Former Ireland wing Shane Horgan believes that the All Blacks’ aura of invincibility has deserted them and that they are currently vulnerable.
New Zealand were the dominant force at the start of the 2010s but they suffered a steady decline under Steve Hansen, which started during the 2017 British and Irish Lions series.
Former Ireland wing Shane Horgan believes that the All Blacks’ aura of invincibility has deserted them and that they are currently vulnerable.
New Zealand were the dominant force at the start of the 2010s but they suffered a steady decline under Steve Hansen, which started during the 2017 British and Irish Lions series.
That continued when Ian Foster took over before they improved in 2023, leading to an impressive Rugby World Cup run.
The All Blacks narrowly lost the final to the Springboks but they had a post-World Cup exodus, which has forced new boss Scott Robertson to rebuild.
Although plenty of experienced players remain, they are without some of the greats such as Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock and Aaron Smith.
England preyed on the areas weakened by those departures in the recent series, only for one of New Zealand’s other legends, Beauden Barrett, to come to their rescue.
Change in mindset
That 2-0 series triumph was a solid start for Robertson but Horgan insists that teams are currently not scared of facing them, even on New Zealand soil.
“Something weird has happened with New Zealand in the last couple of years. That complete aura which felt like invincibility is not there in the same way as it was, it’s just not,” he told The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast.
“They may build that up again with a new generation of players, but it’s not right now. Let’s keep them down while we can.
“That’s not to say they’re not a great team, of course they knocked Ireland out of the World Cup, but there is a sense that there is slightly more fragility that there’s been in maybe the last 100 years.”
There is almost an expectation that the highly rated Robertson will take them back to their dominant days, but Horgan believes the head coach will need to “innovate” if he is to achieve that, .
“I’m keen to see how they innovate, and I think they will innovate during this period,” he added.
“That All Blacks jersey I felt in many ways insulated them against pressure. It was a powerful cloak they had on and it meant that, one, they intimated the opposition, but it also actually elevated their performance.
“The thing we are seeing in the last little while is almost a pressure that comes with the All Blacks jersey which means they are inhibited the way they play; in the same way we’ve seen other teams be intimidated by pressure.
“Part of this redevelopment with Razor will be trying to re-establish that as a comfort blanket as opposed to it being an issue for them.”
Jonathan Davies’ view
Ex-Wales centre Jonathan Davies also appeared on the show and stated that he doesn’t feel the All Blacks have particularly decided on a style of play.
“Obviously, they’ve got great talent but they seem to make a lot of mistakes. They feel pressure. Razor’s going to have a little bit of time now before this Rugby Championship to really debrief what they’ve seen and try and get an improvement,” the 36-year-old said.
“They can get more out of Jordie Barrett, you didn’t see much of him in the first two Tests. I think Rieko Ioane is one of the best players in the team, but these boys need to touch the ball.
“They have got a platform with a great scrum, we’ve seen that, but let’s really try and test teams out, that’s what New Zealand’s always done.
“They’ve tested you, they’ve upped the speed of the game, they’ve really tried to put you under pressure by taking you out of your comfort zone.
“Will we see them go back to that real confident-looking team? I don’t know but they still have the talent, you can see that, but it’s just whether or not they can decide on what they want to be.”
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