All Blacks team thrash defiant Australia

I don't use the word 'thrashed' too often, because the reality is not always an unbiased opinion.
But it appears that the trend for All Blacks test win reporting today is that the Bledisloe Cup triumph was an outstanding display last night.
A team display, with some performances that are worthy of a 9 or more on your rugby scales.
"Awesomesauce" is also a good description, but however we write it, it was just a super game compared to last week.
Scintillating, Stupendous  (stop the hyperbole, I'm sorry) and it was lead by their talisman leader Richie McCaw.


If the weather was the difference, then it was a vast change if attitude from 7 days ago and in scoring opportunity conversion - almost 90% for the AB's who punished poor hands or poor ball support at the breakdown.
I can't name them all here, but there are two handfuls of players; including Hooper, that all contributed to a resounding victory and rugby was the winner on the day.
The Bledisloe Cup goes back into long-term storage, and the final game in Brisbane is now surely a 'banana skin' we must not slip-up on.
But last night, besides some minor irritations in handling for the boys to 'work-on' this week, was just what the NZ rugby public had demanded. And our conviction is now reinforced, the players reputations are back intact and the Championship is now a more likely prospect (than if we had lost any games)

Shear brilliance at times, disciplined defence and the home side were supported by some positive referee calls; along with two Yellow Cards, that helped the game.
It was combative, but once the contact was held, you could see for the majority of the game who had the upper-hand.
And that team are still un-beaten at Eden Park  (an impressive record the Brazil football team are now envious of)
Full credit.

All Blacks: A year of chasing ‘Perfection’

http://wordinsport.com/index.php/all-blacks-a-year-of-chasing-perfection/

Publicly, none of the 2013 players or All Blacks management would call this a ‘perfect season’,

even though many rugby writers have trumpeted Steve Hansen and this group’s amazing sequence

of 14 wins/no loses as being simply “perfection in rugby”.

In some matches, this team could take your breath away: Johannesburg or the 3rd French home test, while in some others they allowed the opposition to easily upset them: in Paris or Brisbane.

But overall this AB team of 2013 did an amazing job of dominating SANZAR nations and several foremost 6 nations teams.

Professionalism in sport is chasing one single goal, and the fact that they did not lose a single test match this season is an achievement that this group will each be toasting come New Year’s Eve,
and can finally have a chance to put their feet up, as the New Zealand rugby calendar year now
runs for 11 months of the year.
That includes Super Rugby franchise pre-season training, right to the final end-of-year sojourn to Europe. That means rugby is now a career choice for a select few, like Brodie Retallick.
If you were to track his travel schedule in 2013, he has lodged an amazing 106,000 air miles
counting Super Rugby, Rugby Championship and matches in Europe.

Power Empowerment

Today’s players need to be athletes who require a natural core base of skills and must be man-managed within a culture of ‘player empowerment’ that results in an enormous amount of effort  going into managing their bodies much more now, because recovery is more important than ever. That one KPI is how any group of international players could attempt to maintain an unbeaten
record, and that combined effort will be what this group can be especially proud of – the group
was able to maximise rest & rotation better than we have ever seen in modern rugby.

The most important accomplishment of 2013 must be the outstanding development of stand-in captain, and IRB 'Player of the Year' No.8 Kieran Read.
The growth in confidence from Aaron Cruden has also benefitted the team.
That is testament to the future succession planning built-in over this last 12 months; inclusive of
the last coaching tenure, that has proved you shouldn’t be judged on one event every 4 years.

It is the truly great teams; the Chicago Bulls, Manchester United or more recently, Red Bull F1
team, who perform year after year and establish records that set them apart from the rest.
This number one ranked IRB team will have a chance to create their own legacy in time, and for
this team to go unbeaten in the professional era is a damn fine achievement, don’t get me wrong. Their example of perseverance in Dublin is now ‘Legendary.’

The All Blacks must continue to develop their player base as they did in 2013, which has undoubtedly placed this seasons side in the same cult status as John Hart’s winning 1996 team.
And if we listen to the experts, the future looks even brighter and perfection may be within the
grasp of this outstanding team – IRB team of the year 2013.