Remember this old skit?
Patient: Doc, I hurt all over, when I press my leg it hurts, when I press my chest it hurts, and when I press my head it hurts, what’s wrong with me?
Doctor: You’ve got a broken finger.
Since the 2017 British and Irish Lions tour, the All Blacks have allowed themselves to fall foul of a classic misdiagnosis, which has driven them further and further away from the essence of their game, has seen physical performances continue to slide and culminated with a simply embarrassing fortnight at the end of this year’s end of year tour.
With the aid of every rugby reporter on the planet, repeating this go-to over and over, it became part its own ever more entrenched myth.
Every time they wobbled or lost, out came the same opening question: ‘you struggled against the rush defence today’.
Well guess what, everyone does.
This is how everyone plays and when World Rugby allowed unfettered slowing down of the rucks from 2017 to 2020, the game crawled to a halt, until that quite awful Autumn Nations Cup of 2020, which was the turning point and World Rugby turned to speeding up the rucks.
There was an expectation that the faster ruck speeds would play to New Zealand’s game style, and it has to some extent.
But if you cannot hold the ball for multiple phases nor keep pushing that gain line back, then that advantage is seriously nullified.
(Photo by John Berry/Getty Images)
Let’s be quite clear, there is not a defence in the world that can continue to rush at you in coordinated fashion all day if the attacking side is taking that extra metre at every attacking ruck and dictating the speed the ball comes out, and this is where these All Blacks have got things massively wrong in recent years.
Instead of looking to the forwards, the offensive ruck, the narrow channel ball carrying and physicality of their tight five, they looked out the back for solutions. You are never going to find the correct answers if you start by looking in the wrong place.
Twin playmakers, people who runs sideways looking for gaps, attacking traits favoured over defensive ones, an offload strategy that produced handling errors and turnovers at ever increasing rates, all these became an increasing part of a compounding All Blacks problem, because they were focused on the symptom and not the cause.
Then the spiral of ‘how do our backs get around a rush defence’ took on a life of its own.
This is why the continuity appointment of Ian Foster has ultimately proven to be a fail – no new thinking for existing problems.
As an aside, a mate of mine noted the other day, when the All Blacks’ coach starts sounding like the head of human resources, you know we have a problem.
I can’t recall how many articles I have read on how the All Blacks haven’t solved the rush defence issue, yet the answer was there right at the very genesis.
In Test 1 of the British and Irish Lions tour in 2017, it was clear exactly how Warren Gatland’s team would tour with Andy Farrell coaching defence, and the All Blacks absolutely smashed it that day.
One off the ruck, playing off nine, Aaron Smith conducting like a maestro was superb, runner after runner made it over the advantage line and the famed Lions defence went backwards all day.
(Photo by Renee McKay/Getty Images)
The All Blacks’ loose forwards ran for 90 metres with a further 40 from the second row, much of that one off the ruck.
It has been a long time since they have dominated like that at the gain line against a good side for as long as they did that day.
For the life of me, I cannot think why this was not the performance to build the entire Rugby World Cup cycle on, instead of the ever-increasing focus on the double-digit numbers.
It will forever remain one of the great rugby mysteries, because sure as hell there was no sense in abandoning it.
The France game at the weekend was a perfect in-game example of the two states.
In the first half, Mrs Highlander and I were nearly in new television territory as the commentary told me the two flankers (six/eight he meant) were out wide while the French cut a swathe through the middle of the ruck like so many have before them this year.
(Photo by John Berry/Getty Images)
But for 20 minutes at the start of the second half it was a totally different game: everyone tight, playing off Smith, making the opposition commit.
It was route one stuff and les Bleus’ D line, which had been flying up in the opening stanza, all of a sudden didn’t look quite so flash going backwards.
And the tries not only flowed easily, but the entire dominance of the game had tilted.
It really was that simple. Then, off goes Aaron Smith, the lateral running begins again and three All Blacks can’t find a way to pin an opposition member behind his own goal line and win the scrum.
For the record, there was 20 to go and the score was 27-25 when that disaster occurred. Game gone, just like that.
As brilliant as that return was from Romain Ntamack, Brad Weber, Beauden Barrett and Richie Mo’unga should give themselves a good slap for that collective effort, and this from a nation famed for sheep dog trials.
So next time you are asked the question ‘why can’t the All Blacks handle a rush defence?’, forget the Beauden Barrett versus Richie Mo’unga comparisons for they are but a mere distraction.
The correct answer is because we have devalued winning and haven’t been able to win the gain line consistently and it has been slowly sliding for the last five years and no one wins without going forward first.
Ruckit
Roar Rookie
Agree with comments on here, where ABs have had success going direct one off ruck, such as v France and Lions. It was frustrating that they seemed to stop the tactic and revert to backs for penetration. I'm hoping that this was deliberate in was deliberate in that Foster & co of Foxton and holding back Tesla.
Buk
Roar Rookie
Definitely lacking a winger coming in to add some power in the midfield ads an option / plan B. Havili a very talented player, but not as a power option in the midfield.
Buk
Roar Rookie
Have to ask yourself, how many on that breakdown program are successful coaches.
winston
Roar Rookie
Jordie’s lack of pace really showed there
winston
Roar Rookie
Never understood why we only ever played like that in game 1 of the Lions.
