All Blacks plan to keep their silverware

All Blacks plan to keep their silverware
By MARC HINTON in Brisbane - RugbyHeaven | Friday, 12 September 2008
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The All Blacks say they're hungry to prolong Australia's Bledisloe and Tri-Nations suffering but their coach warns they're about to come up against a side "on the edge of the edge" at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.

There was certainly plenty of respect and a healthy dose of reality from New Zealand's captain Richie McCaw and coach Graham Henry as they offered their final reflections on the biggest game of the rugby year at the Brisbane hotel on Friday afternoon.

McCaw, who is set for a mass Wallaby inquisition as the hosts look to blunt his considerable influence, said there was plenty of motivation for the All Blacks to continue their stranglehold on the two pieces of silver that go on the line on Saturday night.

The All Blacks will claim their fourth straight Tri-Nations title (and ninth overall) if they come out on top in this match, and will also clinch the Bledisloe Cup series for a sixth straight year.

On the other side of the coin the Wallabies have won the Tri-Nations only twice, the last occasion way back in 2001, and haven't held the Bledisloe Cup since a bloke named Robbie Deans came along with his All Blacks in 2003 and took it off them.

"That's why we play the game, why we've played five previous tests is to have a crack at that," said McCaw. "That's what motivates all the guys in this team to perform well, so you get something at the end of it.

"Our hunger has got to be there as well. This series has shown when it's not at the peak you'll come second, and the guys all realise that."

But Henry also warned that they will be up against a Wallabies side that has spent the past fortnight seething inwardly and building towards a chance to restore some much needed pride in the gold jersey.

That's why Henry remained adamant that Johannesburg's record 53-8 defeat to the Springboks two long weeks ago was an aberration. Nothing more. Nothing less.

"I think that will have just given the Australians a lot more edge," said Henry. "They would have been embarrassed. Quality professional sports teams don't like to be embarrassed. They want to fix it up as soon as possible.

"They've got the opportunity to fix it up [now], so they'll be on the edge of the edge on Saturday night."

Henry wasn't keen to buy into any theories on Deans as some sort of a master motivator, and certainly wasn't offering any insights into his coaching techniques.

But he did say his opposite number was in a position tailor-made for a coach: "In Johannesburg two weeks ago they would have sat in the dressing-sheds and that's when they would have started to prepare for this game. Rob would just have had to stoke the fire I'd imagine."

McCaw nodded in agreement alongside his coach.

"Sometimes coming off a loss it's probably easier for a coach. The guys are going to be fired up and you've just got to get them channelling in the right direction. I'm sure he'll have that sorted."

Henry talked up the occasion ("marvellous," he beamed in trademark fashion), said it was an ideal end to an unpredictable Tri-Nations and conceded it was just "reality" that both teams were going to have their entire seasons defined by the 80 minutes on Saturday night.

"Let's not kid ourselves, the reality is if you win it's been a very good season, if you lose well you got second. That's the reality, that's how we're judged. Rightly or wrongly, that's the way it is."

Henry said he was "always nervous" ahead of such a high-stakes match, but asked by RugbyHeaven if he was also confident, the coach spoke about the "advances" made by his men over the course of this season.

"We've had a few players who haven't experienced this level of football before so they've got a few games under their belts. This team has got very close as a group of people, and they've been gradually moving up the graph as the season has gone on.

"Hopefully there will be another one on Saturday. There needs to be. We won't win unless there is. So it's been a positive experience with this group. They're very tight, they want to do the business and they're learning together."

Asked to pinpoint what helped his team improve so significantly after those back-to-back defeats in Dunedin and Sydney, Henry said it all began that night at Carisbrook when an inexperienced All Black team made "critical" errors.

"Then we didn't get it right in Sydney. We were out-thought, out-coached and out-played. We changed a lot of things for the return fixture in Auckland and that worked. So we're learning as coaches, and we're passing that on to the players who are becoming more experienced. And Richie coming back helped. I don't want to over-emphasise that because it embarrasses him, but him coming back was quite a major. Those things all helped in the development of the team."

Then came a harsh dose of reality from the All Blacks coach. Asked whether defeat would see the sharpened knives come out again at home, he nodded in agreement.

"It happens all the time, week in, week out. It's not going to change. It will just be more pleasant, the knives won't be as sharp, if we win."

McCaw said it will be a physical test match. That much was a given. But it would go beyond two sides pounding each other.

"Some games have physicality, but there will be an intensity with this one. There's a couple of teams that are pretty desperate and that will add to everything that goes into a test match. I think it will be great."

For all the hype, though, McCaw said the All Blacks were conscious of not playing the match before 8pm Saturday night. "We've built pretty well. You never know what's going to happen, and you just hope guys turn up and do their bit to make sure we get a good performance." Henry said he was confident his men, having already come through two must-win games, were ready for what the weekend had in store for them.

As for his old Crusaders mentor having one last chance this year to get one over the team that didn't want him, McCaw toes a diplomatic line.

"I just know he'll have the Wallabies geared up to come out and put together a good performance. You know 100% that's the way it'll be... you just know they're going to be ready."

Sounds like the All Blacks are too. Should be an absolute cracker.

ALL BLACKS: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Richard Kahui, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock. Reserves: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 John Afoa, 18 Anthony Boric, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Isaia Toeava.

WALLABIES: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Peter Hynes, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 Stirling Mortlock (captain), 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Sam Cordingley, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson. Reserves: 16 Adam Freier, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Hugh McMeniman, 19 Phil Waugh, 20 Richard Brown, 21 Brett Sheehan, 22 Drew Mitchell.

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa).

Odds: (TAB Sportsbet Australia): All Blacks $1.55, Wallabies $2.35.