Tosh! These AIs count a great deal for all teams concerned with the WC draw looking large on the horizon and no one wanting to be in a pool of death.
How do you figure that?
We were no.1 heading into the AI's and we will be no.1 when they're done. It's not bravado or some such nonsense, its just mathematics.
The AI's are a bit of fun, they let touring teams blood new players and they can be a good earner but they're nowhere near as important as the Super Rugby ***le and the Rugby Championship ***le thanks very much.
They are not as important as the Bledisloe Cup.
Additionally we smashed the Aussies after a long season
You did and it was an excellent achievement , no question.
We also played them a little while later and ran up a massive score against them in their own backyard. We then went on to beat them 3 times in a row. Nothing new for us...
... and having grand slammed the 6 nations.
These days if can beat Ireland you get a Grand Slam. Sorry Wales but thats pretty much the size of the 6 Nations. It's a grand old girl of a competition but it's looking long overdue a massive overhaul and as long as it continues masquerading as the pre-eminent major tournament outside of the RWC then all of the NH teams will stay a little behind the teams in the RC in regards to preparation for a RWC.
That can be enough. Week in , week out long distance travelling and the adversity of knowing you have to play away every year. It mentally and physically toughens the teams into dealing with the conditions created in a RWC.
Argentina have made great strides in just 2-3 years in the RC. It requires an enormous effort and so I'm not surprised to see their intensity dip.
That bloody Olly. He started this and then he runs off into the night like a robbers dog !!
Embarrassment.
Now I was serious about this aspect when referring to how the English team is bringing a new motivation to their play this year and it occurs to me that the prime element for motivation in recent times has been the unfortunate outcome of England's RWC performance, particularly as the hosts.
South Africa tried to take away the lime light from England with their confrontation with Japan early on but nothing could eclipse the unmitigated disaster of not getting out of your own pool, in your home RWC.
It was devastating.
England were like the powder puff girls getting pushed around by Australia and Wales.
So who better to bring in as a manager than the arch rival of the powder puff girls, Eddie 'Mojo JoJo'.
He sorted the team positions, kept the vast majority of the players (because the playing staff are very good) and lifted the mental set straight away.
The mad dog kiwi hooker was made captain (great choice) and Christopher was demoted to snuggling Pooh Bear at the side of the scrum where he could focus on his game (great decision)
The 'Embarrassment' of the RWC debacle was not been forgotten. It was instead used as a motivational tool to get the players up for each match and away went Mojo JoJo, lifting his charges for each game as they steadily knocked down the pins in the 6 Nations. Then the big foray into Aussie where Mojo JoJo learned his dark arts.
Aussie seemed to be incredibly blasé' about the 'Poms' coming to town.
Why?
Why would you make a 'promotional video' for a three test series with England where you trot out former Wallaby greats and use them to ridicule Englands performance of just a few short months ago?
They were already using it as a motivating element and Michael Cheika played straight into the hands of the English squads psyche. What more reason could you ask for to stick it right up the Convicts.
Its just craziness to give your opponents an axe to grind but thats how the Aussies like to conduct themselves and it backfired in a massive way.
Ok two of the games were close but England refused to submit at any point and came away with three straight test wins, a whitewash.
The key to motivating the team to winning ways?
Embarrassment.
The All Blacks.
2007.
RWC quarter final. One of the finest AB teams ever assembled took to the field as heavy favourites to send the French across the channel in a hurry and the upset saw the AB's swatted out of the tournament in their worst ever effort.
Mega 'Embarrassment.'
The players were devastated.
However, that abject failure , and the embarrassment garnered from it, motivated the AB's to develop themselves into a unit that could go on to win the next two Rugby World Cups, back to back, home and away.
Who knows where England can kick on from here under Mojo JOJO but they certainly don't appear to be the powder puff girls they were 12 months ago.
