This loss may not prove to be such a good thing for rugby for simple reason New Zealand are going to get better because of it
When I was playing for the All Blacks we would always talk about making sure that after the November series we did not have “a stone under the beach towel” during the off-season. Make no mistake, the New Zealand coaches and players have rocks under theirs now.
Having said that, regardless of what Steve Hansen says, New Zealand are still the best team in the world and they are the favourites for next year’s World Cup. Yes, the gap has been closed a significant amount but the big question is whether the All Blacks should be panicking now, and I still think the answer is no. All credit to Ireland, they deserved their fantastic victory and they are being widely congratulated and rightly so, but I wonder if it does prove to be such a good thing for the world of rugby for the simple reason that the All Blacks are going to get better because of it.
Written by Nick Evans
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/nov/18/new-zealand-ireland-world-cup-tipping-point under the title “Ireland defeat could be pre-World Cup tipping point for All Blacks”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
