All Blacks emphatic that Eden Park scrum humiliation won’t be repeated

The All Blacks are saying in no uncertain terms that their scrummaging performance will improve, and that never again will they be forced to retreat the way they did in Auckland.

Throughout the week of media engagements, all personnel involved in the Kiwi forward pack have expressed their disappointment in the way the scrum performed, with forwards coach Jason Ryan leading the charge. For a team usually reserved in their language, the insistence has been out of character.

One scrum in particular is causing the most hurt. It took place in the 61st minute, when the hosts owned a 17-3 lead and had a chance to exit out of their own 22. But the Boks had other ideas, and as soon as Finlay Christie released the put-in, the visitors steamrolled forward, winning possession and scoring just seconds later.

Ryan addressed the media at the airport on Sunday and labelled the play “a never again moment”. Since then, the tone has become firmer and firmer.

At Thursday’s team naming, Samisoni Taukei’aho said, “It’s never going to happen again. Being an All Black, that’s just not our standard, and obviously, we’ve worked on it this whole week.

“We’ll be ready for it, and if the moment arrives again, we’ll be taking it by both hands. So, looking forward to it.”

Points Flow Chart

New Zealand win +7

Time in lead

81

Mins in lead

0

100%

% Of Game In Lead

0%

22%

Possession Last 10 min

78%

0

Points Last 10 min

7

Ryan was interviewed on Sport Nation on Friday and said the scrum had haunted him every day since the Eden Park match.

“There’s a couple there that hurt,” he said. “Especially the one we lost the ball, we didn’t hide from that. I used a bit of a rowing boat analogy, where a couple of the boys fell out of the boat, to be honest, through no lack of trying.

“Basically, one side went down, and we tried to get back up, and it was too late, the ball was in.

“Look, it’s all there. It’s great to have (Tyrel) Lomax back in the mix, starting. That’s a good dynamic that we trust. He was the best tight head in the world last year. So we’ll get him back some rhythm after his hand (injury); he’s looking good.

“(We’ve looked at) a couple of things around how they scrum differently, and let’s not hide from it, they’ve got genuine power. But we back our scrum technically as well as on the physical side. So we’ll be better for that bit of a dent.”

The topic was raised once more with Scott Barrett at the All Blacks’ captains’ run, where the lock conceded that there was some bitterness about the play.

“There’s a few scars. A tighthead against an All Blacks pack, that one hurts,” the captain said. “I think a scar is probably putting it too bluntly, it’s a scab, actually. It’s right at the forefront of this pack’s mind, getting that right this week.

“We certainly don’t want that to happen again this week. We want to be giving our backs the ball they need and certainly don’t want to be giving the Springboks penalties and entries into our half.

“We want to turn up in every scrum with the right mindset. If you’re not quite there, then you’ll certainly get spat out by a strong Springboks pack.”