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
The rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
76 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
9 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
9 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
9 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
9 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
9 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
2 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to comments