It was just another routine win for the All Blacks, easing past South Africa 41-13 to take their seasonal tally to 7-0.
That the Springboks, just as Wales, Australia and Argentina before them, are supposed to be among the best in the world did not matter. They were not given a sniff as New Zealand eased through the gears in the second half. In truth, they never needed to find fourth yet alone fifth.
Today’s #360debate asks: Is the All Blacks domination of rugby good for the sport?
The current All Blacks side is arguably the best that has ever lived, so to claim their brilliance is bad for rugby is ludicrous.
Although their production line has always provided a constant stream of quality, many believed, finally, their stranglehold would come under heavy fire following the Rugby World Cup.
They became the most decorated country ever with a third Webb Ellis Cup to stand alone, ahead of fellow southern hemisphere giants Australia and South Africa. A raft of retirements followed, legends taking off the hallowed black jersey for the final time, and the ensuing months were supposed to be ones of difficult re-adjustment.
Instead, Steve Hansen’s side racked up 290 points and seven wins – a rate of 41 points per game – and have just secured a 14th Rugby Championship title in 21 years.
Rather than a hindrance, their brilliance is something to strive for, and should simply be applauded. The ease with which Sam Cane, Beauden Barrett, Ryan Crotty and Malakai Fekitoa have fitted into the voids left by legends Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith has been seamless.
But it’s not just the end result and margin on the scoreboard, it’s the way they’re playing the game that resonates beyond their success on the field. How many kids are watching what Barrett, Ben Smith and Julian Savea do with the ball and feel inspired to try and follow them? The off-loads, running lines and the speed at which the ball is passed along the backs is exhilarating.
Plus the higher they raise the bar, the better their opposition needs to get. In theory, raising the overall standards of rugby. But the question is also rendered redundant by the poor form of the rest of the elite.
It’s not that this Kiwi crop is untouchable, but right now their opponents simply aren’t up to scratch.
There’s no way the All Blacks can be blamed for maintaining their ridiculously high standards in the face of such adversity while the rest are failing to raise theirs.
Rugby Union remains a largely exclusive sport and although the current World Rugby ratings stretch to 72 nations, essentially only 10 are truly relevant: the four teams that make up the Rugby Championship and the Six Nations (which is being extremely kind to Italy).
With the exception of South Africa emerging from apartheid in 1992, the Azzurri swelling the northern hemisphere competition to a sextet in 2000 and Argentina joining the southern equivalent in 2012, that figure has largely stayed the same for approximately six decades.
Although the game is played across all four corners of the globe, it remains largely exclusive. So when a worldwide team sport lacks the variation of, to use the obvious example, football – where the world champions of 10 years ago are barely ranked inside the planet’s top 15 sides – what it fundamentally does not need to maintain relevance in a wider context is predictability.
New Zealand are so good, they can play at approximately 75 per cent and still defeat the world’s fourth-best team by 28 points, wrapping the contest up before 60 minutes.
.@AllBlacks is dominating The #RugbyChampionship, they are winning by an avg of 29 pts per game, the highest ever. pic.twitter.com/zVk33IL9D0
— Patrick Yuen (@PatrickYuen_36) September 18, 2016
There is much to marvel about how the All Blacks go about their business but there is little in the way of competition which dampens its long-term appeal.
Given the sport is grappling with overly complex rules, concussions, the spectre of PEDs and a lack of inclusion due to the prerequisute of having to be an athletic freak to properly take up the game, the absolute last thing it needs is for matches between top-level sides to be boring.
It’s not the All Blacks fault and the federations of South Africa, Australia, England pre-Eddie Jones and France should bear some responsibility as their own mismanagement, poor governance and decision-making has helped contribute to the situation.
But the gap is only widening and unless the chasing pack dramatically improve, that figure of 10 relevant teams won’t grow, it’ll shrink to just one.
How can that be good for rugby union?
