All Blacks players dejected after their loss to Ireland. Photo / Photosport
All Blacks players dejected after their loss to Ireland. Photo / Photosport
OPINION:
1. Hop on a different coach?
It's fair to say that a significant section of the All Blacks fanbase has never been convinced by Ian Foster as head coach.
It's also fair to say that those fans should now be somewhat satisfied: they might have been proven right, andthe end of the Foster regime could be in sight.
Which, after years of never considering a mid-season coaching change, promises all sorts of intriguing and atypical questions for fans to ponder in the weeks ahead.
Who among Foster's legion of assistants should stay? Does NZR turn over the team to the safe, internal choice in Joe Schmidt - the ol' fool-me-once approach - or do they opt for the exciting newcomer in Scott Robertson?
Does either man want the top job? I mean, of course they do, but now? And most importantly, in the end, is it the right call to kick Foster to touch?
As Sir Alex Ferguson once said: "Sometimes you look in a field and you see a cow, and you think it's a better cow than the one you've got in your own field. It's a fact, right? And it never really works out that way."
To which most All Blacks fans would respond: That new cow sounds great, give us the new cow.
Jordie Barrett in action against the Springboks last October. Photo / Photosport
Even if the All Blacks do stick with the poor cow in their own field - despite the inadequate recent milk yield - the next series away to South Africa can't possibly be as painful for fans.
For one, consider sleeping through the match. Sleeping is great, and ripping off the bandaid by checking the result in the morning is a much less harmful approach than the death by a thousand cuts the Irish inflicted.
Plus, a loss to the Springboks, especially in the Republic, is hardly the stuff of nightmares. South Africa have the best winning percentage of any nation against the All Blacks and they're formidable foes at home regardless of a touring side's strength.
Which means no more historic defeats, no more 'fun and engaging' TAB ad campaigns, no more tears.
Especially - and I can't recommend this enough - if you forget to set the alarm and instead sleep through the night.
3. Beating the rest won't be so boring
In a typical year in which the sky wasn't falling, the remainder of the year's schedule would look pretty grim.
A couple of home games against Argentina, another duel with the Wallabies when we all pretend the Bledisloe Cup is truly on the line, an end-of-year tour to face Japan and the three not-so-great British nations.
But now, with wins a suddenly rare commodity, no fan can afford to be as dismissive as that previous paragraph.
Now, supporters will absolutely take a couple of solid and confidence-building victories over Argentina. A battling 1-1 defence of Lord Bledisloe's Cup will be celebrated. Avoiding the French and Irish until the World Cup will be seen as merciful.
The tests following the South Africa trip could have been an afterthought, a chance to blood some talent and build some depth ahead of France 2023. Instead, we can start planning the parade for when our conquering heroes put together a few wins on the trot.
4. The Comm Games are coming (with rugby)
The Blacks Ferns Sevens will defend their gold medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. Photo / Photosport
Fear not, unhappy All Blacks fans, there's plenty of good sport on the horizon, starting next week with the Commonwealth Games.
It won't be surprising if any fan is surprised the Comm Games are coming so soon. After all, didn't we just have an Olympics?
Well, the answer is we just had two Olympics, because we're good at the snowy stuff now. But a Covid-skewed schedule shouldn't detract from the Comm Games, an event everyone loves because New Zealand always win a ton a medals.
And if all those shiny medals aren't enough to lighten the mood of rugby fans, may I remind you the Games also have…rugby?
What's more, it's rugby without scrum resets, without officious officials; rugby that doesn't take two hours and doesn't end with Sam Cane watching solemnly from the sidelines.
Rugby that way it's supposed to be: full of action and (hopefully) dominated by New Zealand.
5. There's a World Cup coming (with rugby)
If you're not totally sold on this seven-a-side business, let's look past the Comm Games to the true jewel in the increasingly shabby crown of Kiwi sport in 2022: the women's World Cup.
Unlike the men's World Cup next year, we don't need to be worried about being knocked out in the quarter-finals by Ireland. They didn't even qualify for this tournament.
Also unlike the men, we there will be no fretting about whether the coach needs replacing; the Black Ferns already did that and results have been encouraging.
And, in perhaps the most obvious difference, there's no way a Black Ferns loss will be followed by the leading-the-news histrionics that follow some All Blacks defeats.
Which, come to think, is a bit gloomy in itself. Maybe, for the sake of equality, we need to also melt down when the Black Ferns lose?
Or maybe, for the sake of sanity, we should avoid melting down altogether? Nah, sounds too hard. Definitely the first one.
