirus, would say nothing is impossible.

But pessimists, and English club owners, would say no.

Before even considering the concept it is worth remembering that England's premiership club owners are already under significant pressure because they refuse to allow the Lions to have time to prepare for their tour, just as they did ahead of the 2017 visit to New Zealand. That has resulted in the tour being reduced to eight games in five weeks, compared to 10 in six as happened in New Zealand.

At the New Zealand end, in a normal world, the game would be scheduled, at Twickenham, in the vital end stages of the Super Rugby competition.

It wouldn't only involve one week out of action for New Zealand players, it would be at least two weeks to make the flight north to prepare in time.

That is presuming borders are open and flights available because in a worst-case scenario a vaccine may still not have been found – and that holds much of the answer about a return to normality.

Conjecture had centred on the Maori All Blacks providing the Lions with a warm-up game but Gatland floated the fund-raising options that a game involving the All Blacks at Twickenham might provide for New Zealand Rugby.

All that aside, could the game be described as a 'series decider.'

No doubt the winner could claim that.

In reality, it would be nothing like a continuation of that series and would have to be in the 'one-off' category.

Why?

No Kieran Read, no Owen Franks, no Jerome Kaino, no Julian Savea, no Israel Dagg, no Sonny Bill Williams and that's just from the starting XV for the third Test. Put in the reserves and Wyatt Crockett, Charlie Faumuina, Aaron Cruden and Malakai Fekitoa would all be missing as well. And that's just on the All Blacks' side.

If it could be achieved a game between the two sides would be a huge drawcard and if entered into as purely a chance to provide the Lions with warm-up potential and revenue for the All Blacks it would appeal.

But please, just let it be that.

Doug Morgan won plenty of respect in NZ

Popular Scotland and British & Irish Lions halfback Doug Morgan died at the weekend after a long illness, aged 73.

Among his 21 caps for Scotland, and two for the Lions on their 1977 tour of New Zealand, were two famous Test matches at Eden Park in which he impressed New Zealanders with his ability, grit and determination.

The first was the Water Polo Test of 1975, the All Blacks' only Test of that year.

The game was played on a water-covered ground and life could not have been much more difficult than attempting to play halfback under such conditions.

The All Blacks won 24-0 with Bryan Williams scoring two tries and lock Hamish Macdonald aqua-planing to another with a bow wave that would have done the Queen Mary proud.

Two years later Morgan was back with the Lions in the series-deciding fourth Test in Auckland. The Lions were looking to back up their effort of winning the series as on their previous tour in 1971.

They poured the pressure on the All Blacks, who at one stage famously resorted to a three-man scrum, and while Morgan scored all the Lions' points it was a late try to flanker Lawrie Knight that secured the 10-9 win for the All Blacks.

Morgan is remembered in Scotland for managing to disrupt Welsh and Lions great Gareth Edwards in their Murrayfield win over Wales to claim a 10-9 win.

Two years later, in front of a world-record 104,000 fans at Murrayfield, the goal-kicking halfback landed three penalty goals to help his side to a 12-10 win over Wales.

He later captained Scotland and once his playing career was complete he moved into coaching working with Sir Ian McGeechan and Jim Telfer as Scotland won the 1990 Grand Slam and then reached the semi-finals of the 1991 Rugby World Cup.

As head coach, he saw Scotland reach the quarterfinals of the Rugby World Cup in South Africa before they were beaten by the All Blacks.

McGeechan said of Morgan, "Dougie had a deep understanding of the game and was tactically very aware. I will never forget him standing on Gareth Edwards' foot to distract him whilst trying to put the ball into the scrum, an approach which stopped Wales playing and we ultimately won the game. He was also a natural goal kicker.

"His support was never better than with Jim Telfer, Derek Grant and me we had a coaching group which shared ideas, particularly in the build-up to the Rugby World Cup in 1991," he said.

Morgan also managed Scotland's Sevens side and the Scotland A team which also won a Grand Slam in 1998.

Coach Gregor Townsend said of him: "Dougie was a hugely popular figure in his time as manager of the national team, someone who enjoyed having a laugh with the players, although he kept his natural competitive instinct whenever we took him on at pool or on the golf course. He has contributed a huge amount to Scottish rugby and he'll be sorely missed."

