The All Blacks have started their new era with three wins in three tests, beating England twice and Fiji.
More players, including Sam Cane and Will Jordan, are expected to become available for selection ahead of the Rugby Championship.
The Rugby Championship starts on August 10 in Wellington against Argentina.
Gregor Paul is one of New Zealand’s most respected rugby writers and columnists. He has won multiple awards for journalism and has written several books about sport.
OPINION
It’s a month since the All Blacks of 2024 assembled, time in which they have delivered three victories, provideddefinitive evidence they have a weaponised scrum, unearthed a handy-looking cohort of new players and shown the requisite depth of character that rugby at the highest level requires.
Against Fiji, there were also strong signs of a continuity game built on slick passing from the forwards, which brought Damian McKenzie into play on arcing angled runs that set him up to get past the first defender.
And with Will Jordan and Sam Cane back playing again, the positives collected in Scott Robertson’s first month in charge are significant.
But the high-performance balance sheet also has a few red columns, most notably a concern around the lineout, which functioned well against Fiji but was pulled apart, twice, by England’s Maro Itoje and doesn’t yet inspire confidence that it will work under the sort of pressure it will face in the coming weeks.
The All Blacks regularly half-opened England and Fiji but there was too often a lack of precision and clinical edge to their last pass. There remains no discernible sense that the All Blacks understand how to execute a deeply considered and effective kicking strategy, and across 240 minutes of test rugby there has been no visible ruthless streak when it comes to finishing opportunities.
On balance, however, there are more bits of their game working than aren’t.
If the All Blacks are to continue their winning ways in the Rugby Championship, it’s not just about having all the relevant componentry, it’s about knowing how to meld all the bits together.
The Rugby Championship is a stylistic melting pot as the way South Africa play, with juggernaut forwards, looks nothing like the ruck-and-run rugby of the Wallabies, or the offloading game of the Pumas.
The great unknown is whether the All Blacks can combine what they did well against England with what worked against Fiji and produce a brand of rugby that enables them to create space and opportunity against teams who don’t give them either of those things.
It’s an age-old question because for the last decade or so, the All Blacks have lacked the strategic flexibility at times to adapt their style to the pressures being exerted.
Robertson has come into the job promoting the idea that his All Blacks will abide by Darwin’s principle of survival of the fittest and develop the necessary tactical flexibility to adapt to whichever environment they find themselves.
Will Jordan was unavailable for the first All Blacks' tests of the year due to injury. Photo / Photosport
So far, he’s been good to his word in that his team played two different styles of rugby to beat two vastly different opponents, albeit the victories against England lacked conviction and all three games hinted at an underlying problem that there is not enough certainty about when or how to kick, or an innate feel for when to hammer north-to-south and when to flow east-to-west.
If this evolutionary process is to continue and the All Blacks are to master the art of strategic flexibility in the next eight weeks, there are specific personnel changes that seem necessary.
Beauden Barrett must start at fullback to provide another kicking option and astute game management from the backfield.
The All Blacks can’t beat the top teams in world rugby without a kicking fullback who has playmaking instincts, and hence Jordan needs to be injected back into the starting XV on the wing.
Barrett, Jordan and Mark Tele’a were the back three that started the World Cup final and it’s the combination that gives the All Blacks the greatest flexibility in how they can play.
What also became apparent in San Diego, is that Billy Proctor may be the key to opening all sorts of tactical possibilities if he’s picked at centre alongside Jordie Barrett.
Proctor was everything he needed to be against Fiji – direct, calm, and composed and he passed superbly, to give the attack more fluidity and better ability to play the outside backs into space.
There does, though, need to be an accumulation of evidence that he can be as effective against teams that put more pressure on his decision-making.
But the early indication, certainly, is that he’s the player the All Blacks need to play their way through rush defences.
Equally, two games into his test career and Cortez Ratima has shown that he is the best available halfback to facilitate an attack that has variety.
His game is simple and accurate and whenever he’s been on the field, the All Blacks have been able to play at a faster tempo, which puts enormous pressure on defences.
It’s a big call but switching things around to start with Ratima and bring TJ Perenara off the bench to close things out, is the right call.
In the forwards the return of Cane will give the All Blacks more presence on the gainline both with and without the ball, and Ethan Blackadder’s no-nonsense abrasive game is needed in the No 6 jersey.
Blackadder lacked a little finesse in San Diego, but that was illustrative of how little he’s played rather than an endemic flaw and if the All Blacks want to create more space on the edges of the field, they need to first have more punch in the middle of it.
