The All Blacks Top 20

The All Blacks Top 20

James Mortimer    18.Aug.2013

Allblacks.com looks at what could be the top 20 things to come out of their first match of The Investec Rugby Championship for 2013, extending their unbeaten run in the tournament to seven games as they look to defend the Southern Hemisphere's premier international crown.

Please note this list is in no particular order…

1. Richie McCaw is back – Need we say anymore

2. Ben Smith – as if you needed to prove anything at this point, you score a hat trick.

3. Like the Chiefs, the All Blacks don’t need much territory or possession to win.

4. One more match and one more win and it will be an 11-year reign with the Bledisloe Cup.

5. Carter has a fight on his hands, as Cruden is no longer the understudy.

6. Kieran Read kept walking towards the referee as if he was the captain, he has had a taste now…

7. The All Blacks back three looks beautifully balanced.

8. First ever Test side to win 100 matches against one nation.

9. McCaw first ever All Blacks forward to score 100 points.

10. Current run represents best ever ‘start’ by a Rugby World Cup champion.

11. Wallabies have less than a 40% winning record against the All Blacks in Sydney.

12. Every Australian city seems to have at least half a stadium’s worth of All Blacks supporters.

13. Old. No All Black looked old.

14. McCaw must be the most excited rugby centurion to play the game after his break.

15. Steven Luatua looked big. That is a good sign as a blindside flanker.

16. The All Blacks might just be the best bomb disposal unit in world rugby.

17. How much improvement is in the All Blacks?

18. In the last 17 trans-Tasman Tests, the All Blacks have won 15.

19. Experience rules – the 300 odd Tests that the All Blacks had to their advantage showed in the end.

20. Richie McCaw is back – Need we say anymore.

13. Old. No All Black looked old.
every All Black played hard, was very impressed with the way woody in particular was bouncing from breakdonw to breakdown the enitre 60mins he was on, meke stuff woody.

15. Steven Luatua looked big. That is a good sign as a blindside flanker.
its not his size that made it a good sign, it was his ability to get that size all over the park and still be effective.
messam, luatua, vito, our blinside flanker depth is unmatched in the world.

5. Carter has a fight on his hands, as Cruden is no longer the understudy.
carters still the best in the world, but if hansen and carter are serious about carter being in the 2015 RWC, then they need to lighten his load a little bit more as a sabbatical isnt gonna be enough.
against teams like the pumas, even if carter is fit, he should be on the bench, give cruden more time at the helm as he gets better and better with every game.
i would still start carter against the likes of wallys and Boks etc, but i would trust in cruden a lot more, so subbing off carter in the 55th or 60th minuted regardless of how close the scoreline is, is something that hansen shoulkdnt be afraid to do.

20. Richie McCaw is back – Need we say anymore.
and with the return of McCaw comes the normal fanfare from passionate albeit crybaby rugby supporters, LMAO, :oD
dont worry folks, there are plenty of u out there and if McCaw played for another country, i would be a petulant sooky nana hater too, LMFAO, :oD

Sasuke san:

How's the hangover mate :) I imagine you have had time to clean up the war zone beer cans & the empty bottles of port by now, lol

Nothing like savoring a victory, especially one where some questions were answered.

Yes, McCaw is going to be fine/great again; yes Lauatua will be one to watch & will develop into a hard-man; yes Ben Smith looks like he has played for the ABs for at least five years & is shaping up to be a good fill in for Conrad; yes Retallic is going to be a good one; yes, half-back is a strength for us & well backed-up as is the fly-half position.

We still have some unanswered questions, e.g. hooker & we still need to adjust to the new scrum rules but overall we are doing well under Hansen.

The Boks are coming along also so the competition looks healthy & good for rugby. The fans wil become more rabid as the big games wit the Boks come closer. Ahhh, what a sport we have, eh?

ROLE ON MIGHTY BLACK MACHINE!

 macaaw had a poor outing. Besides being pinged on a number of occassions he knocked the ball a few times as well. I suppose his flopping over the line for  try got the groupies going?

Mike dont expect anything rational re mcaaaw from the ab fans!

CLOUDY GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE CLOUDS GIRL. LD GOAT - Hahahahahaha I'll second that

Thanks

Ha, ha Beeno1, clevermike & co. have your little dig, it give us something else to talk about & distracts from your concerns about the Boks.

Sure he was not up to his usual high standards after 6 months off (penalties in the first 20 minutes) but you don't sound so happy with your lose forwards & they don't have the same excuse. Unfortunately for the opposition he will only get better with more game time.

Challengers include really good players such as Schalk Burger and David Pollock. Usually they are one dimensional & cannot evolve their game like Richie can. All three of these players have had injuries & so far Richie has the one that has consistently returned to the highest standard  to take on the next new-comer. You have to look at the toughness of the man also, playing with the injuries he has had (including at the RWC) and take into accoount the pounding he takes from every team - he is the target for sure.

It can't last forever but he has played 117 tests with a win record of 88% so he will find his place in history.

@mr win & mikey,

i killed my hangover but it cost me my sunday and pretty much wasted the day sleeping, :o/

regarding McCaw, hes already the best player of all time and i was very happy with his performance, as was all the critcs and more importantly hansen himself.
i do agree with mikey that 3 penaties in a match is too much, but two of those were for infringments that anyone could have made, it just happened to be him. but what was more important was how many times he was involved in the tight stuff as well as his usual service around the feild, really was impressive, i doubt anyone in the world could have had such an impact after such lenghty time of with very little top level games, :o)

GO THE MIGHTY ALL BALCKS & GO KING RICHIE!!!