Cardiff remembers rugby legend Jonah Lomu

All Black legend Jonah Lomu's stint in Wales with the Cardiff Blues was like 'bringing Maradona to play for Cardiff City or the Swans.'

That was Welsh great Gareth Edwards' comment at the time when the Blues entered into a contract with Lomu in 2005. Edwards was a board member of the club at the time.

Walesonline.co.uk has told the story of his signing and time with the club.

When the discussions started Lomu had signed with North Harbour in New Zealand to return to rugby after issues with his kidney disorder which had resulted in a kidney transplant.

Having suffered a shoulder injury and missing the New Zealand season he was looking for some rugby and that's where Cardiff came into the picture.

Club chairman Peter Thomas, who was watching golf in Scotland, recounted he was rung by chief executive Bobby Norster who asked: "Lomu is available, what do you think?"

"I said, 'Do it'.

"It so happened I was on the bus at day or so later, going to play at Carnoustie, and I was sitting just in front of Sean Fitzpatrick.

"He said, 'I hear a whisper about Jonah Lomu. Is it true?'

"I said, 'Yes'.

"He said, 'Well, congratulations, because that is an unbelievable signing if you pull it off'."

Lomu was signed for 3000 pounds a week, so long as he played. He made his first appearance a month after arriving in December against Italian club Calvisano, his first game in 28 months.

Cardiff Arms Park, the Blues home ground, was sold out with 12,000 in attendance.

Thomas said: "I have always said our greatest overseas signing to this day has been Xavier Rush, for what he brought on and off the field.

"But, with Jonah, everybody on the planet knew him. For him to come to Cardiff and play for us, it was special for everyone involved."

Club coach at the time was Dai Young said his first reaction when learning the news that it was a commercial signing and he was concerned that having bought him, he, as the coach, would be forced to play him.

"In fairness, they [Thomas and Norster] said, of course, it would have a commercial side to it and it would be good and interesting to have him at the club.

"But they said you pick the team and if you don't want him in it you don't pick him, it's as simple as that," he said.

There was never any interference from the administrators, he said.

Lomu played 10 games for the club and scored one try before suffering an ankle injury playing against Borders in April 2006.

When he joined the club Young said he was quite fit weight-wise but not so much in running and condition.

"He started off slowly, but then he began to play really well and hit a bit of form.

"I don't think he was ever going to be the Jonah Lomu we had seen a few years earlier. But he was certainly on his way to being a real positive player for us before he picked up that ankle injury.

"He filled the Arms Park three or four times, so it was a good commercial decision, but it was the right decision from a rugby point of view as well. When he did play, he added value.

"He was determined to get back to where he had been and his work ethic was commendable," Young said.

However, what he remembered most was Lomu the man, how nice he was and how humble he was.

"There were no airs or graces to him. The young boys looked up to him and worshipped him, but he was very comfortable in their company. You always saw him in the canteen spending time with them.

"When you meet a genuine legend of the game, they sometimes don't live up to expectations, but he exceeded everything you want in a person.

"I was blown away by his humility, the way he handled himself and what a gentleman he was. He had time for everybody. He was just a real good guy," he said.

Team captain Rhys Williams, a fullback for Wales, had met and been photographed with Lomu when touring New Zealand as a schoolboy with Wales Schools.

"I remember the first day he arrived, it was almost like the same feeling again when I met him as a teenager. It was just like meeting one of your heroes again. It was similar to when I played against Christian Cullen when he came over to Munster and the same as when you meet Gareth Edwards for the first time.

"They are people you grow up idolising and you are just in awe," he said.

Williams said Lomu had time for everyone in the side while when he got the ball on the field the whole stadium was on tenterhooks.

"I remember at the start of his last game, against the Borders, he made a little shimmy and a break to around the outside of somebody and I was like 'Oh, wow, he's coming back'. You could almost see a change in his pace and in the way he could run and manoeuvre," he said.

But to the players, it was Lomu's off-field contribution that stood out.

"When Jonah went back home, he left his massive ghetto blaster beatbox for our gym because it was much better than the little hi-fi we had.

