History will judge Umaga's squad

Graham Mourie

Around daybreak tomorrow morning, Tana Umaga will join Graham Mourie as the only All Black captains to have won a Grand Slam.

So, barring the unimaginable, should Umaga's men be accorded the same status as Mourie's lot of 1978, who beat Ireland, Wales, England and Scotland to take their place as one of the great All Black teams?

Or have times changed so much, and has the emphasis within the game moved in a direction which makes comparisons unmakeable?

Certainly there are stark numerical differences, but the end result is the same. Mourie's men are lauded for their achievement. Will Umaga's squad of 35 be viewed in the same light 27 years from now?

Mourie believes it is difficult to compare what each team has (assuming the All Blacks win tomorrow) achieved. But the former Taranaki flanker, who is rated among the finest of All Black leaders and is now a member of the New Zealand Rugby Union board, won't hear of anyone denigrating Umaga's team's achievements.

"To go over and win four games, particularly on top of what this team has done this year with the Tri-Nations and the Lions, I guess I see it as a pretty special year for New Zealand rugby," Mourie said.

"We played 18 games, and a number of players in our side played 12 or more games on tour. It was a very different type of approach to what we're seeing now.

"I wouldn't say it detracts from what these guys have achieved at all. It's just a different era."

Mourie suggested a better way of viewing this touring performance was comparing it with an unbeaten Six Nations Championship run, given the format for the trip.

The 2005 All Blacks will have heard the stories of what happened in 1978.

As many of them weren't born at the time, it's fair to assume they'd be shaking their heads at the idea of playing two games in a week, of having used, by Mourie's sharp memory, just six replacements (none of the modern substitutions, which are more akin to Brown's cows traipsing on and off, back then) in 18 games.

So how would Mourie, now 53 and All Black skipper in 57 of his 61 games, and coach Jack Gleeson have coped with 35 players? Not well, is Mourie's assessment.

"I think it would have made things more difficult. You have to recognise players weren't paid. There was an expectation that they'd work; that's just part of the job for them.

"We only had one coach. Remember on game days, Jack would take the non-playing players, usually about eight or nine, out for a bit of touch and a 30-minute team run. It was pretty tough, but that's what you did."

After that, Gleeson would prepare for that day's game. But although he was the sole coach, Gleeson did have a core of experienced players to help out.

Mourie recalls Andy Dalton or Andy Haden or himself taking the occasional morning workout, giving Gleeson a break.

In terms of appearances on tour, Mourie and Bryan Williams were the busiest, with 14 games. Haden played 13, flanker Leicester Rutledge and backs Stu Wilson and Bruce Robertson 12 apiece.

At the other end, loose forwards Ash McGregor, Barry Ashworth and Wayne Graham had only three, five and six games respectively.

There was a reason Wellington lock John Fleming played five of his 10 games at No 8.

"What we found in my All Black days, from 1976 to 1979, and even in 1980 to Australia, they were relatively unsettled sides.

"We found early on we were uncompetitive without a tall No 8. Wayne Graham and Ash McGregor were good players, but we really had to play one of the locks at 8.

"Because of that, the locks were loaded up as well, and in terms of the loosies, Leicester Rutledge played all the tests at No 6. Between the two loosies we carried the burden at 6 and 7 and we had locks playing more games as well.

"Not a situation you'd have in a 35-man party."

And remember, in the case of those players with big game numbers, they were on the field 80 minutes. None of this 50-minutes and head for the stand stuff.

There is a certain romance associated with the days of longer tours to the Northern Hemisphere, or South Africa, which this generation of players will never understand.

Mourie looked back on an enjoyable tour group, who liked each other's company. It was a trip without significant off-field issues, although Mourie admitted "there were players who perhaps didn't like each other as much as they could have, but we all knew that and it was managed".

Translation: certain players weren't roomed together. It has ever been thus in all team sports, so nothing new there.

"We spent a lot of time together. There's this image of drinking, and I'm sure some All Black teams have had that culture. But while our guys enjoyed a beer, seven or eight didn't drink much.

"The guys had to look after themselves, certainly when you had a number of players playing games on Saturdays then Wednesdays. You had to or you'd have fallen over."

A glance at the international scores on the 1978 tour suggests tougher opposition than the current All Blacks have found.

Mourie makes a valid point that although their tests were won by tighter margins - one point against Wales, four against the Irish, 10 against England and nine against the Scots - his players would have found it harder to peak, given the demanding nature of their itinerary.

"You tended to go out and do what you had to do, and our tactics reflected that, especially after Munster beat us."

Ah, Munster. The fifth game of the trip. Until then the All Blacks were averaging four tries a game, playing open, exhilarating rugby.

Munster brought them down 12-0, repeatedly knocking the backs over. Wilson, who'd scored four tries in two games until then, was sought out and probably still has the bruises to show for the day.

"We made a decision that if we keep playing that sort of rugby we were going to have another couple of days when teams were going to get into us and stop us running the ball," he said.

So they tightened up. Frilly touches were out, hardnosed, winning rugby was the bottom line. Mourie remains chuffed that the All Blacks did not concede a single try in the next 10 games, and that included three internationals.

"We were pretty proud of our line. Certainly Munster taught us a lesson.

"There were two ways to win games - one was if we scored more than them; the other was if they scored less than us - and that was pretty effective right through the tour."

Reflecting on the final leg, the Scotland test, Mourie pointed out one of the strengths of his team was their ability to focus on the immediate task.

The tour had been segmented into three groups of six games. As he put it, it was pointless trying to "stretch yourself out and look 10 weeks ahead".

"We'd set out with the idea it had never been done before. I remember before the Scotland test, Beegee, who'd been on the 1972-73 tour along with Andy Haden, told the team of his experiences on that tour and that he felt this team deserved to be the first to do the Grand Slam.

"But I don't think any of the players who played in the tests would say they'd won the Grand Slam. They'd say it was the team's Grand Slam."

And what of today's players? Mourie suspects they are more individualistic than those of 1978 .

And the key to 1978's success? A long pause, then: "If I had to say one thing, it would be the fact it was a close team. Everyone got on well."


How many games
1978: 18, won 17, lost 1 (to Munster 0-12)
2005: 4
How many players
1978: 30 (plus one replacement)
2005: 35
How many coaches
1978: 1 (Jack Gleeson)
2005: 8 (Graham Henry, Steve Hansen, Wayne Smith, Mike Cron, Graham Lowe, Ashley Jones, Mick Byrne, Gilbert Enoka)
How long away
1978: 2 months
2005: 1 month
Grand Slam results
1978: bt Ireland 10-6, bt Wales 13-12, bt England 16-6, bt Scotland 18-9
2005: bt Wales 41-3, bt Ireland 45-7, bt England 23-19