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Smells like World Cup Pressure
Thought the Aussie pack looked out of place. Completely outplayed from 1 to 8 (honourable mention to Moore).
The AB's didnt have to do very much really, barely got out of third gear.
Smells like World Cup Pressure
Being no1 in a statistic is nothing compared to the WC. The beauty of a final tournament is that there are so many and diverse matches that some teams can't go all the way or eventually get "read" by good tactical teams. NZ must win this time, it would be heartbreaking for them if it won't happen especially in the light of the tragic events they suffered this year, they need a morale boost as a nation, IMO...
Smells like World Cup Pressure
This time though, I think a lot more New Zealanders have been through this before and realise it's the nature of knock-out tourneys. The only thing to turn to if it happens will be the possibility of not being World Champions again, but somehow still being the Number 1 ranked side in the world.
If that's how it works out, that might say something about knock-out tourneys that'll make some of us sleep a little easier at night.
As has been said before, winning the Rugby World Cup is proof positive that you are the best team in the world over single six week period once every four years. For the remaining 202 weeks over four years, the best team in the world is whichever team is holding the No. 1 ranking at any given time.
England proved this after RWC 2003. For 18 months prior to 2003 RWC. They had a 90% winning record (27 wins from 30 matches) and were ranked No. 1, but in the 18 months after it, they dropped to No. 7 on the back of a 40% winning record (12 wins from 30 matches). It is very easy to go from champs to chumps. Despite the fact that England were still the World Cup Holders in 2006, no one in their right mind could possibly claim that they were still the best team in the world.
They have only won the tri nations 2 times in 15 series yet they have won the WC 2 times in 6 attempts
Same with South Africa - only managed 3 tri nations in 15 but they have got 2 WC's in 6 attempts.
Heck ask Aussie which is harder to win. A world cup or the Bledisloe Cup, they can't even get that these days.
Careful there, because the argument can also be made (even if erroneously) that Tri Nations must be easier because New Zealand have won it 11 times in 15 attempts, but have only won the RWC once in 6 attempts.
Being Number 1 in the world is not "nothing" compared to a world cup. In World Cup year it comes second by a long way to the World Cup. The year after it probably narrowly comes second to the World Cup, but after that you can't dwell on it and say "everything else means nothing". You have to worry about the year to year business of trying to win everything else.
IMO the reality is there i a lot of luck involved in winning a world cup.
look at 1995, NZ were by far the best team but they were struck down before the game and though they weren't themselves they put up a fight. my lasting memory of that game is of Jeff Wilson who I think is our greatest ever right winger going off early and vomiting on the sideline, AB's wpuld have only been about 60% that day. Or 2007 where south africa managed to get through the whole thing without facing a single team that was any sort of threat to them because of the luck of the draw and results going their way. I think their biggest threat came from fiji?.....
if 3 teams played eachother 3 times each year for the world cup, it would take the gloss off the tournament for sure
Well, this is the usual "play down the RWC" from AB supporters. But you know you want it.
England lost to South Africa 33-6 in pool stage