All Blacks: A culture of excellence and performance

In the USA, many sports people are victims of the tall poppy syndrome. As the All Blacks head to Chicago, we asked our correspondent Wade Cox to investigate if the Americans could unpick the World Champions standing.

Taking references from respected and well known sources in New Zealand and globally, Cox identified flaws in that culture of excellence and performance. He identifies the importance of the global brand that is the All Blacks; its importance to the nation. This leads to the brand being protected.

The article was written before the recent uproar on the release of players for the Mitre 10 Cup Finals. The All Blacks have been accused of wrapping fringe players in cotton wool and reports that some domestic coaches feel frustrated at playing “second fiddle to the All Blacks”. There’s more on this story on www.stuff.co.nz

The All Blacks are always front page news and with this comes responsibility. The old saying that “any publicity is good publicity” seems totally inappropriate as Cox discovered.

New Zealand beat Australia 37-10 on two weeks back, to break the previous record of 17 wins in a row held conjointly by the Springboks (1998) and the All Blacks themselves(1965 and 2013).

The All Blacks never had things their own way, but predictably outlasted the Wallabies to claim a remarkable, record 18th successive win. The current All Black team has to go down as the greatest of all time. They have magnificent skills, play a wonderfully attractive brand, play with awesome tempo and display phenomenal fitness.

The All Blacks are a class outfit.

However, a review of leading press and web rugby news sites can paint a different picture…

Chiefs Rugby Union Fiasco

The Chiefs Rugby Union organised their end-of-season function, and decided it was a good idea to invite a waiter/stripper to the event. In what has become known as

‘Mad Mondays’, the invited stripper, ‘Scarlette’ complained of having been abused, and touched inappropriately.

‘Mad Mondays’ are known for being end-of-season wild binge drinking sessions. New Zealand Rugby then bizarrely conducted their own ‘independent’ investigation into the events and never found any fault in the Chiefs’ behaviour. The players have been effectively cleared and no apology has been offered to the woman. Why was an independent, impartial investigation not conducted into this matter? This wasn’t just news in New Zealand, it made the sports pages of the UK’s Daily Mail.

The answer is simply that it is convenient for the NZRU to find nothing untoward; it suits their rugby agenda plain and simple. Chiefs corporate services executive Margaret Comer, said, "It's not nice and perhaps the stripper shouldn't have been hired, but I'm reluctant to say that the boys were out of line."

Potential sexual abuse and the organising end-of-year celebrations seems to be a minor misdemeanour in the NZRU. That is a perception created by no-one other than the NZRU themselves.

Losi Filipo

Young and upcoming star Losi Filipo was the next New Zealand rugby player to misbehave. The youngster brutally beat up four people, including two women. Filipo was released without charge as the courts were concerned about the repercussions that may have had on his rugby career. One of the victims was unable to return to work for 6 months.

Wellington Rugby decided not to investigate the incident and left the judicial process to take its course. They then accepted the ruling until the public expressed outrage at the incident. Wellington Rugby then decided to part ways with Filipo, and agreed to a mutual termination of his contract. In an interview with Paul

Henry, the Head of the NZRU Steve Tew, staggeringly expressed concern for Losi

Filipo, totally disregarding the victims, some of whose futures are in doubt.

This seems to epitomise the NZRU’s stance on this type of behaviour - Rugby is an asset, and it must be safeguarded at whatever cost necessary. The NZRU does not and will not uphold the basic values and ethics that they and rugby itself promotes unless they are held directly accountable. The NZRU needs to be policed in order for them to act ethically.

Aaron Smith

Next it was the turn of All Black scrumhalf Aaron Smith to drag New Zealand’s name through the mud. Aaron Smith was seen entering a disabled toilet with a woman at

Christchurch Airport. The leadership within the All Blacks decided that it was not appropriate that he play against South Africa following his sexual exchange in the disabled toilet. Aaron Smith came out and apologised, which seemed sincere and thoughtful, however Steve Hansen refused to comment on the matter.

When Steve Hansen asked to comment on the matter in South Africa, he said,

"We've said what we have to say on that".

What a missed opportunity!

Why not denounce the behaviour that has hampered New Zealand Rugby over the last few months? Why not condemn this type of behaviour?

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key even weighed in on the matter, saying that

Aaron Smith had “clearly let himself and those that are close to him down.” John Key continued, “And he’ll have to reflect on that, and I’m sure the New Zealand Rugby

Football Union will reflect on that.” This like several other warning signs is likely to fall on deaf on deaf ears and the All Blacks will continue to revel in their on-field success. All Black players should be able to act responsibly as individuals, and promote excellent values.

All Black Brand

Aaron Smith decided to stand himself down for the record-breaking fixture against Australia. Aaron Smith is deemed to have damaged the All Black brand. As soon as the All Blacks stop treating sport as a corporate business, they will start to produce role models that are worthy of imitation.

American sport created those first great brands and over the years have had to accommodate fallen heroes. In a perfect world, the focus should be about what type of individuals the All Black environment is producing as well as their performance.

Assault and Alcohol Abuse in Rugby

The reality is that this type of behaviour has been highlighted in rugby globally. Stuart Lancaster took a zero tolerance approach with England players in the run up to the Rugby World Cup. Many fans were disappointed that likely match winners were side-lined. Lancaster, lost his job for not winning the trophy but stood up for his values and principles.

There have previously been reported incidents about Cory Jane and Israel Dagg, and their abuse of sleeping pills on a wild night out during the World Cup in New Zealand in 2011. Julian Savea was charged with assault in a domestic incident. Zac Guilford assaulted two men and was accused of sexual assault by a woman in a bloody bar incident. Sione Lauaki pleaded guilty to assaulting a man in 2010. Sitivini Sivivatu was found guilty of slapping his wife twice.

Doug ‘The Dancer’ Howlett was found guilty of jumping on cars after New Zealand’s

World Cup exit in 2007.

Many argue these are isolated incidents and they are not connected. As Lancaster found in international sport the win is more important than the principle.

There seems to have been a problem in New Zealand Rugby for years and it’s not obvious that anything is being done. For too long the social issues in New Zealand Rugby have seemingly been brushed under the carpet. It is very likely that this will take some the gloss off their on-field achievements.

Class would be New Zealand leading the way both, on and off the field. Steve Tew should consider this together with his own position.