Rugby: Power, pace still preferred

Ma'a Nonu epitomises the commitment to high tempo rugby. Photo / Getty Images

The All Blacks' commitment to high tempo rugby that thrives on counter attacks and turnovers has been steadfast under Graham Henry. He remains convinced this style can win the All Blacks the next World Cup.

The June tests have only strengthened Henry's conviction the All Blacks can become the first team since their 1987 counterparts to win a World Cup with an expansive running game where risks are taken.

It's easy to be a believer. Their power, pace and skill is frightening. The way they dismantled a good Welsh team, blew them away in the end, lifted the soul; gave the All Blacks an aura of invincibility.

But there are better teams than Wales and history doesn't support Henry's view this shock and awe rugby can be successful on the biggest stage.

The knockout rounds at World Cups since 1991 have been gripped with tension. The rugby tightens; territory and possession become everything and teams stop taking risks. It's all about forcing mistakes; about playing without the ball.

Henry's All Blacks found that out the hard way in 2007 and, while turnover rugby has enabled the national side to win 85 per cent of their tests since 2004, the style has proven vulnerable against the Springboks.

South Africa, reigning world champions and the team everyone is chasing, have beaten the All Blacks seven times in their last 15 encounters. The Boks close down the space, employ a rush defence, hoist the ball high and swarm all over, leaving the All Blacks nowhere to run.

The French have beaten the All Blacks twice since 2004 and the Wallabies three times by largely emulating the Boks - they erected impenetrable walls and New Zealand couldn't build momentum; couldn't find space; mistakes came.

Whether Henry likes it or not, the All Blacks have to be prepared to fall back on something more conventional when the pressure comes on. His insistence on playing at pace and offloading is admirable. Yet, it can reach the point where devotion can become denial.

It is inevitable that at times during this year's Tri Nations and at the World Cup, the All Blacks will have to conform. They will have to kick and chase and plug the corners; not necessarily for entire games, but certainly for periods.

Is Henry prepared to compromise? Is he prepared to accept that an element of conservatism has to be in his thinking? Or is he blindly wedded to the goal of proving everyone wrong and showing that high tempo rugby can conquer all - that the All Blacks can win a World Cup by passing and running alone?

He reluctantly amended the game plan for a few games last year when the rules required more emphasis on kick and catch. But that adjustment was purely about results - the All Blacks had to conform to restore credibility.

Henry had no love for that temporary style; the sight of his back three taking high balls and then hoofing them back was tough. But the risks of running were high; possession was too hard to maintain as a result of the law interpretations.

It wasn't just Henry who disliked the restrictions. Many of the players were disillusioned. The loose forwards felt under-used, asked to chase and jump for high balls. They wanted to play on the ground.

The back three wanted to run more than they kicked and the way rugby headed in 2009 wasn't right for the All Blacks.

The players are just as sure as Henry they don't want to give it another go. Their confidence has been increased not only by results so far, but the changed law interpretations.

"The rules give you the opportunity to keep the ball at the first breakdown after counter-attacking," Henry says.

"It makes for a much better game, you can take a few risks which open up the game and that's why you get those long-range tries."

In the next six months, the All Blacks will welcome back Ma'a Nonu, Isaia Toeava, Sitiveni Sivivatu and probably Sonny Bill Williams. With Victor Vito, Adam Thomson, Kieran Read, Riche McCaw and Brad Thorn in the pack, their ability to counter-attack, to launch deadly thrusts from turnover ball will be better than at any time in the Henry era.

The weaponry is there to make history and change the perception of what's needed to win a World Cup. Henry treads a brave path; the reward is massive, the risk just as big.