"He left his TV for one of the Academy players and gave his sofa to Lee Thomas, who was a young kid at the time. He was just such a likeable guy and so generous," he said.

Edwards said there had been a lot of critical comment over signing Lomu who was past his best.

But he said, "Make no mistake, Jonah was worth every single penny, for his contribution on and off the pitch."

Apart from his playing impact, Edwards said off the field it was the inspiration he provided for all the side.

"Every day in training, the players watched the enormous effort he put in, how he conducted himself, his mannerism and general professionalism.

"The point I'm trying to make is not only was he a great player, he was a great person too," Edwards said.

McCaw's leadership is unchallenged

Laying bare a prejudice that has marked his journalistic career, Stephen Jones of The Sunday Times has defied all logic by not rating two-time World Cup-winning captain Richie McCaw among the top rugby captains.

Jones has long described his often bizarre comments as baiting New Zealanders. He's not the first 'Fleet Streeter' to have done this.

Kiwis had long been used to the verbal fisticuffs since their own T.P. McLean and Welshman J.B.G Thomas regularly lobbed verbal hand grenades at each other in their post-tour books, aimed at achieving the same readership appeal that Jones has since pursued.

The predictability of it all has parallels with the annual race to decry the haka whenever an All Black team is due to tour Britain, and especially England, and the erroneous claims that All Black strength is entirely dependent on an annual hoovering of talent through the Pacific Islands.

That fails to remember that England especially is not averse to claiming Pacific players when it suits, although Britain has some form in this regard having encouraged the transference of the best minds of New Zealand for more than 100 years, and Britain's other former colonies through the Rhodes Scholarship scheme, to boost its intelligence factor. Ironically, if rugby had not tied McCaw to New Zealand he may well have been a Rhodes Scholar.

But all that aside, the inadequacy of Jones' argument is borne by his discounting of those afore-mentioned two Rugby World Cup wins. The first in New Zealand was achieved under McCaw while he played the playoff games on one foot, as an effective example of inspiration to teammates as possible, while the second in England was a celebration of one of the great eras of the game in what was the finest of all Rugby World Cup finals.

What adds strength to McCaw's position among the leaders of repute is the way he picked up his captaincy skills from the very pits of despair as a result of the Cardiff debacle in the Rugby World Cup quarterfinal loss to France in 2007.

To move from that low to the high of 2011, with a side required to play the final with its fourth choice first five-eighths, speaks volumes to McCaw's leadership.

There is a pretty hefty list of evidence in McCaw's favour including the fact that in 110 Tests as captain his side only lost 10 times and in his 148-Test career he enjoyed a winning percentage of 88.5 percent.

Apart from any other consideration, the fact is that in a time when flankers were the victims of multiple law changes, McCaw remained the most consistent of performers in his position while also leading his side.

To ignore those factors in considering the top contenders as leading captains says more about Jones than it does about McCaw. As Donald Trump might tweet: 'Sad'.

To remember how New Zealanders felt about McCaw's contribution to one of the greatest of all rugby eras, 10 years as No1 side in the world of which he led for five years, watch the crowd reaction when he left the field after his last home Test at Eden Park in 2015. And Justin Marshall's words sum it all up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuLbW6etzBA

Glenn Delaney on Scarlets and All Blacks

When the rugby world returns to normal former Highlanders' assistant coach Glenn Delaney will take the coaching reins at the Scarlets in Llanelli.

He left the Dunedin-based Super Rugby franchise to join Scarletts under former Crusaders assistant coach Brad Mooar, who halfway through his first season with the club was appointed to Ian Foster's All Blacks' coaching team.

Delaney told The Rugby Paper that he had loved his first eight months with the Scarlets.

"The decision to come here was considered heavily and it's turned out to be much better than I'd ever hoped. We've got a fabulous playing group, a really energising group of backroom staff and a club that has an unbelievable history with some wonderful characters," he said.

Making comparisons between the Welsh club and the Canterbury system he had also worked in, Delaney said the belief the game was a provider to society that enabled people to be at their very best was something they had in common.

One of the unique factors involved with the Scarlets was dealing with the high number of Test players the side had.

