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Just when it looked like the perfect opportunity to put the All Blacks’ first XV out on the park, you know like they have to do at the World Cup, the selection panel decided that experimentation, to the extent of excluding Richie Mo’unga and Aaron Smith from the 23 altogether, would be a better plan.
Forgetting perhaps that the last time the RWC favourites France got rolled it was against this very team, so out went a New Zealand selection with three clear questions to answer.
From the start it seemed to matter little as the visitors roared out to a 14-0 lead with Samisoni Taukei’aho making the bookmakers reach for their wallets yet again and the Barrett brothers in the backs combining with two clever kicks, a grubber from Beauden Barrett and a high wipers cross-field kick to debutant Mark Telea as he got off his duck in rapid fashion.
I’m not sure what is worse – the All Blacks from the start of the season who didn’t seem to join in a game until the opposition were off to the best start possible, or the current crew who have this ability, if we want to call it that, to drop off in intensity on a pretty regular basis after establishing a good lead and then having to fight their way slowly back into a contest.
At 14-0 my notes had, ‘’consolidate and concentrate’ written on them in large letters with a few needless exclamation marks following. But an unsecured kick-off, a knock-on from half back Finlay Christie and a needless neckroll from the captain and the momentum swung quickly.
Add in Dalton Papali’i dozing off at the open side post from a midfield ruck and Scotland tore through the middle of the park in Ireland like fashion and a penalty try resulted while Anton Leinert-Brown got himself a 10 minute sit down for his troubles.
One of the three questions this selection posed was the tightness of the loose forward trio with neither Sam Cane or Shannon Frizell doing the hard yard, and it was a fail for the first half.
(Photo by Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images)
I have questioned the Papali’i arms tackle technique before on these boards and a total of six tackles missed between himself and Akira Ioane in that opening stanza put the side under pressure again and again. Commentators and fans love a jackal turnover on the ground, but if the reason you are on your feet is the missing of a tackle prior it loses all sorts of sheen in my eyes.
With Akira Ioane delivering 4 tackles for 3 misses, and 3 runs for 8 metres while New Zealand ball runners were getting picked off on the ground for being isolated raises a real serious question for the final Test of the year. Surely they can’t roll him out again, and with Hoskins Sotutu hardly demanding inclusion in what will be the biggest test of the EOYT, just which of the All Blacks XV do they sent the emergency call out for.
Frizell made a massive difference when he entered the fray and we will return to his performance as the catalyst for overturning the deficit.
After getting their noses in front Scotland settled into a territory game that the All Blacks struggled to overcome.
The second question to be answered of this selection was, would Beauden Barrett be able to direct the side around the park in line with the new All Black game plan. That was a resounding “no” for a number of reasons.
First was simply length of kick. Stuart Hogg and Finn Russell, once in front, invited the All Blacks into a game of force back and they won that battle quite comprehensively. Add into that B Barrett making 7 of his first 14 passes playing flat to line and we were back to the bad old days of David Havili being used as the team battering ram for which he is not suited.
All of the worst memories of last season and early this came flooding back. Add in a real lack of patience and poor execution when in attacking positions and the question must be raised whether Barrett the Elder is actually the guy the All Blacks put their faith in should Mo’unga go down for any reason.
Worth observing here that Christie’s dream of playing in the country of his birth became something of a nightmare, and one undercooked box kick aside, TJ Perenara brought a level of control and accuracy that challenges for a change in the halfbacks’ pecking order behind Aaron Smith.
The last big question was the functioning a midfield of Havili and Leinert-Brown back together. It didn’t really work, did it? They looked clunky at best, individual errors helped the Scotland scoreboard tick over and if the selection panel do not go back to a Jordie Barrett, Rieko Ioane midfield for next week at least, then it will be something of a surprise.
And so, onto the turnaround from 9 points down with 20 minutes to go, to what the scorebook will record for history as an 8-point win that looks way more comfortable than it was.
For anyone who coaches blindside flankers or number eight forwards, clip out that final 20 minutes and have your charges just watch Frizell over and over as he handed out a lesson in playing close to the ball that Papali’i and Akira Ioane should also be paying attention to.
He carried for more metres in this cameo than Papali’i and Ioane did together in the entire match, much of it straight into the tight stuff making gain-line, his offensive cleanouts were key in providing the All Blacks with good secure attacking ball for both late tries, and how he presents the ball on the ground is a coaching point in itself.
He was also the go to guy for the attacking lineouts for good measure. If there is a single catalyst for the reclaimed All Black ability go forward with secure ball in that final quarter, then a lot of that credit falls at his feet.
Add in Codie Taylor who hit his marks at lineout time is seemingly back to his best around the park, the sacking of a Scotland maul being a key moment, and TJ Perenara brought with his arrival a level of game management and calmness that had been missing for the previous hour.
These current All Blacks seem intent on taking us on the full season roller-coaster and hard to see the final match of the year at Twickenham being any different.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.