End of the Dan and Richie Era

It’s official now following the announcement of the 2016 Super Rugby sides without Carter and McCaw in the list. 

Regardless of what the outcome will be, the Rugby World Cup Final on Sunday morning will mark the end of the Dan and Richie era.

Indeed it’s been a glorious 14 years which started back in November 2001 when a 20 year old Richard Hugh McCaw of Kurow, North Otago, became All Black number 1014 in his debut test match on a cold autumn night in Dublin. That night, McCaw played a big part in helping the All Blacks turn a 16-7 deficit into a 40-29 victory, earning the Man of the Match award.

Two and a half years later, a 21 year old Daniel William Carter from Southbridge, Canterbury, made his debut for the All Blacks against Wales in Hamilton. Carter, who was playing second five at the time, scored 20 points at John Mitchell’s men walloped Steve Hansen’s Wales 50-21.

In the time that these two Canterbury legends donned the black jersey, the Bledisloe Cup has never crossed the Tasman Sea and the All Blacks have been crowned Rugby World Cup champions, confirming their status as number one team in the world in the years between World Cups. And then there’s the bonus of the Crusaders winning Super Rugby 3 times.

My best memory of Richie will be that heroic performance he gave during the 2011 Rugby World Cup as he limped on one leg and carried the team without Dan Carter, while my best memory of Dan will always be that Lions test in 2005 in Wellington when he singlehandedly destroyed the British & Irish Lions in one of his earliest tests at first five. 

Sure, there have been other All Blacks who deserve as much recognition as Carter and McCaw who have played during the same era and will take their final bow at Twickenham on Sunday morning, e.g. Keven Mealamu, Ma’a Nonu, Conrad Smith, possibly Jerome Kaino, but Carter and McCaw will be the ones who define the All Blacks identity in the first two decades of the millennia.

Indeed, I am more than happy to say they’re up there with Jonah Lomu, Colin Meads, Sir Brian Lochore, George Nepia and Dave Gallaher as once-in-a-generation All Blacks, and in the top 5 of greatest ever All Blacks.

Their loss will be evident starting next year when there’ll be no McCaw or Carter running onto our rugby grounds in June for the first international of the season. Sam Cane, Ardie Savea, Beauden Barrett and Lima Sopoaga are all fine players but they have a long way to go to even come close to replicating the high standard that their predecessors have set.

As ever, the All Blacks will shut away the thoughts of farewelling Dan, Richie, Ma’a, Conrad and Kev and focus on winning the Final – perhaps even motivated to farewell in the best and only way they know how to.

But come the final whistle, there will be a long process of celebrating a truly remarkable era in All Blacks rugby.

5 Reasons To Be Positive about the All Blacks

After 6 weeks of exciting rugby action, the Rugby World Cup Final will be contested the two best sides in world rugby right now.

It is the dream result that World Rugby and many fans from either side of the Tasman hoped for while some All Blacks fans will be nervous of the prospect of facing their closest rivals from across the ditch.

After all, the Wallabies were the ones who inflicted the All Blacks’ only loss this season – and in fact, their first defeat to the ABs since 2011.

However, here are a couple of reasons why All Blacks fans should be feeling a bit upbeat about next Saturday’s blockbuster final –

1.       Experience in the Final

If all are passed fit, the All Blacks should be able to name 7 players who have played in a World Cup Final in their match 23 - Owen Franks, Keven Mealamu, Sam Whitelock, Jerome Kaino, Kieran Read, Ma’a Nonu, Conrad Smith and of course, Richie McCaw. Had Dan Carter not been hit by injury, he would definitely have been part of that illustrious group of players.

It is not often that a side can call on one or two players with World Cup Final experience, let alone 8 – only England and Australia have been afforded that luxury, but even then, apart from Wilkinson, Gregan and Larkham, many of their World Cup winning heroes were on the bench.

On the other hand, besides Mealamu, there is absolutely no reason not to start the 7 aforementioned players with only injury a valid reason for their exclusion. Even so, you would back Mealamu to do the job if given the unlikely chance to start ahead of in-form incumbent Dane Coles.

