KEY POINTS:
Just three words are needed to explain the stunning reversal of fortunes for the All Blacks at the breakdown on Saturday night.
Two of them are "Richie" and "McCaw".
The third is "accuracy".
The All Blacks were far more accurate in their work in the make-or-break phase. Their
simplified game plan allowed ball carriers to set better targets.
Led by McCaw, the All Black loose trio arrived at the breakdown quickly.
When the Wallabies had possession, they were usually attempting a recovery job after a judicious All Blacks kick. So often forced to operate on the retreat, their support players were no match for the on-rushing All Blacks.
"The key was that the ball was in front of us most of the time," said McCaw, who played the full 80 minutes in his first match following a six-week injury lay-off. "We did pretty well at set piece and when our backs ran with the ball they were over the advantage line. That makes it so much easier at the breakdown.
"And on our tackles we were knocking them over with gang tackles. When you do that it is hard [for them] to get their game going. Both of those things helped to get some ascendancy."
Another crucial factor was the performance of referee Mark Lawrence. The Wallabies got away with murder in Sydney last week, but on Saturday Lawrence was wise to their tactic of trying to seal off possession by entering from the side of the ruck. Turnover specialists George Smith and Phil Waugh were also pinged for slowing the All Blacks' ball down when illegally positioned on the fringes and for illegal use of the hands.
All Blacks coach Graham Henry credited the return of McCaw as the primary reason for the improvement.
"We obviously played a lot better there and I think Richie made a big difference in how we performed at the breakdown," Henry said. "Also the guys didn't go to ground so readily as they did last week. We stayed up in the air a lot longer, which gave us some time to get people there in support. We were also a lot more urgent getting there in support. All of those things made a difference."
Veteran lock Nathan Sharp admitted the Wallabies pack had been rolled aside by their All Blacks opposites.
He said problems that started at lineout time flowed through to the breakdown and the Wallabies failed to match the intensity of the All Blacks.
