'Certain arrogance': Why the All Blacks didn't shoot for a drop goal against the Wallabies

Jonny Wilkinson, Hugo Porta and Naas Botha would have snapped a dropped goal in similar circumstances.

So would Dan Carter and Grant Fox, for that matter.

We are, of course, talking about the dropped goal that didn’t happen during the dying throes of Bledisloe One in Wellington. Neither the All Blacks nor the Wallabies opted for a pot, which would have broken the deadlock for either side in those last, frantic seven or eight minutes.

The All Blacks, it must be said, were better positioned, and were forming rucks almost right between the uprights as the drama unfolded.

Why did they not attempt a dropped goal to break the deadlock and win the game? The fact they did not deserve to win the match is neither here nor there. Professional sport is about winning, finding a way to win, even if you do not deserve the result.

Ian Foster was never going to hang his playmakers, notably Richie Mo’unga, out to dry, but he did tend to fudge the issue, admitting they were set up for the pot but backing a call from Jordie Barrett for another option.

And yet the Wallabies’ defence had proven tight as a drum for most of the contest. The All Blacks eschewed a late penalty shot at goal, before Sam Cane told Barrett to shoot for an easier goal in the 77th minute. That made it 16-all. The All Blacks were not thinking of a draw at that stage. When Reece Hodge let fly with his 54m penalty goal attempt as time wound down, they were thinking about a loss. To their credit, they did the right things under pressure in working field position while guarding the ball with their life.

Why, then, did Mo’unga not snap the goal when it was on? This aversion to dropped goals is mystifying. Carter, one of the most attacking-minded first fives of all time, won a test against Ireland in Christchurch back in 2012 by taking a calm three points to break a 19-all deadlock. He kicked 19 dropped goals in his long first-class career.

That pales into insignificance, though, when you consider that Barry Fairbrother of South Canterbury holds the NZ record with 61, at better than a pot every two games. Fox kicked 47, Andrew Mehrtens 54, though one miss – in the 1995 RWC final – will haunt him for all time.

In 1984, Jean-Patrick Lescarboura famously missed four late pots at Lancaster Park as France pushed the All Blacks 10-9. He was inconsolable, but just needed to be better under pressure.

Do not forget that the 1986 Baby Blacks snapped three dropped goals – shared by Frano Botica and Greg Cooper – to shade France, whose nine points all came from pots by the same Lescarboura.