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Opinion

Some positive steps for the All Blacks, but the volatility remains

Roar Guru
8th August, 2021
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Roar Guru
8th August, 2021
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One of the key features of the latter parts of the Steve Hansen era and the beginning of the Ian Foster one has been the wide range in performance quality, not only from game to game but even a 40-minute period, and we saw this again in Bledisloe 1 this weekend.

Let’s start with the boxes that got ticked.

For all the talk of the Wallabies’ forwards bringing the metal this week the All Blacks’ tight five forced them into scrum and lineout completions of 71 per cent and 83 per cent respectively while being clean on their own lineout ball and for all but one, secure at scrum time.

Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick were back to their spoiling best as a combination at lineout time. For a pack still missing Joe Moody, Dane Coles and Sam Cane they will be happy with that.

If there were any remaining doubters that Rieko Ioane is a left winger and not an international centre they should have been dispelled. He looks back to his damaging best with ball in hand, being able to go either over or around his opposite, and his time at centre for the Blues has demonstrably improved his front-on tackling, space awareness and distribution.

He really has the ability to dominate this position for years to come and I hope they don’t move him.

Rieko Ioane Reece Hodge

(Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images)

Richie Mo’unga has locked himself into the ten jersey, looking calm with the ball in hand and kicking well from both hand and tee and having that unique ability to always be moving onto the ball as the slick service from Aaron Smith comes towards him.

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I am liking the developing partnership with David Havili at this level with the latter in particular making good decisions, especially when a move is breaking down and a reset is required rather than a low percentage offload, it is not perfect but moving solidly in the right direction.

It is worth noting, New Zealand only kicked the ball ten times, as they rotated Mo’unga, Havili and Damian McKenzie through that first receiver role. I am not sure that much change is needed in game but clearly there is a plan in development here.

The back three forwards produced a mix of excellent along with the downright woeful. The loose forward trio conundrum is no further forward in resolution after this match and the first 40 minutes may have been the most disconnected performance from an All Blacks trio in a long time.

Those who have read my recent offerings will have noted my highlighting the difference between players who provide a platform for others to play off, and those that need a platform to be set for them. The opening half was all that bad about not setting a platform for the side to play off.

When you are playing a 1-3-3-1 pod system there is a real need for the wide player furthest from the ball to work hard back towards the middle of the park until control of the ruck is regained. We saw little of this in the opening 40 with Ardie Savea stationed on the left, Akira Ioane on the right and Dalton Papalii left to manfully plough a lonesome furrow up the middle of the park at both tackle and ruck time.

New Zealand could count themselves fortunate that both Rob Valetini and Harry Wilson were having games at the quieter end of the spectrum.

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I have written many times on these pages that the All Blacks can only afford to play one of Savea, Ioane and Hoskins Sotutu together at any one time and the lack of collective work rate in the opening half further consolidates this view.

A firm message was clearly delivered at halftime as we saw all three operating more centrally in the second stanza, upping their work rate, and all three played positive roles in both the McKenzie and Havili tries.

Damian McKenzie

(Photo by Dianne Manson/Getty Images)

The Havili try in particular was exactly what we want see from an All Blacks loose forward trio, working together as a unit, on a far more regular basis.

Ioane won the lineout at the front, it was a good first offensive ruck clean out from Papalii, then there was a carry from Ioane, a carry from Savea, a good pick and go from Ioane and then with the Wallabies’ defence unable to reset, Smith threw the magic pass for the try.

It was wonderful stuff, and for the McKenzie try all three had hands on the ball as the All Blacks’ wave rolled forward, but a good attacking five minutes doesn’t mean you can go missing for a full half of rugby at this level, which will be fatal come Springboks time.

Sam Cane’s return in the seven shirt by year end and Luke Jacobson’s entrenching at eight will go some way to remedying the 80-minute effort required by the loose forwards to establish the required platform for the side to play off. It is worth noting that Dalton Papalii’s effort of 15 tackles without a miss was a huge effort in the circumstances.

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There will rightly be concerns about the lack of focus and intensity as the bench rolled on at end of that game but in truth that variability of intensity of performance was a factor across the entire match for mine, albeit heightened in the last ten.

The remaining question is the make-up of the back three. I for one remain unconvinced of starting both Damian McKenzie and Sevu Reece in the same XV, especially with the current theme of bombs raining from the sky all day long but I do get the thinking that serious wheels are needed in that back division to both cover the 50/22s and to take advantage of those that kick poorly to them.

It is back to Eden Park for Bledisloe 2 next week with hopefully a more even performance of higher intensity across the 80 and a reduction in the errors and penalties that again served to put themselves under pressure.

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