The lessons of history should keep the All Blacks honest this week in Dublin

The lessons of history should keep the All Blacks honest this week in Dublin as they bring the curtain down on what could be the test year to end all test years.

Last year’s experience in London, when coach Steve Hansen’s unbeaten All Blacks trotted out for their final match of 2012 minus the requisite mindset and were duly thumped 38-21 by England, is the obvious reminder.

But if Hansen flicks a bit deeper into the All Black history book, he’ll also discover the 1997 campaign under John Hart that had eerie parallels to this year’s – up until the final week of their November tour, which also happened to be in London.

In 1997, Hart’s All Blacks were a phenomenal outfit, completely on top of their game and seemingly able to win tests any way they had to.

They had a team full of legends – led by Sean Fitzpatrick and showcasing the special skills of players like Zinzan Brooke, Josh Kronfeld, Frank Bunce, Christian Cullen, Jonah Lomu and Jeff Wilson – and over two years they would lose just the single test, with a draw thrown in.

If that sounds familiar, Hansen’s All Blacks of 2012-13 will match that achievement, providing they finish the job against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday (early Monday, NZ time).

But back to ’97 . . .

They’d breezed through a soft June schedule, won all four of their Tri-Nations tests, including a 35-32 belter against the Boks in Jo’burg, and also took care of business in the tacked-on Bledisloe in – of all places – Dunedin.

So, they were 8-0 when they embarked on what in those days was a more traditional tour north, with midweek games and all.

It all went to plan, too, with Ireland dispatched 63-15 in the first test, England subdued 25-8 at Old Trafford in a clash most notable for the home team’s “victory” lap afterwards and then Wales crushed 42-7 at Wembley.

That left just the finale, also against England, at Twickenham.

Nobody gave the hosts any chance against these dazzling All Blacks who were expected to apply the flourish to a very special year indeed.

But the All Blacks came out flat, England carved out a 23-9 halftime lead, and the fast-finishing New Zealanders could scramble only a disappointing 26-26 draw.

In what would be the end of the road for Brooke, Bunce and Fitzpatrick – a spectator most tour with chronic knee problems – it was a massive anticlimax.

The point that Hansen from that will take is the difficulty of this final test on the November tour.

The ’97 All Blacks were mentally as strong as it got, even without Fitzpatrick’s steely presence up front. But they were tired, they mentally had one foot on the plane home and they paid the price with the only blip on their otherwise perfect year.

Hansen’s All Blacks should have no such problems with an Ireland team thumped 32-15 by the Wallabies last weekend. But neither should the ’97 boys have had with an England outfit still figuring things out.

It’s test rugby and if you’re not there mentally, normally comfortable occasions can turn awkward in a heartbeat.

That will be what Hansen wrestles with this week as he looks for the buttons to push in a squad ready for a well-earned break.

He is reluctant to make too many changes – he’ll already have two forced by injury – and wants to give as many of his men as he dares the chance to finish the job they started.

But he’s also aware what a tricky week it is mentally.

Ireland have never beaten the All Blacks in more than a century of trying, and that fact is lodged in the sub-conscious of all these tourists.

“The danger is we go ‘phew,’ rather than ‘wow, now we’ve got an opportunity’,” Hansen said.

“It’s that opportunity that will drive our motivation to make sure our preparation is right.

“We’ll pick the people we think have got the energy to play the game we want to play, [but] it’s not too often you get an opportunity like this, so you’ve got to respect that from a selection point of view.”

In other words don’t expect too many more changes, other than Aaron Cruden and Wyatt Crockett. Andrew Hore should get his All Black finale, and Luke Romano, Steven Luatua and Cory Jane will be considered.

Whoever he chooses, these All Blacks must understand that right when history is there for the taking, it can be its most elusive.

– © Fairfax NZ News