Rugby is essentially a simple game which the world has spent the past 170 years complicating. Or that is the world bar New Zealand, who have spent the last decade or so trying to simplify the way they play the game. This Saturday night, we’ll see how far they’ve got.
When Australia and New Zealand run out at Twickenham in south-west London, both seeking to win their third world crown, the gameplan each will try to impose on the other won’t be polar opposites, but it will be close.
On one hand the All Blacks, the reigning champions and the best side on the planet for a decade and more, will rely on doing the simple things well, or better than the Wallabies. Australia are altogether adventurous.
When you watch the All Blacks from the stand or touchline rather than on television, it’s the simplicity which is so striking. In essence they have a default position and as soon as they have the ball everyone scurries to their appointed place. Their gameplan relies more on the ball-handling and carrying skills of the forwards. The All Blacks will kick, sometimes more than any other top side, but in essence they seek to impose themselves by being better individually than the opposition.
The other side of Saturday’s coin are Australia – a side more proactive in their search for the weak link. Like the All Blacks, the Wallabies make defenders take decisions, but instead of imposing themselves with simple skill-sets (easier said than done) they go about the work of finding a mismatch in more dynamic fashion.
It looks simple. After all, not many tries are scored from first phase, but the execution, more often than not, is clinical. The Wallabies attack is based on building blocks. First there is the vision – to switch play right to left after dragging most of the cover to the wrong side of a ruck. Then comes the job of isolating a defender, which Australia do by giving him options – making him take a decision.
The Wallabies like to stack their attack, one man behind another and then get the defender to make his move. If his shoulders signal he’s turning out to take the second attacker, the first guy just takes the inside shoulder and runs all over him. If the defender’s shoulders signal he’s stepping inside, then the second attacker steps wide and into space.
New Zealand are the current World Cup holders and the No 1-ranked team. Their long history with the Wallabies goes back to 1903 when the on-tour All Blacks defeated Australia 22-3 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The Wallabies would have to wait seven years before they finally got one over their neighbours and little has changed in the past century. The two teams have met 154 times and on only 42 occasions, or 29.2% of the time, have Australia emerged victorious.
But the Wallabies have some history on their side, as in World Cups they have knocked the All Blacks out twice – on their way to victory in 1991 and in the semi-finals in 2003.
New Zealand booked their place in the final after a tight and tense battle with South Africa, eventually seeing off the Springboks by two points. Australia’s win over Argentina was a little more straight-forward, but still involved several nervy moments in the second half as the Pumas rallied.
History will be broken this weekend no matter who emerges victorious.