Analysis: Dissecting the All Blacks game plan – their Springboks blueprint was on the money
With 75 percent possession and 79 percent territory the All Blacks could not come away with a win after a mammoth defensive effort by the Springboks. However, with such a huge amount of possession we were able to see a lot of All Blacks attack and able to gain insights into how they thought they should break down the Springboks.
There were many things the All Blacks did that proved to be successful that they will no doubt try again in Pretoria. The maul lineout drive from close range proved effective, as well as specific switch plays that targeted the Springboks biggest weakness – spreading numbers effectively across the defensive line.
The Springboks seem to be the most vulnerable re-loading after a set-piece. They don’t spread numbers efficiently on both sides of midfield rucks, often leaving front rowers all together to cover one half of the field and the absence of a sweeper system means they drop back three backs as a second line defence.
The All Blacks first two tries came from a second-phase play after a simple midfield crash, setting up the ‘axis’ to either play the same way or swing play back.
If they achieved a 2-second ruck, the All Blacks could exploit the mismatches they wanted as the Springboks scrambled to bring players around the corner.
This first phase set-up has Ben Smith (14) off his wing, lurking in behind Barrett at first receiver for the set-piece play.
Smith runs his line as part of the simple crash play, but once the tackle is in the process of being made, he makes a beeline back out to his wing for a second-phase strike, setting up behind Codie Taylor.
The Springboks send all of their loosies around the corner, leaving their front row behind to set the short side defence.
Aaron Smith fires a long cutout to Codie Taylor who plays Smith on the outside with a no-look pop pass. Taylor fixes the last man on the edge, prop Steven Kitsoff (1), leaving a 5-metre lane for Smith to skin the Boks. Aaron Smith ends up with the spoils with an inside support pass from Ben Smith.
The All Blacks created the mismatch against the front rowers but young winger Aphiwe Dyantyi (11) also plays a massive part. He is back in kick coverage and doesn’t move up to close down the play leaving the channel open.
He really shouldn’t be back there in this area of the field, but this is the Springboks defence system.
The wingers deliberately drop back as the second line of defence because their halfback, Faf de Klerk (9), doesn’t perform a ‘sweeper’ role. We can see him above circled in the front line. This is another fascinating part of the Springboks defence altogether (which we will also break down), but de Klerk is often in the front line leaving the wingers to cover chips, grubbers or half-breaks.
From the high shot, we see Dyantyi is not anticipating the possibility of a short-side play and is too deep and too stationary to do anything about it. Once Smith breaks away down the sideline he is left stranded as the last defender.
The All Blacks run the exact same play about 10 minutes later on the other side of the field but this time it is the All Blacks number 11 who is out of position and Jesse Kriel (14) anticipates the play perfectly and shuts it down.
After the first phase scrum play, we see the front row isolated on the short side with no help.
This time Rieko Ioane is nowhere to be seen, leaving Taylor without the ‘pop’ option whilst Kriel (14) has read the play and closes the space by making a great read. Ioane comes to the party late missing the opportunity, however, Kriel’s awareness would have made it much more difficult this time around.
From the high angle, we see the brilliant defensive work of Jesse Kriel, stalking the play and getting into a position where he can close it down. When Aaron Smith fires the ball back, he rushes up and closes down the space having anticipated the short side raid, which was an inverse of the exact same play.
This was one example of the type of switch plays the All Blacks used to target the Springboks off scrums. In the second half, they used a complex ‘tack’ play, switching the point of attack after a lineout.
With dynamo Damian McKenzie on the field at fullback in combination with Beauden Barrett, the All Blacks had two speedsters available to run a wide ‘tack’ play, with both players able to cover a large distance at a decent clip to swing play back.
They would run the switch on the third phase, playing a standard crash play from the lineout, followed by one pod around the corner before ‘tacking’ back to a big open side.
Here during the second phase, the pod of three is taking a carry after coming around the corner, whilst the players involved in the first phase crash are re-loading and will be integral to the third phase strike.
Barrett (10) and McKenzie (23) are still wide right, as if the play will come the same way to the right again, enticing more Springboks to come over. As the breakdown develops they will both run wide sweeping lines back to the left and play a double screen off Ardie Savea at first receiver, utilising their speed to create a numbers advantage.
Ardie Savea (20) takes it to the line with Kieran Read (8) short and Barrett (10) as the backdoor option on the first screen.
He kicks it out the back to Barrett where Goodhue (22) runs the second short line and McKenzie (23) runs the second backdoor option. The sweeping movement sets McKenzie away down the left-hand edge.
McKenzie is just brought down short of the line in another inspirational cover tackle from Warren Whiteley. From the front-on angle we see that McKenzie ends up running Ioane out of room, moving a bit too laterally allowing the Springboks defence to slide.
The All Blacks still created a scoring opportunity but had Barrett taken the short option of Goodhue, they may have been able to hold the defence longer to keep Ioane’s lane open. Given Ioane’s lethal finishing ability, even a late pass from McKenzie may have been enough for Ioane to work his tightrope magic.
After the Springboks clearing kick, they run the exact same three-phase ‘tack’ play again, with only a slightly different crash play on the first phase.
With the knowledge learned previously, Barrett hits Goodhue short this time but the Springboks do a better job of distributing numbers in the defensive line to stop the play.
The All Blacks switch plays continually found space in this game, opening up the Springboks defence with designed plays targeting the re-loading set piece off both scrum and lineout. In the first half, the All Blacks built a 12-0 lead of two second-phase strikes.
When they moved away from this and tried to use Barrett’s cross-field kicking late in the first half, they lost a bit of control and allowed the Springboks back into the match. One of the kicks that sailed out on the full gave back possession to the Springboks just outside the 22 that led to the Marx try.
For the Springboks, how they manage their alignment will be integral to stopping the All Blacks in Pretoria. They must not leave their most immobile forwards isolated on the edge or they can expect more traffic that way, while the All Blacks will again be looking for these opportunities and should persist if they find it is working again.
The All Blacks blueprint for this game was on the money they just weren’t able to cash in enough when the opportunities presented.
Comments on RugbyPass
Karl Dixon should never have been appointed this fixture, absolute disgrace, He’s not much of a referee anyway, didn't have the balls to send his mate care off
5 Go to commentsBrilliant article! Harry of 8/9
1 Go to comments‘UK athletes' have been in the NFL from the start.
1 Go to commentsIt’s going to be Scott Barrett. He’s the coaches mate and captain of a previously elite team. Ardie a great option but scooter has worked with the coach and Ardie still as big a leader as needed.
23 Go to commentsI commend Colin Scotts bio All Balls. He was the first Aussie to make it to NFL. But he was poached and did a full apprenticeship at the University of Hawaii. He was 130kgs surfed played 1st grade cricket etc. big guy by normal but not NFL standards and a top athlete. Even then the nfl were picking up Tongans and Samoans for their natural size and explosive power. They want explosive power not cardio from the big boys so a guy like Taniela Tupou would have been good if picked up young enough. He has fast twitch and they’d bulk the little lad up and give him something to do. soccer teams set up academies and look for Over Sara’s talent eg Messi was at Barcelona since a teenager and harry kewell went to Leeds as a teenager like 16 or something.
11 Go to commentsThe article alludes to the fact that this isn’t about picking a captain. But picking a great captain. So who would make for a great All Black captain - not just an obvious or safe shoo-in? I’m not sure Ardie’s the guy and Barret doesn’t stand out either.
23 Go to commentsI guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
45 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
5 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
45 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
45 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
5 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
8 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
2 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
8 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to comments