'Sorry Ireland, we didn't need to get motivated playing you': All Blacks great
It must be hard to imagine for All Blacks that were playing only ten years ago that a rivalry with Ireland would not only soon emerge, but be one of the biggest in the game.
Given that Ireland had to wait 111 years to taste victory over the All Blacks, it is understandable why any player who pulled on the black jersey prior to that historic day in Chicago in 2016 would have been slightly dismissive of the men in green.
Now with five wins in their last nine meetings, that has all changed, but former All Blacks Zinzan Brooke and Justin Marshall recently gave an insight into the All Blacks' "type of arrogance" when facing sides that had never beaten them.
On The Good, the Bad & the Rugby podcast, the pair discussed how the "dynamic's changed" between Ireland and New Zealand, and how Friday's hosts at the Aviva Stadium no longer fear the three-time world champions.
From Peter O'Mahony's comments to Sam Cane to Reiko Ioane's message to Johnny Sexton last year, this is now a Test with a lot of "spice", to which Brooke believes "if you're going to give it out, you've got to take it as well."
While this is now one of the biggest games in the rugby calendar, that was not always the case, as the former All Blacks No 8 explains.
"Sorry to say, Ireland, but we didn't need to get motivated back in the day playing you guys," Brooke said.
"You couldn't. You didn't. You turned up, kicked their arse and do the job.
"We just knew if we just deliver and we just function and we just do the basics, you'll p**s this."
Marshall added: "A massive advantage that we had when we played was that they had never beaten us. So history was hanging over them as well. That's quite heavy baggage to have knowing that for over 100 years you'd been trying. We know that you've got all the pressure because you don't know how to get the job done, whereas we do because we've been doing it for over 100 years.
"So that was why we had that type of arrogance because Scotland's never beaten us, Ireland had never beaten us, when we were playing Argentina had never beaten us, Wales hadn't beaten us and still haven't in sixty-odd years. All of a sudden, we've got that mentality. Whereas this current side, with Ireland beating them for the first time in Chicago, that's not a burden for them any more. So the dynamic's changed from when we were playing, because we had that edge."
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"I wasn't after conjecture/opinion thanks. Just a list. I guess I have to look myself now (I just want to read data atm)."
I literally listed all the games under Borthwick where Marcus has started at 10. Do you want me to apologise for telling you who won those games?
"you suggested they didn't use him and used a different setup instead"
I suggested switching out Marcus for Fin. I didn't suggest that that would require other changes elsewhere in the team. My entire argument has been that Fin would better suit the strengths of the rest of the team, and allow England to play an attacking gameplan that (i) comes naturally to the players, and (ii) has worked well for them in the recent past.
"Oh right, so the side is starting to play better with him?"
No, its playing much much worse. In 2022 England didn't lose 5 consecutive games. In 2022 England beat Australia in Australia. In 2021 Marcus Smith helped England beat South Africa. That was the best England have ever looked with Marcus at 10, and its been downhill since then.
"I'd like to see it continue now and see how good a Marcus side could get"
We know the answer to that. Marcus Smith was England's starting flyhalf for 21 months from mid 2021 to the start of 2023, and they went from 3rd in the world to 6th in the world. He's a good club player, but his club performances haven't improved since then, so there's no reason to think there'll be a different outcome this time, and so far there hasn't been. This summer he came into a good (but not great) England team who seemed like they were on the up, and performances have got worse almost every week since.
Go to commentsYes he’s playing well and should be a viable option now because of this at 13 for the ABs
IMO a little slow to turn on D but perhaps that has improved
Defence is a massive part of test midfield partnerships these days and whilst they polarise (both or one of them) Jor-ko lets little through - put it this way how many midfielders score through them?
Rieko is suffering on distribution but my his scramble D is incredible
It’s another reason why Proctor should be slowly persevered
He could skinned twice by Riley for Japan
Anyway I look forward to seeing Leicester back in black!
He played great in the World Cup quarterfinal then didn’t make the team in the final!!
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