Mystique of All Blacks is gone

Ex Supersport:

The aura of an unbeatable New Zealand rugby team is no longer a psychological barrier for northern hemisphere sides following the tied series with the Lions, claims England's World Cup winning coach Clive Woodward.

Woodward -- who as head coach endured a miserable Lions tour of New Zealand in 2005 losing the series 3-0 -- declares in 'The Mail on Sunday' the 'genie is out of the bottle' with regards to the unbeatable All Blacks.

The Lions came back in the third and final test on Saturday to force a 15-15 draw to leave the series tied 1-1 -- their first drawn series with the All Blacks and tantalisingly close to emulating the 1971 Lions as the only ones to have beaten the Kiwis.

"There was a big message here for northern hemisphere rugby," wrote Woodward.

"The All Blacks are a very good rugby side, rightly ranked No 1 in the world, but they are not unbeatable and there is no reason why one of the home unions should not win the World Cup in 2019 (being hosted in Japan)."

Woodward, who was knighted for his guiding England to a thrilling victory in the 2003 World Cup, puts forward as evidence the All Blacks historic defeat by Ireland last year and then being held by the Lions when everything was in their favour.

"The genie is out of the bottle -- a new generation of British and Irish players will no longer be intimidated mentally by playing New Zealand."

Woodward also praises Lions head coach Warren Gatland -- the 'Sun on Sunday' couldn't resist the headline 'Clown but not Out' referring to the Kiwi attending the post match press conference adorned with a clown's red nose in riposte to a New Zealand newspaper who caricatured him as one.(FUNNY THE KBBS HERE NEVER MENTIONEDTHIS!!!!)

'LUDICROUS TO CHANGE YOUR DECISION'

Former England great Lawrence Dallaglio lauds captain Sam Warburton in 'The Sunday Times' for bouncing back, after being dropped for the first Test which the All Blacks comfortably won.

"It is his (Warburton) leadership, particularly his inter-action with the past two French referees, that will stand out for me," wrote the 44-year-old former backrow forward, one of Woodward's World Cup winning stars.

"The captain sets the tone for team discipline, or at least how the referee perceives it.

"As someone who tried to influence the ref a fair bit when I was captain, I know how difficult it is to strike a balance between asserting your case to the man with the whistle without irritating him.

"Warburton has achieved this better than (All Black skipper) Kieran Read in the past two tests."

For mercurial former England fly-half Stuart Barnes it is not Read in his sights but All Blacks fly-half and kicker Beauden Barrett.

Barnes does not doubt his talent but says his missed kicks cost his side dearly.

"Steve Hansen's team play some fantastic rugby but the flaws of their side, encapsulated in the brilliant Beauden Barrett, were laid bare," Barnes wrote in 'The Sunday Times'.

"Quite simply, a side will not keep winning test match rugby without top class goal kickers."

French referee Romain Poite's fateful decision in the dying minutes not to award the hosts a penalty but a scrum for offside also comes under the microscope of retired colleague Jonathan Kaplan.

Kaplan writing in 'The Sunday Telegraph' says Poite could have prevented the controversy over his final call if he had initially penalised Read for taking out Lions fullback Liam Williams in the air.(PLEASE NOTE KBBS!!!!!!)

However, the French official gets a pasting from Kaplan for what came after in agreeing with George Ayoub the Television Match Official (TMO) to award a penalty to the All Blacks for offside and then going back on it.

"It appears ludicrous to change your decision after agreeing it with the TMO," wrote the 50-year-old South African, who refereed at three World Cups.

"It may be his command of English was not the best at this time.

"What many people, even those outside of New Zealand will not understand is how he came to reverse that decision."

W ELL CLEARLY JUSTICE WAS DONE AS READ SHOULD HAVE BEEN PENALIZED. HOPEFULLY THIS WILL END ALL THE WAILING AND NASHING OF TEETH BY HACKED WAAGH, JW , CLOUDY , MOOO LA LA AND ALL THE OTHERS. I HAD TO OMIT MY GOOD FRIEND BRYCY WHO HAS SELDOM BE SCARCER!

 Ebb and flow Beeno, the AB mana is still there and the aura will be restored. We learned something from this Lions series and I'm sure our opponents will also learn from the Lions strategy. You can't win every game but the ABs win more than most. 
This all will help bring back the fans and put us on the edge of our seats. My easy chair was getting too comfortable anyway.
I see you old mate Kaplan is not too impressed with Poite, ha ha. But ABs had their chances and just did capitalize enough on their opportunities.  AB execution will improve and the new players will get better within the system. 

JW, Read should have penalized just before this so justice was done . See my embellishments to the article.

 
A deluded Wanker as always.

Seems it's gonna take awhile before reality smacks him in the face.

LOL!!

 Every time the ABs get beaten or don't come up to their own high expectations, there's always some wise arse like Woodward saying the NH is no longer scared of them and that the aura is gone. YAAAWWWNNN!Let's revisit that statement when the NH teams prove they can regularly beat them. Like at the end of this year.

 The article is poorly built.
It underlined the high demand for NZ to lose, yet failed to report that the ref call was what  met the demand. Without it, the tour was a failure and did not answer customers'expectations.

The article goes as far as trying to provide an alternate solution to meet the demand in a less controversial way. Yet when looked at it, the charge is not a proper material for a clear cut foul.
The article obviously failed to mention that the ref could have taken a bit longer before whistling to see what could happen next. Of course, this option jeopardized the better outcome of a  drawn series.

The masking of the conscious ref call is appalling: it seems to forget that the conversation between refs are public knowledge on the right channels. The conversation left no doubt, implying a lack of command over the language is too cheap.

 is this from the same winning coach that coached the Lions to a series victory in NZ in 2005 .....sounds desperate to me 

The Lions never even looked like scoring a try on Saturday....their 3rd test performance was no better than the Boks against the ABs in the WC absent Poite.

  
"The conversation left no doubt, implying a lack of command over the language is too cheap."

In your case I'd say the price is right Bob.

 That could help an application for reffing rugby.

 Moz, that's a bit of a stretch.  The play leading up to the intercept, leading to the NZ first try, was very good and should have been a try, but for a poor pass that caused the intercept. That intercept probably saved the match for NZ. 

Let's stay tight lipped until after the RC I would say.