Graham Henry was asked a question before New Zealand played France in a group match at Eden Park last month. If there was one thing he had learned from the 2007 quarter-final defeat to Les Bleus in Cardiff, what was it? "Not to take it one game at a time in a World Cup," replied the All Blacks coach, reflecting on a tournament when they had in no way been tested in their group before facing the hosts, France, in the Welsh capital.
Henry, who became the first New Zealand coach to survive a World Cup meltdown, learned a whole lot more thanks to an independent inquiry launched by the New Zealand Rugby Union in December 2007, which reached a number of conclusions that have had an impact on the way the All Blacks have approached this tournament.
The panel found the on-field leadership model to be faulty, reflected in the decision not to go for a drop goal in the frantic final minutes against France when the All Blacks were trailing by two points; that New Zealand were at their most vulnerable when expected to win; and that there was a failure to push the emotional button in the week before the 2007 quarter‑final.
"Play-off rugby is different to all other internationals," the report said. "If the team does not win there is no game next week. As a result [of injuries and substitutions] leadership support to the captain was not optimal [in the second half against France]. We consider that on-field leadership and decision-making were factors in the loss. The trend was for the leaders to revert to type and let [Richie] McCaw make the calls."
The emotional button was pushed in the week before last week's semi-final against Australia. The squad had lunch with the survivors of the 1987 World Cup-winning side and this week they have mingled with supporters on the streets here, posing for photographs and signing autographs. They are not operating in a bubble.
They have dropped goals this tournament, Dan Carter against France last month and Aaron Cruden in the semi-final, and they have sorted the leadership issue. "A difference from 2007 is that Richie McCaw has now been captain for a number of years," says the forwards coach, Steve Hansen. "He has grown into an outstanding leader. The leadership within the group is a lot better than it was then. It is shared and everyone has taken ownership of the team. You learn from your mistakes and we learned a lot from the 2007 tournament. It was the first time the NZRU had allowed a coaching group to have a repeat at it. It was our burden to carry."
The All Blacks have been criticised in recent tournaments for not adapting to the demands of knock-out rugby, playing as they would in a Tri-Nations match or a friendly international. There was an indication they had adapted in the third quarter of their final Tri-Nations match this year against Australia in Brisbane, less than two weeks before the start of the World Cup. They were 20-3 down at the interval and had already lost two back-rows through injury. Their response was to keep attacking around the fringes, forwards picking and going, only moving the ball when they had worked space and they drew level at 20-20 before losing the match after a stray kick.
Against Argentina in their quarter-final at the World Cup they sapped the life from the legs of the opposition forwards in the first half before moving the ball wide and last weekend put Australia under pressure with their intensity at the breakdown.
"What you saw from the All Blacks against Argentina and in the semi-final was that they are not worried about playing pretty rugby," says Phil Kingsley Jones, a Welsh exile who has lived in New Zealand for more than 20 years and is the business development manager for the Counties Rugby Union having been their director of rugby. "The semi-final against Australia was totally unlike a Tri-Nations international. It was cup rugby. The All Blacks took control early and never let go. My worry before the start of the tournament was that England would go far simply because they are masters of the knock-out game while in New Zealand there has long been an emphasis on entertainment.
" People here have learned that the entertainment will be in watching Richie McCaw lift the Webb Ellis Cup. The All Blacks treated every game in the knock-out stage like a final.
"They did enough to win and that was it. The best form of attack is defence. They have even had seven players practising drop goals in training."
If New Zealand had gone for a drop goal against France in 2007, would they now be bidding to become the first team to retain the World Cup? "We recognise that in the last 10 minutes of the second half, the All Blacks faced a dilemma," the 2007 inquiry panel said. "Whether to go for a drop goal or whether to continue to score through a try or a penalty.
"The coaches sent out a message with 10 minutes to go to set up for a drop goal. The on-field decision was made to continue with attempting to score a try or get a penalty. The players were unaware of a vital piece of information, that the All Blacks had not been given a penalty in the entire second half and were probably unlikely to get one. The leadership model failed to deliver its most important objective, decisions which gave the best chance of winning the game."
Henry can now take it one game at a time. "I do not think the All Blacks have changed too much, but they have clearly reflected on what happened four years ago," says the Australia coach Robbie Deans, a member of the All Blacks management in 2003 who missed out on the New Zealand job at the end of 2007.
"They are playing to their strengths and if France were to ask me for a piece of advice ahead of Sunday, I would just say 'good luck'. They will need it."
