LISTENER SEPTEMBER 14 2019THIS LIFE
GETTY^ IMAGESAnd not every selector/coach who
made it to the top, having exploited
or fortuitously benefited from the
parochialism, personality clashes and
petty politics that often characterised
administration in the amateur era,
was up to the job.
The 1949 All Blacks who toured
South Africa, losing the test series
4-0, were coached by 66-year-old
Alex McDonald, a stalwart of the
game who represented New Zealand
between 1905 and 1913. Unfortu-
nately, according to the legendary
prop Kevin Skinner, McDonald’s
thinking on the game hadn’t evolved
since his playing days.
Former All Blacks lock Andy Haden
tells the story of the coach who
unveiled a radical tactical innovation
to his incredulous team at train-
ing before a critical test match: on
every All Black put-in, he wanted the
number 8 to pick up the ball at the
base of the scrum and launch an upand under. Unable to discern any
merit whatsoever in the gambit and
aware that their number 8 hadn’t
kicked an up and under in anger
since reaching puberty, the players
gently suggested that perhaps a little
more R&D would be in order. The
coach was eventually persuaded; the
suggestion was never floated again.D
espite the information gap and
the obvious expertise of the
current selectors and coaches,
the announcement of the All Blacks’
World Cup squad prompted intense
scrutiny, much of it critical. As isThey must
be blind
All Blacks’ fans continue
to think they know better
than the selectors, despite
the growing evidence gap.
by Paul Thomas
SPORT
Liam Squire, far left,
and Ryan Crotty.Video and statistical
analysis has madeselection a science,
not an art. “You don’tget bolters who are
never heard of again.”N
ew Zealand rugby has changed in
all manner of ways over the past
half-century, but one thing that
endures is the average footy follower’s
unwavering conviction that he or she
could do a better job of picking the
All Blacks than the three blokes who,
these days, are paid to do that.
Perhaps, that should now change, too. Back in
the amateur era and before pretty much every game
of any significance was televised, selection was, of
necessity, a more impressionistic than scientific
process and the information gap between fan and
selector was much narrower than it is now.
Some years ago, John Plumtree, the former Wel-
lington and now Hurricanes coach, pointed out that
“video and statistical analysis has made selection
a much more exact process, a science, not an art.
Selectors now have the information quickly and in
detail and can measure one player against another.
The public has no idea how much information and
detailed analysis the selectors have. The days of play-
ers who aren’t up to it being picked are gone.”
Former All Blacks captain Graham Mourie, who
also coached Wellington and the Hurricanes and
served on the board of New Zealand Rugby, agreed:
“There’s nowhere to hide now and therefore far
fewer errors in selection. You don’t get bolters who
get in on the basis
of one good
performance and
are never heard
of again.”