Ardie Savea of New Zealand dives over to score against Wales. Photo / Getty
Ardie Savea of New Zealand dives over to score against Wales. Photo / Getty
By Liam Napier in Cardiff
Individual accolades aside, the All Blacks record victory in Cardiff represents another significant marker on the road to altering perceptions of their forward pack and another brick in the wall to achieving coveted consistency.
The All Blacks are widely known, particularly in this part ofthe world, as rugby’s great entertainers. Scoring eight tries and their most points against Wales in the 55-23 victory suggests this was another performance of polish and panache.
The reality is quite the contrary.
This victory, that started the All Blacks northern venture in style and consigned the locals to another 70th year of misery, was built on brute force by grinding Wales into their own turf.
The All Blacks were far from perfect at the Principality Stadium - blowing an early 17-0 lead will be top of mind come the review.
New Zealand’s Jordie Barrett scores a try despite the efforts of Wales' Rico Dyer. Photo / Photosport
In the immediate aftermath, though, All Blacks coach Ian Foster highlighted the rapid development of his forward pack under Jason Ryan.
Led by a dominant scrum, the devotion to earning hard metres through their pick and drive and a breakdown that largely delivered a platform for veteran halfback Aaron Smith to flourish in his record-breaking test with two tries, the All Blacks confronted the challenge of attacking the heart of northern hemisphere game.
“Test matches are won and lost there,” Foster said. “In the last three or four years it’s been stated that’s been a softer underbelly of our game. We’ve worked hard in that space. We want to impose ourselves physically through our forwards.
“We didn’t go in to play as much through them as what we did but I loved the patience and leadership on the pack to say ‘it’s working so let’s keep going’.
“We’re still building. We’re not there yet. We’ve been tagged with inconsistency but that’s five in a row so we’re starting to build what we want to build.
“Wales stayed in the game for long periods and had some moments of putting us under pressure but we rode through that with some great leadership and control of a few key moments which meant we had a good scoreline at the end, so pretty pleased.”
Reflecting on criticism earlier this year after the All Blacks lost four of their first six tests, including three defeats in succession at home, Foster believed his men continued to progress from that nadir.
“It’s never in the rear-view mirror on this stage - that’s the world we live in. I don’t think it’s motivated the team. We took some pretty tough lessons early on.
“We weren’t ready physically or mentally after Super Rugby for that Irish series. We were well beaten, that’s been pretty well documented.
“There’s a few players we held back from that series who have come in and made a big difference and there’s been some nice building blocks with the future in mind.”
From an individual standpoint Foster hailed Ardie Savea’s man of the match performance after he returned to No 8 following five weeks off and at times carried the team on his back with his presence at the breakdown and with ball in hand.
“For someone who hasn’t played for a while he didn’t show any rest out there did he? He carries strong. He’s an inspirational part of this team. He leads really well off the field through his actions. When you see your loose forwards play like that it’s always going to be reflective of a pretty dominant pack up front. I’m sure he’d say that too.
“It’s was a strong collective effort up front and he was able to put a little bit of icing on the cake.”
As for Savea’s outrageous dummy that laid on Smith’s second strike, Foster said: “He’s sucked me in on the training field, too, so they shouldn’t feel too bad about that. He just likes to express himself and we quite like it when he expresses himself.”
Smith’s timely second half solo try, where he sniped and left Welsh wing Louis Rees-Zammit for dead with a step, underlined a memorable night for the 33-year-old after as he surpassed Dan Carter as the most capped All Blacks back of all time.
“Today was a special occasion for him. To show off with a couple of meat pies will be pleasing for him. He doesn’t score too many and those little legs had to run a long way for that first one. He’s a massive part of our team and when he gets a flow on, he will say that’s reflective of the ball that was delivered up front.”
Sam Whitelock played a leading role at the lineout and in defence after assuming the captaincy from the injured Sam Cane. He praised the physical focus from the All Blacks but warned they must immediately start again to break a pattern of failing to repeat benchmark performances this year.
“That’s one of the most critical things after a good win you’ve got to make sure you go back to zero,” Whitelock said. “Scotland are a great side, they’ve challenged a lot of teams this year, and traditionally they’re a hard team to play especially at Murrayfield. It’s going to be really easy for us to reset.”
After watching his side fall to their 33rd straight loss to the All Blacks, Welsh coach Wayne Pivac said they ignored suggestions the tourists were vulnerable.
“Certainly in our camp we didn’t talk about the All Blacks being a weakened team,” Pivac said. “We spoke about how well they were playing after making changes in their backroom staff. Any side that puts 50 on Argentina and 40 on Australia you’ve got to respect.
“A lot of the focus I’ve seen coming out of New Zealand was on the poor performances but not the good ones. Our players know if you give New Zealand time and space they’re dangerous against anyone. That’s how it turned out.”
