View photos from THAT game in CardiffKEY POINTS:
Former New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive David Moffett has slammed the Rugby World Cup review released today, labelling the New Zealand Rugby Union as arrogant and saying there is nothing new in it.
"There's nothing in here the average Kiwi didn't already know and there's nothing in here that a lot of commentators weren't saying before the World Cup even took place," Moffett said on Radio Sport today.
Moffett said it was already known that reconditioning and rotation was a failure and "we didn't need to wait six or seven months to find out what was blatantly obvious".
The 47-page review summarised that winning the World Cup was "over emphasised" by the New Zealand Rugby Union and that, because of the conditioning programme, the team lacked quality game time ahead of their quarterfinal loss to France.
Moffett said he wanted the report to say that the NZRU should have changed their approach prior to the World Cup in France.
"That's my biggest gripe with this...something that was in there saying 'In our view they should have changed this on the way through' because there was too many people saying that this wasn't going to work... but know, they just went ahead and said 'we know what's right'.
"The one word that comes to mind for me is arrogance."
Former All Black Stu Wilson said none of the report's findings surprise him.
He said the key for him was pulling players out of the Super 14.
"That was the biggest call and the baddest call they ever made. One, it devalued the Super 14 and two, it gave the South Africans a bit of a nudge because they laughed when they saw that. They got on a roll after that and that roll continued to the World Cup final," Wilson said.
He said the All Blacks who missed those games were not "battle hardened".
"It's important they keep putting new personnel into the black jersey, which is what they call rotation, I have no problem with that," Wilson said.
But the year of the World Cup is not the time to do it, he said.
Wilson said the "Gordon Tietjens philosophy" needs to be adopted for the 2011 World Cup where the top players are plaid in all three finals matches.
"He said to the guys: if you can't play a quarter final, semi-final and final in a row, I don't want you guys. I want guys that will piss blood for the country. And they do it. And the little guys will only get on the track if someone breaks their leg," Wilson said.
He said the leadership on the field was also lacking with Doug Howlett, Chris Jack and Aaron Mauger all off the field when the crucial drop goal was needed.
Meanwhile, All Black Bull Allen said some of the referee's decisions were "appalling" but "we should never have put ourselves in that position. We had plenty of chances before that to seal the game".
On the conditioning programme, Allen said while weight training has its place, there is no substitute for game time.
"I still believe, the more games you play, the better you are going to be at it," he said.
Allen said some of the players were lacking in game time but every player is different and that was shown with Henry not putting everyone in the conditioning programme.
"I listened to Richie McCaw speak at a function last year. We lost a few players overseas last year and he said if it wasn't for the conditioning programme, we would have lost a lot more," Allen said.
This point is backed up in the report that reveals two players who resigned with the Union last year highlighted the programme as a reason for them staying on in New Zealand.
However, Allen added that the failure to kick a drop goal is a side issue.
He said being two first five-eighths down in a game is an unusual situation which you cannot plan for.
"We shouldn't have been in that position where a drop goal was what was needed to win. I believe they had plenty of opportunities early on. They put themselves in a position where they could have buried the French but they didn't have their hand on the hammer," he said.
The review was carried out by lawyer Mike Heron and Sparc (Sport and Recreation New Zealand) official Don Tricker, who were appointed to the task on December 4.
A number of other factors added to the All Blacks' 18-20 loss in Cardiff, the review stated.
Also contributing were the team's poor standard of opposition in test matches earlier in the season and in World Cup pool play and too many fulltime staff in All Blacks management.
The review was not required to reach a conclusion about the on-field performance in Cardiff but felt compelled to do so anyway.
It said factors outside the team's control were decisive, including the performance of English referee Wayne Barnes and his touch judges, which "had a significant adverse impact on the All Blacks".
It said an "unusual combination" of injuries impacted on the latter stages of the match but concluded that the All Blacks' players failed to handle the pressure of the French.
"The leadership model failed to deliver what was its most important objective - decisions which give the best chance of winning the game.
"The team failed to ensure that the right decisions were taken at critical moments."
- NZ HERALD STAFF, NZPA
