Paul Lewis: Why can't the All Blacks learn their lessons?

Ardie Savea was shut out of the game by Ireland. Photo / Photosport

OPINION:

Keith Richards maybe put it best. The veteran Rolling Stone never had a problem with drugs, he once reflected, just a problem with the police.

The All Blacks don't have a game plan problem, apparently, just an execution problem. Coach Ian Foster said the backs turned over too much ball in the loss to Ireland; a prickly Joe Moody told a press conference it wasn't the game plan.

Interesting because, to most of the rest of us, it looked like the All Black forwards came a distant second, the team's expansive approach undone yet again by a blueprint now well-known to opposition teams.

This was written before the France test; the All Blacks may right the ship and win in style. Yet an imposing question remains. Why are the lessons of defeats by Ireland (2021 and 2018), South Africa (2021), Argentina (2020) and England (2019 World Cup) not being learned? Too often for comfort, the forwards are out-muscled and the backs struggle to penetrate a committed defence.

The question mark grows even bigger when you realise that, aside from a few, this touring squad is probably the best that could have been assembled. Yet the All Blacks were trounced at the breakdown, largely starved of ball, reduced to exhausting defence to stop the score mounting.

There were six or seven, some senior All Blacks, scarred against Ireland. Props Nepo Laulala and Moody scrummed well but were shown up around the field by Ireland's Andrew Porter and Tadgh Furlong. Cody Taylor played a game too far.

Brodie Retallick – maybe still feeling his recent injury – was comparatively quiet and hasn't yet returned to the heights of his pre-Japan sabbatical. New blindside flanker Ethan Blackadder had two hardworking but largely ineffective tests in a row and is rightly missing this week. Akira Ioane made a difference when he came on.

Ardie Savea was shut out of the game by Ireland. Photo / Photosport

Even Ardie Savea, hero against a weakened Wales, was muted, apart from one breakout. He was clearly targeted by Ireland and – never among the biggest of forwards – his fiery determination was quelled.

At halfback, these are hard words to write about as fine a servant as TJ Perenara, but his brave defence is simply not enough these days. David Havili's good early season form continues to wither; perhaps the starkest revelation was that Rieko Ioane might be one of the All Blacks' best wings but is not a centre at this level.

While we're at it, who decided not to bring on Tupou Va'ai and Finlay Christie against Ireland? Sure, things were dicey but if young men on a talent-assessing tour are not given a chance in an engine room ablaze like that, how will they know how to put out the fire next time?

Building up forward power is paramount for the World Cup. The All Blacks have now been beaten at the breakdown in several recent encounters, enough for it to be firmly labelled a weakness.

The coaching manual says: decide the style you are going to play, then select the players to execute it. They have chosen athletes and ball-handlers, not a team of grinders and penalty kickers. The need to play with style and flair is ingrained; winning ugly seems a lesser achievement for these All Blacks.

But who else to select? Samisoni Taukei'aho, Hoskins Sotutu, Akira Ioane and Shannon Frizzell have some credentials in the grunt department; most will be involved against France. However the list stops there – and it must be said Ioane was also defused when he played against the Boks.

In the problem midfield and wing, some power runners are needed. Caleb Clarke's return will help out wide, as might Quinn Tupaea and Braydon Ennor in the midfield. The latter is nowhere near his pre-injury ability yet; the former is still cutting his teeth at this level, promising though he looks in terms of distribution and decision making.

Let's not forget – even outplayed up front, the All Blacks were a forward-pass away from nicking the Ireland test; their kicking from hand surely can't be that awful again, nor their ball security. Mental fatigue was a factor; they will be comparatively much fresher at the World Cup.

Akira Ioane thought he had put his side in front against Ireland. Photo / Getty

They may be simply not showing too much of their hand ahead of 2023. But it didn't really look that way last weekend. It looked... disorganised, naive.

The Black Caps had swashbuckling style they employed before building depth, becoming today's much more consistent, competitive force. When their attacking style went wrong, they'd greet inquiries with a shrug and "that's the way we play".

That almost seems how the All Blacks are still thinking – pondering tweaks, not total disruption. Yet their style, formed in Super Rugby and imbued with flair we all enjoy when it comes off, needs an overhaul; one bringing a little more substance; more forward control, more winning of the collisions, more innovation.

Then, perhaps, they might earn a little more space to do their style thing and they'll be able to fend off doomsayers predicting their demise – something Keith Richards also experienced: "Some doctor told me I had only six months to live.

"I went to his funeral".