Editorial: All Blacks must pull socks up

OPINION: A strong case can be made for suggesting New Zealanders attach too much importance to the All Blacks. The team's performance does not drive the economy or determine the standard of healthcare.

Contrary to legend, it does not influence the outcome of elections either. Rugby is, first and foremost, a game. It should be played and watched for enjoyment. But, just at the moment, things are different. In a little under two years the biggest sporting event to be held in this country will begin when the All Blacks play Tonga in the opening match of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

The Government is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in the tournament to give the public a chance to watch the All Blacks challenge for rugby's biggest trophy on home soil, and to show the rest of the rugby-playing world what New Zealand has to offer.

It is not essential for the success of the tournament that the All Blacks win. But it is essential that they perform creditably and help to generate excitement in the event.

For that reason the performance of the team this season is a concern. If the All Blacks perform as abjectly in 2011 as they have so far this season, a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to brand New Zealand as an exciting innovative place to visit and do business will be diminished.

For the same reason, the performance of the side's coaches – Graham Henry, Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith – is an even greater worry, a worry that is not alleviated by changes to their roles. In what looks alarmingly like a rearrangement of the deckchairs on the Titanic, the three have responded to public and player concern about the team's performance by swapping jobs. Henry, the defence supremo, is going to take over coaching the forwards. Hansen, who has made his career as a forwards coach, is going to oversee the attack, and Smith, the attack coach, is going to take over the defence.

"I've got energy, I'm excited about that possibility," Henry said after the announcement.

"It's something we talked about earlier in the year," Hansen said. "How do we keep growing ourselves and the group?"

Here is a news flash for Messrs Henry and Hansen: they were not appointed to their positions to give them challenges or personal growth opportunities. They were appointed to shape the best possible team from New Zealand's talent pool, a pool their rivals would salivate over. Shifting them from areas in which they have expertise to areas in which they have less expertise appears unlikely to remedy the All Blacks' lineout woes or tactical deficiencies, although Henry, as the forwards coach, may be less reluctant to call on the outside help clearly required for the lineout than Hansen, who refused to countenance assistance.

Sport can be a brutal business. Players who perform poorly are dropped. Coaches should be held to the same standard. The changes convey an impression of action, but it will probably not be till the All Blacks next face South Africa next season that rugby bosses know whether they have made a difference.

If they do not, the rugby union is running out of time to find replacements.

- © Fairfax NZ News