As those guys would know, playing in a Final is unlike any other international test match; the intensity and pressure will be much greater than a Bledisloe Cup test. Rest assured, the All Blacks can count on having half a team that knows how to win a Final and that will get them home ahead of a young but talented Wallabies side.

2.       Pocock (Non) Factor

David Pocock has been hyped up as the Wallabies’ breakdown machine and one that who will invoke fear in the All Blacks’ backrow.

However, having seen Pocock’s stats against the All Blacks, I can say that the hype around Pocock is just that – hype.

While there is no doubting his abilities in defence and attack, in 15 tests against the All Blacks, Pocock has only been on the winning side 3 times. Two of those games were deciders for the Rugby Championship/Tri Nations – Brisbane in 2011 and Sydney in 2015, while the other was a dead rubber Bledisloe Cup test in Hong Kong which the All Blacks should have won but for Beaver’s boot.

Indeed, since the All Blacks back row has featured at least two of Kieran Read, Richie McCaw and Jerome Kaino, David Pocock has never really looked like the player everyone hypes him up to be.

Moreover, the ABs will be familiar with the hype around a ball fetcher having had to face Schalk Burger last weekend.

While the double trouble of Hooper and Pocock cannot be ignored, it is not the cutting edge that we are led to believe by the media.  

3.       Game Fitness

Time and time again, the All Blacks have shown to be the fittest team in world rugby by a mile. 

While games have turned on substitutions made in the 2^nd half, those fresh legs are a bonus to a starting XV that could play beyond the full 80 minutes even as the intensity of the World Cup has increased with each game before the Final.

The Wallabies have claimed to be the next fittest team behind the All Blacks but questions around that claim have surfaced in the last two games against Scotland and Argentina.

Indeed, the 2^nd half may be a problem area for the Wallabies who seem to stop playing between minutes 40 and 60 and let the likes of Scotland and Argentina back into games. 

On the other hand, All Blacks side have proven to be very good in the 2^nd half even with the odds stacked against them.

Another thing that might count against the Wallabies is that they have one less day to recover for the Final – and it seemed that after that semifinal against Argentina, they looked puffed and relieved unlike the All Blacks who could have played another 80 minutes.

4.       History

Ok, a strange one to put here if you’re only considering the All Blacks’ record against the Wallabies in Rugby World Cups – played 3, won 1, lost 2. But given the time lapsed between matches, this is really an invalid measure of history.

What is more valid is considering the All Blacks’ record in the last 12 years that they’ve held the Bledisloe Cup. The losses can be counted on one hand and the win:loss ratio does not make very good reading for Wallabies fans.

Indeed, put the microscope on the last 4 years since 2011 and the record is drawn 2, lost 1, and won the rest. Consider too that we have always played at least one extra test against the Wallabies in addition to the Rugby Championship.

So yes, we know how to beat the Wallabies when the mind is on it.

But what about the Tri Nations and Rugby Championship deciders that we lost to Australia in 2011 and 2015? Firstly, let me remind you that this year’s Rugby Championship was abbreviated and relegated to warm-up tournament for the World Cup and that the Wallabies had two home games to the All Blacks’ one home game.  

Finally, there’s still the fact that no one has won the Rugby Championship or Tri Nations, the most intense international rugby competition in the world, in the same year of the Rugby World Cup.

5.       Coaches

Steve Hansen might very well be the world’s best rugby coach, and one of the best coaches in world sport. Indeed, he could be one of New Zealand rugby’s greatest coaches ever and up there with the great late Sir Fred Allen.

Hansen is a true leader in every sense. His calmness and composure is a complete contrast to his contemporary, Michael Cheika, who is a volcano on the verge of a pyroclastic flow.

This calm and composed demeanour clearly rubs onto his charges and been effective in ushering the new generation of New Zealand’s rugby stars.

While Michael Cheika has done miracles with a Wallabies side that has been also-rans in world rugby, he is still a young coach albeit a very good one and is still learning the knack of winning crunch games.

So really, no reason to panic but the excitement may still be too much to contain.

