ROSEMARY ABBOTT | Sport
THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU’VE DONE
The All Blacks coaching staff have moved swiftly to stamp out any trace of human joy at training this week.
After suffering their worst loss in history, a 43–10 humiliation at the hands of South Africa in Wellington on Saturday, the brains trust inside the AB’s camp have explained that “Any laughter, giggling, smirking, or even a cheeky little grin will be dealt with immediately,” coach Scott Robertson expressed with a steely look to our reporters.
“One of the boys smiled at a joke Beaudy cracked about his boots being on the wrong feet,” Robertson continued. “We made him run shuttles until he cried. That’s the kind of culture shift we’re going for.”
Robertson made it clear the crackdown is about accountability. “We lost by 33 points. That’s not just a loss, that’s a historic shame. You don’t just come to training the next week whistling, happy as Larry. You sit in it. You stew in it. You think about what you’ve done.”
Players confirmed the mood was grim. “I had a bit of a grin when someone dropped a ball at training,” admitted centre Billy Proctor. “Next thing I knew, Razor had me writing lines on the whiteboard: ‘I will not disrespect the jersey by smiling.’ It took me two hours.”
The player who apparently struggled the most at today’s training was Damian McKenzie, having to remove his traditional grinning smile as he practised his goal kicking.
More to come.
