LISTENER AUGUST 24 2019THIS LIFE
summer, might I suggest: ‘We can’t
go on winning like this’. Indiscipline
and the inability to hang onto the ball
condemned them to long periods with
their backs against the wall, defending
grimly deep in their own territory.”
In the match against France in Paris
last year, Williams conceded a penalty
try and was yellow-carded for batting
a cross kick over the dead-ball line.
Hansen’s defence was that “he doesn’t
know the rules because he was play-
ing [rugby] league. In league rules,
you’re allowed to [do that].” Williams
switched from league to union in 2008.
In the first half of their loss to
Ireland in Dublin late last year, the
All Blacks conceded nine penalties
to the home side’s two. “We always
hear about ‘learnings’ after games,”
I wrote, “but putting themselves
under pressure – and squandering
opportunities – through indiscipline
has become as much an All Blacks
hallmark as counter-attacking off
turnover ball. The ongoing failure
to address the obvious disciplineproblem invites the assumption that
the emphasis on self-expression has
bred self-indulgence.”T
he object of the exercise here
isn’t to blow my own trumpet,
as delightfully melodious as that
instrument is in the right hands, but
to demonstrate that the All Blacks
have been exhibiting the same fail-
ings for several years. As we know,
those who don’t learn from their mis-
takes are condemned to repeat them.
In fact, in their dogged recidivism,
the All Blacks bring to mind comic
genius Peter Cook’s inspired creation,
Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling: “I’ve
learned from my mistakes,” said Sir
Arthur, a dotty upper-class wastrelMarching to
their own beat
With so many All Blacks
getting in trouble for ill
discipline on the field, is
the coach to blame?
by Paul Thomas
SPORT
Perhaps Steve Hansen
is losing his edge
and the players are,accordingly, becoming
less responsive.Seeing red: All
Blacks lock Scott
Barrett is red-
carded in their loss
to the Wallabies.GE
TT
Y^ I
M
AG
ES
A
ll Blacks coach Steve Hansen reckons
his team have a discipline problem.
“Our discipline was poor in that first
half,” he said after the embarrassing
47-26 loss to the Wallabies in Perth.
“There were numerous occasions
when we got offside when we didn’t
need to. Australia had 80% possession in the first
half. Why was it 80-20? Because we got penalised five
times to their once, and that’s our discipline.”
And, of course, there was lock Scott Barrett’s
dangerous-play red card that left the All Blacks a
man short in the second half.
Well, I hate to say I told you so, but, I told you
so. A number of times.
Indiscipline seemed to me a key factor in the
All Blacks’ shock – at the time – loss to Ireland in
Chicago in 2016: “As Australia did in the [2015]
World Cup final, Ireland scored two tries when the
All Blacks were down to 14 men because of a lifting
tackle yellow card. Losing the penalty count 4-12 more
than outweighed their edge in most other statistics.”
After Sonny Bill Williams was red-carded – for a
rather more purposeful version of the offence that
earnt Barrett his marching orders – in the loss to
the British and Irish Lions in Wellington, in 2017,
I wrote, “We’re often told the All Blacks are their
own harshest critics; the recurring discipline prob-
lems suggest that, on the contrary,
they’re a bit soft on themselves.”
After a successful, if somewhat
scratchy, 2017 end-of-year tour,
I wrote, “If the All Blacks are in
the market for a motivational
mantra to recite over theSteve Hansen