All Blacks v Italy review: New Zealand shows promise in Rugby World Cup with forward-intensive approach

Beauden Barrett of New Zealand followed by Ardie Savea (captain) of New Zealand. Rugby World Cup France 2023, New Zealand All Blacks v Italy, Pool A match at OL Stadium, Lyon, France on Friday 29 September 2023. Mandatory credit: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz

OPINION

One of the major impressions from the All Blacks’ dismemberment of Italy is how different the game of rugby looks when the All Blacks play it like that.

If only. This match – and the All Blacks’ exuberant display – was, I hate to say it, an aberration. This World Cup, this iteration of rugby’s labyrinthine rules, the emphasis on defence and the refereeing are all conspiring to produce matches unrelated to what the All Blacks showed against Italy. It’s all about defence and the deliberate slowing of the game by the opposition who see their best chance of beating the All Blacks as slowing the tempo of the game, keeping the air and the gas from mixing as the All Blacks try to fire up their turbo, and choking defence.

Look at the first three rounds. Referees are giving defences the majority of turnover and penalty decisions. Less attention is paid to those going forward. It’s all about staying on your feet and hands on the ball. The All Blacks want to run – but the game is tuned more to those who don’t. Go figure.

Add to that the little time-wasting ploys – the slow stroll to the lineout; the little boardroom meetings held at almost every set piece; slowing the breakdown; playing games at scrum time. Penalties are awarded at almost every scrum and for not rolling away. Halfbacks milk that one and, quite simply, most penalties do not need to be awarded because the attacking side already has the ball.

Small wonder the ball is in play so little. However, that style may be what we can expect from Ireland in the quarter-final (apologies, Uruguay, but this is the next big moment for the All Blacks). The Irish play the game at a good clip themselves but, as seen at this World Cup, many matches are won by what is done without the ball – defence and a smart kicking game designed to help the running teams make mistakes.

New Zealand coach Ian Foster and coaching staff during warm-ups before the Italy match. Photo / Photosport

In the long and frustrating witnessing of the All Blacks’ unwanted records under Ian Foster (first to lose to Argentina, first to lose a series to Ireland, a record test defeat to the Springboks), the same recipe has been employed in nearly all of the reverses: control the tempo, apply pressure, kick the goals and defend the All Blacks out of it.

We can maybe exempt the horror loss to the Boks; the South Africans were supreme in all they did. A ring-rusty All Blacks side played in a pre-Cup test that, when New Zealand Rugby look back, may have been against the wrong people at the wrong time. The All Blacks needed to build confidence, not have it shredded.

So will the All Blacks will continue the continuity game against Ireland or will they try something different? Trying to play the expansive stuff may not be the answer. Ireland is a fine side, deserving of the world No. 1 tag. They have few, if any, weaknesses and a great many strengths – playing to this era of rugby’s rules foremost among them.

Here are the main things, in my opinion, that point towards the All Blacks’ ability to play a more direct, forward-oriented, driving style and which showed up favourably against Italy:

• Shannon Frizell is now a crucial selection. His lineout work not only gives the All Blacks another option, but he has genuine spring, stealing at least one Italian lineout unaided by lifters. His carrying stood out too: he nearly always achieves a little bit of go-forward. It may not seem like much but, at this level, it gives his fellow pack members a lot.
• Discipline: In the first 10 minutes of the second half, the match won, the All Blacks’ minds drifted and they shipped a raft of penalties. They tidied it up but it was revealing; an 80-minute focus was required. For once there were no high tackles and dubious clean-outs; the difference was abundantly clear. Matthew Carley is an officious referee for whom the letter of the law is spelt with huge capital Ls – but he had little to be officious about when the All Blacks honed their approach.
• Goalkicking: Richie Mo’unga was in superb form. Here’s hoping they let him keep the scoreboard busy with penalties instead of those tedious touch kicks to the sideline.
• Jordie Barrett adds muscle to the midfield and is now a clever distributor and his long-line kicking is a good idea. It’s to be hoped, against Ireland, they let him have a couple of long-range penalty goals.
• Ardie Savea: A relatively quiet tournament and quiet season so far but, when the All Blacks forwards are doing the business, he amply demonstrates his bag of tricks.
• Brodie Retallick: The big guy is starting to get back to real form.

We all want to see the All Blacks in the kind of mood they were in against Italy. But the continuity game has been a hindrance too. Under Ian Foster, they seem set to maintain this approach; there’s a high degree of “that’s the way we play” about them.

So it will be intriguing to see if they change things up against Ireland, without losing their counter-attacking punch. After all, we all know what you call people who do things the same way and expect a different result.

Paul Lewis has been a journalist since the last ice age. Sport has been a lifetime pleasure and part of a professional career during which he has written four books, and covered Rugby World Cups, America’s Cups, Olympic & Commonwealth Games and more.