Everyone's World Cup favourites, but could the All Blacks have peaked too soon?

Yes, New Zealand have the athleticism, skill and open-handling style. But only fleetness of foot and brain will secure them Rugby Union's most coveted trophy for the first time in 20 years.

Will New Zealand win the 2007 Rugby World Cup? Is the Queen over-dressed?
In the history of the tournament, the All Blacks have been the most consistent losers. Three times beaten semi-finalists, once losing finalists. Only in the first tournament in 1987 did they live up to the promise and win the trophy, beating France 29-9.

So why have they failed so spectacularly to fulfil their potential and take what many view as their right place in the history books? Perhaps the most obvious answer is the fast and open style of rugby they play. While thrilling for spectators to watch, it’s a high-risk style that can be difficult to achieve.

To begin with, it requires players of the highest athletic ability. That’s not a problem for the New Zealanders; they have always been good athletes. It also needs players with high skill levels, again not a problem area. Max Boyce sang a song about a Welsh factory producing outside halves; the New Zealanders took that idea, combined it with Japanese technology, and the result was players like Joe Rokocoko and Daniel Carter.

So the All Blacks have the athleticism and skill for the 15-man, open-handling style of rugby that they play. What’s also needed is the ability to make snap judgements; to play to a planned strategy but to be able to abandon that if it’s failing or another opportunity arises. Decisions have to be made quickly. Each man has to be aware of where his own team-mates are, where the opposition players are, and where they all will be in a second’s time. Fast of foot and fast of brain. Luck has very little to do with it.

And, inevitably, this is where there will be mistakes. Not even the All Blacks can get it right every time. Maybe luck does have something to do with it.

While this strategy works well against teams of modest ability, who are quickly blown out of sight, top level teams are a different matter. You don’t get to the top level of rugby without having a brilliant defensive system, and the teams at the top of the game have superbly well-organised defences.

It’s also a very physical defence that wears down both the defending and attacking sides. Gone are the days when the fitness level of Northern Hemisphere teams was judged by the amount of beer they could put away. Gone too are the days when the All Black wings could fly past the opposition unchallenged.

Indeed, before the wings can even rev up, their forwards need to get hold of the ball. And, judging by New Zealand’s performance in the recently-completed Tri-Nations championship, that could be their downfall this time round. In the final game with Australia, their failure to win lineout ball or to create any try-generating moves showed an untimely weakness.

In the last 18 months, they’ve won 18 internationals and lost two (to South Africa and Australia – small consolation to Northern Hemisphere teams). That’s a record most sides would love to have, yet there were worried faces behind the men lifting this year’s Tri-Nations trophy. Could it be that they’ve peaked too soon? That, pundits suggest, is what happened in previous World Cups. As IRB world-ranked No.1 and odds-on favourites to take the World Cup, the pressure is on the All Blacks to live up to the talk.

Twenty years on from the inaugural Rugby World Cup, will it be New Zealand’s turn to lift the Webb Ellis Trophy again at last? Is the crown theirs for the taking?

Liz Hinds

Schoolgirls play at World Cup

St Catherine's College will soon be the answer to the trivia question: What New Zealand team other than the All Blacks competed at the 2007 Rugby World Cup?
The rugby team from the Catholic girls' high school in Kilbirnie, Wellington, embarks on a five-match tour to Lens, France, during the cup contest, which starts in September.
The French Rugby Federation is providing tickets for the 28-strong touring party to attend the match between Namibia and Georgia on September 26.
St Catherine's team also plays a game on that day and team manager Rebecca Rapira-Davies said the federation had made it an "official World Cup fixture".
"I am reluctant to call it a curtain-raiser but that is probably what it is," she said.
The federation also gave tickets to the school for the French test against the All Blacks at Westpac Stadium last month.
The local council in the area – the Pas-de-Calais regional authority – has shown more than a dose of tri-colour generosity and is providing free transport and entry to tourist attractions in the area for the school group – which includes French language students.
The school has raised about three-quarters of the $100,000 needed to pay for the 18-day tour, starting on September 22.
This includes $15,000 raised at an auctionon Friday when a signed All Blacks jersey, given by the New Zealand Rugby Union, went for $1000.

