The All Blacks and a time when even their own haka seems to intimidate them: will the Pumas be able to take advantage of it again?

There are problems that can be measured in a whimsical, statistical or momentary way. The specific gravity of All black It has nothing to do with being fourth in the world rankings or third in the rugby league rankings, which he has The Cougars in first place. But what is New Zealand’s place on the world stage today? As always it is a possible answer which also runs for Argentina and its great moment. The favorite is the local, not the team led by Michael Cheika.

The first data that confirms this are the bets: bwin.com pays only 14 cents for every dollar wagered on an All Blacks win. The Pumas go to the bank: Whoever believes it will hit like last week will win 4.15 for every George Washington face card. The tie – it only happened once in 1985 – pays 26 to 1.

And why the head coach, Ian Foster, is questioned and the public disappoints the players? Clearly why the New Zealanders are not used to seeing their national team lose and throughout 2022 they have. five opportunities and four of them were in his country.

Three in the July window before Ireland (12-23 in Dunedin and 24-40 and 22-32 in Wellington), another on the first date of Championship in view of South Africa (26-10, as a visitor) and then with The Cougars by 18-25, in Christchurch.

Indeed, after the defeat to Ireland – a milestone for the British who had never reached New Zealand – it was rumored that Foster might not be leading the competition that brings together the four best teams in the Southern Hemisphere. On that occasion, the leaders did not deny the news that proliferated for at least a week.

With all the interrogations, Foster lost co-workers from his staff but remained in office while the name of Scott Robertsonmultiple sample of super rugby with the crusaders. People have chosen it in various types of polls.

Next year’s World Cup does not have a confirmed coach, despite his contract guaranteeing it. If Foster does not win the rematch against Argentina, it is very likely that he will watch next year’s World Cup on TV. If he wins against the Pumas, but doesn’t do it on the last two dates against Australia, the prognosis is the same.

The scenario is worse according to the analysis of the New Zealand press: the crisis of the Selection would be removing the interest of the minor public for that sport, which is practiced there like football in Argentina: in every corner, school, field rental, paddock or eventual corner.

Statistics concerning New Zealand indicate a 17 percent loss of boys in clubs who at the same time have another size if it contrasts with those managed by basketball: the discipline grew by 40 percent, at the pace of the Tall Blacks, as the National team is nicknamed. These signals intensified over the course of 2022.

It is that in just over a month he suffered his first crash in 27 years against Ireland, who had never won a series in New Zealand, where Los Pumas also won for the first time. Each loss hit the South Pacific islands like a meteorite and has the All Blacks on the storm front. The Haka feature seems to intimidate the players themselves.

It is that in just 48 days they have lost five times, a thunderous streak if you take that into account between 2012 and 2016 they barely did it twice. And Foster experienced it closely as an assistant to Steve Hansen, head coach in an exceptional process. The bet to support the project beyond the names met with negative results. The support for the beaten coach came from Hansen, who accused the management of the sporting moment, while acknowledging a certain “bad relationship with the players”.

The championship is in the middle of its journey. For Los Pumas there are three games missing which fuel a superlative illusion. The All Blacks have the same number of games left, to try to return to a path that places them in the right measure, in which their mere presence intimidates their opponents, beyond the whims, statistics and moments of passage.