Widespread rotation is expected to be adopted for the final test of the season as the All Blacks attempt to gradually process the pain of their humbling Twickenham defeat.
One day on from their 33-19 loss to England, the All Blacks’ three-hour bus ride from London to Cardiff was a sombre scene as the squad reflected on their crushed Grand Slam hopes.
One week, one game, won’t be enough to shake their disappointment, but the All Blacks must attempt to recover and regroup to finish their season against Wales this weekend.
All Blacks coach Scott Robertson, speaking to the Herald in Cardiff, offered an insight into the mental blow the loss inflicted on his squad.
“You’ve got to acknowledge there’s a lot of hurt, a lot of people reflecting and taking it quite personally because the opportunity is gone. It was the most sombre changing room I’ve ever been in because we knew how important it was for us and for the country,” Robertson said.
“That moment went. You know you’ve got a responsibility for this week and what’s the energy that’s going to be required.
“We’ll learn what we need to and then our focus goes to a pretty gritty Welsh team under the roof.”
Reflecting on what went wrong at Twickenham, Robertson identified the All Blacks’ kicking game – both the lack of accuracy and the balance between attempting to build phases and when to play for territory.
The All Blacks weren’t helped by Cam Roigard (ankle) and Beauden Barrett (quad) – their two main directors – sustaining injuries, but some wayward kicks – particularly the two failed attempts to find touch from penalty kicks in the first half – proved costly.
Roigard’s departure four minutes into the second half coincided with the All Blacks’ downward spiral. Before that, his control and raking left foot were highly influential.
Barrett attempted to play through his haematoma, handing two penalty kicks to touch to Roigard and Jordan, but the All Blacks should have injected Damian McKenzie to replace him earlier than midway through the second half.
The kicking contrast was stark, as England halves George Ford and Alex Mitchell expertly controlled the tactical battle.
“It’s the consistency in games and the ability to manage the game. We played some really good rugby but we probably didn’t manage the game with our kicking enough,” Robertson said.
“We had a great first half, they came out and put pressure on us and we couldn’t turn that around and put it back on them.
“There was a lot of effort in there but not the execution that was required. That hurts.”
With his side’s ongoing third-quarter fades continuing to frustrate, Robertson acknowledged the need to improve managing momentum swings after England took the game away from the All Blacks by scoring 25 unanswered points.
Argentina provided further evidence of such swings by stunning Scotland at Murrayfield on Monday (NZT) after overturning a 21-point deficit in their 33-24 victory.
“The game is faster and there’s more ball in play so there’s more fatigue. When you get on top of teams, hold the ball and go forward you get some good outcomes. Games can swing really quickly. It can be an error, penalty, or two or three at the same time. We know how much pressure a yellow card can bring. Defending for long periods of time, and not giving a penalty away, is tough.”
The All Blacks always viewed this week’s game against Wales in Cardiff, at the end of another torrid test season, as the match to hand fringe players much-needed game time.
With morale suffering a serious setback from the England defeat, the scale of those changes could increase.
Robertson has also learned from last year’s final test of the year against Italy in Turin, when rotation was minimal and the All Blacks hit the wall, dishing up a disappointing performance.
“Going to Japan on the way I thought we’d managed the bodies, contact load and time on the field well. We learnt a lot,” Robertson said. “We got the result but we could’ve been a lot better with the energy side of it.”
Roigard and Barrett are almost certain to be ruled out this week, while Ardie Savea, Codie Taylor and Will Jordan are unlikely to feature after carrying heavy loads this season.
Rieko Ioane, Ruben Love, Sevu Reece and George Bell are among those desperately needing game time – and Hurricanes tighthead prop Tevita Mafileo could be in line for his test debut.
“No one is definitively out but there’s a few banged-up bodies that will take a few days to come right before they become available.
“When you’ve been on a tour like this it’s important you get into the performance that’s required to meet our standards.
“There will be players getting an opportunity to have a crack at it so they’re going to have some natural hype around it.
“Everyone has been training well, ready and waiting, that’s the exciting part, they get to play and we know what the weather is going to be like under the roof on the weekend.”
Liam Napier is a Senior Sports Journalist and Rugby Correspondent for the New Zealand Herald. He is a co-host of the Rugby Direct podcast.