By Dave Burgess

Aussies bonus for World Cup win

The Australian Rugby Union has offered their players an incentive of more than $200,000 each to win this autumn's World Cup in France.
The bonus system has been introduced by the ARU and the Rugby Union Players' Association. It means that each World Cup match played will secure the player $11,500 and there is an added $10,000 bonus for reaching the semi-finals.
If the Wallabies are then successful at the semis, each player will gather a further $42,250. But the ultimate prize would be awarded if a win in the final is achieved, with each player gaining a massive $84,750.
Therefore the award for bringing back the Webb Ellis Trophy and becoming World Cup champions would be a total of $217,500.
The final is to be held on October 20th in Paris.
Tony Dempsey, the president of the RUPA, told the Sydney Morning Herald: "In 1999 when the Wallabies won the World Cup, there was a major increase in sponsorship at ARU level.
"So success at World Cups helps all, and it is important that players are provided with the right incentives."

By Katy Richards

Jones Attacked Over SA Role

Australian Rugby Union chief John O'Neill has launched a broadside at Eddie Jones following the former Wallabies coach's decision to work with rivals South Africa ahead of the World Cup.
Jones, who is due to take up a consultancy role with Saracens later in the summer, is to link up with the Springboks for a training camp in Cape Town this week.
That decision has provoked an embittered response from O'Neill who has, in so many words, accused Jones of a lack of patriotism.
"It's not something you would expect of a former Australian coach," O'Neill told Sydney's Daily Telegraph.
"He would argue 'I'm a professional' - I would put a caveat in there that you've got to be a bit more discerning.
"In a sense, it tells you that the game has changed and coaches will take on jobs driven by motives other than loyalty and patriotism."
However, O'Neill does not believe Jones' decision should unduly worry the Wallabies who are scheduled to meet South Africa in the World Cup quarter-finals.
"I don't think it should in any way alarm the Wallabies," he added.
Jones wasted little time in hitting back and took a swipe at O'Neill who only returned to rugby this year after a spell heading up Australian Rules football.
"It's a bit like the pot calling the kettle black," Jones told the Telegraph.

By Mark Kendall

Gregan Shrugs Off Captaincy Blow

GEORGE GREGAN is adamant the team comes first after he was overlooked as Australia’s Rugby World Cup captain.
Centre Stirling Mortlock was preferred as skipper ahead of Gregan – rugby’s most-capped player with 134 international appearances to his name – in head coach John Connolly‘s 30-man squad for the tournament in France, which starts on September 7.
Mortlock was vice-captain four years ago, but the duo have performed a role reversal this time round.
Scrum-half Gregan led Australia to the final in Sydney in 2003 and is set to become the first Australia player to appear in four Rugby World Cup tournaments as the Wallabies bid for an unprecedented third triumph in the tournament.
The ACT Brumbies star, who will share the vice-captaincy with New South Wales Waratahs flanker Phil Waugh, insists he is happy with his new role after fearing he would miss out on a place in the squad altogether.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re captain or in the leadership group, everyone’s involved in helping the team go forward, working with management, working with coaches, working with the players, so I will just do that,” he said.
“I was always looking forward to giving myself a chance of playing in the World Cup again, and hopefully we can get ourselves a chance to win the World Cup.
“It’s been a lot of hard work to get here, you have to work hard to keep getting selected in the Wallaby team and obviously getting into the World Cup squad, so I’m very happy about that.”
The 34-year-old, who moves to Toulon after the tournament, was a surprise omission from the Wallabies’ 2006 European tour and was relegated to the bench for the opening two Tests of the 2007 domestic series against Wales.
But the feisty number nine has since reclaimed his starting spot and will once again play a vital role for the Wallabies at the business end of the tournament.
And when asked if at any stage he feared being overlooked for the World Cup, Gregan replied, “No, I don’t think that way – I’m always thinking about the next game and how you can improve, and how the team can improve.
“I’ve always had a pretty strong belief in my ability so it’s just a matter of doing all those little things, and doing the things I’ve done all my career.”
Gregan’s last hurrah on the international stage will attract much sentiment and emotion from lovers of the game, but the player is unlikely to become lost in his emotions.
He added, “I’ve known I’m going to retire for a while. This year has been good and you enjoy those moments, but I don’t get too emotionally attached to it.”
by Western Mail