Anton Lienert-Brown is tackled by Quade Cooper. Photo / Getty Images
Anton Lienert-Brown is tackled by Quade Cooper. Photo / Getty Images
The All Blacks have put the world on notice again with a series of compelling performances, but as they bank trophies and build towards the global showpiece, coach Ian Foster is keen to remind everyone they are not the complete package yet.
Led by another standout effort from Scott Barrett- his shushing gesture to Wallabies halfback Nic White the perfect symbol for the All Blacks’ transformation this year - Foster’s men performed their best rope-a-dope resemblance to blow Australia away in the final quarter.
While the six-tries-to-one victory that retained the Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship largely left the near 84,000 crowd at Melbourne Cricket Ground and the rugby world in awe, Foster stressed there’s more to come from the All Blacks and that they will need to be better for the World Cup in France.
“What other people think is kind of irrelevant to us. We’re trying to build something that gets us where we want to be,” Foster said after the 38-7 victory. “We made the point early that the best way to prepare for the big stage is to prepare for the big stage every week. That’s what we had to learn.
“We know we had some growing-up to do as a team coming into this year. So far we’ve taken three strong steps forward which we’re pretty proud of but I’m not sure it’s quite enough just yet.”
Foster couldn’t ask for much more than three from three to start World Cup year. With the scrum in dominant form and the maul defence repelling the Wallabies, the All Blacks then showcased their ability to flick into breathless mode when fatigue sets in.
Rieko Ioane goes over for a try against the Wallabies. Photo / Getty Images
For all their dominance Foster was, however, quick to note the All Blacks were forced to be patient and find solutions as the Wallabies made a mess of their breakdown and applied serious pressure to start both halves.
“We were a little bit passive and high. We had a lot of bodies on the ground while they were on their feet, reaching over, causing grief.
“They really fired up at us and we saw how much it meant to them. Defensively we stood tall. We made some better decisions with the height of our tackle and got them on the ground more. They’ve got some big boys.
“The scoreline flattered us to be perfectly honest. We deserved the win but there was enough in that Aussie performance for them to take away some good points, but they’ll regret they couldn’t get more prolonged periods of pressure on us.”
The way in which the All Blacks ruthlessly finished off the Wallabies - scoring three tries in the final quarter - reflected the toll of long periods on defence and conceding two yellow cards. The All Blacks’ tactic of peppering the short side, stretching the Wallabies with their two-sided attack and forcing the Wallabies to make 251 tackles eventually paid off.
“The manner of it is pretty pleasing. We got told we hadn’t been put under pressure in the first two games and I don’t think that was correct. We were put under a lot of pressure today but our responses and how we’re adapting to that is pleasing,” Foster said.
“We know there’ll be more challenges ahead but we can only deal with the challenges one at a time and there’s some good growth. We’ve been able to build some combinations and give opportunities to new people and that’s going to make life interesting in a couple of weeks.”
Hurricanes halfback Cam Roigard was the latest to debut off the bench this year after Chiefs wing Emoni Narawa in Mendoza and Crusaders prop Tamaiti Williams against the Springboks. With the Bledisloe secure for a 21st year, Crusaders midfielder Dallas McLeod and Chiefs loose forward Samipeni Finau will be expected to follow suit in the final home test of the year against the Wallabies in Dunedin next week.
Mark Telea runs the ball. Photo / Getty Images
“We are about growing our game, building, taking strong steps forward and treasuring each week. How we balance that with change is going to be key for us. The message will be clear that we don’t want to compromise on performance. We don’t believe a test match is ever a dead rubber. Australia will be desperate to grow a performance and we want to make sure we finish in this part of the world in a very strong space.”
From an individual perspective, Barrett set the tone early by crunching Wallabies halfback Tate McDermott and continued his workaholic presence throughout. Mark Telea grew in prominence to reinforce his case to lock down the left wing.
Like Foster, though, with France and Ireland on the horizon, stand-in captain Ardie Savea is demanding more from the All Blacks.
“We’ll celebrate tonight and enjoy this occasion but with this group we’re never satisfied,” Savea said. “We’re always looking to be better - and there’s areas in our game tonight we need to be better. We’ll build the edge there.”
