Rugby World Cup 2023: Why All Blacks’ discipline could be decisive

Elliott Smith analyses the biggest talking points from the world of rugby.

A suggestion...

The All Blacks may be proof that reformation of bad boys can happen, and quickly — from a life living onthe disciplinary edge to being straight-laced in the eyes of referees.

Bad boys might be a slightly liberal use of the keyboard I am wielding, but the All Blacks have gone from sinners to saints in the blink of an eye and it may be the difference between World Cup glory or coming up short.

At a time when disciplinary issues and good tackle technique are in the spotlight, their act has been cleaned up big time.

An explanation...

With the caveat this is from a smaller sample size, the All Blacks are yet to concede a yellow or red card in their four tests this year.

It’s a far cry from last year when they only went two consecutive matches without seeing a referee go to his pocket — as it happens that two-game streak was in two of their worst showings of the year against Ireland in Wellington and South Africa in Mbombela.

The All Blacks tallied nine yellow cards and two red cards in 2022 — a simply unsustainable disciplinary record in the modern world of rugby where the currency of the game nearly as much as points is behaving yourself.

It’s unrealistic to expect that trend of discipline to continue through tomorrow morning’s game at Twickenham and the World Cup, but the record this year appears no coincidence.

An observation...

To zero in on the tackle issues, with Owen Farrell and Billy Vunipola in the firing line this week, the All Blacks have naturally had their opinions sought on such matters.

Buried among Dane Coles’ high-profile comments about Steve Hansen’s Wallabies dalliance was a line about how much the game has changed since he made his debut for the All Blacks 11 years ago.

Coles underlined how much work simply goes into getting the tackle height right these days. Pointedly, he added: “You could get away with it — a big hit around the head was probably celebrated 10 years ago.”

He’s right. You could get away with it 10 years ago, not anymore. Except for Farrell, who nearly did.

A prediction...

So ingrained does lazy tackling seem to be in the English team culture, it may prove to be too late to stomp it out in time for them to avoid World Cup calamity.

But they could point to the All Blacks who have found their disciplinary groove at the right time.

A question...

Given the events of recent weeks, will discipline be the decider of the World Cup?

It seems four years ago we were having a similar discussion and the pool stages saw plenty dished out — but then remarkably either everyone was on their best behaviour in the semifinals and final or referees became gun shy in the big moments, because those three games saw no cards.

Ian Foster confirmed at the side’s London base this week that the number of cards is on his mind and everyone else’s now given the headlines that have followed the drama of Farrell in recent weeks.

But it’s a mind no doubt resting somewhat easier than his English colleague Steve Borthwick who must be wondering whether he can find the hours in the day to run tackling lessons for players that should know better.