Analysis: Why did the 'greatest set-piece play of all-time' work for the 2000 All Blacks?
Twenty years later it is still regarded as the greatest set-piece play in international test rugby.
During the second test of the 2000 Bledisloe Cup series, the All Blacks pulled an elaborate wrap-play followed by a double-bluff switch to baffle the Wallabies and open them up.
The move went through the hands of every member of the All Black backline off a short five-man lineout and sent the Cake Tin into delirium as Christian Cullen scored his record-equaling 39th test try.
So, why did this play work and how come there aren’t many replicas?
The daring and bold ploy was actually attempted in the first test in Sydney but messy ball off the top of the lineout resulted in some indecisiveness.
Pita Alatini (12) bailed on the pass to Alama Ieremia (13), where the wrap would take place, and instead took a carry into the defensive line.
Ieremia (13) is seen in the process of turning to form the ‘pod’, flanked by Scott Robertson (7) and Ron Cribb (8), with Andrew Mehrtens looping around to receive the return ball from centre Ieremia.
The play was disrupted from the very beginning at the lineout where the Wallabies were able to pressure the jumper, Todd Blackadder (4).
The All Blacks have both locks walk into the lineout and sell the jump at the back, with Todd Blackadder faking that way before turning to become the jumper at the two spot.
The five-man lineout can naturally only provide one two-man lift. Norm Maxwell (5) is left unguarded by the Wallabies at the back with only Kees Meeuws (3).
This is an important detail that the All Blacks would later exploit during the successful edition of the play in Wellington.
The ball from the top of the lineout from Blackadder bounces at Justin Marshall’s feet, who is also under pressure, and he delivers a bounce pass to Andrew Mehrtens to add to the disruption.
To get clean ball, the All Blacks took more risk in Wellington and changed up the lineout personnel to get another loose forward involved.
They banked on getting an uncontested throw at the back because where they would only use a one-man lift.
It was a higher risk gamble as one-man lifts are extremely hard on the lifter and result in a lower apex for the jumper. In some cases, they quite literally struggle to get off the ground.
To compensate for the loss of air time, they subbed in Ron Cribb (8) to use his extra height and relied on Taine Randell (6) to make the lift.
This time both locks start in the middle of four-man lineout before bailing towards the front, while Randell walks in late as the fifth man to prepare to lift Cribb at the back.
The Wallabies bite on Blackadder and Maxwell heading to the front, leaving Cribb unmarked.
What is amusing is that halfback Justin Marshall is the proposed lifter at the front, which should have been a tip-off that the ball was not going there as halfbacks never lift locks.
The throw is perfectly thrown over John Eales at the front and the All Blacks get uncontested ball at the back after a Herculean one-man lift from Randell.
The ball off the top from the back allows Marshall to get the pass off from outside the 15-m tramlines and fix the issues of messy ball in Sydney.
The ball successfully and quickly goes through the hands of Mehrtens (10) to Alatini (12) with enough time to pull off the wrap before being met by the defensive line.
Ieremia’s pod doesn’t commit any defenders into contact but successfully propels Mehrtens on the return ball to the outside of defenders Stephen Larkham (10) and Jason Little (12), dragging the Wallabies inside backs into a sliding drift.
All of the Wallabies backs are in a drift pattern, and this is where the All Blacks run a double-switch to exploit that and isolate the middle defender Jason Little (12).
Dan Herbert (13) continued his drift out, creating separation from Little (12) on one side, while Larkham identified the cut from Jonah Lomu (11) early and broke away on the other.
The first switch pass to a rampaging Lomu draws Larkham (10) but crucially freezes out Little (12), who slows to change direction and turns in.
Little is isolated with no outside or inside help having been frozen by the first switch and becomes vulnerable to the second switch-back in the original direction.
Tana Umaga’s (14) timing on this play is impeccable. His trailing support line originally looked like nothing, he was so far behind Mehrtens and the ball he wasn’t an option for the defence to think about.
The switch to Lomu bridges that timing deficit for Umaga and he goes from a half jog to full speed as Lomu plays the pass underneath.
With Little caught still on an island and Umaga turning the corner at full speed, he is able to beat the Wallaby midfielder with a smart fend at pace.
Once in the clear, Umaga draws Latham and puts a looming Christian Cullen (15) in untouched.
The move was complex as it evolved but rather simple at the targeted incision point once the one-on-one matchup was achieved.
The Wallabies defence was always in trouble as they never took forwards out of the lineout to match the numbers taken out by New Zealand.
The All Blacks effectively ran a four-man lineout but Australia had seven men there, which became a huge disadvantage once they had successfully schemed clean ball at the back and attacked left.
It is easier to think of the pod in the midfield around Ieremia like an ‘accelerated’ ruck that didn’t go to ground and everything after that was like a planned second phase play going the same way.
The pod held play up long enough for Mehrtens to get around the corner but was too fast for any Wallaby forwards to fold.
Samu Kerevi often has had a similar impact for the Wallabies with his ability to carry strong and find an offload off the deck to create quick ball.
When you see how effective this ‘accelerated ruck’ pod could be, you wonder why so many teams persist on running midfield crash balls, going to ground and recycling before going wide. If you could get the ball there faster with more numbers, why not try to do that instead?
The double switch may look like an over-engineered play, but it had the desired impact of instilling indecision in defenders and creating a mismatch between dynamic athletes in motion with stationary men.
Switch passes, and certainly double bluff switches like this one, have almost become extinct in the modern game but could return to help combat the seemingly impenetrable rush defences around today, particularly around the ruck area.
It still remains one of the greatest set-piece tries, but also one of the great team tries of all-time at Test rugby level – and those tasked with trying to unlock defences today should review some of the concepts used to try come up with more creative plans than currently used in the game today.
Crusaders’ media session with Mark Jones:
Comments on RugbyPass
Yawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
13 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
22 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
13 Go to commentsThe 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….
77 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 💪
13 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.
13 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.
13 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
13 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?
13 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?
44 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 comments