All Blacks v Springboks: Six talking points from the mayhem at Twickenham

Apr 19, 2024

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Scott Barrett of New Zealand is sent off by referee Matthew Carley. Photo / Getty

OPINION

Phil Gifford presents six talking points after the mayhem of the All Blacks’ heavy defeat at Twickenham.

First, a reality check. The 35-7 drubbing by the Springboks at Twickenham was such a bad day for the All Blacks it amounted to a black comedy.

Missed tackles? Yes. Dropped passes? Yes. Failing to adjust to a pin-pricking English referee? Yes. A flurry of cards from a lack of discipline? Yes. Wayward throwing to the lineout? Yes. And, in the truly weird file, a 30-stitch gash from a sprig to the thigh of a key forward, Tyrel Lomax.

The video analysis at their new camp in Germany should come with a censor’s X-rating and a warning for those of a nervous disposition to look away.

But, despite the rage being unleashed online, this is not necessarily a sign the All Blacks’ world is at an end, and that they may as well concede the opening game of the Cup in Paris with France.

There’s still enough experience and backbone in this All Blacks squad to put the Twickenham nightmare behind them. I wouldn’t suggest mortgaging the house to bet on it, but we may yet see the All Blacks pull out the sort of underdog effort in Paris the French so often produce against New Zealand.

While their losses weren’t as huge as the record defeat in London, two of the three Cup-winning All Blacks sides lost their last game before the tournaments, in 1987 and 2011.

In ‘86, the All Blacks were battered by France in a brutal test in Nantes, losing 16-3. In 2011, two weeks before the Cup started in New Zealand, Australia beat the All Blacks 25-20 in Brisbane to win the Tri Nations. Even the brilliant 2015 All Blacks finished behind the Wallabies in that year’s Tri Nations, before sweeping to Cup victory in Britain.

In a fortnight, we’ll know whether the Springboks game in London cut deeper into the All Blacks’ psyche than the reverses of 1987, 2011 and 2015.

Scott Barrett’s hearing after being sent off at Twickenham, at a first glance, feels as if it should be resolved with a stern warning. But, as we’ve seen in recent weeks, red card panels have a level of consistency that make poor Britney Spears look grounded. To lose him for the French game, after his brilliant form in recent weeks, would be devastating for the All Blacks.

It’s a measure of the incompetence of World Rugby that in the Cup quarter-finals in October, take it to the bank that France and the All Blacks, whether they finish first or second in Pool A, will play Ireland or South Africa from Pool B.

For New Zealand, either Ireland or the Boks now loom as massive mountains to climb.

After England’s 30-22 loss to Fiji at Twickenham and Ireland just holding out 17-13, a tremendous effort by Samoa in Bayonne, England may not even make the quarter-finals from Pool C. Argentina, Samoa and Japan all seem capable of beating a crumbling English side.

In a mean but brilliant summation of his country’s chances at the Cup, the Guardian’s Gerard Meagher wrote: “Not since the Normandy landings has a group of Englishmen crossed the Channel with such dread.”

Three All Blacks enhanced their reputations among the carnage at Twickenham.

Cam Roigard’s try showed not only his speed and strength, but also his mental toughness, refusing to buckle with the scoreboard reading 35-0 to South Africa.

Mark Telea constantly troubled the Springboks’ tacklers, and Richie Mo’unga, fearless under the high ball, had what amounted to a Karate Kid moment when, in the 15th minute, he somehow contrived to deny a rampaging Malcolm Marx a try.

The old school ritual of referees checking sprigs before a game was dropped decades ago. As Lomax recovers from a cut so deep it sliced through layers of muscle on his thigh, it’s hard not to support Ian Foster’s belief that it could be time for officials to check for sharp edges on plastic mouldings on the sole of boots favoured by backs.

The injury may have just been a freak accident, where the mouldings on Boks fullback Damian Willemse by sheer chance (there was no intent to injure) landed at the exact angle and velocity to pierce skin and flesh. But it’s hard not to suspect wear on the mouldings may have produced what amounted to a blade on Willemse’s boot.

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