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Gregor Paul: It’s time for change - the All Blacks have lost their way
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"From being heroic in the first test, the All Blacks were catastrophic in the second." Photo / Photosport
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If the All Blacks took one step forward last week, they took at least two - if not three - back in Dunedin and, while their list of faults was long and comprehensive, the nuts and bolts of their demise could be summed up by saying they lacked physicality and imagination. The All Blacks were passive and insipid, saved from humiliation only by their miraculous scrambling defence, which was brilliant.
The player who has solved the All Blacks’ big problem - July 4
If the World Cup semifinal highlighted the risks of picking Scott Barrett as a blindside flanker, then the first test of 2022 has thrown light on the potential rewards of using him in the unfamiliar role on the side of the scrum.
Barrett will never rank as a blindside for the ages, but rather as a No 6 for this particular age of test rugby which has seen the world’s best teams adopt a carnage-first philosophy to their game plans.
Since the last World Cup, the northern heavyweights of France, England and Ireland as well as South Africa have shifted the balance of their loose trios – favouring size and set-piece presence ahead of athleticism and mobility.
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Unable to find this bruising, bear-like No 6 with the capacity to win lineout ball, add a bit of heft to the scrum and generally terrorise opponents in open play, the All Blacks, seemingly out of a mix of exasperation and desperation, picked Barrett in the unfamiliar blindside role for the first test of this year.
But Barrett’s selection at blindside may not be as temporary or as experimental as was being assumed last week, but in fact the long-term preference for the All Blacks.
The moment that proves the All Blacks empire is collapsing - July 17
If ever there was a moment in time to signal an empire is crumbling, it was the sight of All Blacks captain Sam Cane being hauled from the Wellington battleground with 15 minutes left of the series decider.
With the test and the series still in the balance, All Blacks coach Ian Foster removed his general, and in doing so confounded his players, damaged the reputation of Cane and handed Ireland the sort of psychological victory they never imagined was possible.
The All Blacks captain is a sacrosanct position in the world game: a role that carries a weight of respect beyond these shores.
It’s a figurehead role as much as anything else – a position that defines the All Blacks’ global standing – and to see such a vital chess piece removed from the board at such a critical juncture was a decision that was impossibly difficult to understand.
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The underworld of subterfuge and strategy that sunk the ABs - July 11
Coaches under pressure often see conspiracies that aren’t there, especially when their team loses, but Ian Foster was right to be concerned that the match officials in Dunedin had a preconceived mind-set about the All Blacks.
After the first test in Auckland, Ireland supposedly received feedback from World Rugby that the All Blacks should have been shown two yellow cards but weren’t.
Ireland’s first penalty in Dunedin was given against Dalton Papalii, whom referee Jaco Peyper said had taken a player out past the ruck.
Then, of course, three cards would be shown in the first 30 minutes – one of which was indisputable – but the other two, on another day ruled by another group of officials, could have been written off as accidental collisions.
The All Blacks were victims of their own inadequacies and Ireland’s well-considered and smartly executed game-plan, but they were also, to some extent, victims of a narrative that clearly took hold in the aftermath of their opening 42-19 victory.
Ireland are the legendary team the All Blacks used to be - July 16
The All Blacks simultaneously managed to show in losing the series decider to Ireland that they are a lot less broken than it appeared last week, but so too are they carrying so many issues and fundamental flaws as to be considered nowhere near fixed.
This is not a great or even a particularly good All Blacks side. The question now for New Zealand Rugby’s board is to determine whether that can change without instigating some kind of change.
Is this side destined to wallow in its own deficiencies and befuddled thinking, or is there some way they can catapult themselves into a new, more compelling trajectory?
But in the rush to lampoon the All Blacks and dissect quite why they have slumped to such a misshapen, lump of a thing, it can’t get lost that Ireland have been a major contributing factor to the problems suffered by the home side.
It takes a brilliant team to win a test on these shores and one close to legendary to win a series, and Ireland can rightfully take their place in history alongside some other magnificent visitors.
They go home deserved winners – the dominant partners now in the relationship – and hopefully some of what they brought will rub off on the All Blacks.