"There's a lot of call on their time so you go from stages of the season where it might be like playing a full Test match against, say, Leinster, to other games where you're playing more of a developing, emerging-type side where guys are learning the game," he said.

Delaney said his coaching experience with Nottingham, London Irish, Canterbury, the Highlanders and the Scarlets had all been positive.

"I've been really fortunate to have been able to go to the places I have. I've loved every environment I've been in, they're all unique and they've all taught me a lot," he said.

Taking on the Scarlets' role would continue what he believed was great work done by Mooar.

"An opportunity arose here from that and, after a considered process, I was happy to accept the jobs. It's great to get the chance to continue the work he's started," he said.

Delaney said having spent more time in the northern hemisphere than the south he could see how good England had become at the Rugby World Cup when they beat the All Blacks in the semifinal.

"The best team won that game and the standard of their play went through the roof. The irony, of course, is that nobody really spoke much about South Africa but they came through and were the best team in the end. The All Blacks would have been disappointed to finish in that third-fourth place game but that's the nature of rugby, it can't all be one way. It shows the game's evolving and that's what we want. We need more teams to be competing at that level."

Delaney said he thought the All Blacks coaching group would be a 'hell of a coaching combination'.

"There's always good depth in New Zealand rugby and when you look at a lad like Crusaders' centre/wing Braydon Ennor, there's an example of a 22-year-old guy who's come through the Canterbury system and is taking Super Rugby by storm. He'll find his way into the All Blacks' environment now, as guys like Jack Goodhue and Sevu Reece have, and they'll always have players who are well coach, have a good skill set and can play the game at a high level.

"Scott Barrett is a mainstay of the pack they'll probably build around now and there're enough experienced guys like Nepo Laulala, Joe Moody, Codie Taylor, Dane Coles, Sam Cane and Aaron Smith to ensure a pretty seamless transition. There'll be some exuberance about that New Zealand team now," he said.

July Tests still on World Rugby's radar

World Rugby has been working on plans regarding the scheduled July Test match programme.

That has consequences for the All Blacks who are due to host Wales for two Tests and Scotland for one Test.

(World Rugby)

World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont (pictured) said a 'virtual meeting' of its executive committee and professional games committee had been plotting a plan for the future.

While the health and wellbeing of the rugby community was their main responsibility it was also important to have everyone working together during the exploratory discussion on the future.

That involved financial risk modelling and assessing opportunities to make the most of the rugby calendar when it is safe to resume rugby.

So far, none of the July Tests has been cancelled.

"The latest projections are that the impact of covid-19 on public and sporting activities could extend for many more weeks, maybe months, and this productive meeting was an important and unified step towards tackling a global problem together in the best interests of all stakeholders," Beaumont said.

"We are intensively examining scenario planning for the scheduled July internationals, should such a plan be required, while also considering ways to optimise the international competition calendar on and off the field for all when it is safe and appropriate to resume rugby activities," he said.

Does SA rugby need Jake White?

James Dalton was always a combative bugger on the rugby field: if there was trouble happening he was never far away.

 

The former Springboks hooker has maintained that persona in his post-game career.

His latest shot has been taken at former Springbok coach Jake White, rugby's challenger to John Mitchell for the honour of living out the adage about having had more clubs than Jack Nicklaus.

White has been in discussions with the Bulls to take on their director of rugby position, which has been vacant since Alan Zondagh resigned.

Dalton, a 43-Test veteran with the Springboks, is familiar with White, he was a member of the first team White coached at Jeppe High School for Boys and was responsible for Dalton's transfer from flanker to hooker, something Dalton wasn't happy with at the time.

Dalton, who is publicising his recently-released book, Bulletproof: The James Dalton Story, is worried what the consequences of White returning to a coaching role in South Africa.

He told Nerwerk24, "It's worrying that they're considering bring White back.

"Our rugby is healthy at the moment and do you really want to bring someone into the system who's going to clash with Rassie [Erasmus-the director of SA Rugby] and the new structures, just because he thinks he's Jack White who won the World Cup in 2007?" Dalton said.

Erasmus does have one over White in that regard, at least his team played against the No.1 team in the world, New Zealand, during the World Cup his side won, although it proved a loss for the Springboks.

