RWC 2015 New Zealand vs Australia: There will be no playing safe in this ferocious final filled with genius talent, says Brian Ashton

There will be no playing safe in this ferocious final filled with genius talent

(2015 Getty Images)

I awoke last Sunday morning eager to see what the “experts” had made of the dramatic contest between New Zealand and South Africa at Twickenham the preceding afternoon. Instead, I had to wade my way through some hysterical headlines suggesting that Richie McCaw, the All Blacks captain, might be banned from the World Cup final.

As the full detail emerged of the alleged “incident” involving the Springbok flanker Francois Louw, it became clear that we were talking about a non-event. If this kind of accidental collision, with its negligible consequences, could be the subject of a citing, any kind of full-on tackling or ruck-clearing would automatically achieve red-card status. It was my wife who spotted the best summing-up on social media: “Haters started it; fools spread it; idiots believed it.” Nuff said!

Minutes later, I received a text informing me that a Sunday newspaper had referred to me as an “RFU man”. What had I done to be so insulted? Two minutes later, I learnt that another esteemed organ – this one published across the Irish Sea – had described me as a coach who “refuses, just for the sake of it, to follow what everyone else is doing”. That was more like it. Establishment? Moi? Ever since I was expelled from school at 16, I’ve fought against being institutionalised.

So it is that the World Cup reaches its climax with a final between two sides who embrace the “something completely different” approach to rugby that I hold close to my heart. Fittingly, the All Blacks and the Wallabies are ranked one or two in the sport. Equally fittingly, Saturday’s game will act as a decider in more ways than one. They have already met twice this year, each winning their home fixture, so this last hurrah on neutral soil has everything riding on it. There will be fireworks, during the match as well as before it.

Both sides are outstanding exponents of what I call “opportunistic rugby”. They are awash with players who are constantly in search of scoring opportunities – you may consider this to be the whole point of the game, but I can tell you there are teams out there who come at it from the opposite direction – and who possess the weaponry to translate opportunities into points.

It goes without saying that when it comes to winning, the All Blacks have a fantastic tradition. But more than that, they have developed a means of performing on the big stage that is as breathtaking as it is successful. There is no element of fear in their approach – no sense that they ever think they are asking too much of themselves. Individually, they are wedded to the idea of “leaving the shirt in a better place” for their successors. Collectively, they are wholly committed to establishing themselves as, and remaining, the dominant force in the world game. The scale of their ambition explains why they are 80 minutes from becoming the first side to retain the Webb Ellis Trophy.

As for the Australians, they look to me to be a rejuvenated side. Michael Cheika, their coach, is a smart operator who fought hard to reclaim two important players from their exiles in France – a move that was outside his remit when he took over. If it was big news then, it is massive news now: Matt Giteau and Drew Mitchell have made massive contributions.

Most interesting to me are his views on the make-up of his group – his embrace of individuality, of varying interests and motives and passions. Looking in from the outside, I see these Wallabies as an irreverent, rock and roll-style bunch, which is just the kind of squad you need to cause upsets on the world stage. I was also intrigued to learn that the “rules” of the group, if we want to call them that, are unwritten. Behaviour is policed by the players from within, not by administrators from without. So it is that a squad containing the likes of Quade Cooper and Kurtley Beale, who have had their issues in the past, has come up with a form of freedom that suits everyone.

This weekend’s individual match-ups are mouthwatering indeed, for there are players in both teams who can play the genius card. But the final will also feature individuals who receive less than their due in terms of coverage, and two spring immediately to mind: the Wallaby blind-side flanker, Scott Fardy, and the All Black lock, Brodie Retallick.

Fardy is overshadowed in the media by his more colourful back-row partners, Michael Hooper and David Pocock, but he stands every bit as tall as them (far taller, when it comes to feet and inches). He is the workhorse – the honest toiler who gives the others licence to rampage around the field wreaking havoc. As for Retallick, there is far more to his game than brute physicality. Here is a second-row forward who can also act as a second receiver, a man capable of making the right decision when it comes to taking on the close-quarter defence or releasing his backs in the wider channels.

The tackle area will be thunderously combative and it astonishes me that critics of southern hemisphere rugby still refuse to accept the level of ferocity generated by these sides. Maybe they should don some kit and test their theories in real time against live opposition! At first glance, it would appear that we have a straight contest between the Pocock-Hooper axis on the one hand and the indomitable McCaw on the other. But is there a sane man anywhere on the planet who thinks the other 14 New Zealanders will not go hunting in support of their skipper? On this day, of all days?

If this is to be McCaw’s final Test, other hugely influential figures may go the same way. Will we see Giteau again? What of Dan Carter and Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith? These are key decision-makers who have built their careers on testing opponents technically, tactically, physically and mentally. This being a final with all its accompanying pressure, ordinary players would turn in on themselves and play safe. Not these men. They will be more ambitious in their thinking, not less. It is precisely this that makes them extraordinary.

Brian Ashton is a former England head coach, who guided the team to the World Cup final in 2007.