Sevu Reece is unavailable for the second New Zealand-France test in Wellington. Photo / Photosport
Battered, bruised and with their cage rattled, the All Blacks will be forced into at least one change – and a possible captaincy change – for their rematch against France in Wellington this week.
While they emerged with a knife-edge victory in Dunedin, their first, typically scratchy test of the year reminded the All Blacks of the significant leap required in physicality and accuracy from Super Rugby Pacific to the elite arena.
Despite leaving many of their best players at home, France scored 27 points to expose a lack of cohesion from the All Blacks’ defence. The tourists also caused serious problems under the high ball and at the breakdown.
As they work through recovery and their review, the All Blacks must replace Sevu Reece on the right wing, after he was concussed in his first tackle of the game. Captain Scott Barrett is also under an injury cloud after he was replaced midway through the second half to manage an Achilles issue.
Billy Proctor, promoted to start at centre with Rieko Ioane pushed out to the wing, had several stitches in his eye after copping a boot to the face while diving in an attempted tackle on impressive French fullback Theo Attissogbe.
“Sevu will have a stand down with his HIA [head injury assessment] and Scooter [Scott Barrett] has a niggly Achilles, which is why he went off,” All Blacks forwards coach Jason Ryan said as the team departed Dunedin for the capital after their shaky 31-27 victory.
“Everyone else just [have] bumps and bruises, [and are] pretty sore.
“There’s an old saying, sometimes you’ve got to win in the mud. Even though there was no mud out there, we found a way.
“There was grit and there was blood in the sheds with cut eyes. It will set us up. We showed some composure at the right time.”
Reece’s absence on the right wing poses an intriguing conundrum after the All Blacks selected only two specialist wings in their July squad.
Will Jordan scored two tries from the right edge after replacing Reece, with Damian McKenzie slotting into fullback, which may encourage the All Blacks to persist with that starting combination next weekend.
Caleb Clark and Ioane, who played his first test on the wing for three years, are largely considered left-edge options. Alternately, the All Blacks could inject Hurricanes playmaker Ruben Love or Chiefs wing Emoni Narawa, the latter in the squad as injury cover.
Barrett’s Achilles issue is thought to be minor but if he is ruled out, Ardie Savea would assume the captaincy. Tupou Vaa’i could switch from blindside to his more customary locking role – and experienced Blues skipper Patrick Tuipulotu would be in line for a promotion.
While Ryan was satisfied with Vaa’i’s surprise blindside switch, the All Blacks’ breakdown work needs attention after they conceded 16 turnovers.
“Tupou built into the game really well. He was good at lineout time. Defensively in the lineout we need to be better, we could have put more pressure on them there,” the assistant coach said.
“Our breakdown could have been more direct. Now we know. The breakdown is a reflection of the ball carry. Our footwork through contact could have been sharper. We’ll address that this week. We’ll need to clean that up. They’re big, physical men.”
With four tries scored and three denied by the TMO (television match official), there were positives in the form of the All Blacks’ attacking shape continuing to create space.
But regardless of the long list of headline French absences, the All Blacks, new and old, had their collective eyes prised open to the ruthlessness that test rugby demands.
The spotlight is now on the need for swift adjustments.
“It’s a totally different contest,” Ryan said of the step up required from Super Rugby Pacific. “There’s different pressures. The margins, you can’t get away with anything. We lost the ball a couple of times in contact with loose carries.
“We got the win and we found a way. It wasn’t pretty but it was good for us. It was better than having a big scoring margin and then we potentially walk past things. We’ll prepare genuinely now for a good Wellington test.
“What I do know about series and second test matches is everyone gets better. We’ll get better but France will get a lot better as well. And there’s a bit more on the line.
“There’s a chance for one team to grab some silverware. To do that we’ll have to prepare genuinely and lift the bar.”
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.