GRAHAM HENRY nearly caught himself referring to the semi-final the other day. Israel Dagg was still nursing his injury, but would be fit in time for the . . . The coach of the All Blacks snapped himself back on track. Wait, there was a quarter-final to negotiate first. One thing at a time.
It is just that the All Blacks’ quarter-final is against Argentina and, really, they should sail through once they have weathered the forward storm.
Argentina are tough old birds and can recall Rodrigo Roncero to their frontrow and Julio Farias Cabello to their backrow, and will stir themselves again, as they did at the World Cup in France four years ago, to heave and shove in the scrums and mauls.
They finished third then, slightly higher than New Zealand, who took their leave at this stage in Cardiff, beaten in an extraordinary match by France, whom Argentina beat twice in the same tournament.
These were not the sort of facts that were being thrown in the All Blacks’ face. The Pumas were being nothing but respectful.
“New Zealand, I believe, are the best team in the world,” said their captain, Felipe Contepomi.
“They are the best before the game, and afterwards they will be the best again. For 80 minutes we have to play a perfect game and see if we can stop them from being at their very best.” Containment and being competitive were mentioned a lot more than winning.
The flattery was presumably all part of the plan to take the All Blacks’ eyes off the ball. This was not so hard because there were other things to talk about, like a celebration – the 100th cap for Mils Muliaina. He came to the World Cup on 98 and might have finished there, so good was the form of Dagg, and because Mils was off to play out his days in Japan afterwards.
But Muliaina is in again now because Dagg is still out. And no sooner had Richie McCaw become the first All Black to reach the magic hundred than here is Mils joining him. And on the subject of McCaw, it was hard not to notice on Thursday, at the end of training at North Harbour Stadium, that he walked past – in trainers, not boots – with that slow gait of somebody trying hard not to reveal a limp.
He has got this screw in his foot and it is apparently giving him some gyp. And on the gyp-ometer it is either bad enough, according to the whispers, to require painkilling injections for the rest of the tournament, or really, really bad. As in bad enough to make a nation fear that Richie is teetering on the edge of a Dan, as in Carter, as in calling a press conference, painting a brave smile on his face and declaring his tournament over.
Metatarsals at a World Cup – well, you wouldn’t want one.
You could understand why Henry found it hard to concentrate fully on a game his team should win easily. It is the quarter-final that can be called without too much pause for thought: New Zealand to win.
Piri Weepu and Colin Slade are the half-backs in the second game of the age without Dan, and Sonny Bill Williams is on the wing. Kieran Read is at number eight and for the first time the dream backrow combination of him, McCaw and Jerome Kaino is on display.
In the Argentina side at number eight there is Leonardo Senatore from Rosario who plays not as a professional but as someone who picks up the odd stipend.
Argentina will next year enter the new age of their rugby evolution by being formally inducted into the Southern Hemisphere’s Four Nations tournament. Until then, they are cannon fodder for the New Zealand All Blacks.
