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How The All Blacks Turned To Plan B (And C) To Beat The Pumas

By Scotty Stevenson
TJ Perenara

The Pumas deserve plenty of praise for playing the All Blacks at their own game, writes Scotty Stevenson, but the All Blacks proved yet again that they are the masters of adjustment.

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Watch: All Blacks vs Argentina Full Game | Condensed


What was immediately obvious from the opening whistle in Saturday’s Rugby Championship test at Hamilton was that the Pumas had done their homework. The All Blacks, for so long the heavyweight champions at slowing down the opposition’s ruck ball, found themselves on the back foot at the breakdown as the Argentineans took the direct route at every available opportunity.

While the respective tackle counts suggest the All Blacks defence was as close to impenetrable as ever – they made 130 tackles and missed 13; the Pumas made 98 tackles and missed 26 – the truth was very few of the close-in tackles were dominant, allowing the Argentinean forwards to profit from extensive metres after contact. It is one stat not often accounted for in the game, but is one of the most important, given it reflects a side’s ability to make the gain line and thus set the offside line at the ensuing phase.

The net result of Argentina’s ability to claim metres in the tackle was to force New Zealand’s fringe forwards into a tighter game, negating their ability to roam wide and to then take advantage of counter attack opportunities. Once again, Jerome Kaino led all carriers in the New Zealand pack, with Kieran Read’s running game curtailed by his need to get involved in the breakdown defence.

It was a smart play from Argentina. As was their pressure on the New Zealand lineout, which produced its worst percentage return in two seasons. As we wrote last week, the All Blacks have been by far the best from lineout attack all year, but scored just one of their eight tries from the lineout on the weekend.

So far, so good for the Pumas. However, they aren’t the only side to have done their homework.

The All Blacks knew that while the rest of the world sees the Argentineans as a pack of tractors who love to scrum, their scrum is actually a major point of weakness. In fact, it’s the weakest scrum in the Rugby Championship, operating at just 82% so far in three tests, and turning over one tighthead per match. To put that in perspective, the All Blacks’ scrum operates at 95% success. That is exactly where they targeted the Argentineans.

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The first try to Julian Savea was a simple eight-nine play augmented by a scorching dummy run from Ryan Crotty. It was ostensibly a training ground move done well and the Pumas’ read on the play (especially given Savea had broken early, telegraphing the whole damn thing) was terrible. Twice more in the match the All Blacks launched successful attacks off the scrum. Before the weekend’s test they had not scored a single try from the scrum. By the final whistle on Saturday night they had scored three.

They had also scored three more tries from kick returns. Quite why the Argentineans went away from their ball-in-hand game plan is a mystery. For much of the match it seemed they had figured out that giving Ben Smith free possession is a catastrophic error. They finished the game with just 15 kicks in play, but even that number (well down on their average against South Africa) was too high given their kicking game was inaccurate at best.

Truth is, the All Blacks, who have out-kicked every team they have played this year, made their kicks count. Tries to Beauden Barrett and Luke Romano came directly from out-of-hand kicks, and three more came from misdirected Pumas kicks.

These are important things to note, for what they tell us is the All Blacks have plan B, plan C and probably plan D. That is what makes them so hard to contain. With the lineout struggling they opted for scrum. With their breakdown defence under pressure, they opted to reduce the offensive workload of their big ball runners. With the big ball runners out of the backline, they used Ben Smith often and effectively on the edge. With a lack of turnover ball, they drew the kick and ruthlessly attacked from the back. And with the Argentineans finally running out of either conviction or energy or both, they managed to blitz them in a 12-minute burst that showcased every element of their play.

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There is one other moment in this match that is worth discussing. It happened in the 48th minute, with Argentina camped inside the All Blacks 22-metre line. Twice denied an early second half try through smart All Blacks defence (Kieran Read turning Maradona with a Hand of God play, and Israel Dagg counter rucking – counter rucking!) the Argentineans opted to take a shot at goal.

NEVER OPT TO TAKE A SHOT AT GOAL WHEN YOU HAVE THE ALL BLACKS ON THE ROPES!

Let this be a lesson. Though the shot was successful, those were the last points the Argentineans scored in the match. The All Blacks immediately made changes (and when was the last time you saw either Aaron Smith or Dane Coles subbed before the final quarter) and produced their best 30 minutes of running rugby this season.

What is so disheartening for the opposition is not the final score (the All Blacks fifth highest total ever against the Argentineans, and conversely Argentina’s highest ever total against the All Blacks) but rather the All Blacks ability to adjust to circumstances.

The Argentineans largely prevented the All Blacks from scoring through their preferred methods on Saturday night (just one try was scored from lineout, and none from turnover ball) and yet they still leaked eight tries in the match. That is plain scary. That is masterful.

THREE NUMBERS THAT ARE PLAIN UGLY

  • The Pumas have made just 81% of their tackles in the Rugby Championship. The Jaguares boasted the same tackle percentage in Super Rugby. Only the Kings were worse.
  • Why are New Zealand goal kickers so bad? The All Blacks have made just 63% of their kicks in the Rugby Championship but the woes don’t stop there. In Super Rugby, with the exception of the Highlanders (5th) the New Zealand sides ranked 10th, 14th, 15th, and 17th in kick percentage.
  • Australia (4) and South Africa (8) have combined for just 12 clean breaks per test this Rugby Championship. The Pumas (12.7) and All Blacks (17.3) have made more per test on their own.
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Trevor 10 minutes ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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Bull Shark 4 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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