I don’t think I explained my point clearly. There will always be a place for power in rugby, countries like SA, France, Argentina, England, Samoa, Tonga and Fiji have been blessed with big, powerful athletes.

Teams who were disadvantage by size could rely on speed, forward mobility and greater fitness to take advantage of fatigue later in the game.

The bench interchange has created a situation where power teams aren’t disadvantaged by fatigue when they can replace an entire front row. It’s a strategy that is not without risk but for now the risk is worth the reward.

“When we have tried to pass laws to create space in rugby, it has sometimes done the opposite.”

The banning of rucking wasn’t done to create more space but to change the optics and image of a sport that recently turned professional and established a world cup to showcase the sport to millions on live TV.

The cleaners and jacklers are the unintended consequence of banning rucking from the game.

The change from awarding the scrum feed from unplayable breakdowns to the last team moving forward instead to the team that wasn’t in possession also had the unintended consequence of teams adopting league style defensive lines.

I agree that tinkering with the games fundamental laws can create unintended consequences, however something needs to change to remove these impossible cleanouts and return our game to an aerobic one and not an anaerobic, power game.

I like Ennor but its too late in this current international season to introduce him at centre, failing an injury to Ioane. Before his untimely injury in the North v South game in 2020 he was the form midfielder in Super Rugby Aotearoa.

It takes time to fully recover from a ruptured achilles and his form this year has not been as impressive, but I haven’t lost faith in his ability since first seeing him play in Razor’s U20 team that also featured Will Jordan, Caleb Clarke, Stephen Perofeta, Luke Jacobson, Dalton Papali’i, and Asafo Aumua.

The end of year tour provides his best chance of staking a claim.

Regarding the breakout from Caleb Clarke in the second half from an audacious kick pass by Jordie Barrett, was another example of Clarke’s inability to run the right lines to continue an attack.
Clarke has an annoying habit of dying with the ball after trying to beat defenders. I fully expected Clarke to take the outside line, to commit Kellaway as the final defender towards the touchline away from his support, opening an easy passing lane inside to Rieko.
Instead Clarke chose to cut inside, not for the first time choosing his personal goal of beating everyone in front of him, over the team goal of playing a teammate into space.
Watch the replay of his break from Sotutu’s inside pass during the first half and Clarke runs away from Tupaea who positioned himself wide in support expecting to receive the pass. Clarke should have passed then stayed in support for the return ball.
Clarke needs to work very hard on his defence and running better lines to play his supporting teammates into space.
Another enjoyable read Highlander. I look forward to your articles each week.

Another area for Clarke’s improvement in those clips and other moments in this test and previous tests is running away from his support and failing to run easy lines to feed his supporting players on either side.

“But he also came back as a centre rather than as a number 10”

For all his natural gifts and talents, JOC doesn’t appear to be a natural fit at 10, in the same way Reece Hodge isn’t a natural fit at 10 yet both follow the team ethos and play wherever they’re picked.

It’s a tough critique of JOC, and we won’t know how tough the player and team review sessions were after the loss, but I’m sympathetic to players who are selected out of position and are heavily criticised, Tom Wright and Jordan Petaia are others who can play multiple positions but doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a natural fit for them all.

Calculated selection by Rennie, JOC didn’t deliver what he needed to see. Selections are more straightforward when there are fewer players in contention.

Nick

I wasn’t impressed with referee Karl Dickson on the weekend however he wasn’t to blame for an inaccurate and inept performance by the All Blacks in the first half. (I switched off at halftime)

There still looks to me at test level great inconsistency with breakdown rulings particularly with body weight support and hands on the ground before stealing the ball.

Maybe as a seagull he misheard when told he had to be a chip magnet (close to the ball), he thought they said chick magnet (visible, out in the open) 😛

Nick

Employing Akira Ioane in the wider channels on defence and attack, how much does it differ to patterns of play from previous All Blacks coaches?

I don’t see how they want to use Ioane, that different to Read, Kaino, Messam, and Jerry Collins in the early part of their careers. Often the “seagull” is singled out for criticism for under performing when the root cause for the system not working resides closer in.

Yes there were certain teams who enjoyed fame because of how they played. The originals, the 1924 invincibles and Fred Allen’s teams, but they were the exceptions to the rule unlike nowadays where since the first world cup the All Blacks are not only expected to win, but to win with style.
I know growing up Australia, France and Wales were the teams that played with flair and width. Even the Boks during their isolation years in the 80’s used their backs more than the All Blacks.

The centenary test felt like a world cup final and the game itself played out like one. It was tense, dramatic but not one filled with spectacle that appealed to any not emotionally involved.

At this level, its the result that matters most, however discussions involving South Africa always invite subjective opinions about style.

For those who know their rugby history or were there at the time, similar criticisms were levelled at the All Blacks against the touring British Lions in 1959. They famously won a test 18-17 with Don Clarke kicking six penalties, but conceded four tries (3 points each back then). Traditionally the All Blacks have not been renowned as a running rugby team. This image is a recent inception since the mid-80’s.

