It’s funny how history repeats itself. I read this week how former Wallaby hooker Phil Kearns doubts the All Blacks can win the world cup as they peaked about 18 months ago. He is quoted as saying
I think they’re starting to worry. They’re asking themselves some questions and I think they seriously could get beaten.
Rod Macqueen is quoted in the article as saying
The greatest competitive edge Australia has got is that they have a very strong mind over the New Zealanders… they’re not scared of them and they’ve shown that in the games they’ve played.
In another article John Eales says the All Blacks won’t make the final.
This of course is typical Aussie talk at it’s best. They love playing mind games with the All Blacks, and love to play on the fact we’ve lost more world cups than we care to remember.
But when I read these articles I had an immediate sense of deja vu. That’s cos we heard the same comments in the build up to the 2003 world cup, when 4 years ago Nick Farr-Jones and Alan Jones both said New Zealand would not win. Again they played on our poor record - Farr-Jones claimed (correctly) we would crumble under pressure.
Alan Jones chimed in with this line
I don’t believe New Zealand are mentally ready to win this World Cup
Sound familiar?
Yep, every four years we our mates across the tasman start singing the same old tune, and unlike the great Split Enz song, when it comes to Aussie mind games and rugby world cups, history very much repeats.
Only one way to change that :)
2 comments ↓
Well we Australians seem to know what they’re saying with their mind games, don’t they?
Nostradamus lives!
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