There is a stench of 2004-2015 Wallabies off the Allblacks and has been since about 2018.
It harks back to when Beale, O'Connor, Ashely Cooper, Giteau et al had a different shirt on their back from week to week. Fullback one week, running the cutter the next. No specialists and no development of specialists. An a le carte menu at the selection table.
Our problem stems from the continued selection of two of my favourite Allblacks who are both former world players of the year. Ardie Savea and Beauden Barrett. Their presence has historically lead to selection headaches in both the forwards and backs. We end up filling in the blanks around them.
There was time where maybe one position in an Allblack squad was a talking point in a build up to a test week. Now the back row, back three, locks, centres and scrum halves are all up for discussion. And rightfully so. Predicted or desired lineups vary from person to person, in contrast to 2015 where maybe 14 of the 15 spots would be deemed a general consensus.
The initial rot as I see it, started in Lions test 2 in 2017 when SBW dropped the shoulder into Anthony Watson....red card ensued, game lost, 3rd test Jerome "we have a deal" Garces and the "Aura" has been steadily corroding from that day onwards. I see SBW's red card as a sliding doors moment, and we have been on the back foot ever since.
This rot was further compounded by Hansen staying on until 2019, doing the amazon documentary and getting high off his own supply, seeing himself as some sort of rugby savant. The dual pivot nonsense, omission of Laumape, dropping of Ben Smith and Barrett's selection at 6 in the semi.
After the 2019 exit (in my own personal opinion) it should have been the end of Barrett at 15, the end of Goodhue and ALB and the end of Perenara, to name but a few.
Then the Boks leave Super Rugby and we spend half the year playing touch footie against shite Aussie teams, belting them and thinking we are still the dogs bollox.
We then hire Hansens assistant who gives the captaincy to the very bloke who was dropped in the semi final of the 2019 World Cup, a selection he himself would have had a say in. Joined up thinking eh.
The avalanche of red and yellow cards continues and we go from being the most un-carded team in history to the most carded in the space of a few years.
Foster has a torrid time, admittedly during a difficult covid environment, but it cant be denied he set some unenviable records. After his tenure we still dont have a backrow and we now find ourselves again with ALB and Beauden Barrett out in the backline playing basketball and running sideways, a lesson I thought would have been learned post 2019.
There are also a few intangible things that I noticed from 2017 onwards which have contributed to our decline.
Our coaches rightly or wrongly are waaaaaaaay too nice in the media, particularly post match. If we get hatcheted then say we got fucking hatcheted. It wont give you this weeks loss back, but it will help you going forward. Similarly, the time wasting, tactical injuries and boot lace re-tieing, cheating and skullduggery has to be called out, and called out directly. Not in guarded language which Razor did today like Fozzie did before him. Stop trying to be so nice and so liked. Name the players and name the infraction. It's professional sport.
Rassie and Andy Farrell are putting us in the ha'penny place with their "big dick energy". Andy Farrell for example defended his sons millionth suspension for a shoulder to the head and did it with a straight face and called the media out for a witch hunt. Even though his son was bang to rights. They dont give an inch. Rassie single handedly turned the Lions series on its head with his video stunt. In 40 years people will look back and Rassie's record will speak for itself. Nobody will remember Foster for being civil.
Playing the Allblacks is nice these days, half full stadium, sedate crowd, and a team full of well manicured boy band types. There is no feral atmosphere, no foaming at the mouth coach and no grizzled men or leaders in the team. Savea's post match interview/presser was like watching a shy Catholic in the confession box.
We are beaten in the dugout, in the stands and on the pitch.
Similarly the media (im looking at you Kirwan, Goldie and friends) dont ask any hard questions any more or hold peoples feet to the fire. Every player gets a round of applause and a pat on the back. You never hear them say "TJ's pass is too slow", "this lad cant tackle". It's all pally pally and incestuous.
I was a Razor evangelist, and to be honest they HAD to give him the job with his record. What he has done since is on him and him alone. Selection looks like a dogs breakfast. Some of his interviews leave me uncomfortable too "we need to find our connection piece". Fuck off man......go out and smack the other team in the fucking mouths. 38 points at home to Argentina. Give me a break.
There are a few simple things that would go a long way to helping fix this. Jordan or Love is the fullback. End of Story. Sayonara TJ and Finlay forever, bye bye. Ratima, Roigard and Hotham going forward.
You cant have Papalii, Jacobsen, Blackadder and Cane in a squad. 2 of them have to go. Pick your poison.
Pick specialists. Pick big people , pick fast people. Stop picking Swiss army knife players.
The crest on the front is bigger than any name on the back.