Rucked Over: The All Blacks are Alright - What makes them the best side in the world?

As the All Blacks march into London, self-heralded as the most dominant team in the history of the world – which isn't entirely inaccurate – Ruckedover asks, as every other person seems to be, what makes New Zealand so annoyingly good?

1. They run straight

I declare myself a genius. I have deciphered the mythical code behind the All Blacks’ awesome back play, and it is...they run straight. Of course, they have a couple of set moves where some players may run loops or other twiddly lines, but even then their decoy runners and the strike runner himself will be running dead straight. But most importantly of all is their ability to put the ball through the hands whilst fixing defenders – look at any counter attack, and you’ll see Carter running straight, Nonu running straight. In fact you’ll see the entire backline surging forward, waiting for the gap to open up due to a defender drifting early, or putting the ball through the hands until the extra man has the ball in space. It’s what makes them the most deadly counter attackers and exploiters of overlaps in world rugby – compare that to England, or even Wales, and you’ll see that far too often the fly halves drift sideways and allow the defenders to cover off the space out wide.

2. Their support runners have depth

It's another basic rule you get taught in under 8s but it seems to get forgotten about in this country as you are force-fed more complex and pointless backs moves, preferring to practice a triple-miss-switch-dummy-loop to a standard exercise of learning the speed of your fellow players so you are aware of where you need to be to take that all important offload. Watch any game and you'll see that the All Blacks are always taking the ball at pace – they are never static or struggling for momentum. But perhaps the key aspect of this, and the part that nets them the most spectacular tries, is that their depth allows them to surge onto offloads at full tilt as opposed to over running it. In the northern hemisphere – perhaps due to the fact offloading is still a 'developing' concept – support runners tend to be shallower, ready for the clear out in case the carrier goes to deck. It's a practical, minor, but ultimately negative, approach to support play.

3. They kick. A lot.

What? The All Blacks kick? The all-singing, all-dancing All Blacks who score tries from all over the paddock play a boring kick game? Well look at the stats from this year's Rugby Championship, and see if you can spot the pattern:

Team	Position in Rugby Championship	Possession Kicked
New Zealand	1st	11.7%
South Africa	2nd	10.7%
Australia	3rd	8.9%

Yes, the statistics prove that the more you kick, the more you win. But it's not that simple – it's how New Zealand kick that makes them so effective. They primarily only want to play rugby in the right areas, which is why they have two players – Israel Dagg and Dan Carter – who can probe corners with low, raking kicks, as well as having the best kick-chase in the world, with wingers and back row forwards chasing hard to challenge bombs and/or force the unfortunate recipient of a kick to hurriedly boot it back in roughly the direction it came from…giving plenty of territory and open space to the most dangerous counter-attackers in world rugby. Kicking aimlessly and without a chase – a specialist tactic of England's over the last decade or so – is pointless, but an accurate and organised kicking game wins you matches. That – coupled with the ability to spot it 'when it's on' (see below) – is what makes them the complete side.

4. Rugby is religion.

Go to New Zealand and you will know you are in rugby country. They have decent rugby league, football and cricket sides, but they are but side-shows to the main event. The country breathes rugby. Win, and the nation celebrates as one – lose, and it becomes a dark and desolate place. In fact, a little known fact is that there was no CGI for Lord of the Rings' shots of Mordor and Mount Doom – the scenes were simply shot after the All Blacks had been knocked out of the 2003 World Cup by Australia. What this obsession means, though, is that from a young age kids are ingrained with the All Blacks ideal of 'total rugby'. They are not distracted by other sports – nor are they pigeon-holed into positions based on childhood size at an early age. Each player will play everywhere until their early-teens, when they settle on a position. It's why each and every player to pull on the black jersey can spot an opportunity or mismatch when it's on. It's why guys like Tony Woodcock and Ben Franks are comfortable out in the backline and know all the basic moves – you can't imagine Dan Cole or Adam Jones acting as a subtle pivot or a trigger for a backline can you?

The upshot of this is that the standard of schools rugby is phenomenal. I've never played a New Zealand school but I was fortunate enough to watch a cup match a few years back, and it was comparable to a professional standard in England – far beyond what even the most prestigious rugby schools in England can offer. Why? Because entire towns support the local school – any fan of the excellent TV series 'Friday Night Lights' will be able to draw comparisons to the pressure Texan High School Football players are put under and that placed on New Zealand schoolboys. But it develops professionalism and utter dedication from an early age, to the point where, in many cases, they can come straight out of school and into a professional side without a need for 'weaning' in the lower leagues (take Ardie Savea as a prime example this season for the Hurricanes). The end result is that the All Blacks have a conveyor belt of young talent without any need for upheaval. Can you remember the last time the Kiwis went through such a massive change as England did after the 2003, 2007 or 2011 World Cups? I don't. Even now, guys like Aaron Cruden and Sam Cane are slowly building up to taking the mantle of key players when their time to step down eventually comes – this continuity of selection breeds confidence and ultimately, success.

5. They are the All Blacks.

I normally swear loudly when I read this excuse in the papers, dismissing it as lazy journalism. But think about it – they do have an aura. Of course, practically, they are just men (admittedly gigantic men with a sensational skillset) in shirts, but when you see the side come out in the legendary All Black kit and face you down with the haka, the hairs on your neck do stand up. To play them is to know that you are facing the ultimate challenge – and if that doesn't get your blood up, nothing will. It's an aura that simply can't be replicated with other sides – Wales may have the superb stadium and support, England may have the all-white kit which itself is a striking feature, but nobody can match New Zealand when it comes to iconic features of the game. Ask any non-player about rugby in the USA and the first image they'll be able to associate with it is the All Blacks performing the haka pre-game.

Clive Woodward was right to insist that his England team did not refer to New Zealand as the All Blacks – it helped demystify them. If you defeat the aura, you can defeat the man in the shirt. But it's so much easier said than done, especially when you are forced to stand there and have the world's best team work themselves into a frenzy with a threatening war-dance – what could England possibly offer to match that? A Morris-dance, perhaps? Come to think of it, the sight of Martin Johnson or Courtney Lawes skipping and waving hankerchiefs would be unnerving…

NB As an aside, I do feel that the 'magic' of the haka has been diminished by the wet blankets at the IRB (or overly-sensitive types within New Zealand rugby) insisting that teams have to line up and watch the haka from 20 metres away. I loved the Welsh response of staring down their opponents after the haka, I loved Cockerill squaring up to Hewitt during the haka and I loved France's walking in on the haka. If they're laying down their challenge, why should you not be able to respond in kind? It's not always the best idea as it tends to wind them up, but it's pure sporting theatre. And if I was Stuart Lancaster tomorrow, with defeat expected, I'd tell the boys to b*gger the fine (the RFU make enough money to pay it) and make a statement. We will not be moved.