In a busy news week for rugby in New Zealand, topics have ranged from Super Rugby semi finals to the All Blacks head coach re-signing. News items included the Men’s and Women’s Rugby Sevens teams leaving for Miami, to complete final preparations for their Olympic campaign. But in all this activity, primary concern always returns to the national team, as they Ready for The Rugby Championship.
New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is enjoying a ‘purple patch’ at the moment. Still enjoying the glow off the Rugby World Cup residing now at their Molesworth Street, Wellington. That success aside, administration and operational staff have concluded the breakdown from the Steinlager Series. Beating Wales convincingly 3-0, the next stage will be The Rugby Championship (TRC).
Ready for The Rugby Championship
That tournament begins on August 20, when the All Blacks travel to Sydney to face Australia. On the same weekend, South Africa will host Argentina at Mbombela Stadium. Each side faces a full schedule from August until the final round on October 9. Such an extended International window requires considerable preparations, so sides are now being readied–only three weeks to go.
Australia coach Michael Cheika has already made it clear he will draw all available players into camp early. That is due to no Australian sides making it past the quarter finals last weekend. That disappointment could be wiped-clean if Cheika can earn his Wallabies another TRC title. 2015 champions, another trophy will certainly remove the bad taste left in Aussie fans mouths. The lack of Super Rugby performances has to be erased–a TRC win would be the perfect response.
Skipper Stephen Moore might be more desperate to succeed than others. The side might not have suffered the long list of retirements that New Zealand (NZ) did, so continuity should help his side bounce back from the ‘shellacking’ England handed them [0-3]. Kurtley Beale is still injured, so expect Matt Giteau to receive an SOS call-up. Aside from the negatives post-Super Rugby, they have Israel Folau (pictured). Any side with him has a real chance to succeed.
Springboks in rebuilding mode
South Africa have a new coach in place, in a transition phase so the fans might be asked ‘to be patient’. The Lions, Sharks and Stormers made the final eight, so Allister Coetzee will have high hopes he can harness that form. That was difficult to achieve against Ireland, as they lost the first test 20-26. After that, his side bounced back and he must demand they open their campaign in the same fashion at home.
In saying that, Schalk Burger has informed the selectors he will not be available. Leaving for the Saracens, that trend becoming more common, offshore talent must be integrated quickly with players coming off Super Rugby play. How those two elements work together, is a big question for the Springboks.
Argentina are eager to build on their victory in 2015: 25-37 in Durban. That was a huge accomplishment, and Daniel Hourcade must be confident that Los Pumas have the firepower to perform. One of the sides who are less predictable than others, they could ‘bring it’ and claim further success. Home victories must be primary, although they begin in Africa. That might be a big ask, but if 2015 proved anything, you cannot take them for granted. Agustin Creevy, Martin Landajo and Nicolas Sanchez are the base that Pumas rugby will rely on in 2016. How they rise to the challenge is that sides major question.
Challengers to the All Blacks
So the challengers to NZ domination are making preparations. Apart from the Lions; who just qualified for the 2016 Super Rugby grand final with a 42-30 win over the Highlanders, those nations will bring their TRC squads together. If any positives can be made from not having teams in Super Rugby, head coaches might use available players earlier rather than later. NZ teams having to go further in the season, reduces Steve Hansen’s time to work with his group. You know every nation would prefer to be in the final though.
Super Rugby is still fans focus for just one more week.
Steve Hansen re-commits to NZR
In a reaffirmation for the coaching philosophy and direction, NZR re-signed Steve Hansen through to the 2019 Tokyo World Cup. It deserved a full press conference, was gratefully received in general by the media. In all ways, many thought it was a positive move for the side going into the TRC.
Hansen has been involved with NZR since he was signed from the head coaching role at Welsh Rugby. He joined the coaching group of Graham Henry, blending in and learning from the success and adversary of the first eight year term. Since 2012, Hansen was appointed head coach and he has appeared to have the ‘Midas touch’.
There is no better job in rugby – Hansen
MORE: https://t.co/5xuRs4GQlp #TeamAllBlacks pic.twitter.com/xkRH1HRm6r
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) July 25, 2016
Winning TRC on three occasions–only losing last year due to a truncated season, due to the Rugby World Cup–Hansen has built in a consistency rarely seen in sports. In any Sport, a 90% winning record is phenomenal. This year, the Golden State Warriors achieved a 73-9 winning record. An 89% record, and that was feted as a ‘perfect season’. Some recognition of the All Blacks recent record reflects their accomplishments. The 2016 TRC might be another All Blacks benefit is the other nations cannot match the high-achieving All Blacks.
No better job in rugby than coaching your national team
In his statement during the NZR press conference, Hansen remarked “In asking the important questions of myself, I had to be confident, firstly; in my own mind that I still had the passion, drive and commitment to keep pushing this team to improve and be better. The recent series against the Welsh confirmed to me that I still had that internal motivation.
“The second question I had asked myself was: could I improve as a coach? And I believe I can, and must, as I will be asking others to do the same. With regards to the team, I spoke to a number of players and management to get their thoughts on what would be right for the team going forward and I received unanimous feedback from them that it was right for me to continue.
“Once I had confirmed all three of those considerations, it really was a no-brainer to continue, because, as a coach, there is no better job in rugby than coaching your own national team, particularly one that is as successful as this All Blacks team has been.”
2016 Rugby Championship – a new mountain to climb
Don’t let anyone tell you that it is ‘just another championship’. Some have the idea that NZ rugby fans can be a little too over confident. That is true, and it can be a failure to recognize others success. NZ do not win everything–3 losses proves that. Followers of the team will know they set goals and Steve Hansen and his coaching group place the TRC up there beside the Bledisloe Cup, and the Webb Ellis Cup.
“I often get asked, ‘why would you go back [re-sign] when you’ve climbed the mountain’, and the simple answer as I had more time to think about it was that I don’t know if we actually have climbed the highest mountain. There are still mountains to be climbed and we can still get better. And I can still get better as a coach, so why not do that with the team that you love and one you’ve been working with for so long”.
All four sides will announce their confirmed squads: Hansen names his on Monday August 1 in Christchurch. With the Super Rugby final still to be played, some of those combatants will blend in once that match has been determined. The Champion will bring with them a degree of favoritism. It has to be a good thing, so Australia are certainly ‘behind the eight ball’ in that regard. Argentina have often felt that division, so with the Jaguares exposure to Super Rugby, it must bring rewards for the national side in 2016.
Who will be favourites in 2016?
From that analysis, many will see NZ as the leading side. The team to beat, with South Africa only just shading the South American team to be a challenger. Will any side defeat the All Blacks? Argentina might dream that on October 2, they claim their very first victory over the All Blacks…..nobody would take it away from them, but they need to perform from round one to even consider that a faint possibility. The same can be said of Australia. Traveling to ANZ Stadium personally, I for one will be surprised if they can begin like they did in 2015.
After this weekends Super Rugby final, each nation will be ready for The Rugby Championship when it kicks off. The favourite could be determined by the margin of victory, as the Hurricanes host the Lions in Wellington. More than provincial pride is on the line when the match concludes on Saturday night. The TRC is up next, and Last Word On Sports will bring you all the fixtures and test match results.
