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’,
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.
