Jason Robinson: New Zealand boast the know-how to pass toughest history test against Australia

Roar power: Richie McCaw and Kieran Read lead New Zealand celebrations after they overcome South Africa
Rex
Jason Robinson28 October 2015

New Zealand will be favourites to make history against Australia and retain the World Cup.

They have handled the pressure of being champions well — they came out of a pool that did not really test them before raising their game to wipe the floor with France and then beat South Africa so if I was a betting man, my money would be on the All Blacks.

Australia versus New Zealand is a fitting finale to what has been a great World Cup because the best two teams have battled through and they deserve to fight it out for the trophy. This will be a final that everyone in the sport will want to watch and I cannot think of a better way to bring the tournament to a conclusion.

The massive motivation for New Zealand will be to make history while Australia have reached this stage in the knowledge they can beat the All Blacks — as they did to win the Rugby Championship three months ago in Sydney.

The Australia tag team of Michael Hooper and David Pocock were superb that night and the contest with All Blacks captain Richie McCaw for supremacy at the breakdown will be fascinating on Saturday.

Finals are funny games and they can be decided by the bounce of a ball. There are not usually that many try-scoring opportunities — I was fortunate to score a try in the 2003 final — and so often it comes down to the basics; possession, territory, discipline, turnover ball, set-piece and defence.

More than any other team, New Zealand can produce tries from turnover ball and it is how you react in a situation. Your mentality has to be ‘stop them at all costs’ and you cannot afford to relax at any point.

The best players often make the right decisions at critical moments and New Zealand, with experienced men like Dan Carter, McCaw, Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith, have an edge. That could be important because both teams are in form and know that on their day they can beat each other.

The way New Zealand played against France in the quarter-final was like watching an unopposed training sessions as they rattled up the points. Both New Zealand and Australia have the experience and the big game players but the further you go in a World Cup, the greater the pressure you have to deal with.

It comes down to backing your performances up week after week against increasingly difficult opposition.

Australia would have watched Argentina beating Ireland in the quarter-finals knowing it was then up to the Pumas to go that one step further in the last four. They came up short and watching yesterday’s game, I couldn’t help thinking back to what Clive Woodward always used to talk about — thinking correctly under pressure (TCUP).

Rugby Union: Frozen in Time

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It is all about going back to basics when forced to make decisions under intense pressure and on too many occasions we saw Argentina’s players making the wrong calls. Instead of recognising the need to put the pressure back on Australia, they tried to run the ball out of their own 22 and put themselves in very difficult situations.

The Australia defence was on the front foot from the start and it is amazing how the pressure of having to deliver in a semi-final exposed Argentina and showed that while they have made significant improvements since joining the Rugby Championship, they were still found wanting when it really mattered.

The teams yesterday had the best of the conditions while New Zealand and South Africa had to deal with the heavy rain.

It took me back to the semi-final England played 12 years ago against France. Like New Zealand, we just knew how to play in the wet conditions and got the win. The All Blacks showed that same ability to adapt to whatever they have to face. South Africa didn’t get blown away, but you couldn’t see them scoring a try as they had too much emphasis on one-off runners rather than stretching New Zealand with ball in hand.

Australia are equipped to do just that and with the World Cup on offer, it will come to which of these impressive teams can back up their semi-final performance at Twickenham on Saturday. But with the chance to make history and so much experience in their team, New Zealand are my favourites to lift the World Cup again.

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