Gregor Paul: The All Blacks’ ‘accidental change’ that’s led to big success

Committing to Jordie Barrett (left) as No 12 and Richie Mo’unga as No 10 has been the key to the All Blacks' recent success. Photo / Photosport

OPINION

Like all coaching tenures, there have been major transitional moments for the All Blacks in this current Rugby World Cup cycle.

Probably more than previous regimes, this one has had the obvious big decisions that will make it easy for the historians to look back and assess what changed the trajectory of a once-faltering Ian Foster coaching reign.

From winning 65 per cent of their first 26 tests to winning 90 per cent of their last 10, this All Blacks team have gone from caterpillar to butterfly.

In trying to explain why, a heavy emphasis will be placed on the 2022 coaching changes - the unprecedented decision to bump out assistants John Plumtree and Brad Mooar and bring in Jason Ryan and Joe Schmidt.

Since these two have both been in their current roles, the All Blacks have lost just one of 10 tests and are currently on a nine-game unbeaten run.

The arrival of Ryan and Schmidt has certainly brought a tightness and cohesion to the All Blacks, as well as a previously-missing attention to detail.

Bringing them in was a hugely transitional play, as was committing to Richie Mo’unga as the preferred No 10.

For the first two years of Foster’s tenure, the No 10 jersey was swapped between Mo’unga and Beauden Barrett - as if the two were auditioning for the role.

It was an obstruction to the team finding their attacking flow and it appeared to undermine Mo’unga’s confidence.

Since fixing on Mo’unga as the preferred starter, a decision made after the way he steered the side to victory at Ellis Park in August last year, the All Blacks have looked a more settled, composed and clinical team with the ball.

Shifting Jordie Barrett (right) to second five-eighth has given the All Blacks the look of a more dynamic, structured and capable team. Photo / Photosport

But arguably the biggest change of the Foster regime, and the decision that has perhaps given them their new look as a more dynamic, structured and capable team, was the injury-enforced shifting of Jordie Barrett to second five-eighths.

Of all the transitional moments of the last three years, this is the one that has carried the most value for the All Blacks.

Barrett has revolutionised the team from the midfield. His impact, since he shifted there in the second Bledisloe Cup test last year, has been almost immeasurable.

Before his move to the No 12 jersey, the All Blacks were stuck in an endless loop of rotating the same pool of players, none of whom ever quite delivered on either the physical or tactical front.

David Havili became the preferred option but, despite having everything he needed, he could never quite get it all out on the big stage.

Quinn Tupaea had his moments as a ball-carrying battering ram but his inexperience was often on show, too.

Anton Lienert-Brown brought unconventional skills that were better suited elsewhere and Jack Goodhue was riddled with injury problems.

That Barrett was tossed into the role in September last year by necessity rather than design will ultimately become a story lost in time. How he got there no longer matters, given what he’s done since.

Foster may previously have been looking in all the wrong places for the player he has coveted for the role, but he’s certain now that, in Barrett, he has someone who ticks every box.

What Barrett has brought is presence - a robustness and directness to be a human pinball in the busiest part of the field.

Test football doesn’t tend to freely offer much space for midfielders to exploit and instead they must generate it themselves, be prepared to graft for a metre here and there and find a way to take their team forward.

This is what Barrett has done magnificently since his conversion to No 12 and last week at Mt Smart he won that war of inches on both sides of the ball.

There have been recent tests against South Africa where his opposite, Damien de Allende, has had the run of the field but, in Auckland, Barrett was the dominant figure in their personal battle and it meant momentum was always with the home side.

But to paint Barrett as simply a big lug who has bashed his side into better shape is to sell him short.

He’s brought a clever kicking game, strong communication and decisive option-taking.

As Foster noted after the South Africa test, some of Barrett’s execution wasn’t always perfect but his speed of thought and vision were precisely what the team needed.

Throughout 2021 and the early part of 2022, the All Blacks had limited means to work their way through a rush defence. Now, with Barrett installed in the critical No 12 position, they seem to have most of the answers.

The decision to shift him was accidental, but it has proved to be inspired nevertheless.