The relapse is violent. Historical. After two seasons in the trough of the wave after the health crisis, the All Blacks arrived in Europe refreshed after flying over the last Rugby Championship, signing four convincing successes and winning the flagship competition of the southern hemisphere for the 20th time (10 times since the integration of Argentina in 2012) with in particular a 35-20 victory over the Boks. The clouds were dissipating, it was thought, after a series of humiliating setbacks, in particular this series of test-matches lost at home against Ireland (2-1) – a first since 1994 against the XV of France of Pierre Berbizier – and a first loss on their soil against Argentina.
Everything seemed to belong to the past, the triple world champions (1987, 2011, 2015) had found their spectacular, offensive, athletic and ultra-efficient rugby this summer. But that was before crossing paths with the Springboks, also triple world champions (1995, 2007, 2019), Friday evening at Twickhenham. For a landmark humiliation. The heaviest defeat in their history. We have to go back to the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup against England to see the New Zealanders dominated and crushed to this point.
Less than two weeks before the opening of the World Cup (September 8-October 28) against France, the old demons have resurfaced wildly in the heads of New Zealand. A physically dominated team, a prohibitive discipline (two yellow cards in a quarter of an hour and a red card for Scott Barrett in stride, who will miss at least the opening match) and, more seriously, no offensive solution, a totally amorphous and transparent game. Unable to extricate himself from the South African steamroller.
Inevitably, difficult to get up after such a knockout. Yet that is what the Kiwis are trying to do. “We know the situation in which we are and the objective we want to achieve”, nevertheless nuances coach Ian Foster, who has already gone through a lot of storms. “You can’t deny that it wasn’t a good performance on our part,” he continued. We have a few weeks to recover and I totally believe we can.”
In the land of the Long White Cloud, the press immediately – and logically – brought out the sulphate after this disaster. The New Zealand Herald, the archipelago’s leading daily, speaks of a “carnage”: “The All Blacks wanted to pass a real test for their last match before the World Cup. They got it. And much, much more than that … ”The concern is great, especially since they should cross paths again, in the quarter-finals, with these same Springboks or the Irish, who certainly had never beaten them before 2016 but who have since remained on 5 victories in 8 clashes.
But the Kiwi coach wants to be positive. Method Coué power 1000. “This match will take a lot of pressure off us, wants to believe Ian Foster. No one is going to overvalue us now, which is pretty good. We will just prepare quietly and stay between us. Hooker Dan Coles also tries to stare at the nearly empty glass. “We got a punch but we just have to get up and go forward. It starts tomorrow (Saturday) when we wake up and things start to fall into place, but the important thing is that you don’t be afraid.
And the Wellington Hurricanes player added: “It feels like something really bad happened, and it did, but the first thing is to digest it all, to get the lessons and take ownership over the next two weeks. We just have to be very hard on ourselves and then we will find solutions. This will be the engine of the team.”
In the recent past, especially in the early 1980s or before the coronation of 2011, the All Blacks had already experienced tormented moments. Before finding the resources to bounce back and become one of the best nations in the world again. Except that there, time is running out… The New Zealanders will finish their preparation in Germany before the start of the competition. But their dream of becoming the first team to lift four World Cups has taken a serious turn for the worse. Unlike the bestial South Africa, which wakes up all the time just before the planetary contests.
