The All Blacks Philosophy

[Crazyhorse]

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Basically if Brazil told all of their players they could only play for Brazil if they played for one of the Brazillian league clubs and it they go abroad they won't be selected. However the modern footballer/mercenary will put cash before honour and glory and nation and would chose to go chasing the dollar/pound/euro/yen instead...

Same in Ireland (for rugby)

[Steve-O]

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Having only watched rugby for a number of years on TV, I am by no means an expert, but maybe someone can respond to these points/questions:

How many games do the all Blacks play each year - not many, I would assume?; how much of a priority is playing for the All Blacks over club rugby?; what are the options for a good rugby union player from New Zealand? i.e. can he make as good or better living in another country (Australia, Asia, Europe) or is staying and playing for his country the highest they could aspire to?

The only reason I raise this is that footballers have a massive amount of options, so there are a number of pulls on them, primarily, but not exclusively, financial. A good Scottish footballer, for example, will be in demand from a number of teams, so - rightly or wrongly - he doesn't really need to buy in to the concepts that have been mentioned in this report. However, the higher they go up, the more that will (or, at least, should) be expected of them. With respect to international football, this should be the highlight of their career, however they have to consider the impact on their career, plus influences from their club. English clubs, for example, have increasing foreign ownership and where is the incentive for Abramovich to encourage his star assets to potentially injure themselves not in service of their main employer, for a country he doesn't have any connection with?

I also have a slight issue against the purveying attitude towards footballers, calling them of 'primadonnas' or similar. Yes, a number of them are by no means perfect, but it can be a fairly short career, even more so if they sustain a serious injury. Many of them are exploited by agents and cast aside when they are no longer of use and they are under the microscope almost every second of every day. It's not really footballers' fault they get paid high salaries and I often wonder why people don't get similarly excited by other professions ('see that Stephen King, he's not released a book this year, lazy so-and-so, never thinking of his public who pay his wages'). Who is the moral arbiter for how much someone gets paid for doing their job? I'm sure the majority of people would love to see nurses, teachers, police pay go up, but when newspapers compare what they earn them to sportspeople, usually footballers, it's deflection and lazy journalism.

Apologies if this has got a bit off topic, but just wanted to put forward another point of view. All we can hope for, in my opinion, is that sportspeople understand how lucky they are and for football, as a whole, to support the players when things don't go so well, as seen in some recent high profile cases of mental health issues. They are, after all, human beings like the rest of us, albeit living a very different lifestyle.

I think this has been pointed out but you can only play for the All Blacks if you play your rugby in NZ.

As has been stated, France is where the club rugby money is, but the only Kiwis who go there are generally those who have retired from internationals or can't quite get into the All Blacks team.

[Steve-O]

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The All Blacks are everything in NZ. It's a national obsession. They are also blessed with a Maori population who are genetically bigger than average and they also take the best Pacific Island players as well who are also big lads.
The fact they play rugby from when they are toddlers and they have a massive school rugby programme means they are also very skillful. They are a great team to watch.
And since its 16 years since a Scotsman started for the Lions, I hope the All Blacks smash them tomorrow.


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Might surprise people to know that more people participate in football in NZ than rugby!

Strange one as football is still very much a minority sport here generally but plenty like to play it.

[PercyHibs]

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Perhaps a lot of the philosophy comes from the Maori and the Samoan Islander culture who provide the backbone to this fine team.

It doesn't. The ABs philoposphy was in place well before the islanders were introduced to the team. If you read Legacy it explains everything about the ABs culture. Fascinating read.

[HibernianJK]

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Having only watched rugby for a number of years on TV, I am by no means an expert, but maybe someone can respond to these points/questions:

How many games do the all Blacks play each year - not many, I would assume?; how much of a priority is playing for the All Blacks over club rugby?; what are the options for a good rugby union player from New Zealand? i.e. can he make as good or better living in another country (Australia, Asia, Europe) or is staying and playing for his country the highest they could aspire to?

The only reason I raise this is that footballers have a massive amount of options, so there are a number of pulls on them, primarily, but not exclusively, financial. A good Scottish footballer, for example, will be in demand from a number of teams, so - rightly or wrongly - he doesn't really need to buy in to the concepts that have been mentioned in this report. However, the higher they go up, the more that will (or, at least, should) be expected of them. With respect to international football, this should be the highlight of their career, however they have to consider the impact on their career, plus influences from their club. English clubs, for example, have increasing foreign ownership and where is the incentive for Abramovich to encourage his star assets to potentially injure themselves not in service of their main employer, for a country he doesn't have any connection with?

I also have a slight issue against the purveying attitude towards footballers, calling them of 'primadonnas' or similar. Yes, a number of them are by no means perfect, but it can be a fairly short career, even more so if they sustain a serious injury. Many of them are exploited by agents and cast aside when they are no longer of use and they are under the microscope almost every second of every day. It's not really footballers' fault they get paid high salaries and I often wonder why people don't get similarly excited by other professions ('see that Stephen King, he's not released a book this year, lazy so-and-so, never thinking of his public who pay his wages'). Who is the moral arbiter for how much someone gets paid for doing their job? I'm sure the majority of people would love to see nurses, teachers, police pay go up, but when newspapers compare what they earn them to sportspeople, usually footballers, it's deflection and lazy journalism.

Apologies if this has got a bit off topic, but just wanted to put forward another point of view. All we can hope for, in my opinion, is that sportspeople understand how lucky they are and for football, as a whole, to support the players when things don't go so well, as seen in some recent high profile cases of mental health issues. They are, after all, human beings like the rest of us, albeit living a very different lifestyle.

Didn't see anyone reply to I'll try and round it up - the All Blacks probably play about 10 games a year. Mostly all tests - the Rugby Championships vs Aus, SA and Arg - and Autumn Tests over here vs the Home Nations.

New Zealanders will will you that playing for the AB's is the highest possible honor in their professional career - from a young age nothing else would come close.

Yes, they are wanted by pretty much everybody, however Aus and ZA (not sure about SA) have a rule where you must play club rugby in their country to be eligible for the National side, which is why Super Rugby is always so strong and filled with talent. This applies until a certain about of caps/years of service have been accrued then you are allowed to seek the big bucks, in France, most likely.

Hope this clears up slightly.

[bubblesmorrison]

Just finished a book called legacy all about the all blacks and the new Zealand way of life and rugby fantastic read.

[Steve-O]

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Didn't see anyone reply to I'll try and round it up - the All Blacks probably play about 10 games a year. Mostly all tests - the Rugby Championships vs Aus, SA and Arg - and Autumn Tests over here vs the Home Nations.

New Zealanders will will you that playing for the AB's is the highest possible honor in their professional career - from a young age nothing else would come close.

Yes, they are wanted by pretty much everybody, however Aus and ZA (not sure about SA) have a rule where you must play club rugby in their country to be eligible for the National side, which is why Super Rugby is always so strong and filled with talent. This applies until a certain about of caps/years of service have been accrued then you are allowed to seek the big bucks, in France, most likely.

Hope this clears up slightly.

All AB games are tests. No 'friendlies' in rugby, which is a good thing!

I think this year they will play 13 games which is about standard - they usually have 3 tests around this time of year vs a touring team, 6 games in the Rugby Championship, an extra Bledisloe Cup match vs Australia, then 3 or 4 games in Europe at the end of year.