David Ferguson: Total Rugby is required to match the All Blacks

IT IS A year out from the Rugby World Cup so New Zealand must be on top of the world and, after another thrilling Tri-Nations, the men from the Land of the Long White Cloud are just that.

And, just as has been the case in previous lead-ups to the global affair, they are some way above the competition with six wins out of six, even if the weekend's final match with Australia proved to be an engrossingly close affair. But a number of things have happened this week to make one think about why New Zealand are in that position.

It has been difficult in listening to Edinburgh and Glasgow coaches, Rob Moffat and Sean Lineen, describing why their teams fell down so meekly in the second round of the Magners League to escape the conclusion that players are guilty of making the game too complicated.

"We were perhaps trying to do B before A," said Moffat, after his side's inability to build phases to threaten Munster.

"We were too soft and lacked leaders," said Lineen yesterday, reflecting on how his forwards were bullied off the ball by a Dragons side that, according to one Glasgow player, "wanted it more than us''.

Edinburgh and Glasgow have gone through cycles of discovering they are failing to hit rucks hard, low or aggressively enough and in twos and threes rather than singly, to ensure clean ball comes back for the next phase, then doing so for a spell and discovering their game opens up, before taking the foot off the pedal again. New Zealand culture does not allow that and one wonders if the fact they are hosting the World Cup will be decisive.

Moffat has gone outside the country for Fijian Netani Talei, Esteban Lozada, the Argentine lock, and centre Alex Grove to bring a focus, a direction and power to Edinburgh's attack, but also with some handling and running skills to off-load. 'Go-forward' has become one of the buzz-words of the modern game, but it is not new. Momentum, we used to call it. Players talk of 'red zones' and 'green zones', where to inject extra 'go-forward' to stop a side or to finish them off. To most of us it's the 22 you are defending or attacking, and natural adrenaline tends to increase awareness of what is needed there.

If we needed more reminding that rugby was a simple game it came with the sad news that Jim Greenwood had died. A coach who enjoyed invitations to travel around the globe, working with New Zealanders, Australians, South Africans, Englishmen and Welshmen, it is a bit of a shame that the SRU never cultivated his knowledge or ideas.And yet Sir Ian McGeechan, Sir Clive Woodward, Andy Robinson and Gregor Townsend spoke this week of how valuable they have been to coaches of their generations through the pages of his book Total Rugby.

Greenwood espoused simple philosophies based around encouraging every player to run hard, to tackle hard, to pass in front of the man to encourage pace, to kick into space, to play the game with ambition and at speed, and to think. It is no wonder the Kiwis took him to their heart. Sir Fred Allen, the most successful All Blacks coach, had the same approach in the 1960s, and it is clear in watching New Zealand complete the Tri-Nations with a clean sweep and sublime counter- attacking skills 50 years on that the guiding principles remain.

Run hard, clear out aggressively, pass quickly, support and repeat. That is what we have seen from Richie McCaw and his All Blacks again in the past two months and what we expect when they come to Murrayfield in just eight weeks' time, only — this is where the gulf emerges — displayed with a confidence, passion and intensity that most find hard to deal with. Their ultimate challenge is to do it in the bright glare of a World Cup.

Scottish players have their own target now: To respond quickly to a poor start to the Magners League. Beating Australia was special last autumn and matching New Zealand will take more. Are they up for it?