Sevu Reece after the All Blacks' loss to England. Photo / Photosport
Sevu Reece after the All Blacks' loss to England. Photo / Photosport
OPINION:
On Monday this week, a significant milestone was acknowledged and celebrated in England and not surprisingly ignored in New Zealand.
It has been one year since Eddie Jones' men beat the All Blacks 19-7 in the Rugby World Cup semifinal in Yokohama, a victory that could easily have beenmore convincing - on the scoreboard, anyway - had tries in each half by Sam Underhill and Ben Youngs not been ruled out for minor English transgressions.
It's one year since Owen Farrell's smirk, one year since the English greeted the haka with their inverse arrowhead formation (a proportion of which was on the wrong side of halfway), one year since Manu Tuilagi set the tone by driving over for a try after only 96 seconds.
The underdog's victory over the defending champions wasn't necessarily a surprise – under Jones, they have become a formidably organised and muscular outfit – but the manner of it was. This wasn't a smash and grab upset but a sustained burglary whereby the temporary owners of the William Webb Ellis trophy looked on and were powerless to act as the marauding men in white grabbed everything they wanted.
Steve Hansen after the All Blacks' loss to England. Photo / Photosport
Jones, the little mischievous Aussie, controlled the message before the test by riffing about spies overlooking England training runs and selected a team that similarly controlled the All Blacks from start to finish. The opening 90 seconds of the test is an excellent microcosm of the match; the big England forward runners making metres around the corner of the breakdown and the backline showing a surprising amount of ambition and nous for finding space. Within that first minute and a half, both Richie Mo'unga and Brodie Retallick missed tackles due to the incisive running angles of the opposition.
Jones' counterpart Steve Hansen, meanwhile, selected Scott Barrett out of position at blindside flanker, leaving Sam Cane on the reserves bench, because the All Blacks head coach felt the England lineout was vulnerable. In hindsight, it was a big mistake.
The All Blacks were out-thought and outplayed and will carry a burning resentment at the defeat and manner of it until France 2023. That disappointment may fuel the physicality necessary for future World Cup success because the major takeaway from the All Blacks' Yokohama flop was a failure to match fire with fire.
As we look back on that night in Yokohama a year ago it's worth considering: Is this current All Blacks team better than the one which crashed out to England?
No. At least, not yet.
Codie Taylor and Kieran Read at the end of the match. Photo / Photosport
Kieran Read, one of the best No 8s New Zealand has produced, has retired, and Brodie Retallick, one of the best locks in the world, is unavailable.
There is huge potential, though, and the talent coming through is undeniable. There is always going to be a rebuilding process at this stage of the World Cup cycle and that's where Ian Foster finds himself, although with lock Tupou Vaa'i, loose forward Hoskins Sotutu and wing Caleb Clarke making such good starts to their test careers, the All Blacks appear in good shape despite playing only two tests since the 2019 World Cup ended.
Sevu Reece after the All Blacks' loss to England. Photo / Photosport
As they prepare for Bledisloe 3 in Sydney on Saturday and beyond, the key to their attacking game appears to be in robust selection logic and the cementing of combinations. Jack Goodhue and Anton Lienert-Brown must be left to get on with things in the midfield. The increasingly hard-hitting Jordie Barrett appears set for a long stint on the right wing. The Mo'unga/Beauden Barrett dual-playmaking system should improve the longer they play together.
Underlining it all is the pack. They have to front physically on a consistent basis or the All Blacks will be forced to revisit their England nightmare of October 26, 2019. It may be tempting for those involved to forget that night but the lessons are invaluable.
