All Blacks assistant outlines attack's next evolution with more 'variety'

All Blacks assistant coach Mike Blair has assessed his side’s attack after three Tests under Dave Rennie, before the squad jets off to South Africa for the Greatest Rivalry Tour.

The All Blacks have made it clear with their recent performances that a counter-attacking, free-flowing style is at the forefront of their new attacking blueprint.

Rennie and his coaching staff, including Scotland-born Mike Blair, whose portfolio consists of looking after the All Blacks attack, have injected what feels like new life into the highly-skilled group of outside backs.

Rennie’s side scored 34 points against France under the roof in Christchurch, 47 in windy Wellington conditions against Italy, and 40 against Ireland at Eden Park to end July’s Nations Championship window.

But without getting ahead of himself, Blair told media in Auckland on Sunday morning that the coaching staff felt their side produced some “really pleasing stuff” against Ireland.

“Still some bits that we can do better, definitely. It sounds strange to say when you put 40 points on the board, but some really pleasing stuff, some good ball movement, some good decision making,” the All Blacks assistant said.

But when the All Blacks do break the opposition defensive line and enter the 22, the 84-Test former Scottish halfback said he would like to see some different pictures.

“Once we get into the 22, I think we’ve got some growth there.

“You need variety. You’ve got to have the ability to play through a team, but also to manipulate a team.”

The coaching staff, including Blair, are under no illusions of the uphill battle they face in South Africa, especially with the quality of side they are up against.

“We’re also conscious of how impressive South Africa has been in these test matches. They’ve mixed and matched their teams without seemingly skipping a beat.

“It’s going to be a big step up for us, so we’re going to have to evolve and improve again.”

Blair then shared his thoughts on whether the All Black can beat the Springboks in next month’s four-Test series, and how much of a challenge it will be.

“I believe so,” Blair told reporters in Auckland.

“Our challenge is how we get the guys rugby, how we get cohesion. You want to keep a test group together, but you want to be able to give guys opportunities to play their way into the test as well. It’s a really fine balance.

“It’s a tough schedule, but we also believe it’s a schedule that’s going to accelerate our learning.”

“There’ll be, I’m not too sure, 80-ish of management and players and stuff, and it’ll be literally us against the rest of South Africa, so we’ll have to be tight. There’ll be some testing times.”

Having now been in New Zealand for over a month, the 45-year-old pinpointed some memorable moments in his short journey to date.

“There have been so many special moments in the first month. Meeting the coaches and the players, the haka practice that we had, the first cap ceremony, Will getting the record for tries and loads and loads of other examples as well. It’s really special.”