@cloudzter,

LMAO, :oD

beeno1 aka storminged is always wiping egg of his face, he is the resident sarugby court jester an opinon agreed to by saffas and kiwis alike, :oP

hope ur weekend was as good as mine madame vice prez, :o)

i said hello on another thread, but u must have missed it, no worries, :o)


lolz, yeah i watched it for a second time today when i got up.and then i watched the Boks games which i missed last night.

im not surprised to see u happy with McCaws performance, u and i and most of the kiwi contingent knew McCaw would be awesome, and to think he can still get at least 80% better, sigh,,,good times for the All blacks and their fans, :o)

sasue is this guy  Just to clear up any confusion. Cloudy I trust you dont think ou saSUE is hot as well - can nz oaks be that ugly!!

Bwahahahhahahahahha

One can only hope wee mcaaaw hangs on for  long time. 

Hansen praises evergreen McCaw

Sportal.co.nz    18.Aug.2013Getty Images

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has heaped praise on skipper Richie McCaw and stand-in first five-eighths Aaron Cruden after both silenced their doubters in Saturday's crushing 47-29 win over the Wallabies.

McCaw's selection was widely questioned after a six-month rest from the game during Investec Super Rugby, while Cruden also entered the game under immense pressure after replacing Dan Carter (calf) in the starting side.

But both players played starring roles in the six-tries-to-two romp as the All Blacks began their Investec Rugby Championship campaign with a bonus-point victory and took a 1-0 series lead in the battle for the Bledisloe Cup.

"To come back after having a break and everyone doubted him," Hansen said of McCaw.

"To get through to 70 minutes like he did shows the character of the bloke once again so hopefully there won't be any more doubters.

"Some people have questioned marked (Cruden) at times at this level but I think he showed he's a true international player of world class ability.

"He led the team very well."

McCaw said of his Test return after only a handful of club and Super Rugby appearances: "Not too bad. Probably in the first 20 minutes I got a bit over eager at times but I settled into it.

"It was good fun to be involved and run around again."

Asked if he feels his All Blacks have a stranglehold over the Wallabies,' the skipper replied: "From my point of view and our team point of you don't look at it like that.

"There's very little between these teams. If you don't get the prep right and put the performance out there you come second.

If you start thinking you're better than you are you'll tip up. The greatest challenge in sport is to back up performance after performance."

Hansen revealed Cruden suffered a bruised knee during the game while lock Luke Romano has a groin injury, with both players to be assessed.

The coach was understandably delighted with the victory in Sydney but is adamant complacency won't be a factor in Wellington.

"There's still some stuff we need to tidy up and until we win two (games) we don't own it (the Bledisloe Cup).

"I was obviously very, very happy with the performance, it's not every day that you can come here and get 40-odd points.

He added of the new scrum interpretations: "We've just created another issue haven't we? Once we get that sorted out and halfbacks put the ball in straight then we'll be fine.

"Obviously at the moment they're being very vigilant on it.

"You had two sets of halfbacks out there that were very reluctant to put the ball in because they didn't want to be yellow carded.

"I think it's like anything. We said they'd be some teething problems but the great thing about it was we didn't have too many collapses.

"Once we get used to it I think it'll be great for the game."

Having lived through the Christchurch earthquakes, Hansen expressed sympathy for the people of Wellington following this week's events.

"It's a difficult time for the folks in Wellington, in difficult times you draw on your experiences." Hansen said.

"One thing I know about the earthquakes in Christchurch is it's made those people come closer together.

"It's frightening, no doubt about that. We'll just deal with it the way we have to. You can live your life in fear or you can say well I'm going to keep living my life."

LMAO, :oD

i dont mid this guy , he still looks smarter then beeno1 aka storminged, :oP

and thank u madame vice prez, :o)
BTW in beenos mind and some of the saffas here, the Boks won the dunedin test match last year, LMFAO, :oD
their reasoning will have u in stitches, :oP

but not to worry, im sure another performance like in sowetto is in the bag for the Boks and thats when it starts to get awfully quiet round theses here parts.

speaking of quiet, i hope redsneck didnt hang himself, o_O

 Cloudy please dont allow your triplets to play rugby. If they are like mcaaaaaaw and play for the abs it would be a disaster for you oaks. One mcheat is enough - think of what reputaion the kiwis have left! Think of the penalty count the papness of the loose trio etc!

You say ou saSUE is a member of the uzmaki clan. Did you check witth them that they wanted that revealed!!!! How embarrased they must be!! Cloudy you need to be sensitive abut these things!

Are tyou talking about that graveyard backing black - Irecall bumping into you and warped dud there. The most depressing site I ever visited!. You will never learn the game there Cloudy. You are much better off here. saSUEalso needs some moral support as he gets short shift often as he goes off the rails often.

@beeno1 aka storminged,

i dont know how many times ive given u a right ol whallop round the ears, though i shouldnt be boasting, cos ive seen empty packets fo chips with more rugby nous then u, :oP

but lets not forget some of ur classic highlight reels, like when u were busted with ur multiple ids???

or when u wanted to know if a kiwi ref would be reffing the All Blacks france test???

or brother beenos comments regarding meyers 2012 winning percentage "I wonder how these anti Meyer oaks explain his 70% win ratio - eliminate draws as being neutral..(Seems to me we won 7 lost 3 and drew 2?)"

and this dosent even begin to scratch the surface, which while funny is scary cos its true, o_O

sweet dreams cloudzter, :o)

hoot hoot, :o)

 Don't worry. Beeno1 , we still love you :) we know you are coming around to acknowledging McCaw & ABs as the best & we don't hold grudges .