When Nienaber and his team review this test, specifically the last six minutes, they’ll rue their lack of attacking ambition with the ball in hand. On three occasions they won turnover ball inside the All Blacks half, with numerical advantages out wide screaming for the ball to be passed only for the halves to kick it away, that eventually led to Barrett’s penalty kick to seal their fate.

Apart from that, what we saw from the Boks was atypical from 2019 and again the All Blacks struggled to handle the pressure, high kicks and the ball. A win is a win, and last weekend was a great education for this team about how to win playing rugby on the back foot, without the ball for long periods, at a slower tempo.

They are not the complete team and tests like Saturday is an invaluable experience for players who’ve only dined on SR Aotearoa and trans-Tasman rugby the past two years, where the rugby is more nutritional than attritional.

Pete
Apart from their defeat to the Boks in Wellington 2018, the All Blacks backline struggled to break through or outflank the Boks defence since Rassie took charge. Even in their world cup pool victory they were getting knocked down and behind the gainline far too often. In an article this week Brodie Retallick outlined exactly why they’ve struggled recently
“Where they’ve caught us out the last couple of times, when they did, was through their line-speed on defence,” he said from Brisbane on Monday. “They’ve out-muscled us and we haven’t been able to break them down through our attack and then they’ve punished us.”
Comes back to the point Nick and I made earlier, that its harder to rush on defence if you can’t slow down opposition ball or win those collision areas, no matter how quick your backs are in thought and deed.

Hi Ben

Yes I have memories of running down Adelaide Road after a game at Athletic Park as we didn’t live far from there however I wasn’t allowed to go the test or anywhere near the park in 81.

Glad I stopped by the Roar today and read your piece Geoff.

Two moments involving the Springboks greatly shaped my relationship with the game.

The 1981 tour, up until then rugby was just a pastime to me, I sometimes played it and watched it, but wasn’t passionate or obsessive about it. I didn’t even know the names of all the positions. But this tour changed everything, I became more educated about it reading Bob Howitt’s Rugby News weekly publication and that then sparked my interest in reading books about past tours, players etc to the point where my best friend and I dreamed about appearing on Mastermind to answer questions about NZ v South Africa rugby 1949 – 1981.

The 1996 series, to this day still one of the best spectacles, intense, relentless contests between two well matched teams, the euphoria of that achievement outweighed the 2011 RWC where I felt relief more than anything. Plus the fact that we finally overtook the Boks in our head to head ledger and I religiously counted every subsequent win against them with rapturous glee.

Thanks.

Michael Hooper, Quade Cooper, Samu Kerevi, Brodie Retallick, Beauden Barrett, TJ Perenara have all successfully returned to test rugby from playing in Japan. Sean McMahon is about to be added to that list.

Was this inevitable because of the quality of the player, despite differences between the Top League and Super rugby competitions?

Or did Top League improve their game?

First time I ever saw a tackler penalised for this was Charlie Faumuina tackling Kyle Sinckler in the second Lions test 2017. It was a key penalty and at the time Read questioned Jerome Garces saying “so next time if I jumped and get tackled it’s a penalty?”

I agree Nick on attack you don’t need to win that many to achieve quick ball, but since Rassie took over the Boks physical intensity in winning collisions on defence went a long way to achieving world cup success and thats the biggest difference I’ve seen.

Prior to last fortnight, what would have occupied the minds of many fans in this part of the world, was how do you break down the Boks defence, it seemed so impregnable.

In hindsight their gameplan can’t be sustained as the game evolves and referees emphasis at the breakdown has shifted from rewarding defence to attack.

Their Lions series win has done them no favours as they’ve arrived in Australia believing their tactics are still a step ahead of the rest of the world, not realising the world has moved on.

The most noticeable difference I’ve noticed with the Boks in Australia is they’ve struggled to win the collisions and the tackle. So much of their game hinges on pressure they exert through winning collisions on or over the advantage line.

The presence of Kerevi in midfield is really reaping benefits for the Wallabies in creating hesitancy among defenders, but enough praise can’t be directed towards their forwards in creating a platform to play off. As we saw last weekend, the rush defence can become horribly exposed when a team breaks the advantage line and wins quick ball.

However SA remain strong at setpieces and caused a lot of problems for the Wallabies with their contestable kicks, but because they were beaten in those contact areas they struggled to contain the Aussies.

SA can turn things around this week, by focusing on winning those collision areas, we saw how the All Blacks struggled to get their continuity game flowing against Fiji in the first test, because they lost the race in the breakdown and struggled against their big men on defence.

The Boks will be up for this game, a celebration of a century of tests against their greatest rival, they’ve copped strong criticism from all quarters and are written off. These highly emotive factors play perfectly into the siege mentality the Boks thrive upon.

Yes they won’t lack for motivation given the strong criticism, but then we thought the same thing after losing the first test against the Wallabies.

