After two tests against England, the All Black wall seems full too. Maybe a new one is needed or, perhaps, they simply need to paint over the old ways and start again.
What’s become clear is this All Blacks regime is sticking to the ethic of playing expansively, catering to the undoubted All Black strengths of operating at pace, ball handling, support play and athleticism. It’s a principle we all like; we want the All Blacks to win with panache in these rather grey rugby days – like the mouthy Kiwi in Christchurch who gleefully assured England coach Steve Borthwick that the All Blacks would beat his team with style at Eden Park.
That style may suffice for Fiji in San Diego and perhaps Argentina in the next two tests after that – but as an ongoing tactic against other top sides (South Africa, Ireland, France, England and even Australia), it is flawed.
The strength has become a predictable weakness. Top opposition know the urge to run and pass is ingrained in the DNA that head coach Scott Robertson is fond of talking about. It’s more effective, because of the way the rules of the game have evolved (and how they are interpreted), to set a defensive press to smother, choke, thwart and apply negative pressure than to employ creativity.
The narrow wins over England demonstrated more than a new team getting to grips with a new coaching regime and typical early season rust – the All Blacks either do not have a decent Plan B or do not transition easily into it.
Keep the win-pretty principle by all means – but develop a Plan B corresponding more to the shape of a game which doesn’t reward expansiveness as much as defence; a sport with so many rules that penalties often determine outcomes. Second test, Springboks v Ireland – 49 points scored, 42 of them penalties or drop goals.
We all like the idea of the All Blacks being the last guardians of rugby’s entertainment value – but will it overcome South Africa at home? No one wants to be the flashy guy at the night club with all the dance moves – but rips his trousers, vomits in the loo, and doesn’t go home with the girl. It’s a variation on the old tortoise and the hare parable; not so much that slow and steady wins the race but knowing when and how to slip into that mode.
The All Blacks at Eden Park again found themselves lured into exactly the style of play England wanted. In the second half, we were treated to a dull succession of one-out plays, bulky forwards sinking slowly into an onrushing England defence which enveloped them like an oil spill.
The team that customarily plays at Eden Park has shown what an efficient Plan B might be. Vern Cotter’s high-speed, pick-and-go drives by an athletic forward pack simplified the Blues’ previous error-laden plan of giving the ball to the try scorers at every opportunity. When Cotter cut the complexity, a Super Rugby title followed.
The All Blacks – who’ve looked good whenever they’ve done the pick-and-go routines – could benefit from something similar; it’s a great way of defanging defences and creating a little more space out wide.
However, no game plan survives if the team’s set pieces aren’t working – like the lineout. When an All Black lineout stutters, it is usually repaired by the next test – dismantled at training and put back together with new springs, so to speak. This time, it was worse. The loss of Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock is telling and fine players though Scott Barrett and Patrick Tuipulotu are, neither would make it high into the top echelon of world lineout exponents.
England’s Maro Itoje does and showed why with a destructive ambush. Tuipulotu was especially puzzling – he was a constant and reliable source of prime lineout ball for the Blues this season but had little influence in the first two tests. The lineout improved in both tests when Tupou Vaa’i came on.
All Black ball went mostly to Barrett and Ardie Savea at the front of the lineout. England were awake to that and Savea is a small man (in test rugby terms) in a relatively short All Black loose forward contingent.
Samipeni Finau is about the same size as Barrett – but was barely used. That, and a quiet display from a man seeking to take over from the likes of Jerry Collins, Jerome Kaino and Liam Squire, will almost certainly mean Ethan Blackadder gets a crack now; it will be interesting to see if he helps fix the problem. Even more interesting if he doesn’t.
One thing shouldn’t change against top opposition – the bench. The second test against England was won there, and not just by Beauden Barrett’s test-turning performance. Fletcher Newell, Cortez Ratima and Vaa’i all played roles and the All Blacks run-and-pass game plan is never better employed than in those last 20-30 minutes when the game is loosening up.
