All Blacks v Springboks: Jason Ryan takes responsibility for set-piece malfunction

All Blacks assistant coach Jason Ryan is taking responsibility for the team’s set-piece malfunction in the second half of their record 43-10 Rugby Championship defeat to the Springboks in Wellington.

New Zealand led 10-7 at halftime but conceded 36 unanswered points after the break as South Africa dominated every aspect of the contest, from attack and defence to the aerial battle, scrums and lineouts.

What resulted was the All Blacks being handed their biggest-ever test defeat, home or away, and made last week’s win at Eden Park a distant memory.

If Ryan wasn’t feeling any pressure before, he certainly will be now, as the scrum also struggled in the second half of the 24-17 win in Auckland and the day afterwards, he vowed it would never happen again.

But somehow, they went backwards at Sky Stadium, and speaking on Newstalk ZB’s Weekend Sport with Jason Pine, Ryan admitted the team should be under severe scrutiny as the All Blacks slumped to their sixth defeat in 21 tests in the Scott Robertson era.

“We had a bit of a meltdown with a couple of decisions under pressure, couldn’t get any rhythm and they got away on us in that second half,” Ryan said.

“We lost timing in our set piece as well and that’s on me. I’ll take responsibility for that.

“We missed a couple of lineouts at key times. In the scrum, they won three penalties to our two, so they had the edge there.

“I’ll take full responsibility for my area in the set piece. We pride ourselves on that and we weren’t up to standard.”

The result leaves the All Blacks sitting third in the Rugby Championship standings, where every team has a 2-2 record. Australia are on top, one point clear of South Africa and New Zealand, with Argentina a further point behind.

Ryan said he hasn’t reviewed the entire match to pinpoint exactly what went wrong, as a decent first half, which saw Leroy Carter score a try in his test debut, was followed by a horror second spell.

“We put a lot into that test match,” Ryan said. “Preparation through the week was strong; we talked a lot about our mental side, but we didn’t hit the same mental performance as Eden Park.

“Everyone could see we didn’t come out of the blocks, didn’t find rhythm, and I can’t explain it any simpler than that.

“I wouldn’t say the boys didn’t care, they absolutely do. I know the performance didn’t look like it, but we just couldn’t get our hands on the ball.

“When we did, we lost it. We weren’t there under pressure when it mattered and as forwards coach, I take full responsibility.”

The All Blacks will have two weeks to regroup before facing the Wallabies at Eden Park on September 27.

After that performance, many will fear the All Blacks’ 51-test unbeaten record at Eden Park could be under threat again, although Australia haven’t won there since 1986.

Ryan is confident the All Blacks will get out of this slump.

“You can’t hide from results like this,” Ryan said. ”I’ve been in teams before, even with the All Blacks at Twickenham a few years back where we got a decent towelling.

“What matters is how we react. We were well off par, they played well, but we must be better.

“That starts with us as coaches. For me, first and foremost, because I’m responsible.”

Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.