All Blacks wing Rieko Ioane dives over to score during the second-test win over France in Wellington. Photo / Photosport
Gregor Paul in Wellington
The short-term significance of the All Blacks blowing away France in Wellington last night is that it won them the series, while also demonstrating that the visitors were always going to have to pay a price for disrespecting the tenet of best versus best that test rugby is built on.
The longer-term significance of the 43-17 victory is that it gave deeper clarity to what sort of team they are becoming under the coaching of Scott Robertson.
After going through most of last year in a perennially beige state, where there was no defined style nor obvious intent as to how they wanted to play, the All Blacks have been different in 2025.
They are no longer ill-defined, no longer a team without a pronounced identity or way of doing things, although their performance in Wellington – or Dunedin last week – necessarily aligned with the vision the coaches say they have for the team.
Robertson has been at pains to say that his plan is to have his All Blacks play at pace: to think fast, move fast and play fast. He says it’s the right way for this All Blacks team to play, given the natural athleticism of the players, their comfort on the ball and innate rugby IQs.
But the reality that shone through in Wellington is that Robertson’s All Blacks look better, more composed, more cohesive and destructive when they slow things down, hit their runners coming round the corner and smash their way close to the ruck one runner at a time.
Their real strength in Wellington was the quality of their set piece, the power of their driving maul, their dynamic and technically proficient work at the collision and breakdown, and a vastly improved kicking game that was all about turning around the French and forcing them to scramble under pressure.
There were little passages of interplay when the open-play skillsets were on show and the try by Tupou Vaa’i was an example of what this team can achieve when afforded a little time and space to throw the ball about. But there is an impossible-to-ignore sense that this All Blacks team is one that could conquer the world if they are prepared to pull back a little from this idea that they have to play at a hundred miles an hour.
They had a few occasions when they opted to take tap penalties in an effort to up the tempo and keep the French moving but the net result was that it seemed to generate an element of doubt about their attacking shape.
Clearly, this All Blacks team is never going to be best advised to plod from set piece to set piece but they have to find the middle ground between that and sacrificing their structure in an attempt to run the opposition ragged.
The pack is shaping as one with the potential to stand up to the best. The scrum has been the veritable Rock of Gibraltar: immovable, prominent and strategically important, no matter the front-row combinations.
Fabian Holland missed a kickoff receipt but, other than that, chugged through another impressive 80 minutes, while Patrick Tuipulotu produced the sort of bruising dynamism that confirms the All Blacks have four high-quality locks. And Mr Irrepressible – Ardie Savea – was everywhere and everything, supported by another promising performance from Vaa’i at blindside.
“Their [the pack’s] ability to carry hard and distribute is giving us options,” said Beauden Barrett, who delivered a strategically smart and patient performance at No 10 on the back of the quality possession that came his way.
“That’s where we had a point of difference a few years ago and we have some great big boys in the front row who are mobile and can pass, and that’s a huge strength.
“From the set piece to getting around the park, they have worked really hard on their game and gave us great options in the backs.”
The combined effect of the All Blacks building their victory in the strength of their pack and strategic use of possession was to make the most mature, considered and disciplined performance of the Robertson era.
The French may not have looked like a test team but the All Blacks had the respect to treat them as if they were, showing all the necessary regard for territory and possession.
And while there will be some who felt Barrett kicked too much, it would be naive to not acknowledge that his astute ability to turn the French and force them to play on the scramble inside their own 22 was a fundamental part of the success story.
Barrett’s full repertoire was on show – a clever short chip to Savea on the charge, some wobbling grubbers between defenders and the spiral bomb.
Unlike last week, the All Blacks’ kicking game mostly induced rather than relieved pressure, and on the occasions when the French weren’t forced to hack the ball into touch any way they could, they would boot back to Barrett and Will Jordan to let them orchestrate a counter-attack.
The important thing is that the All Blacks looked in control of their game plan: that the kicking strategy was deliberate, understood and methodically applied with the sort of patience that rugby at this level requires.
“It was good to see the referee making the calls and the flow of the game, keeping it fast,” Robertson said.
“A little bit of polish and to keep playing, to keep trusting our skillset, give it, see it and keep having a crack.”
Gregor Paul is one of New Zealand’s most respected rugby writers and columnists. He has won multiple awards for journalism and written several books about sport.