Let’s not pretend this is a great All Blacks side who were robbed

I can only offer South Africa my heartiest congratulations.

After watching them lose to the All Blacks at Mt Smart Stadium in July, I thought they were about to go the way of other ageing Rugby World Cup champions.

To me they had the look of New Zealand in 1991 and Australia in 1995 and were likely to pay the price for hanging onto guys whose best rugby days were behind them.

Throw in a 2023 tournament run that included physical encounters with Scotland, Ireland, France and England and I simply didn’t think some of those old blokes would have the legs to run with the All Blacks.

Well, I was wrong and the Springboks were the right winners of this Rugby World Cup. I was especially pleased for wing Cheslin Kolbe and captain Siya Kolisi, who would both have feared that spells in the sin bin might cost their team victory.

I’ve chuckled in the hours and days since the Springboks’ 12-11 win over the All Blacks.

It’s been comical to hear how many people aren’t familiar with the way rugby’s laws are interpreted or weren’t aware of the Television Match Official’s role.

This wasn’t a game that I’ll call contentious. I thought it was well-officiated and that the best team won.

I’d prefer that New Zealanders were better-equipped to take defeat in their stride, but it appears not.

After all, you can’t say we haven’t had practice in recent seasons.

This has been a poor era for our national side and you would be one-eyed in the extreme to suggest otherwise.

Let’s not rewrite history here. Let’s not pretend this is a great side who were robbed of victory, having been expertly prepared by their head coach.

The evidence simply doesn’t support the argument.

There are good players in this All Blacks’ team and I want to praise a few of them for their efforts in the final and this season.

Jordie Barrett was immense against the Springboks, as were Scott Barrett and Brodie Retallick. None of them could have done more to earn their team victory.

Aaron Smith was excellent and will be missed. Quite why he and Richie Mo’unga were replaced in the final is beyond me.

Mark Tele’a is another player whose performances are consistently outstanding. Ardie Savea too. Ethan de Groot and Tyrel Lomax aren’t far below that standard either.

That’s why I don’t support the argument - often put forward by apologists for coach Ian Foster - that we simply don’t have the cattle.

We had the talent, there just appeared to be something missing from that side. Call it consistency or clinical edge, there was just too great a disparity between this team’s best performance and its worst.

But I don’t think it’s grounds to scrap Super Rugby or rip up our player development pathway. It’s not time to change rugby’s laws or abandon the TMO.

We just need to take a breath, pass sober judgement over what worked and what didn’t in this coaching era and see what Scott Robertson can do when it's his turn.

It’s a shame so many of this team won’t be around when Robertson assumes the head-coaching role, but such is the World Cup cycle.

It’ll be up to him to identify a new group of test footballers and quickly re-establish the winning culture that’s been the hallmark of All Black rugby.

If he can, he’ll be lauded. If not, then he’ll be subject to the sort of scrutiny that Foster got.

That’s high-performance sport.

For now, South Africa are world champions and deservedly so. More than that, they’re an inspirational and unifying force in a nation still facing massive social challenges.

The Springboks might not have played with huge style at this Rugby World Cup, but the substance of their squad is undoubted.

Theirs was a tough row to hoe, but they did it without fuss or excuses.

We’d do well to learn from that.