OPINION: We're a knee-jerk bunch, we kiwis, and that's never truer than when the All Blacks lose.
After a defeat, the cries come out - "drop the captain"… "change the first five"…"cut the backs coach".
This week, various pundits have thrown out Kieran Read and Ian Foster, then banished Beauden Barrett to fullback.
That’s after one loss to Ireland, in a season when they’ve won 11 of 13 test matches - that's an 84.6 percent winning record. As disastrous seasons go, well, that’s not one.
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But if you read the columns, you'd think this is five-loss 1998 all over again.
True, it hasn't been a vintage season. The slick attack has become clunky, there are basic errors and for the first time in ages, the mighty All Blacks scrum was given a shunt by Ireland.
The new options added to the attacking plans have caused confusion and some decision-making has been bad.
They lost to South Africa in Wellington, snuck away with wins in Pretoria and London, then blew several chances, while losing to a committed Irish side.
None of that is great, but none of it is the end of the world either. Better it happens this year than next.
The most disturbing criticism this week has been of captain Kieran Read.
People say it's the end of the road for the two-time World Cup winner, because he made three or four uncharacteristic mistakes against Ireland.
Drop him… he’s not over his injured back… he's past his used by date… bring in Ardie or Akira at number eight.
It’s all hot air.
At 33, Read isn’t suddenly over the hill.
Yes, he made a couple of bad passes. Yes, knocked a ball on that could have led to a try.
Yes, we hold him to a higher standard.
Let's put it this way, that ball wouldn't have been there to knock on, if Read wasn't in the right spot for the charge down.
Coach Steve Hansen called it a rare bad day at the office - a one-in-100 game.
After 117 caps of big hits, athletic runs and miraculous offloads, Read deserves to be forgiven for that.
We’ve all had a bad day at the office - it doesn’t mean you suddenly aren’t any good at your job.
This is very reminiscent of those calling for Dan Carter to be axed for the 2015 World Cup. They wanted to replace arguably the greatest first-five ever with one-test veteran Lima Sopoaga.
Despite Sopoaga's obvious talent, it seems silly now.
The selectors stuck by Carter and it paid dividends. He won the World Cup and was named World Player of the Year.
Steve Hansen believes what's being written about his skipper is nonsense.
"Some of those articles are ridiculous. They’re being written by people who have never been in our environment - we’ve never seen them at a rugby game.”
Just like 2007’s World Cup disaster shaped Richie McCaw into a great leader, Kieran Read will learn from not taking shots at goal in Wellington and errors against Ireland.
This may be the year that helps form the captain New Zealand needs in Japan next year.
Kieran Read is here to stay.
Ross Karl is Newshub rugby reporter, on tour with the All Blacks.
Join us at 3am Sunday for live updates of the All Blacks vs Italy test in Rome.
