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Like most of you I sat, enthralled, watching the recent Springboks – All Blacks Test match that many are now calling the best rugby match in at least a decade.
The physicality of the contests, the pace of the match and the skill shown by all the players was exceptional.
This week I took a closer look at the match as I tried to find a chink in the All Blacks’ armour that the Wallabies may be able to exploit this weekend. Unfortunately there was precious little on offer, but in my video analysis on Friday I’ll show you one area I think the Wallabies could target.
Whenever I watch a match I tend to make a note when key events occur so I can go back and review them further in more detail.
While I review every play, I usually end up with a list of a small number of critical moments that change the outcome of a match – little moments of brilliance or costly errors that decide the match.
With the Springboks and All Blacks both playing so well in their match the difference between winning and losing really came down to four key moments where the skills and commitment of the All Blacks was just that little bit better.
50th minute – Savea and Read chase down le Roux
After a kick chase the All Blacks got caught a little narrow in defence on the far side of the field giving the Springboks a significant overlap on the near side of the field.
A nice step from JJ Englebrecht got him around Julian Savea and Israel Dagg was faced with a two on one with Engelbrecht and Willie le Roux coming at him. Engelbrecht drew Dagg and gave a nice pass to le Roux.
It looked like le Roux was away but Savea chased really hard and tackled le Roux just five metres from the line. Even more impressive was the chase of Kieran Read who came all the way from the far side of the field to join Savea in the tackle.
Without the great chase from Savea and Read, le Roux would have given the Springboks a 29-21 lead with 30 minutes to play, and who knows what may have happened from there.
60th minute – Nonu pressures Kirchner who kicks out on the full
After the ball was passed back from a ruck outside the 22 Morne Steyn had plenty of time to make a clearing kick from deep in Springbok territory.
Instead he chose to pass it to Zane Kirchner who was slow to make the kick and a great chase from Ma’a Nonu put him under pressure.
The kick came off the outside of his boot and went out on the full, giving the All Blacks a lineout inside the Springbok 22 from which Beauden Barrett scored the try that secured The Rugby Championship.
61st minute – de Villiers comes out of the defensive line and misses the tackle on Barrett
Jean de Villiers has been used by the Springboks as a key part of their umbrella defence structure this year to rush out of the line and force the ball carrier back inside, but this time it backfired.
de Villiers moved ahead of Steyn on his inside, Barrett recognised the space that had been left and stepped back inside.
With his feet now too far away from Barrett, all de Villiers could do was throw an arm out as Barrett went by.
Steyn also only managed to throw an arm out but Engelbrecht got his arms wrapped around Barrett before inexplicably letting him go.
Barrett raced away for a try that should never have been allowed by the Springboks.
65th minute – Read scores to wrap the match up
With the All Blacks leading 31-27 with 15 minutes to go the All Blacks recovered a high kick and moved the ball to the near side of the field. Four players played a role in this passage of play working in a narrow 20-metre channel down the touch line.
Barrett (A) kept the attack straight and engaged the defence.
He passed the ball to Richie McCaw (B) just before Francois Louw made contact with him.
McCaw also kept the attack straight and drew Duane Vermuelen in before passing at exactly the right moment to Savea (C). While Savea had Read (D) outside him there was no room left for Read to work in.
From the front on shot you can see that Read didn’t even have enough room to stay in the field of play at this point.
The only way Read could be part of the play was for Savea to make room for him and that’s exactly what he did by moving inside. This forced Willie le Roux to follow him and left Read unmarked on the touch line.
Savea drew le Roux in and at exactly the right moment and passed the ball to Read who ran 25 metres untouched to score the try.
It was a brilliant example of forwards and backs working together, with every player making the right decision and executing under pressure.
The last move from Savea was exactly what was required to make space for Read who knew he should stay on the touch line and run at the space where le Roux had been standing.
Yes, it’s the basics of rugby, but the Kiwis seem to do these basics so much better than anyone else in the world.
Is this something in their DNA? No, this sort of decision-making and skill is practiced.
In 2010 Robbie Deans showed Australian coaches a drill he was using with the Wallabies to simulate exactly what Savea and Read did in this match. I presume it was something he’d used with the Crusaders as shown below.
Player A starts with the ball on any line on the pitch as shown on the left hand side of the image. Player B supports Player A from behind.
Player C starts on the same line and is the defender in a two-on-one situation.
Player A moves forward and moves either right or left away from the line forcing Player C to move to defend them as shown on the right hand side of the image. Player B runs straight down the line and receives the pass from Player A.
The point of the drill is that it is the ball carrier who creates space for the supporter. The supporter runs into the space that is created and that space is where the defender used to be.
It’s a very simple drill but it really does help to develop players and I still use it regularly. It’s also worth noting that there are no cones involved!
I’ve no doubt that Kiwi teams are still using this sort of drill in training and as you can see from this little moment in the Springboks – All Blacks match it can produce a match winning try.
Let me know if you find this sort of breakdown of decisive moments in a match interesting and if so I’ll publish more in the future.