Welcome to the Gen Z All Blacks, and why an ice-cold business approach is needed to end their excuse culture

Back in November of 2021, I wrote a piece for The Roar that drew some 46,000 views titled, “The All Blacks issues are neither tactical or selection, it’s a whole lot worse than that.”

Here we are, some four years later, with a new head coach, a voluminous support team, and a new All Black captain, but the situation is worse than at the time of the previous piece. We now have a group of individuals who are embedded within an excuse culture, hiding behind the comfort blanket of how running rugby is the All Black DNA. They have nicely developed a little virtuous circle where personal accountability has died on the altar of a weak and simply false ideology.

To prove that it is not just a men’s rugby issue, witness the Black Ferns press conference after the Rugby World Cup loss to Canada. Coach Allan Bunting observed it is sometimes just not your day, while the co-captain wheeled out the DNA invisibility blanket.

Let’s apply some business thinking here. Yes, the Black Ferns won the prior RWC but it had little to do with wonderful ball handling. They should have been on the bus after the semi-final had the poor French kicker, Caroline Drouin, not shanked a penalty sideways from right in front on the bell. They then got to play an England side in the final who were reduced to 14 players after only 18 minutes, and it still needed a defensive lineout steal at the death to secure the win.

Any analysis at all of that tournament, a record of 2 from 9 against England, Canada and France, and any viewing of how the crowd-funded Canadians played would have screamed that a fundamentally different approach was required to this current tournament. But no, we ignored what the others were doing and stuck with a mantra that is simply and visibly failing.

And therein lies the issues that have become deeply embedded with the All Black men’s team. Let’s dispel this excuse-ridden DNA notion once and for all because it does not stand up to even a rudimentary examination.

What types of teams win Super Rugby, the tournament from which the All Blacks are selected? The Crusaders have been dominating it for years because their forward pack is rock solid, they win their individual battles at the gain line and in the collision, they create a platform that is moving forward, and they run a practical decision maker playing at 10 before they give a thought to ripping you to bits with pace wider out.

When Vern Cotter’s Blues had the temerity to win the tournament in 2024, they were even more direct, bashing at the opposition from one out, time and again, challenging defenders to make just one more tackle until they broke. The best game I have ever attended in person was the Super Rugby semi-final in Sydney in 2015, hosted by the Waratahs, when a Highlander eight without a single international bashed away at an Australian pack with Test match forward caps galore in every position. By flying into rucks, both defensive and attacking, the far more skilful Tahs were never afforded an opportunity to set a platform and get into the game.

Take a step back further in time. What do we think the likes of Richard Loe, Robin Brooke, Frank Bunce and even back to Grant Fox would think of the statement that playing faster than anyone else is the DNA of the All Blacks? This current group of All Black players simply do not have the physical attributes to frighten the opposition, and any talk of an alternate DNA is simply a nice place to hide.

I dropped a note to one of The Roar’s writers after the loss to South Africa. If you were at the Beach Hotel, Dunedin, and it kicked off, as it often did about 11pm on a Saturday during the football season, how many of this current All Black side would you want standing behind you?

Forget the nonsense about losing their aura. This lot have surrendered the most basic of rugby requirements, physical intimidation. No matter how the laws change or how much ball is in play, rugby union is at its heart a collision and contact sport. If you can’t compete week after week here, then volatility in performance and outcomes will simply continue. For the record, with the exclusion of Grant Fox, any of the above list would have gone just fine at the Beach Hotel.

There is a huge field of academic work in the benefits of high-performance sport and business learning from each other, and it is now time for New Zealand Rugby leaders to apply some external thinking. (For those interested, Peak Performance: Business Lessons from the World’s Top Sports Organizations is a good introduction.)

So how to fix this horrible cultural dilemma the All Blacks find themselves in?

Admit that there is an embedded problem. I would point back to the 2019 RWC semi-final loss to England as the first symptom of the new DNA malaise becoming embedded. Owen Franks was at home doing weights in his garage, Sam Cane was on the bench, while Ryan Crotty and Ben Smith were left out together. This was the day that New Zealand rugby got its balance between platform and non-platform player totally wrong and from which they have never recovered. It doesn’t matter who your flair players are, no platform equals no winning consistency.

Be ruthless in having a cleanout of those who are not contributing. This includes those most invested in the current cultural mantra, those who have been around the squad for some time without making any real impact, and senior players who are not delivering on their personal roles. They are out. Not benched, not moved in position, not kept around the squad to bring on the young players, not kept around because you are unsure about the calls you are making. Just out, gone. It’s the only way to send a message in a high-performance team. If you do not meet the standards for which you are being handsomely rewarded, then that revenue stream stops, and stops quickly.

Allow your decisions to be backed up by analysis, do it with a high degree of transparency and refuse to repeat the glaring errors of the very recent past.

This could be quite an extensive list but let’s start with these:

No more dual playmakers at 10 and 15, an absolute failure since Richie Mo’unga was parachuted in to save a stuttering attack before the 2019 RWC and was handed a sea anchor at fullback.

Rush defence is now a constant at the highest levels. We will never select a first five-eighth who cannot handle this, to the exclusion of all other considerations.

The loose forward trio will be balanced by never again selecting two primary ball runners in the trio.

If there is an element of genuine DNA in New Zealand rugby, it is that the man in the seven shirt will be first to the tackle, first to the ruck, and do these two things as many times as possible within any 80-minute period in partnership with his blindside.

Acknowledge that the contest for the ball in the air is an integral part of the game and select a back three to combat this as a key determinant.

We will never again speak about wanting to play fast running rugby and then select Finlay Christie, Beauden Barrett, Jordie Barrett and Billy Proctor next to each other.

If we want to play with width after winning the right, we will select genuine pace in at least two positions in the backline, an area the All Blacks are now behind all of their Rugby Championship counterparts in.

We will foster combinations and not allow individual players to fall out of pattern problem solving on their own when things get tough.

Recognise that turnovers conceded, penalties conceded, and individual errors are greater determinants on the outcomes of test matches than flair actions, and those failing the collective tests consistently will not be considered.

Selection of physically scary individuals must be a priority.

Something to be going on with, then. The next question, of course, is if massive change is required to get the All Black ship back on course, is Robertson the man to do it? To date, he has done very little to show that he is a change agent of any kind.

I would love to have been in the interview when he was selected as coach. What exactly was the pitch? I will pretty much do the same things as Ian Foster, but will just do them quicker, and the results will change despite the fact that I will not address any of the fundamental flaws of the previous six or seven years. It seems the board at NZR just didn’t know which questions to ask, and I hope with David Kirk on board that changes.

Economist Thomas Sowell once said that adversity provides valuable lessons which reduce the probability of repeating foolish decisions. Maybe we should get him on board.

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