The Rise of Los Pumas – Be Afraid

The 2015 Rugby World Cup has had plenty of memorable stories – Japan’s meteoric rise to giant killers and becoming the first nation in tournament history to win 3 games and miss the quarterfinals, England’s shock exit at the first hurdle, and the All Blacks completing the greatest exorcism in history on their great Gallic rivals.

But amidst all this, there has been one story which has been brewing quietly – the rise of Los Pumas as a real force in world rugby.

Indeed, it seems that the brave defeat to the All Blacks at Wembley Stadium in Argentina’s opener seems to have had a positive effect as they’ve gone from strength to strength and easily booked only their second ever semifinals spot in Rugby World Cup history.

Not only that, they took on Ireland, the reigning 6 Nations champions and the people’s choice for best side from the North and beat them comfortably. Indeed, their record against Ireland in World Cups is now in their favour – their last 2 encounters have been victories to the Latin American team.

As it has been since day 1, Los Pumas’ performance against Ireland was breathtaking to say the least. Their backs have scored some incredible tries and buried forever one of rugby’s clichés that Los Pumas are all just about burly rugged forwards and good scrums.

In Santiago Cordero, Juan Imhoff and Joaquin Tuculet, Los Pumas now have a world class outside backline and one to match the All Blacks, Wallabies and Springboks. Having good front foot ball and space to work with definitely helps but in the past, Argentina’s backs have always been their problem.

It is yet another testament to the strength of the SANZAR competitions and Southern Hemisphere rugby in general that since joining in 2012, Argentina’s progress and improvement has been exponential – possibly the fastest we’ve seen since the Boks returned from their enforced exile due to apartheid in 1991.

It is also another indictment against the lack of skill and pace in Northern Hemisphere rugby too; Argentina’s progress pre-2012 was respectable but stymied by the soggy pitches of Britain and France where all their players spent much of their careers on and didn’t encourage their backs to develop.

With a Super Rugby franchise starting in 2016 featuring a side that is virtually the national team in another team name – think NZ Warriors - expect Los Pumas to improve even further in the near future.

They already have a win against the Wallabies and Springboks. Surely, it won’t be a matter of if, and when, Los Pumas finally get that win over the ABs – let’s hope it’s not in under two weeks time should they make it to Twickenham for the Final.

For now though, in the battle to be Argentina’s favourite no. 10 right now, Santiago Sanchez who looks like former All Black first five, Nick Evans after a week of only eating pies, is currently winning that over his injured compatriot, Lionel Messi. A win over Australia on Sunday – and Argentina’s stuttering start to their 2018 football World Cup qualifying campaign where they lost 2-0 at home to Ecuador and drew 0-0 in Paraguay – would make Los Pumas the peoples’ choice in Argentina this year.

A remarkable victory for the oval ball game then.

Is French Rugby & Dutch Football Beyond Salvation?

All Saints Day may still be less than a fortnight away but two countries clearly need redemption from the saints.

If events are anything to go by, it is safe to say that in the month of October in the year 2015, we have seen the death of flair in French rugby and Dutch football.

Growing up, we always talked about the excitement and thrills of the likes of Serge Blanco, Christophe Dominici, Dennis Bergkamp, Marc Overmars, etc.

Alas, it seems the days when the Tricolors and Oranje provided the entertainment in rugby and football are history as both France and the Netherlands limped out of the Rugby World Cup and Euro 2016.

To be fair, the Dutch’s exit from Euro 2016 was down to their attempts to rediscover the flair that the great Dutch sides of the 1970s and 1980s had but was extinguished by Bert van Maarjwik and Louis van Gaal’s ethos of winning at all costs. While the Dutch finished 2^nd and 3^rd in the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, flair is not a word you would associate with those sides. Indeed, brutality would be pretty apt particularly if you recall the image of Nigel de Jong’s boot to Xabi Alonso’s chest in the Final.

Nevertheless, the current generation of Dutch footballers have been taught to play a more physical side of football and are no longer of capable of playing with the flair that their predecessors and neighbours, Belgium are capable of. The jury is still out on Manchester United’s Memphis Depay and even he alone can’t be expected to lift the Dutch from football mediocrity.

It seems that French rugby is in a similar predicament as Dutch football.

