Robbie Deans by Matt McILraith

Author:Matt McILraith
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-927262-22-1
Publisher: Upstart Press
Published: 2014-01-09T16:00:00+00:00

17

Title Years (Part 4): Emerging From the Fog

Psychology plays a massive part in sport. It provides an unseen point of difference that is often decisive in an industry more tenuous than many appreciate. The margins between success and failure can be small.

This was the case for the Crusaders during back-to-back final appearances in 2003 and 2004, both of which concluded with watching their opponents receive the trophy. While the Blues and Brumbies were worthy champions in each instance, the Crusaders were not helped by distractions on the periphery.

The shadow of that year’s Rugby World Cup and the diversion it provided for the majority of the playing group undoubtedly played a part in 2003. Fourteen Crusaders attended the Rugby World Cup in Australia. While their places were all earned, most through the Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup wins from earlier in the year, Super Rugby had ushered in a new threat.

Wayne Smith’s deputy at the Crusaders, Peter Sloane, had taken over at the Blues. Graham Henry returned from Wales to help, and had got his timing right with nine of the squad starting the year with a spring in their step, courtesy of involvement on the previous year’s All Blacks tour of Europe.

Meanwhile the Crusaders’ focus was probably not what it should have been. Twenty-three of the 30 players in the squad had won Super Rugby previously, most on more than one occasion. Fifteen of the All Blacks had been allowed to skip the end-of-year tour in order to get their bodies right and a proper pre-season under their belts ahead of the Rugby World Cup.

Eyes on the bigger prize?

It certainly appeared that way, to the extent that Robbie was forced to deliberately bench senior players at various stages to send out a clear message that the only thing that mattered was the present.

‘While we had a few injury problems as well that year, there’s no doubt that the Rugby World Cup provided a distraction, as it did again four years later.

‘Comfort is a dangerous thing. It doesn’t take much for standards to drop, especially if players are looking ahead and are, subconsciously at least, saving themselves for what they perceive to be the bigger occasion.’

The campaign certainly started as if normal service, following the previous year’s perfect crusade, had resumed. Nine tries were scored through wins over the Hurricanes (37–21) and the Queensland Reds (34–6). Then came the shock.

Matched up against the Blues at Albany, the Crusaders uncharacter-istically leaked five tries and were humiliated 5–39.

The season spluttered along from that point, arriving at crunch time entering the final two weeks of the preliminary phase. Although the defending champions had regained their mojo to some extent, boasting a six-win, three-loss record, they were by no means assured of a home semi-final. To make sure of it, they had to beat both the Stormers, whom they’d never beaten in Cape Town, and the Brumbies, away.

It was shake-up time.

Benching senior players Scott Robertson, Chris Jack, Greg Somerville and Dave Hewett while resting Richie McCaw, from such a pivotal match, was a brave move.

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