All Blacks get reminder of World Cup nightmare
NZ coach Henry rues absence of key players
New Zealand coach Graham Henry remained convinced his team were on the right track despite being given a reminder of a recurring Rugby World Cup nightmare when a second-string side were beaten 18-5 by South Africa in a Tri-Nations Test at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday.
The All Blacks played most of the attacking rugby, but struggled to break down a ferocious Springbok defence and were kicked to defeat by South African fly-half Morne Steyn, who landed five penalties and a drop goal.
New Zealand, who host next month’s World Cup, have not won Rugby Union’s biggest prize since the inaugural event, also in New Zealand, in 1987. Since then their expansive style of play has fallen short despite the All Blacks being regarded by most pundits as the world’s leading team.
By contrast, South Africa have twice won the World Cup and on both occasions did so without scoring a try in the final, including a 15-12 extra-time victory against New Zealand in 1995. It has become a common mantra that solid defence wins World Cups.
Henry paid tribute to South Africa’s scrambling defence and physicality, but implied that the result might have been different if some of his team’s established stars had been in action.
Nine leading All Blacks stayed at home to rest ahead of the World Cup.
Asked by a journalist whether the All Blacks were playing the right style of rugby to win a World Cup, Henry responded: “The game that we are playing has got distinct possibilities.”
He said: “We created a lot of opportunities to do the business. There were two blue-chip opportunities in the first 20 minutes where we were five metres short or one more pass may have created a different situation at the end of the game.
“There are one or two other guys coming in with a lot more experience who may have settled it down and turned those opportunities into points.”
New Zealand could only cross the South African line once, when centre Richard Kahui scored a first-half try.
It was an encouraging win for the Springboks, who have tried to keep the core of their 2007 World Cup-winning squad together. Eleven of the players who were involved Saturday were in the match 22 for the 2007 final when South Africa beat England 15-6 in Paris.