"Jake is not a people's person," Dalton said.

"He's an autocrat. I'm not saying he's not a good coach, but if you look at the World Cup group of 2007, then there are probably only about six players that want something to do with him.

"You'd think here is a coach who will be admired for his achievements, but the players from that generation want nothing to do with him," Dalton said. 

Having White involved could affect South Africa's ability to build on its World Cup success.

Dalton said he believed South African rugby was in a very strong position, to the point where it could emulate the All Blacks in winning consecutive Rugby World Cups.

In their background, Dalton had been a schoolboy star following his transfer to hooker. Before one of the big games of their season, a centennial game against a long-standing rival, Dalton was suspended for one game after a scuffle that blew up after he retaliated for being pushed. The school's stand in suspending him meant he would miss the centennial game and resulted in a full-blooded sit-down strike by boys at the school which was only ended when Dalton was encouraged by the authorities to speak to his schoolmates and to have them return to their classes.

White said, "I doubt any school had a more influential player than him. He was already practising with the Transvaal men's team a couple of times a week."

In his book, In Black and White – The Jake White Story, White said, "Dalton is a tough bloke who has had his fair share of headlines over the years, and not always for the right reasons. But, in his defence, he would never have represented his country as a five-foot-something hooker if he didn't have that mean streak and aggression in his make-up. If he had been Mr Nice Guy, he wouldn't have played for South Africa."

When forcing Dalton reluctantly to move from flanker to hooker, White said, "He eventually relented, but in the first scrum in the front row he shouted to me, 'I'm uncomfortable, coach.' I told him: 'Well, make yourself comfortable.' So he moved the whole scrum on his own just to make himself more comfortable. I knew at that moment he had it all…Athletically he had it all to make it as a hooker. I'm sure he'll admit that I was right. I don't take the credit for making James a superb rugby player, because he always had the talent. But I played a role in him finding his place on the field."

World Cup loss wasn't the worst

Self-appointed New Zealand rugby historian, Stephen Jones, of Sunday Times fame out of Wapping, London, described England's Rugby World Cup semifinal triumph on Saturday as inflicting the worst defeat on the All Blacks.

Or to put it more accurately, he asked: "When did New Zealand suffer the most crushing defeat in their history? No, you don't need the record books. It was yesterday. It is not a matter of points. It may not look desperate on the scoreboard but they have surely never had so little of a big game, have never been played to a standstill and then to something approximating a rabble."

Forgetting all the journalistic hyperbole, and the never-ending desire to get a rise out of New Zealand fans, the simple fact is that it wasn't the most crushing defeat.

Disappointing yes, but more from the fact that the All Blacks were unable to impose their game, a style of rugby that the world genuinely needs at the moment for the benefit of the game. But most crushing? No.

As players are frequently saying, although many of them will now be more aware of the reality, World Cups are different and are all about winning by whatever means it takes. England were pragmatic to perfection and even in their defensive style there were attributes to admire.

That said, the most crushing New Zealand defeat must remain the third Test 17-6 loss to the Springboks in 1937. 

This was a game in which New Zealand, in the series decider, were so comprehensively out-played, and out-thought, that South Africa scored five tries to nil. And if Gerry Brand had had his goal-kicking boots on it would have been even worse. Based on modern scoring the score would have been 27-6.

Under the laws of the day South Africa opted for scrums every time they had a lineout and they scrummed New Zealand into the Eden Park mud. It was relentless. And if New Zealand looked bereft in the face of England's challenge in Yokohama, they at least continued to play and to try and get some momentum throughout the 80 minutes.

But the men of 1937 were stuffed from the first time the Springboks called for a scrum. The South Africans said they knew from the looks on the faces of the All Blacks that they realised they had been completely caught out tactically and they faced a long day at the office.

It was all to do with New Zealand's complete inability to cope with changing from their 2-3-2 scrum back in 1932.

So sorry Stephen, the reality is otherwise.

There are other contenders as well: the 1999 meltdown at the hands of France in another World Cup semifinal would be one. On that occasion it was positive attack that undid them, even after they built what should have been a match-winning lead.

That's not to forget the 2007 quarterfinal against France where tactics were again awry.

