Ex-All Black praises forwards but calls out no 'rhythm and unity' in backline
Jason Ryan has again been applauded for his remarkable work turning the All Blacks‘ forward pack into one of the world’s most formidable after being thoroughly out-muscled against Ireland.
The compliments this time come from former All Black No 8 and captain, Murray Mexted.
Mexted spoke to Martin Devlin on The Platform and was focused solely on how this year’s performances prepared the New Zealand team for next year’s World Cup. While he acknowledged the inconsistencies the team have shown are a significant vulnerability, he claimed the improved play in the forwards has the team in good stead.
“It’s not easy to win three or four in a row,” Mexted said of the route to World Cup glory. “We’re not performing consistently.
“But to do that, we need to be able to dominate any forward pack in the world. If we can’t beat them (there) then we’re not going to win it so, I think we made great progress in the forwards since Jason Ryan’s been on board – they’ve made steady progress and that all came to fruition at this fantastic Twickenham Stadium.”
While the All Blacks have faced more than a sprinkling of criticism for how England came back into the game in the final ten minutes at Twickenham, Mexted was more concerned with the first 70 minutes and how it compared to the Ireland series at the start of the season.
“You’d have to say that’s a pretty good result when you look back six months,” Mexted continued. “Because it’s probably been one of the worst years we’ve ever had in rugby, so much so that the All Blacks head coach, his position was threatened.
“A 25-all draw against England, not a great result on the scoreboard but a great result as far as exposing our limitations and realizing that we’ve got a forward pack that can beat anyone in the world.
“If we’re big enough and strong enough and ugly enough to beat a team like England on their home ground when they were up for that match – don’t worry about that – and we dominated them in the scrum, dominated them in the lineout, dominated them in the driving maul for 70 minutes, that’s pretty bloody impressive.”
Jason Ryan and Joe Shmidt assumed the roles of forwards and attack coaches respectively following the Ireland series loss.
The front row of Ethan de Groot, Samisoni Taukei’aho and Tyrel Lomax soon got their chance to start under Ryan and the forwards have found fine form since.
The defensive cohesion of the backs, on the other hand, was a real area of concern in Mexted’s eyes and an uncharacteristic weakness for an All Blacks team.
“We’ve got problems in the backs. When I say problems, they haven’t ironed out their best backline yet.
“I don’t think there is rhythm and unity in that backline, every team we play against, we have trouble in defence, our defensive record is poor. That’s one reason why we’re not playing consistently because I think our defence is poor and every team we play can split us open in the backline, well that never happens with an All Black team. ”
Comments on RugbyPass
In the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getitng to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
5 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
6 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
5 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
6 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
54 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
54 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
6 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
54 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
54 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
54 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
18 Go to comments