The reason why Les Bleus have matched the All Blacks and beaten them in the past has been that they have been able to match them for flair and passion. Structure has never been a part of the French game, hence the reason for the inconsistency of results, and obviously coaches since Bernard Laporte have been trying to instill the discipline and professionalism that has seen the Southern Hemisphere sides dominate rugby.

Alas, it seems in their quest for structure, French flair has been sacrificed and the 2015 Les Bleus side is a sad shadow of the great sides that have upset the All Blacks in the past with brilliant but aging stars littered amongst journeymen who couldn’t make their own national side – le Roux, Spedding, Kockott, etc.

The signs have been around for some time – the last 10 years in fact. The lack of a consistent, world-class first five since the retirement of Thierry Lacroix has always stymied French and followed by the retirements/non-selections of great backs like Yannick Jauzion, Aurelien Rougerie, Vincent Clerc, Maxine Medard etc. has left a very dull and laboured French side.

With those red jerseys, Les Bleus could easily have passed off as the English rugby team.

Against a highly skilled and motivated All Blacks team, the French under Phillippe Saint-Andre – a fine coach himself having guided Sale to the Premiership and Toulon to European finals – were clearly on a lower level, and the exercise of exorcising the demons of 1978, 1986, 1994, 1999, 2007 and 2009 when the ABs lost to France was harrowing and could have potentially sent French rugby 30 years back in time.

There will be a new coach in charge of the French side from November onwards, but he will have a massive job to bring back the flair and passion that French rugby is all supposed to be about. Just like Danny Blind will be trying to bring back total football to the Dutch national team.

Can England Win Euro 2016?

England have finished their qualifying campaign for next year’s European Championships with a comfortable 3-0 win over a very average Lithuania side in Vilinus and a 100% record.

It is the first time that England have won all their matches in any qualifying campaign and it is a pretty impressive achievement even if you consider that they just had to beat Switzerland, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania and San Marino to qualify, and the expansion of the Euros to 24 teams means they were always less likely to miss out given top 2 go through to France automatically.

One must remember that about 15 months ago, England had just completed their worst ever performance in a World Cup after a 2-1 defeat to Luis Suarez and Uruguay saw them knocked out of the group stages and without a win.

The turnaround that Roy Hodgson has done with the Three Lions has been impressive particularly with the likes of Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and John Terry all departing the scene after the disaster in Brazil.

Yes, England haven’t really played football that will rock the world and send shudders to the likes of Germany and Spain, but at least they are playing winning football – which can’t be said about World Cup finalists, the Netherlands right now who are on the verge of failing to qualify for a major championship since the 2002 World Cup – and their first failure to make the Euros.

England have strike power up front with Wayne Rooney and Harry Kane scoring aplenty in the qualifiers and have backup in Theo Walcott. James Milner, Jordan Henderson and a fit Jack Wilshere have taken over where Lampard and Gerard left of.

Everton’s John Stones is also developing a fine partnership with Chelsea’s Gary Cahill at the back and with two top quality keepers in Joe Hart and Jack Butland, the defence looks solid and it is no surprise that England have kept plenty of clean sheets during this qualifying campaign.

So can England win Euro 2016? It is hard to say given they haven’t played the likes of Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal and hosts, France who will likely be the teams to beat next year along with recent form teams like Belgium, Wales and Austria who have looked very impressive in qualifying.

Even if they get a tough pool, they have a good chance of making the knockouts so an improvement over the World Cup is expected.  Roy Hodgson is also a master when it comes to sudden death football and England’s more staid defensive style could be handy there – shame about the skill with the penalty shoout.

I reckon at least a semifinal spot if they’re lucky and then they go out on penalties again.

Can Jurgen Klopp Go Where No Manager Has Gone Before at Anfield?

The aftermath following the departure of a football manager is always one of great intrigue for the media and fans, especially for a club with a massive following and history like Liverpool's.

Football fantasy is now set to turn into reality with two of the game's great minds available at Liverpool's disposal.