Then there's the 1964 20-5 loss to Australia at Athletic Park.

Some of the contenders in non-Test matches would have included the lamentable 17-40 loss to Sydney in 1992 or the 0-12 loss to Munster in 1978.

But if there is one thing that is common among all the losses, no matter how bad, it is that recovery has followed and so long as that continues All Blacks fans will be happy.

All Blacks pictures worth a thousand words

Black Boots – New Zealand's Rugby Legends, words by Phil Gifford, photographs by Barry Durrant and Morrie Hill, published by Bateman Books.

New Zealand's rugby history has traditionally been well served both in written and visual form and the latest offering Black Boots continues that legacy not only through the photographs of Barry Durrant but also the late Morrie Hill.

Writer Phil Gifford provides the mortar to their brickwork with his knowledgeable and authoritative captions, many of them classic vignettes in their own write (pardon the deliberate pun).

If rugby has changed since that day in 1995 when southern hemisphere rugby administrators bit the bullet and decided their future lay in a professional enterprise, then so too has the coverage.

Demands of commercialism and brands have seen photographic rights tied up and restricted and the sort of pictures included in this selection may never be seen when illustrating the modern era of the game.

The book is also representative of a more evocative, amateur age. 

The choice of Bryan 'Beegee' Williams on the cover stepping his way past a London Counties defender en route to the goalline, was a telling reminder of the frustration that attended Williams and many other backs during their careers. 

Inhibited by the damages caused the game by what was known as 10-man rugby played by New Zealand during the 1950s and for the first half of the 1960s, and as a default mechanism when things got tough in the 1970s, players of the quality of Williams had to wait their time to get a chance to do what they did best, run with the ball.

Williams had suggested a potential change in the All Blacks game on his brilliant tour of South Africa in 1970, a tour on which he set the rugby world alight with his speed, power and sidestep when barely out of his teens.

Yet New Zealand's rugby strategies of the day rarely allowed him the opportunity to show that quality again. That he scored only nine tries in 38 Tests was an indictment of the rugby played and the squandering of talent was all too common in that era.

At the same time, New Zealand produced some winning rugby and photos from both Durrant and Hill provide memories of some significant occasions.

Colin Meads, naturally, appears in many but was there ever a more representative photo of the skills he brought to the game than that from the outstanding 19-0 win over Wales at Lancaster Park in Christchurch? Ball tucked in his left hand, resting on his hip, he is looking to cut inside a defender while right on hand in support is prop Ken Gray with hooker Bruce McLeod behind.

Shots of crowds streaming out of the old Athletic Park after the second Test of the 1956 series with South Africa, are not only representative of the rugby of the era, but they are a snapshot of New Zealand society.

Another shot of a distressed loose forward John Graham being held by local medical men as they try to prevent him going back onto the field in the days when replacements for injuries were not allowed, is a reminder of the arcane practice of that era. 

Nowadays Graham would have been taken away for a head injury assessment and judging by the photograph would not have made it back onto the field. And he would have been replaced.

The concentration of photos are on the respective 1963-64 and 1972-73 tours of Britain, Ireland and France, because the two photographers covered one each of the tours, but there are many others from other years which round out a book which is another telling reminder of the legacy of rugby in New Zealand, but also of an enduring era in the game.

New Zealand's first contribution to South African rugby

The following article appeared in Dunedin's Evening Star on April 13, 1928 in a special feature celebrating the departure of the 1928 team for their tour of South Africa

"Most followers of rugby probably think that the New Zealand Army team that toured Africa in 1919 was the first New Zealand side to display its prowess in the land of the veldt, and they will be interested to learn that a side of dominion players made its mark there in 1903.

It was after the Boer War that a number of young New Zealanders settled in South Africa and that sufficient of them came to live near Pretoria to allow of the formation of a modest social and sports club. Among the British, Dutch, and colonials there was much competition for appointments in the new civil administration, but the New Zealanders received quite a fair share. All hands settled down to work, and later to play. It was only to be expected that when a Rugby football competition was inaugurated that the New Zealanders should take stock of themselves and form a team. About seventeen, many with senior football experience in New Zealand, and some who had gamed interprovincial honors (sic), were found who were willing and anxious to try conclusions with the best the Transvaal could produce. 

