All Blacks halfback Brad Weber breaks clear to score against Canada. Photo / Mark Mitchell
All Blacks halfback Brad Weber breaks clear to score against Canada. Photo / Mark Mitchell
COMMENT
By Liam Napier in Oita City
Variety this All Blacks team has in abundance.
Execution they left on the training field at times but how you contain their vast number of attacking threats is sure to keep opposition coaches up at night.
The All Blacks spent the past 10 days thrashing their squad in gruelling training sessions and honing their game in Beppu, a volcanic-fuelled hot spring haven of a town in southern Japan.
Steve Hansen's men needed 40 minutes to find their balance between pace and control but they, too, did their best volcanic eruption impersonation by scoring three tries in seven minutes straight after half time.
These attacking blitzes – they scored two tries in six minutes against the Springboks in their opening victory – are enough to blow even the best teams away.
Before their opening second-half surge against Canada, the All Blacks were a sloppy, frustrating watch, though it was not difficult to see the essence of what they are trying to achieve.
Inside Oita's roofed stadium they regularly broke up the middle, they broke out wide, but too often they wasted these opportunities. Beauden Barrett's final spill a prime example.
Japan's humidity makes ball handling at this World Cup incredibly difficult. TJ Perenara struggled at the base but he was not alone in making simple errors. Scott Barrett lost the ball over the line and others dropped passes cold.
But even when they weren't clicking, the difference between the All Blacks and, say, England is there are so many different ways they can hurt you.
England ground their way to uninspiring wins over Tonga and the USA. The All Blacks constantly push the pace and while it doesn't always come off, when it does it's near unstoppable.
Against Canada the All Blacks scrum was supreme. Their maul defence again strong when tested and their lineout pinched ball. Their offloads, speed, width, tempo, fitness is there for all to see.
Even when not at their best the All Blacks were on Pluto, Canada on Mars.
All Blacks halfback Brad Weber breaks clear to score against Canada. Photo / Mark Mitchell
One aspect not immediately evident at this World Cup is the increasingly defining role attacking kicks are playing.
Before this match, eight try assists came directly from kick passes.
Richie Mo'unga, named man of the match after another commanding performance which featured classy offloads after challenging the line, showed his accuracy in this regard against the Boks when finding Sevu Reece on the outside, and he was at it again here to expertly pick out Jordie Barrett early.
Sonny Bill Williams was magnificent before being replaced after 50 odd minutes. He carried strongly, largely offloaded with precision but it was his grubber for Beauden Barrett's try that could be most valuable in headline matches to come.
Williams had a kick charged against the Boks that almost proved costly but he put in another pin-point grubber not long after his first here.
"Run it don't kick it" is frequently bellowed at television screens and up and down sidelines but attacking kicks could prove the difference at this tournament.
Beauden Barrett chimed in with two mid-field chips, his second splitting Canada with precision.
These attacking kicks are king when it comes to exploiting space and defeating line speed that has dominated the game for the best part of two years.
And in Mo'unga and Barrett, the All Blacks have two great exponents of this tactic often stationed on either side of the field.
Elsewhere the All Blacks will be chuffed with the performance of blindside Shannon Frizell. He lost the ball in contact twice but carried with intent for 80 minutes, with his repeat efforts most impressive.
Loosehead prop Atu Moli also went the full match, a rare feat for any front-rower.
Rieko Ioane scored a try, after last featuring for the All Blacks in Perth, and moved into the midfield in the second half but his return probably didn't hit the heights needed to put enough pressure on Reece.
Perfectly polished the All Blacks are not but they don't need to be yet and the blueprint sure is there.
