D'Arcy Waldegrave: This is not the All Blacks of days gone by

Tomorrow morning the All Black 2025 season will be extinguished.  

Although that is a generous term as the season hardly caught fire. From time to time there was a spark that threatened to ignite the team, bringing forth hell fire, engulfing the opposition, sucking their oxygen, charring them beyond recognition, blazing a trail to victory. But not this year. Nor last year.  

Any sniff of their former fire starter glory was a smoky nostril tease, a hint of the scorched earth policy the team once dispensed with impunity.  

Not anymore. 

This is not the team of days gone by. This is not the team standing on the shoulders of the giants of All Black teams of old. The teams that built the legend of New Zealand rugby. 

Don’t get me wrong, they are not a poor team. At times they poke their head out of the mire of mediocrity they’ve found themselves in and give us a taste of days gone by, but for the most part, they’re a team that is capable of great moments, but incapable of piecing these moments together for a display of consistent dominance. 

There is nothing that Sunday mornings selection can do to change the course of this distressing narrative. 

Thrash Wales? Sure, but it’s only Wales. 

Show a defined turnaround from the piecemeal offerings to date? The player make up is so different from the team that wilted in the face of England, we’ll be none the wiser as to the development of the group as a whole. 

The most depressing part of this slow collapse of the AB dynasty is the resignation of the fanbase that this is as good as gets. 

The fire that burns twice as bright, burns half as long, but the All Blacks did burn so very, very brightly. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the All Sport Breakfast podcast with Darcy
Waldgrave from News Talk SED be.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Tomorrow morning, the All Black twenty twenty five season will
be extinguished. Although that is a generous term. Is the
season hardly caught fire? Did it? From time to time
there was this the spark that threatened to ignite the team,
bringing forth health, fire and golfing the opposition, sucking their

(00:33):
oxes and charring them beyond recognition, blazing a trail to victory.
But not this year, nor last year. Any sniff of
their former firestarter glory was basically a smoking nostril teaser,
a hint of the scorched earth policy that the team
once dispensed with impunity not anymore. It's not the team

(00:56):
of days gone by. This is not the team standing
on the shoulders of the giants of the All Black
teams of old, the teams that built the legend of
New Zealand rugby. But they don't get me wrong, They're
not a poor team. At times they poke their head
out of the admire of mediocrity that found themselves in
and give us a taste of days gone by. But
for the most part they are a team that is

(01:18):
capable of great moments, but incapable of piecing these moments
together for a display of consistent dominance. It's nothing that
Sunday Morning Selection can do to change the course of
this distressing narrative. Yep, they could thrash Wales, sure, but
to any Whales. They could show a defined turnaround from

(01:40):
the piecemeal offering so far. But the player makeup is
so different from the team that wilted in the face
of England will be none the wiser as to the
development of the group as a whole. The most depressing
part of the slow collapse of the All Black dynasty
is the resignation of the fan base that this is

(02:01):
as good as it gets. The fire that burns twice
as bright burns half as long. But the All Blacks
did burn so very, very brightly. That'll do.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
For more from the All Sport Breakfast with Darcy Watergrave,
listen live to News Talk set be on Saturday mornings,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.