Jurgen Klopp and Carlo Ancelotti have been linked to Anfield since Sunday evening. While Ancelotti has plenty of experience and pedigree with the likes of AC Milan, Juventus, PSG, Chelsea and Real Madrid, he does carry some baggage from his recent stint at Real Madrid and of course, his stint at Chelsea which only ended 4 years ago.

Ancelotti has also tended to sign established stars rather than build from the academy - he is an Italian football manager of the very traditional sense and do not think he would fit the mould of manager that the Kop expect.

Which leaves us with Jurgen Klopp - an appointment which apparently is set in stone according to a Pravdabl, a Bosnian newspaper who claim to have the exclusive scoop on Klopp's appointment as Liverpool manager. Klopp's assistant, Zeljko Buvac, is of Bosnian descent which is where the link lies.

Whether or not the German becomes Liverpool's next manager as predicted by the media, there will be plenty of challenges to face for the new manager who will be taking on what is transpiring to be football's poisoned chalice.

1. History -
Even the most ignorant of football fans know how successful Liverpool were in the past. While their current form bellies it and much as the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City would like to disagree, Liverpool is still one of the top 3 biggest clubs in England up there with Manchester United and Arsenal, and one of the biggest names in football. Their global fan base is testament to that.

While Klopp knows about the impact of the crowd from his time at the massive Westfalenstadion, Liverpool is not just the 40,000 at Anfield every other weekend. It's about thousands of fans in Europe, Africa, Asia and North and South America. Liverpool's influence on world football dwarfs Borussia Dortmund's by a long way.

It is vital that Klopp has the emotional connection from the off - something which Roy Hodgson didn't quite understand.

2. Playing Style -
It's not just winning that matters at Anfield. It's the way the club play - a committed, free-flowing, quick passing game with lots of goals scored which epitomises the best of English football.

Rodgers delivered this type of football to Anfield and was a refreshing change to Houllier, Hodgson and Benitez, but defence was clearly sacrificed and without Suarez's goals, those frailties are now all clear to see.

Thankfully Klopp is familiar with that style of football having brought a version of total football to Borussia Dortmund which resulted in 2 league titles, and Bayern Munich signing Pep Guardiola to imitate them. On the other hand, Dortmund weren't specialists when it came to clean sheets particularly in Klopp's last season.

3. Players -
It has been a chronic problem at Liverpool since the departure of Kenny Dalglish as manager. Lots of great players but also lots of average players who don't deserve the jersey. Unfortunately, Rodgers just added to the list that includes Heggem, Cheyrou, Diouf with the likes of Markovic, Aspoas, Lambert, Balotelli all flops and the jury still out on Adam Lallana and Mamadou Sakho.

Rodgers faced the same dilemma after that Andre Villas-Boas faced in the aftermath of selling his best player for a world record price. Both managers couldn't quite strengthen the squad and fill the gap left by Bale and Suarez and both now find themselves no longer at their respective clubs.

However, Pochettino has managed to unite whatever new signings were left at Tottenham while getting rid of those who no longer have a future there and it is now up to Klopp to do the same at Liverpool.

Klopp also has the added bonus of not having to worry about the shadow of Steven Gerrard with the Liverpool great out of the picture, so should be able to start on a fresh template with these guys.

Could he turn Danny Ings into the goal machine that Robert Lewandowski and Patrick Aubemayang are now?

4. Ownership -
The current owners of Liverpool are definitely a vast improvement on the Gillett-Hicks show that nearly sent the club into ruin. Fenway Sports Group are disciples of the Moneyball indoctrination and this is evident in the way they've run their other big sports team, the Boston Red Sox.

The formula has yet to work in a league where money still pretty much rules along with tradition and there are questions over the structure and influence of certain members of the backroom staff, i.e. the staff who sign players.

A balance needs to be struck. On the one hand, Rafa Benitez was given far too much power and this turned out to be a negative for the club. On the other hand, having the backroom have too much say on players undermines a manager as it appeared to have done so with Brendan Rodgers.

Jurgen Klopp would be familiar with this scenario - his Dortmund club ended up selling their best three players, Mario Goetze, Shinji Kagawa and Robert Lewandowski to bigger clubs, but he still managed to rebuild the club - something Rodgers has clearly failed at.