Familiar issues mount for the All Blacks but Ian Foster remains adamant they can respond. Photo / Photosport
Familiar issues mount for the All Blacks but Ian Foster remains adamant they can respond. Photo / Photosport
Setting aside the emotion to unpack the All Blacks' defeat in Dunedin is no straightforward task.
Any side attempting to compete with a quality Six Nations opponent for more than half the match while one man short will struggle. The metrics and consistent flip-flop nature the All Blacks continue topresent paints a concerning picture, though.
One victory from their last four tests. Four wins from their past eight – two of those against Italy and USA. The first home loss to Ireland. Ian Foster's 16 wins from 23 attempts – a 70 per cent win record, the second worst in the professional era for the All Blacks – and the team sliding to fourth in the world all conspire to spark familiar angst.
Aside from their discipline, some of which could be defined as rugby accidents, perhaps the greatest concern for the All Blacks is their lack of composure when forced to face adversity. Sure, they galvanised to defend superbly at the end of the first half while reduced to 12 men at one stage. But the poor attacking execution in the second half, the spate of errors while chasing the game, was deeply concerning.
During the Richie McCaw era the All Blacks possessed an innate ability to remain composed no matter the circumstances. From Sydney to South Africa to Dublin they consistently pulled off great escapes – often against the odds. Compare that level-headed side to the chaos of Dunedin and they appeared poles apart.
"Our hands got hard – that was the key thing for me," Foster said of the All Blacks' attacking execution in the 23-12 loss. "Sometimes when you get a bit tense you start to snatch at the ball. That showed how much we wanted it but not quite the smarts to trust what we wanted to do.
"We hate losing. We just weren't good enough in that second half against 15 men. In many ways I had flashbacks to the 2017 Lions series and that red card. We had a lot of attitude but we weren't quite good enough in that second test and again last night.
"Fifteen on 15 would be a good start. We don't have a great record in the last 15 years with red cards. We've got to learn not to get red cards and to find a way to deal with them and not overplay our play."
Familiar issues mount for the All Blacks but Ian Foster remains adamant they can respond. Photo / Photosport
Something is not right with the All Blacks preparation. Even last week, in their 42-19 victory at Eden Park, the All Blacks started poorly. That same theme emerged in Dunedin as they threw wayward passes, lost their first lineout and Ofa Tuungafasi missed Ireland lock Tadhg Beirne which led to Andrew Porter claiming his first try after three minutes.
The wild fluctuations in the ability to lay a consistent forward platform is another issue.
Last week the All Blacks largely dominated the scrum and lineout but with Sam Whitelock absent, Dalton Papalii used at blindside and attempting to scramble while one man short, that dynamic shifted firmly in Ireland's favour.
Ireland No 8 Caelan Doris had a field day at the breakdown from the outset, with the All Blacks seemingly unable to remove his presence.
In Dunedin some of these problems were no doubt compounded by being one, two, three men short at times, but many are too familiar to attribute solely to cards alone.
Beauden Barrett's try just before halftime, for instance, came after a series of one-out runners hammering at Ireland's line. Without winning the collisions there were few signs of the All Blacks attacking evolution witnessed at Eden Park.
Foster, as he confronts a whirlwind of pressure to claim the decider in Wellington, remains defiant in the face of another storm.
"I know we hate losing and it hurts but we've got a lot of belief inside this camp we still want to be No 1. We've got a bit of growth to do; we know that. There's no room for error.
"It's given us a great week. Whilst we're gutted, we know we got some extreme circumstances and we've got to show we're smart enough to learn, but we haven't become a bad rugby team overnight.
"Last week we showed some of the things we're starting to work on. This week we were literally dealt some other cards. You don't always get what you want.
"I don't think it's a true reflection of where we're at but it's a true reflection of test match rugby. We've got to be smarter but I'm really confident with the direction we're tracking in the past two weeks.
"We would've loved to have won 3-0 and walked away having cemented everything but we've now going to Wellington with a lot of pressure on. But that's what it's all about. It's a great opportunity if we can climb the mountain and grow what we started at Eden Park, we can still finish this campaign in a good spot."
