RWC: All Blacks are slow starters

The All Blacks have taken time to warm up in matches in 2015. Photo / Brett Phibbs

If the All Blacks find themselves in a tight contest with France at halftime on Sunday morning, it won't be time to panic.

The All Blacks have taken a while to click into gear in most of their games at the World Cup so far - a trend which is notable all throughout 2015.

Slow starts have been a common occurrence, with the All Blacks performing much better in the second half than the first in the calendar year so far.

In 2015, the All Blacks have only had a lead of more than 12 points once (against Namibia) and have only scored 18 or more in the first half twice, compared to five times in the second half.

They have scored 141 first half points compared to 184 in the second spell, and have an aggregate of +81 in the first half and +101 in the second.

The first half struggles was most recently documented against Tonga, where they were scrappy in the first half, leading just 14-3, before storming away with a strong second stanza to easily triumph 47-9.

That trend of performing better in the second half is a long-held one for the All Blacks, but the more recent notable movement is the amount of All Blacks games which are up in the air at the half.

All Blacks Halftime Scores (2015)

12-3 v Samoa (won 25-16)
18-6 v Argentina (won 39-18)
10-10 v South Africa (won 27-20)
6-3 v Australia (lost 27-19)
13-6 v Australia (won 41-13)
12-13 v Argentina (won 26-16)
34-6 v Namibia (won 58-14)
22-10 v Georgia (won 43-10)
14-3 v Tonga (won 47-9)

In 2014, the All Blacks were behind or tied seven times at the half - a number which for many teams would suggest plenty of losses on their resumes.

However, their second half performances were so strong that they lost just once - to the Springboks.

All Blacks Halftime Scores (2014)

9-9 v England (won 20-15)
6-10 v England (won 28-27)
29-6 v England (won 36-13)
9-3 v Australia (drew 12-12)
23-6 v Australia (won 51-20)
13-6 v Argentina (won 28-9)
6-7 v South Africa (won 14-10)
20-6 v Argentina (won 34-13)
13-21 v South Africa (lost 25-27)
12-15 v Australia (won 29-28)
43-6 v USA (won 74-6)
11-14 v England (won 24-21)
14-10 v Scotland (won 24-16)
3-3 v Wales (won 34-16)

Once again, their points aggregate showed that they were significantly better in the second half (+111) than the first (+89), a statistic which is even more pronounced in 2013 (+76 in first half, +139 in second).

If the end result is a win it doesn't matter, but ideally the All Blacks would surely prefer to get out to an early buffer as the Rugby World Cup knockout phase nears.

However, their recent history shows that being behind at halftime is not a massive issue for the world's best side.