But the Transvaal Rugby Union flatly turned down the application, of the New Zealanders to be entered as a senior team. Considerable heart-burning followed, and representatives were sent to plead with the controlling body, who thought a few New Zealanders could hardly produce a team class (sic) enough to make anything like a respectable showing against the crack Transvaal teams. To prove to the New Zealanders that they were not class enough the T.R.U. invited them to play a game against ” The Diggers,” who had the champion team of the Transvaal.

In an amused but sporting manner, the New Zealanders accepted the challenge, it being agreed that if they made a reasonable showing they would be admitted to the inner circle. When the day of the great match arrived—it was played at Johannesburg—the New Zealand team could muster only fourteen players. The surprising result of this match, in which the New Zealand team was reduced to thirteen men in the second half, was that the Diggers, with a full team, scraped home by only 11 to 9. In the eyes of the T.R.U. it was as good as a win for the New Zealanders, who were admitted without delay to the senior grade competition.

During the 1903 season the New Zealand team, frequently playing short owing to the long distances that had to be travelled, won every match of the competition, when it was beaten by the Wanderers by a single try for the championship. The Wanderers held an unbeaten record for the season. An Auckland writer last year gave (from memory) the team which played in the first match as follows:—Full-back, J. Freeth (Wellington); three-quarters— Merle Bonnor (West Coast), Tom Baker (Hawke’s Hay), Pat Fitzherbert (Manawatu); five-eight, Jack Gatland; (Thames) ; half-back, Fritz Haselden Rangitikei); wing forwards, H. Knight (King Country), Willoughby Wilson (Auckland) ; forwards—Geoffrey Haselden (Rangitikei), Burton Taplin (Manawatu), Charlie Lewin (Christchurch), “Yorky” Smith (Auckland), Jock McGregor (Thames), “Toby” Foreman, (Taranaki). Others who played in the team were “Scotty” Peebles (Woodville), and W.H. Foster (Wellington). In a match against a side at Pretoria the British team of internationals me. a three-quarter line all New Zealanders.

The part which New Zealanders played in the development of African Rugby in another part of the country was referred to in an interesting article written for the ‘ Star ’ in 1921 (at the time of the Springboks’ visit here) by the late honorary secretary of Pietermaritzburg Rugby Union (a resident of Dunedin). He stated: ‘Members of the Tenth South African Contingent may remember the doings of their team, led by D. Gallagher (All Black captain). After easily defeating; the leading Transvaal teams, they met and defeated a representative Maritzburg team by a narrow margin. 

On my arrival in Durban in 1903 I joined the New Zealand R.F.C. This 'club had commenced the previous year. Prior to that date Rugby enthusiasts could only muster occasional scratch teams. We played out on a mud flat, with a handful of spectators; but the New Zealanders had such an excellent team —we had Australians as members, too—and played such open and pretty football that gradually keen rivalry was started, other clubs were established, and eventually Rugby gained a footing at Lord’s, the big Durban sports ground.

“It was almost entirely due to the little band of New Zealand enthusiasts that Rugby became a popular game in Durban. The Durban New Zealanders were disbanded in 1907, but during their career they held the championship cup of Natal for five consecutive years, defeating the Pietermaritzburg Club on each occasion. During 1904 the South African College team, winners of the Cape competitions of that year, toured Africa, and defeated all the leading clubs in the Transvaal and Eastern Province, besides defeating representative Durban and Pietermaritzburg teams. The only match lost on the tour was that against the Durban New, Zealanders, who defeated this redoubtable team by 4 points to 3). A. J. Sise, a well-known Dunedin boy, was playing in this match. The only “fly in the ointment” of this game was that we were one man short, and played Dave Nourse, the well-known South African representative cricketer and Soccer player. Nourse also represented Natal at Rugby, and he fluked tho potted that goal that won us the match. 

“In the 1905 Durban representative team there were nine New Zealanders, and there were six in the Natal team of the following year which toured Johannesburg for the Currie Cup tournament of 1906. At Pretoria, the New Zealanders also had a club and took a leading place in the senior matches on the Rand. Other New Zealanders could be found sprinkled throughout the union in the various clubs.”

