In contrast Stirling Mortlock, who had been Mr Reliable right up until the final, missed four of eight and the Crusaders kept new Zealand s dominance of the competition going. Once again it came down to the kickers and although neither Paul Grayson nor Ronan O Gara were at their best, the Northampton player s three penalties proved enough. He is the quiet guru behind the scenes who has been masterminding the changes on the playing side over the past few years. There is no question that the ball is in play longer now than at any stage in the history of the game, and the law changes have also succeeded in making players stay on their feet much more. The down side is the way forwards are now strung out across the field reducing the space for creative runners.
Every game now starts off as a war of attrition, a softening up process.
The lack of tries in closely contested games has to be a cause for concern. All the top sides will score freely when they can dominate the game up front but when the forward battle is pretty even, the tries dry up. There is always the exception to prove the rule, of course, and that marvellous semi-final between France and New Zealand in the World Cup does exactly that. Nobody will ever forget it because attack triumphed over defence. It was not just sour grapes when Brumbies coach, Eddie Jones, complained about the way scrum-half George Gregan was prevented from clearing the ball particularly from the quick rucks which are now so much a feature of the game.