Once again New Zealand have been the all-conquering, supremely dominant force in world rugby yet even a Tri-Nations clean sweep and a European grand slam are viewed as a mere warm-up for the ultimate validation in 2011.
Article from Rugby Heaven(NZ)
Such is rugby’s obsession with the World Cup that virtually every All Black victory is examined minutely to see how it relates to their hopes of ending the pain, frustration and embarrassment of five successive World Cup failures.
In recent years, All Black coaches have tried every imaginable approach to try to build towards the World Cup but Graham Henry finally decided this time that he might as well pick his best team every week and try to win every match.
He very nearly achieved it in a year that produced 13 wins from 14 matches – the only blip being the thrilling injury-time loss to Australia in Hong Kong in October.
That ensured Lithuania would retain their unlikely record as the team with the longest winning run of 18 tests, set this year, but still there is no doubt which team are number one.
As ever, New Zealand seemed to adapt quicker and more fully to the latest tweaks to the interpretations of the game’s laws. This season, these have centred on the breakdown, where the advantage has swung back to the attacking team and so encouraged and rewarded ball-in-hand, quick-recycling, multi-phased attacks.
Having swept to a clean sweep of wins in a Tri-Nations competition that averaged 55 points per game, the All Blacks cruised to their third grand slam in five years while at times barely breaking sweat against the four home unions.
They were named International Rugby Board (IRB) team of the year, Henry was coach of the year for the fourth time and peerless flanker Richie McCaw was player of the year for the third time.
MIXED SEASON
Flyhalf Dan Carter overtook Jonny Wilkinson as the game’s leading scorer and will now need to match the Englishman’s famed stoicism to deal with the potentially crippling load of World Cup expectation weighing on his shoulders.
Australia ended their 10-match winless streak against their neighbours with that Hong Kong win but had a mixed season. Their scrum continues to look horribly underpowered but the uncanny ability of their backs to find holes always makes them a dangerous team as they proved spectacularly when they finished the year by thrashing France by a record 59-16 in Paris.
South Africa have fallen back from their wonderful 2009, struggling to make the leap from their defence-dominated approach to the demands of the new, more open game.
After a poor Tri-Nations, despite the excitement of playing the All Blacks in front of 95,000 fans in Soweto, their injury-hit squad were beaten by resurgent Scotland to end their hopes of a grand slam.
However, just when everyone was writing them off and preparing coach Peter de Villiers’s obituary, they found a way to again harness their unrivalled power and aggression to beat England for the seventh time in a row, at Twickenham.
Despite that setback England are also gaining confidence as their new, young side finally seem to be gelling under Martin Johnson. A benchmark defeat of Australia, achieved with the sort of running rugby Twickenham has previously witnessed only from visiting teams, was the year’s highlight.
Home defeats by the All Blacks and Springboks were a timely reminder that there is still much to do but England are unrecognisable from where they were a year ago.
France were celebrating a Six Nations grand slam in March but by November coach Marc Lievremont pronounced his side’s record loss to Australia “inexplicable”. Though he has vowed not to quit, the national team remains in some turmoil.
ITALIANS STRUGGLE
After the high of the 2009 grand slam, Ireland slipped back this year, losing two Six Nations games and going down at home to South Africa and New Zealand as a shortage of new talent to push the long-established key men began to tell.
Wales’s season peaked in February with the astonishing comeback win over Scotland in the Six Nations but though they were beaten regularly by the Tri-Nations sides they are still capable of pulling off the odd headline win.
Scotland have probably made the most progress out of the leading nations, with a series victory in Argentina and a home win over South Africa helping to eclipse the memory of a painful Six Nations that featured another defeat by Italy.
The Italians continue to struggle, with a home win over Fiji a rare bright spot amid a welter of defeats.
For Argentina the biggest steps forward took place in the committee room. Not only will they now join an expanded Tri Nations in 2012 but the IRB’s adjustment of “regulation nine” means that they will be finally able to draw on their best overseas-based players on a regular basis.
Away from the international scene the Heineken Cup continued to provide excellence. Toulouse won their fourth title by beating Biarritz and though the all-French final was not a classic, the knockout rounds and pool stage provided consistently compelling contests.
It was a one-country affair in the Super-14 too as the Bulls triumphed for the third time in four seasons by beating the Stormers in Soweto.
Hosting football’s World Cup was undoubtedly the high point for South African sport in 2010 but having packed Soweto crowds of black and white supporters watching rugby, a sport once reviled in the townships as the manifestation of apartheid, could ultimately be seen as an even greater achievement.
herewith Planet Rugby’s Team of the Year:
15 Mils Muliaina
There were suggestions last year that Muliaina was past his best but he bounced back in 2010 to have one of his most successful seasons and was rewarded with an IRB Player of the Year nomination.
