All Blacks "suffering an existential crisis of identity"

Losing their status as world rugby’s greatest power has left the All Blacks struggling with an “existential crisis of identity”, a rugby pundit writing in Irish media has claimed.

Writing in the Irish Times, Matt Williams, former coach of the Waratahs, Leinster, Ulster and Scotland, said: “The dawning of the reality that the Springboks are better than anything in a black jersey has led to an existential crisis of identity within the Shaky Isles.

“The Kiwis have become so accustomed to, as they see it, being superior to all other rugby species on the planet, that the realisation that this image of themselves no longer holds true has come as a crushing blow to their self-image.”

Williams, an Australian, said “the New Zealand mindset has never recovered” after Ireland beat the All Blacks 2-1 in a series on these shores in 2022. “Like the Visigoth hordes sacking the ancient Roman capital, the Irish arrived in New Zealand in 2022 and they did not bother knocking on the front door. Instead, they kicked it off its hinges.”

Williams found time to fire a couple of shots at the Kiwi rugby media: “The New Zealand rugby media has only two gears. Bragging of how much better their national team is compared to the rest of the world or a panicked internal catastrophe when they lose a few games.”

Noting that the All Blacks “remain a world powerhouse”, he said Irish fans should not “be fooled into a false sense of security by the irrational and emotional panic frothing up from the New Zealand rugby media”.

The All Blacks have an unusually shortened gap between their last test against England and this one in Dublin, after the Irish insisted on playing the match on a Friday (local time). Nonetheless, Williams said the All Blacks would have an advantage due to the amount of rugby they have played in recent months.

Noting that the All Blacks “remain a world powerhouse”, he said Irish fans should not “be fooled into a false sense of security by the irrational and emotional panic frothing up from the New Zealand rugby media”.

The All Blacks have an unusually shortened gap between their last test against England and this one in Dublin, after the Irish insisted on playing the match on a Friday (local time). Nonetheless, Williams said the All Blacks would have an advantage due to the amount of rugby they have played in recent months.

“Time spent together at training and in matches is an essential ingredient in a team’s growth.”

He also said “revenge” for the 2022 series defeat would be an added motivation for the New Zealanders.

“That series defeat inflicted on them at home by Ireland still painfully reverberates in the Shaky Isles.”

He said Ireland should rightly be regarded as favourites. “The men in green will go into the match as slight favourites with their long unbeaten run at home being a key factor. Added to the fact that this is an exceptionally high quality group of Irish players, full of experienced talent, combined with a confident coaching staff who have proved that they can maximise the talents in their team.

“Twenty years ago, Irish crowds would turn up at the old Lansdowne Road to experience the haka and expect a brave Ireland to inevitably fall to a vastly superior New Zealand team. Inside Irish hearts of that era, winning was not a truly held belief. Those days are now long dead and buried.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission