![]() ![]() The decimated grassroots scene, where many clubs have folded and amalgamated, continues to have a profound effect on participation and engagement, too, while crowds and ratings for the elite game are declining. In Auckland alone the number of secondary school rugby teams fell from 225 to 181 between 20. This can partly be attributed to the professionalisation of schoolboy rugby, and the lack of focus on those below the elite first XVs. Other issues include the number of teenage boys playing rugby falling at alarming rates for the past eight years – down 17% to 2018, at a time when basketball’s popularity grew 41%. #Falling hearts image seriesThis week Hansen launched a scathing attack that placed responsibility for a series of failures squarely at the New Zealand Rugby board’s feet, saying the relationship between the board and players was “probably the worst it’s ever been”. Scratch the surface and a litany of challenges emerge. Written off and under siege as they confront rugby’s toughest assignment, the All Blacks could silence their doubters by pulling off upset victories against the world champion Springboks in the coming weeks.īut even in that utopian scenario, New Zealand rugby’s deeper issues will not be addressed. Projected quick fix solutions such as ushering in six-time Super Rugby-winning Crusaders coach Scott Robertson may not provide an instant cure. ![]() The gap at the top has closed – and there is every reason to believe it will stay that way.įrom a New Zealand perspective, a total reset could be required. Their like will probably never be seen again.įurther coaching changes may help improve the All Blacks’ fortunes, but that theory is too dismissive of the northern nations’ significant improvement since 2015, with France and Ireland now leading the charge. Only now, in times of extreme frustration and calls for coaching cleanouts, are their feats truly appreciated. The All Blacks of that time mount a compelling argument for New Zealand’s best-ever team. While New Zealand rugby boasts a legacy of success, the unrealistic expectations that the All Blacks win every Test were ingrained by the dominance of the near untouchable 2012-2016 team that lost twice in five years. Like climate change deniers, many New Zealand rugby fans refuse to accept a changing of the guard is possible or that deeper issues than the coach are at play. While rugby’s rankings require Pythagoras’s theorem to fathom, the All Blacks dropping to fourth for the first time aptly depicts their struggles.įor the vocal disaffected, the circumstances surrounding Foster’s accession to the All Blacks throne – on the continuity ticket after eight years as Steve Hansen’s assistant – and the team’s subsequent malaise, create one clear cause for the demise.Ī challenging Covid landscape has been unkind to Foster’s troubled tenure, but the now-evident erosion of the All Blacks, and that of their fear factor, can be traced back to the drawn 2017 British and Irish Lions series and the crushing World Cup semi-final defeat to England two years later.Įngland captain Owen Farrell smiling at the All Blacks as they perform the haka before the 2019 world cup semi-final. Sacking coaches mid-tenure is a cut-throat notion far more aligned to European football than uber-conservative New Zealand rugby, reflecting the relentless public pressure and sustained demand for change. ![]() Casualties have emerged in the form of All Blacks forwards coach John Plumtree and attack mentor Brad Mooar – both shown the door a matter of months after re-signing through to the 2023 World Cup. ![]()
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