Rugby players will swear blind they don’t believe in ghosts. Especially the All Blacks, who say they never hold on to the past: that the demons of previous defeats don’t walk through their dreams, haunting and taunting them with dark and painful memories.
Thatwas certainly the impression Codie Taylor and Jason Ryan gave when they talked about the last time the All Blacks played England.
Or, more accurately, when they tried not to talk about that fateful World Cup semifinal in 2019, which saw England surge over the top of the All Blacks like a white tidal wave.
England won 19-7 in Yokohama, but it felt more like 29-7, maybe even 39-7 as rarely, if ever, have the All Blacks been so submissive and physically dominated.
At no stage of the game did the All Blacks look like they were going to win and the meekness of it all was shocking.
The All Blacks had known bad nights before, but this was different. This was a landmark defeat, both in the fact that it killed the dream of winning a third successive World Cup and that it proved the All Blacks couldn’t cope with the power-based game of the best Six Nations sides.
That defeat inflicted deep scars as, since that night in Japan three years ago, the All Blacks have been searching for a way to stand up to the heft and brutality of the likes of Ireland, France and South Africa, who these days, given their clubs play in Europe as do most of the Springboks, qualify as an honorary Six Nations side.
What England did was confirm what Ireland and the British and Irish Lions had hinted at, which was that the All Blacks had a faultline running through them: an inability to play their natural attacking game when confronted with a high-impact forward pack and a rush defence.
The All Blacks couldn't handle England's rush defence in the 2019 Rugby World Cup semifinal. Photo / Mark Mitchell
And Ian Foster’s three-year coaching tenure to date has been about this one thing — this quest to build the physical means within his team to withstand all the destructive forces England produced in 2019.
This need to build a robust pack and the skillsets and strategies to play through or around a rush defence has been the only thing that has mattered since 2019.
Foster’s time as All Blacks coach will ultimately be judged solely on this one factor, because if his team are to win a World Cup, they can only hope to do so by proving they no longer wilt or collapse in the face of extreme physicality.
To acknowledge that one defeat from three years ago has defined the last three years and shaped the All Blacks every move would be a dangerous admission.
It would let England know how much they hurt the All Blacks that day and more importantly, how wary New Zealand remain about heading to Twickenham to find out if they have indeed fixed themselves and cast out their ghosts.
They certainly look like they are a different team now. The arrival of Ryan has changed much and changed it quickly.
All Blacks forwards coach Jason Ryan. Photo / Photosport
For two years the All Blacks couldn’t find that edge they needed — couldn’t rebuild their set-piece and get their ball-carrying at the right height with the right intensity.
Ryan was hauled in when John Plumtree was dramatically let go after the Irish series and the All Blacks have found their ability to hurt teams with their maul, to damage them with their ball carrying and break them with their physicality.
Bringing in Joe Schmidt as attack coach in August has also had a dramatic impact: he’s all about the attention to detail, getting the tiny bits right that lead to generating quick recycle ball, and a fraction more space in which to play.
The signs are all good. The All Blacks are on a six-game winning streak which includes wins against Wales and Scotland — two teams with power and punch and defensive rush.
But England at Twickenham on Sunday will be the true test of how far the All Blacks have come since 2019 and whether they really have plugged that faultline.
It was England who put the demons inside the All Blacks heads by beating them so comprehensively and so the exorcism can only be completed by victory for New Zealand.
A victory that comes with no hint of fallibility or luck, but one built on graft and craft.