John
Guest
It is very hard to emulate Kaino on the tackle, as 1 small mistake if you go high and you risk being in the bin or Off for good. Maybe the reason Blackadder and Popaili tackle lower
Etepeus
Roar Rookie
I liked Jacobson at 8 - I think he just needed more time to make the position his own
Neil Back
Roar Rookie
This is becoming a disturbing trend Biltong, particularly out of the Republic lately. I know you're trying to focus on SA attacking failures, but even you can't resist quoting Swys de Bruin. If he or those like him really want to be taken seriously in this debate, they really need to stop focusing only of perceived slights to their own side. It's smells. I keep stumbling across mini Rassie YouTube videos, typically SA in origin, bemoaning officiating slights in a victim culture way. It's one eyed, unnecessary and unhelpful in my opinion, and is fast becoming a RE legacy. By way of example, in the opening 5 minutes of the Eng SA fixture, I remember thinking the game looked like it was going to be kid gloves handed to SA. Four times the England infringements later, I had seen little to change my mind. So I out of interest (I can rarely be bothered) I went back to the opening and re watched. 0m37s le Roux launches off feet over the top of a forming ruck to hit a retreating player. Nothing. 2m16s Etzebeth takes Smith down by the neck as he attempts to break the line. Smith is last to his feet. Nothing. 5m19s Outnumbered 7 to 3 in a driving maul metres from the SA line, Kwagga pulls it down. Penalty try and a yellow. Nothing. Unconsciously or consciously I switched off officiating watching for the rest of the game. That was until right at the end I tuned in again to watch Dolly throwing in as I couldn't believe how badly the lineout was operating. 77m10s England are crucially still 2 points adrift but have a lineout just inside the SA half. Dolly throws to the front (no surprise) but also importantly right in front of an unobstructed AR Angus Gardener. Etzebeth blatantly takes Itoje's arm and the ball goes to SA. Nothing, despite Itoje's protest. There's no doubting that in an increasingly professional era, officiating standards need constant review. But never from a victim stance.
Old Bugger
Roar Rookie
Yeah totally agree there and, he wasn’t HC, when he was under Shag. Funny aye, last time he was HC, he failed, big time. If anything, I think continuity sucks.
nroko
Roar Rookie
To me it seems a message being driven by either the coaches or players. The message being "we can't bash our way with forward dominance to win every game, its not sustainable, we need to run teams off the park using our pace, skills". The message seems to be driven in so hard that they believe this and its reflected in the performance. They believe they cannot sustain the intensity from game to game.
CW Moss
Roar Rookie
It’s more like the 5 stages of grief. Shock, Denial, Anger, Help, Recovery (post ‘23)
Locke
Roar Rookie
Wow, one supremely brilliant but unrecognized expert has arrived to set it straight. He doesn't even need to provide one iota of evidence, analysis or argument. What he claims, just is. Now that is simple.
Muzzo
Roar Rookie
Yep, OB, as Rennie is at least a coach. On Cruden, he at least went through the rugby establishment run by Mexted at Palmerston North, & at the time, Mexted passed him with flying colours. Anyway, at least we know that both Razor & Dave had prior international experience, so how does Foster, fit in prior, to him becoming Shag's assistant? From memory, he had sfa, Bro.
Highlander
Roar Guru
We are yet to replace reads tackle numbers - he was exceptional
Old Bugger
Roar Rookie
As always HL, another great article to get everyone thinking more. After reading what you and most have written here, I don't think this team, have enough go-to players to improve, their state of play. The coaches could make some strategic changes but then a couple of seasons to 2023, may not be enough time to settle those new combinations. So, we persist with what's in play atm and I'm back to square one - we don't have enough go-to players to produce the improvements that we see, are necessary. But then again, after a disastrous 2007, then a similar 2009 season, the coaching panel then found something and went on with it through to 2011. That program continued through to 2015. Then post 2015, things started going south but moments to treasure, came and went before anyone batted an eyelid. For me, it is game day tactics. Sounds like a coin-toss approach but then again, that's exactly what it is. Sometimes you choose your tactics and everything works to perfection while other times, your tactics just seem to be stale, compared to what your opponent, brought to the game. Problem with tactics is, that you don't want to let out too many of your supposed winning tactics too much, lest your next opponent finds someone like the Professor who will analyse it all to the nth degree and guess what - your tactics get blown out of the water. Cases in point - 2017 BIL tour and the tactics between T1 and T2; and 2019 RWC tactics between QF (v Ireland) and SF (v England). In both cases, the games were a week apart and yet the ABs tactics, seemed to be flip-flopped from early pack dominance and retaining that pressure to literally, no pack pressure except back your defence. In each return game with little or no pack pressure, we got dominated and out tackle count just took the wind, from their sails. I agree with you that their are glimpses of improvements in this AB team but whether those glimpses can become more than that, will depend wholly on what the coaching panel agree will not only be their go-to tactics but also, their go-to selections because atm, I don't see any of these two decisions working, to complement each other to gain, that early dominance that was definitely missing against Ireland and France.
Wal
Roar Guru
Particularly on Defence H, Whilst they both (Read especially) had a knack of popping up at end of a backline move, how often would you see either one bend someone in half who was cheeky enough to try a blind side snipe. I am hugely impressed with Blackadder but he doesn't yet have that physical dominance on D, Kaino or Read had.
Old Bugger
Roar Rookie
On that basis Muzz, then so did Rennie - I think he was a multiple age group WC winner, as coach. And, one of his captains was none other than Cruden.....go figure, picking a No10 as national age group captain.....and winning the WC.
Old Bugger
Roar Rookie
Nah not Dingo - he's had his shot on both sides of the ditch and didn't do any bloody good, on either. I'll take the professor though, any day.....
Jeff
Guest
He is just like his father Muzzo. I wonder how he got into NZ. But please don't chuck him out. He may decide to come here!!!!!!
Old Bugger
Roar Rookie
Injuries and bad personal decisions, have put up walls against them ever achieving, consecutive SR seasons. If they get the chance to put some seasons together, maybe we see them hit their rhythm, in 2024 and onwards.