Peter Bills: My man of the match award goes to coach Henry

COMMENT


Man of the match in Christchurch on Saturday night? That's an easy one.

The All Blacks got away with this one only because coach Graham Henry changed the perspective on two crucial occasions.

I haven't a clue what the New Zealand Rugby Union are paying the man whom the Welsh once called the Great Redeemer but I can tell you this, he's earning his dough.

Henry's first critical intervention came in the dressing shed at halftime. It wasn't so much that punches weren't pulled; they were very nearly thrown. Because Henry was doing aggression, big time. It wasn't just that couple on the TV sofa who were copping it.

He challenged his players to show some pride, passion and commitment. And, more importantly, he saw the path to eventual victory when others could see only a dense forest of green jerseys blocking every escape avenue.

Henry changed the tactical perspective by forcing his forwards to drive through the heart of the Springbok defence. Suddenly, South African loose forwards who had been instrumental in suffocating Carlos Spencer and his midfield with their rapidly deployed, aggressive defence line had to defend closer in.

The All Black pack began to smash the ball up around the fringes and ask questions of the Bok defence. It took an age but it worked in the end.

And the other tactical moment of genius from Henry? He put the physical Byron Kelleher on at a crucial moment, for Justin Marshall. Both Marshall and Spencer were under such pressure they too often drifted laterally. That stymied the chances of everyone outside them and the All Blacks constantly found themselves struggling to get over the gain line in the first half.

Kelleher's role was key, for he plays like an extra loose forward, just what New Zealand required in that situation as the Springboks tired in the last quarter.

His surges off the fringes of ruck and maul were vital and helped raise the All Blacks' forward momentum. It was a clever tactical substitution and it enabled New Zealand to clamber out of a very deep hole indeed. Shaken, not stirred? By God, even Bond would have been, in that mess.

What the test also confirmed was Jake White's arrival as an international coach of tactical nous and cunning. White pinpointed Spencer as the focus of his side's intensive, rapidly deployed defensive line. It meant that Spencer was often caught in possession and crabbed sideways on other occasions, ruining the All Blacks chances of fluidity outside the scrum.

The fact was, South Africa were frequently offside, as Australian referee Andrew Cole constantly confirmed with his penalties. But Cole lacked the appetite to sort it out, as White probably suspected he would, and the Springboks got away with stifling the All Blacks' game plan.

South Africa's own tactical inadequacies compounded their difficulties of technical indiscipline, which conceded so many penalties. Opportunities to clear downfield when the siege was at its height in the second half were scorned. Instead, Jaco van der Westhuyzen and De Wet Barry kept trying to run possession, when territorial gain was essential. When the mistakes inevitably came, the Springboks were pinned deep in their own half.

What the All Black management will surely question is why it needed the intervention of their coach at halftime to change the pattern. Good All Black sides of old used to contain all manner of players able to think on their feet, alter the status quo if one system was not working. New Zealand didn't seem to have forwards of that nature on Saturday night and it is an area for concern.

Springbok fans may bleat that they were robbed, but the truth is very different. If you play a high-risk defensive game like theirs which borders on the illegal, you're going to concede penalties and someone will kick them.

The Springboks didn't lose the match just in the last minute, but because they conceded six penalty goals. That kept the disappointing New Zealanders in touch and enabled them to launch one last strike which was enough.

There were sobering lessons for both sides from this test. But Henry and his management team at least can stand tall. But for them, Christchurch would probably have seen a first South African win in 39 years.

* Peter Bills is a rugby writer for Independent News & Media in London