Rugby Union: All Blacks let down by dark side: Chris Rea finds reasons to be fearful as the tourists take their leave

HISTORY will record that Sean Fitzpatrick's All Blacks failed. They had come to win two matches, the internationals at Twickenham and Murrayfield, and victory in one, albeit by a record score, was simply not good enough for a side who continually set, and are therefore judged by, the highest standards. The fact that this was a side in transition will not be regarded as an excuse, nor might it be enough to save Laurie Mains, their respected coach.

The pack was built on traditional lines, though not of vintage quality. The forwards were mobile and athletic, well-versed in the skills of ball winning and ball retention. They were well versed, too, in the blacker arts of gamesmanship, and this side gave away more penalties than any other in recent memory.

The All Blacks had a solid scrum without being intimidating and a line-out which hinged on Ian Jones. Throughout the tour they employed a number of line-out variations, which were only partially successful. As a unit, the back row created very little, despite the presence of Zinzan Brooke, easily their most consistent performer.

The fascination of the tour, though, lay in the tactics the All Blacks would have to employ in the absence of Grant Fox. Stephen Bachop was the only specialist fly-half in the party, and he had built his reputation as a runner. Lee Stensness, a centre against the Lions, had some experience at fly-half and Marc Ellis, a utility back, had a number of influential admirers. But whoever they chose, the All Blacks would be forced to play a more fluid game than they had ever done with Fox.

Yet, for all that, the All Blacks showed us nothing new tactically. They drove low and hard, supported closely and in depth, rucked well at times, always leaving their mark, and missed very few tackles. They also showed no mercy to sides who attempted to play fast and loose, like London, the South of Scotland and Scotland.

But the selectors' preference for Ellis over Bachop as Test fly-half made no sense. Bachop had given a near flawless display in the opening match against London and, throughout, showed a greater appreciation of what was required in the position than Ellis, who ran like a whippet but also kicked like one.

It is inconceivable that, with Fox at fly-half, the All Blacks would have been as tactically inept as they were against England. Not only were England fielding a new full-back but one whose shortcomings the All Blacks had exposed earlier in the tour. Yet not once in the game was Jon Callard seriously tested under the high ball.

But some players made significant advances. Stu Forster began the last domestic season in New Zealand ranked sixth in the country. After an outstanding display for the Maoris against the Lions, his selection for the tour was no surprise but his breakthrough as the Test scrum-half was. His resourcefulness, coolness under pressure, competitive spirit and the sheer impertinence of some of his passing made him probably the tour's outstanding performer.

That Fox wasn't missed as a goal-kicker until the final drama at Twickenham is the finest possible testament to Matthew Cooper's skills. A sound kicking technique, which could withstand the pressure, let him down only once, against Scotland A. But as the full Scottish side found to its cost the next week, it was merely a temporary fault.

Jeff Wilson is a confident young man of increasing maturity, who looked the part from the moment he stepped on to the field against London. He relied on craft rather than speed to beat opponents, and we saw at Twickenham that it is as a wing rather than as a goal- kicker that he will surely make his name. Unless, of course, cricket claims him first.

The All Blacks' one line-out player of genuine class, Ian Jones, got through the work of three men on the tour. A specialist middle jumper, he appeared at most of the other stations of the line-out along the way. Deceptively powerful in the tight, Jones also displayed the handling skills and athleticism of a loose forward.

Like Jones, Zinzan Brooke got through an impressive workload. He was not regarded as a Test player before the tour, but the selectors were having to reassess their loose forward combination even before his four tries at Netherdale. At his best, there is nothing Brooke can't do on a rugby field, from spiralling kicks to touch with both feet, to spin passing with both hands. He was the one player in the party touched with near genius - the genius of versatility.

Yet despite all the tourists' efforts to win friends as well as matches (they had a PR man accompanying them), the tour was soured by controversy. Predictably, there was over-reaction to some of the incidents, and Brian Moore's outrage over the alleged racial taunting of Victor Ubogu was a further example of the dangers of putting a pen instead of a pint into a player's hand at the end of a match. But the practice of sledging (Alan Watt had been a target at Murrayfield) is an abhorrent one; by being party to this kind of behaviour and worse, by helping to provoke it, Fitzpatrick brought dishonour on himself and to his office as captain.

As an unashamed admirer of New Zealand rugby, I was appalled by Jamie Joseph's despicable attack on Kyran Bracken last Saturday. It was indefensible, and the only course open to the management was to send him home on the next plane. Their failure to do so and their craven fudging of Joseph's omission from yesterday's game in Cardiff, displays a contempt for any code of fair play and decency.

The All Blacks do not have to stoop to skulduggery to win their matches, and it is regrettable that a tour which began with such glowing promise will be remembered chiefly for the All Blacks' attempts to turn foul play rather than rugby into an art form.