When the All Blacks lost 16-9 to Ireland during the last November Test match, their coach Steve Hansen was quick to point out in the after-match press conference that the Irish were now the world’s No.1.
The statement had the Irish surprised and even head coach Joe Schmidt took time to reply.
This is the sort of mind games adopted by Tier 1 coaches and we should expect more of this as we head into the Rugby World Cup year.
Related stories
The statement by Hansen was intended to take the focus and pressure off the All Blacks as they gear up for their second defence of the William Webb Ellis Trophy in Japan from September 20-November 2.
The narrow loss along with such a statement have made the All Blacks look very ordinary and this is what Hansen needs in order to work up the team and spring that “element of surprise” during the World Cup.
That is why the Fiji Airways Flying Fijians should not be carried away with all the praise and accolades from the historic 21-14 win over France.
All of it is best forgotten.
That win over France has already made our RWC pool opponents Australia sit up and take notice. The Aussies, under coach Michael Cheika, have now taken a page from Rod Macqueen’s 1999 RWC winning notes to conduct their first pre-camp in Sydney this week.
Macqueen, during the 1999 RWC build-up, successfully conducted several pre-camps where he monitored the players’ fitness individually.
Apart from that, the Australian Rugby Union and the four Super Rugby teams made a formal agreement in December last year to extend the resting period of the Wallabies players on request, something that hasn’t occurred in the past.
The focus for them is on September 21 – the RWC opener against the Flying Fijians at the Sapporo Dome in Japan.
A win over the Fijians is going to put their RWC campaign on track.
For the John McKee-coached side the drill now is to keep a low profile and continue on with their hard work.
With the Europe season currently on, it’s ideal to ensure that our players get as much game time they can while the local-based players continue with their off-season training programme.
It’s a matter of importance for our players to stay focused on the task ahead and not be carried away.
Only then can we achieve the results were after and also show the world that we deserve to be in the Tier 1 group.
Feedback: leonec@fijisun.com.fj
