All Blacks attacking coach Brad Mooar and head coach Ian Foster. Photo / Photosport
New Zealand Rugby's appetite for major personnel change appears minimal with the All Blacks and Black Ferns likely to retain their status quo coaches.
All Blacks coach Ian Foster and Black Ferns counterpart Glenn Moore have fronted NZ Rugby's high-performance executives in recent days ahead of today's board meeting where the respective reviews into their side's 2021 campaigns will be formally tabled.
For the All Blacks, after successive defeats against Ireland and France to finish a season that featured 12 wins and three losses (their worst record since 2009) their review assumed a dark cloud. Weaknesses across the board — including the game drivers' inability to switch from Plan A to B in those final two assignments and cope with the suffocating Northern Hemisphere style — were highlighted, but from a management perspective there will be no casualties despite critical player feedback in some areas.
While Foster is said to have largely reviewed well, All Blacks assistant coaches Brad Mooar (attack), John Plumtree (forwards) and to a lesser extent Greg Feek (scrum) were heavily scrutinised. In each case NZ Rugby has, however, opted to pursue the development rather than termination option.
From an attacking perspective the All Blacks scored 101 tries last year to break the single season record of 92 tries set by Argentina in 2003. Those figures were, though, seriously skewed by the All Blacks amassing centuries against weak Tongan and USA teams.
When confronted with relentless Irish and French defensive pressure, the All Blacks attack failed to fire. Predictability and a lack of evolution were evident.
The forward pack's struggles formed another continuing source of frustration. Just as England dominated the All Blacks in their 2019 World Cup semifinal, they were again largely overpowered up front by Ireland and France.
The Springboks troubled the All Blacks with their physical onslaught at the breakdown too. France claimed two maul tries in Paris and the All Blacks lineout wobbled at times, leaving lingering concerns about their ability to deliver a front-foot platform against formidable packs.
Strangely, NZ Rugby did not announce it last year but the Herald understands Mooar, Plumtree, Feek and defence coach Scott McLeod all re-signed through to the 2023 World Cup not long after head coach Foster was granted his two-year extension last August.
The assistant coaches have now survived the review, and avoided NZ Rugby having to fork out potential pay-outs.
Joe Schmidt's anticipated arrival into the All Blacks coaching team will ask hard questions to challenge established strategies and selections this year. Foster has been open about embracing Schmidt's knowledge of the northern game, and his views on All Blacks' weaknesses having enjoyed success with Ireland against New Zealand.
At this stage, though, Schmidt is not expected to travel abroad with the All Blacks and doesn't officially start his selector/analyst role until August following Ireland's three test July tour of New Zealand.
While the All Blacks review identified the need for specific coaching improvements, subsequent feedback is understood to have challenged senior players to accept their share of responsibility, too.
The All Blacks end-of-year tour squad featured nine players aged 30 years or older, sparking concerns in some quarters that number is too high with the World Cup still 18 months away.
Seven months out from their home World Cup, the situation surrounding the Black Ferns remains extremely delicate.
Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate's social media post, in which she detailed a mental breakdown following alleged critical comments from Black Ferns coach Moore on last year's northern tour, left NZ Rugby in damage control in early December.
The melting pot of selection frustrations, personal grievances, mental health and a female-athlete-male-coach-environment are tricky issues to navigate, particularly with employment and privacy laws at play.
The Black Ferns team review highlighted their lack of game time and outdated professional pathways as key factors in their record losses against England and France.
The separate review into the team's culture and Moore won't be complete until late-March but player feedback is thought to be divided between those close to Ngata-Aerengamate, and those who support the coach and were aggrieved at the way in which she chose to express her grievance.
Ngata-Aerengamate is not among the 29 women's players handed ground-breaking professional contracts last month, suggesting she remains on the outer from a selection point of view.
As with the All Blacks assistants, NZ Rugby is expected to stand behind Moore.
South Africa's second test victory at Hagley Oval yesterday underlined the need for three test series. The final overs of drawn tests, with fielders camped around the crease and batters battling for survival, serve up some of the most dramatic, captivating sporting scenes. Drawn series, however, do little to enhance the theatre.
The Black Caps seem marooned in a state of perpetual two-test series that impinge on definitive outcomes. Elite sport needs winners and losers. Not shared trophies.
Unfortunately these are the perils of existing outside the big three.
From the selection of spinner Keshav Maharaj to Kagiso Rabada's eight-wicket haul and 47-run second-innings knock, many elements contributed to South Africa's remarkable revival after being routed by an innings and 276 runs in the first test.
Undoubtedly, though, Dean Elgar's dogged attitude to win the toss and bat — after being rolled for 95 in the first test — set the tone for tourists' immediate response. From then on, the Black Caps were on the backfoot.
Sadly, hopes of defending the World Test Championship are likely dashed now too.
Record: 0/3 (-$30)
Desperate times, indeed. I will note, the Blues absolutely robbed my 1-12 tip last weekend. Conceding three tries in the final 10 minutes to blow a near-certain victory was scarcely believable. Any wonder Leon MacDonald attempted to tear his hair out. This segment is now on probation. We're entering must-win territory. This week I've gone with the Crusaders to cover a 44-point win (-43.5 at $1.85) in Moana Pasifika's debut match in Dunedin on Friday night. It's a sizeable margin, and is exposed to the Crusaders rolling out a B team, but given Moana haven't played for a month due to their Covid outbreak this could be a brutal introduction for the new entrants.
In the last 10 minutes of the Hurricanes-Blues match, the referee called time off and wasn't heard when he restarted the game. The match went for two minutes with a stationary clock which then restarted surreptitiously and was never corrected. How does this happen? Leo Lornie, Pokeno
From a viewer's perspective this was true. A Sky Television producer stopped the clock at 75.47 and left it idle for 1 minute 50 seconds — restarting time just before Salesi Rayasi brilliantly finished the second of his hat-trick in the corner. Referee James Doleman had his own time-keeping sorted, but the incident gives life to conspiracy theories after the Hurricanes scored three tries in the final 10 minutes to steal victory.
Send in your questions to liam.napier@nzme.co.nz.
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