The best rugby union team of all time? It is not a label to be casually lobbed around but this New Zealand side are now in a class of their own. To win even one World Cup is beyond most people; to secure two in succession demands consistent quality, skill, power and mental strength given to few. Along with West Indies cricketers of the 1980s and the great Kangaroo squads in rugby league the All Blacks are redefining the art of the possible.
It is not as if they have struggled between World Cups either. Three defeats in 54 games under the guidance of Steve Hansen is almost ridiculous. Not so long ago they were supposed to be ageing, potentially vulnerable and stuttering through their pool. Yeah, right. In defeating a competitive Australia team to retain the Webb Ellis Cup, they looked not only the most complete team to win the tournament but also the most dynamic All Black side of any era.
It helps when a team has athletes – and men – of the calibre of Richie McCaw and Dan Carter. As Hansen observed afterwards, what McCaw has achieved should be impossible. “You shouldn’t play 148 Tests as a flanker. That’s unheard of.”
So, too, is playing as well as Carter has been lately with a strapped-up knee and the pressure of knowing that, having missed the 2011 final through injury, he was wedged up against the swinging doors of the last-chance saloon. To watch him uncharacteristically roaring on his wonderful, nerve-settling drop goal and celebrating freely afterwards was to see a sportsman visibly fulfilled.
Only Roger Federer makes games-playing look simpler but the Swiss smoothie does not have 18st opponents roaming the baseline trying to break his ribs every couple of minutes. In the Kiwi team-room they had been trying to identify something Carter had not achieved in his career and came up with his failure to kick goals right-footed. Hence the reason why, following Beauden Barrett’s late icing-on-the-cake try, the 33-year-old scored his final points in Test rugby with his wrong foot. “It’s always been a dream of mine to kick a conversion right-footed. I was having a bit of fun with the guys in the team that it would never happen. I practised a few in training and I just thought I’d give it a wee go.”
The most perceptive analysis of Carter’s brilliance on Saturday, however, came from Stephen Larkham, the outstanding former Wallaby fly-half who is Michael Cheika’s assistant coach. “He was a superstar even though he was on one leg,” Larkham said. “He certainly wasn’t as quick as when I played against him but he controls the game better now than he ever has. That was his key … putting the team around the paddock and kicking his goals when he needed to.”
Even a proud Australian like Larkham conceded Carter and McCaw deserved their perfect finish. “Looking at it from the other side of the fence I think it’s fitting those couple of guys go out on a high.”
He is not wrong. Ultimately the All Blacks did not just lift a trophy or win a handful of big games. Instead they set out to achieve an even loftier goal, to boldly go where no one else had gone before and to do it with a smile.
Hansen can still play the bad cop – he was once a police officer – when he feels like it but his team have deliberately set out to gain new friends around the country since their arrival. “It’s been a chance to show people we are not the big bad ogres we are presented to be in the media,” murmured the coach.
The sheer rugby intellect of New Zealand and Australia has also shone through repeatedly, perfectly illustrated by Conrad Smith’s unselfish line and educated pass which created the space for his side’s opening try by Nehe Milner-Skudder.
As Ma’a Nonu surged unstoppably away following Sonny Bill Williams’ offload for the score that underlined the All Blacks’ all-court ability, it begged further questions. Are Smith and Nonu the greatest Kiwi centre partnership of all time, better even than the great Frank Bunce and Walter Little? How would Williams have performed in England’s midfield? The first is no longer a matter of debate, the second a wistful irrelevance.
If England have half a brain they should short-circuit their own review and ask one of Hansen’s understated assistants, Wayne Smith and Ian Foster, if they fancy swapping black for white. Whoever is coaching them in 2019, life is not going to get any easier; Aaron Cruden is only 26, Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock, Aaron Smith, Malakai Fekitoa and Waisake Naholo still have their best years ahead of them and Ardie Savea, brother of Julian, is going to be another notable addition to the All Blacks back-row options. Australia will be stronger, too, as will South Africa and others.
Wallaby hearts may have fluttered momentarily in hope when their team scored 14 points, including tries for David Pocock and Tevita Kuridrani, while Ben Smith was in the sin-bin but, ultimately, the best World Cup ever staged was won by the best team involved. To set alongside New Zealand’s “Originals” of 1905 and the “Invincibles” of 1924 we now have the “Incredibles” of 2015. We will forget neither them nor this golden tournament in a hurry.
New Zealand B Smith; Milner-Skudder (Barrett, 65), C Smith (Williams, h-t), Nonu, Savea; Carter, A Smith (Kerr-Barlow, 71); Moody, (B Franks, 59), Coles (Mealamu, 65), O Franks (Faumuina, 54), Retallick, Whitelock, Kaino (Vito, 71), McCaw (capt; Cane 80), Read.
Tries Milner-Skudder, Nonu, Barrett. Cons Carter 2. Pens Carter 4. Drop goal Carter. Sin-bin B Smith 52.
Australia Folau; Ashley-Cooper, Kuridrani, Giteau (Beale, 26), Mitchell (Toomua, 66-71); Foley, Genia (Phipps, 70); Sio (Slipper, 59), Moore (capt; Polota-Nau, 55), Kepu (Holmes, 59), Douglas (Mumm, 15), Simmons, Fardy (McCalman, 60), Hooper, Pocock.
Tries Pocock, Kuridrani. Cons Foley 2. Pen Foley.
Referee N Owens (Wales). Attendance 80,125.