Harshness reflected in 1972-73 tour account

Sports books revisited, No.3

 

It's said that it is important to maintain a healthy balance and that due consideration should be given to all sides of an argument before making a judgment on all manner of events.

That thought kept running through the brain when revisiting J.B.G. Thomas' account of the 1972-73 tour of Britain and France by Ian Kirkpatrick's All Blacks, The Avenging All Blacks.

Thomas was among the first of the British rugby critics who used to provide New Zealand rugby fans with all manner of angst for his reported comments on games involving the All Blacks. He and T.P. McLean were seen as journalistic rivals, much in the manner of the great Australian poets Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson, forever competing over the justice or injustice of the award or non-award of Bob Deans' try in 1905. The comparison with the poets is intended as an example, not of their literary capabilities.

In maintaining that sense of balance it must be said the McLean had the ability to upset the British in the same way as Thomas did antipodean readers.

Overall The Avenging All Blacks was a disappointing read. If Thomas made the point that the All Blacks were insular, uncommunicative and dour once, he made it ad infinitum throughout the book.

Halfback Sid Going came in for plenty of treatment, as he did on tour for his perceived inaccurate feeding of the ball to scrums, a campaign waged throughout the media all tour. Going's truculence toward the media was understandable given the pressure that had started against him a year earlier during the 1971 British & Irish Lions tour of New Zealand.

But as Going explained in Behind the Silver Fern, British medical officials had tried to have him ruled out of the tour with an 'irreparable ankle injury' after the first tour game. Going felt he was being set up from the outset.

There was a sense of hungover triumphalism as a result of the Lions' success in much of Thomas' coverage of the tour. He didn't attend every game, a broken arm restricted his ability to travel, but he called on New Zealand scribe Bob Howitt to fill in the blanks for him.

In terms of a contribution to the annals of rugby literature, the most valuable part of the book is the foreword by Lions' coach Carwyn James, a man who cast his own influence over the tour by coaching Llanelli to beat the All Blacks in their second game of the tour, and for working with the Barbarians in the outstanding tour finale in which Gareth Edwards scored his outstanding try.

Even now James' words ring true: "The strength of New Zealand rugby is, and in fact always has been, in the power of its forwards, in the magnificent way they support and back one another up, the way they drive into the ruck and the next ruck, and in the contrived way they set up artificial platforms for delivery of the usable ball. The pattern is machine-like in its precision; it calls for dedication discipline; it is highly technical and teachable, and it is governed and controlled by the coaches who are very much in command of the game they know, and will not allow it to develop into an area which they do not comprehend or is not coachable."

At the same time, James said the rigidity of the approach while suggesting strength was also inhibiting and with that in mind the strength became a weakness. James believed the loss to Llanelli inhibited Ian Kirkpatrick's side causing them to play a game based around their loose forwards and halfback Going.

James believed, after seeing the attacking potential of the side unleashed late in the tour at Leicester and Neath when 40-point scores (four-point tries then) were posted, that if they had started their tour again, with the benefit of what they had learned, they would have been a formidable side.

Presciently James noted: "The question facing New Zealand rugby thinkers now is this – can they afford to stick to their traditional pattern, play the Going type scrum-half and neglect the genius of generations of exciting players like [Bob] Burgess, [Bruce] Robertson and [Bryan] Williams. I think not."

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and James' view was not long in being borne out, especially in the late-1970s, the late-1980s and, of course, since the introduction of the professional game.

Like many British journalists, Thomas placed too much emphasis on referees, in his case determining who were good chaps and deciding who had the best interests of one side at heart, and that one side wasn't the All Blacks. He also had his say on the Murdoch incident although, unlike a good wine, it hasn't aged well as time has revealed more pertinent facts. As a representation of the time, it could best be described as typical of the day.

It should be said, in the interests of the aforementioned balance, that New Zealand's journalists struggled with the tour, McLean titled his own account They Missed the Bus. 

But longer-term benefits of the tour did occur. New Zealand's back play did advance. Future tours were much happier and the side did achieve much recognition for their travelling to Belfast to play Ulster in the midst of Northern Ireland's troubles. It wasn't all bad, and that deserved to be recognised.