14 James O’Connor
After bursting onto the Super 14 scene last year, O’Connor’s Test season in 2010 confirmed that he is set to become one of the biggest stars rugby has ever seen. Still only 20 and able to play just about anywhere in the back-line, the sky is the limit for the young Wallaby. There was a strong argument in support of Chris Ashton but O’Connor’s contribution from the kicking tee gave him the edge.
13 Conrad Smith
A consistent performer for the Hurricanes and New Zealand, Smith hardly put a foot wrong all year. The perfect foil for a powerful inside centre like Ma’a Nonu or Sonny Bill Williams, his ability to find space on attack and cover space on defence is remarkable. Adam Ashley-Cooper also had a strong year and gets a spot on our bench.
12 Yannick Jauzion
The debate went on for hours here. How do you leave out Ma’a Nonu? Well, it went back to that whole ‘year-long performance’ issue. Jauzion was simply brilliant in helping Toulouse to the Heineken Cup and France to the Grand Slam and was consistently good all year while Nonu’s start to the Super 14 was forgettable.
11 Drew Mitchell
You picked Hosea Gear as your left wing but we felt that decision reflected the month of November rather than the whole year. We felt compelled to go for the Super 14’s top try-scorer who was pretty prolific in a gold jersey too.
10 Dan Carter
The best 10 ever? A Test points-scoring world record to cap another mesmerising year from Carter makes it to tough to argue against the tag of the planet’s top fly-half. Quade Cooper was awesome in the Super 14, but Carter’s near-flawless Test season made this choice easy.
9 Will Genia
The Genia-Cooper combination for the Reds was a pleasure to watch in 2010. Another of Australia’s young guns (he’s just 22), Genia showed real maturity when he took over the Reds reins in James Horwill’s absence. Our Newbie of the Year, Ben Youngs will have to settle for a place on the bench.
8 Kieran Read
A unanimous choice amongst all the PR staff, Read was another All Black who raised his game this year. The Crusaders number eight was New Zealand’s Player of the Year. Enough said.
7 Richie McCaw
The IRB Player of the Year….again. When King Richie retires from rugby he should run for Prime Minister of New Zealand. David Pocock was so good that we felt obliged to field an unbalanced bench and give him the nod ahead of Imanol Harinordoquy.
6 Juan Smith
Again, it was very difficult to overlook Harinordoquy, who was an IRB Player of the Year nominee, but we rate Juan Smith as the best blindside flank of his generation. They don’t come any harder than the Free Stater, who once again proved invaluable to the Springboks on the end-of-year tour.
5 Victor Matfield
The only survivor from PR’s team of 2009, Matfield once again set the benchmark for line-out play as he led the Bulls to another Super 14 title before marking his 100th Test cap in the Springboks’ only Tri-Nations win of the year.
4 Brad Thorn
Thorn was seldom in the spotlight in 2010 but that’s exactly what you want from a number four. At 35, the Crusaders hard man still keeps toiling away in the All Blacks engine room. On the bench, Toulouse and Pumas stalwart Patricio Albacete gets some just recognition.
3 Adam Jones
Not many tightheads stood out this year but Hair Bear was a top performer for Wales and is the kingpin in what has become of feared Ospreys scrum. His game has gone from strength to strength since the Lions tour and did just enough to get the nod ahead of Italy and Leicester powerhouse Martin Castrogiovanni.
2 William Servat
Both France and Toulouse had scrums that steamrolled over everything in front of them in 2010. Mr. Servat was the common element and is now the undisputed first-choice number two for the European champions (at both club and country level). There was some debate about who should be on the bench as Saracens try machine Schalk Brits’ name was thrown into the hat but we felt that since the South African didn’t have a chance to show his mettle at Test level, his countryman Bismarck du Plessis’ return from injury was impressive enough to gain a spot in the 22.
1 Gurthrö Steenkamp
South Africa’s Player of the Year, Steenkamp had a storming Super 14 with the Bulls and grabbed his chance in Green and Gold when Tendai Mtawarira was forced to miss the June Tests. The grin on Steenkamp’s face as he flew over the line – like a Boeing 747 – to score against France at Newlands was priceless!
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Martin Castrogiovanni, 18 Patricio Albacete, 19 David Pocock, 20 Ben Youngs, 21 Quade Cooper, 22 Adam Ashley-Cooper.
@ superBul:
Morning superBul, they seem to have left the back room boys out of this and of course I would have to nominate Percy Montgomery in the “Best Looking Water Bottle Carrier/Kicking Coach award” – No one else would come close……!!
So is GBS currently filming his New Year Greeting, tell him to hurry it up!! 🙂
As I need a giggle!! 😉
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