We’re accustomed to seeing this impregnable green wall that seemed impossible to break down or outflank, could the disconnection between players in their rush defence be a sign that players aren’t believing in their system and guilty of trying to solve problems on their own.

Ironic given this was the same criticism Rennie levelled at his own team following their losses to the All Blacks.

“I would never want to face South Africa without Sam Cane, Sam Whitelock, Dane Coles, Aaron Smith and Richie Mo’unga,”

If you had written this at the start of the international season Highlander, All Blacks fans would have been extremely nervous and anxious if this were to happen.

The team’s improving performance each test has boosted confidence their absence won’t be a critical blow to their chances.

The Boks twin defeats has seen a role reversal where they’re now seen as the underdogs, which is a position I suspect they’re happy to occupy.

The most pleasing aspect of the All Blacks this year is that for the most part we’ve moved away from picking a starting team squeezing in all the talent we have available and selecting players in their preferred positions, creating healthy internal competition for spots.

The fundamentals of attacking off turnovers has returned and we’re now seeing them score long range tries again, not being afraid to attack from deep positions. Last two years under Hansen we retreated into our shells, due to our struggles to play freely against rush defences, and we kicked more and offloaded less.

I’m not so concerned about the right loose forward mix, based on what we’ve traditionally selected. I think Foster knows when to mould a player into the image of someone else and when to create something fresh given the special abilities of some of his players. The comment he made about Akira “he’s always been told what he’s doing wrong and we decided to focus on all the things he was doing well” speaks volumes to me about how different he is to Hansen in dealing with some players.

Where the Springboks are so formidable in recent years is that they don’t give points away easily.

Playing the Springboks, invites teams to muscle up and grind away in attack and defence. The Boks greatest threat is the relentless attrition they impose in eating up territory and possession and applying pressure.

From a neutral’s perspective, how the Wallabies attack and defence handles the Springboks will be a fascinating contest. For supporters it will be far more intense and anxious.

Cooper’s selection is an educated risk, he plays flat to the line and has similar skills in his passing game as Finn Russell and Mo’unga. Playing in tandem with a direct runner like Kerevi, could find and expose any defensive gaps, but when was his last start in a test match?

It wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that Whitelock who captained all five tests before Bledisloe 3, remained in NZ for the birth of his child and isn’t available to play.

Savea took a knock to the head last week and is wisely being rested.

Foster was never going to play Savea five games in a row during the Championship, so selected two vice captains in Retallick and Beaudie.

Retallick has been promoted in Savea’s absence.

One hopes that Codie Taylor’s recovery allows his selection against the Boks, otherwise we’ll be fielding two rookie hookers against the best lineout team in the world.

Hi Brett

The shortcomings of the Wallabies over all five tests played to date was evident in the Super Rugby TT competition.

All Australian teams struggled to maintain intensity, composure and skills execution under pressure for the whole game.

The Wallabies did win their series against the French, but the same flaws were visible then and the French were also guilty of those same frailties at crucial moments.

All eyes zero in on the coach following a Wallabies defeat, but its difficult to eradicate these habits against quality opposition, when the domestic competition your squad is drawn from isn’t setting high enough standards to improve those failings.

Composure is a byproduct of experience and not just length of tenure of a players career, but also experience of playing under pressure at a higher level. Cast your eye over the starting Wallabies team, especially that critical 8-9-10 axis and they look very callow by comparison to teams ranked above them.

Havili is still developing at this level but his combination together with Smith & Mo’unga is worth continuing. Not sold on Havili and Lienert-Brown as a midfield combination, they’re very similar in physique and style. Goodhue or Ennor are better match with Havili, Lienert-Brown and Rieko are better partners to a direct inside runner like Quinn Tupaea.
DMac still appeals to me as a 10 more than a fullback, believed Jordie was the form fullback in SR Aotearoa and was surprised he wasn’t first choice in early tests.
What to do with Ardie Savea? The injury to Cane presented an opportunity for Ardie to specialise in his preferred position for the All Blacks, but his own injury curtailed that plan so we now have a forced marriage of three talented players who are missing the glue to keep them together. I’d bench Ardie and use him as your perfect impact player and loose forward cover.
Switch Akira and Jacobson round, so you can utilise Akira’s strengths in the wider channels, Jacobson and Papali’i complement each other.
Quite a lot of noise around Tom Robinson, but I wonder if Foster is already looking at a squad member to fill that lock/6 spot in Tupou Va’ai who hasn’t been sighted in black this year.
Despite the growing depth of talent available to Foster, we’re still no closer to knowing what is his no.1 side.

To my detriment I haven’t watched enough full match coverage of Premiership games, I found Eddie Jones comments on what he had observed with the change in ruck speed in Southern hemisphere rugby interesting alongside yours Nick.

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/its-gone-down-a-second-difference-in-ruck-speed-elsewhere-preys-on-englands-mind-england-jones/