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'I haven't seen an All Blacks team play like that for a long time'
By Ben Smith
Namibia head coach Allister Coetzee believes that his side received a special type of performance from the All Blacks in Toulouse on Friday night.
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The All Blacks ran out 71-3 winners off the back of starring performances from halves pair Cam Roigard and Damian McKenzie who scored four tries between them.
The former Springbok coach praised the way that New Zealand moved the ball around, using the full width of the field with cross-field kicks and wide passing into the outside channels.
Caleb Clarke, in the unfamiliar No 14 jersey, had six breaks down his edge while left wing Leicester Fainga’anuku was at his barnstorming best on the other side finishing with a game high eight defenders beaten.
“I want to compliment New Zealand – they played in a way I haven’t seen an All Blacks team play like that for a long time, the way they took the game to us and put us under pressure with their skill-set, running a bit more than usual,” Coetzee said.
“From our side, we always pride ourselves on fighting back and I must commend the team, there is a lot of fight left in the team and I am pleased with what I’ve seen from them.
“We got caught on the inside a couple of times but that is typically how New Zealand play. They had a solid set-piece and they used the width of the field.”
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The All Blacks had dominance at scrum time, a problem area from their opening clash against France, which led to easy exits whenever they needed territory.
The backline made Namibia pay with McKenzie pulling the strings with excellent vision and confidence with his first start since Argentina.
“Obviously, set piece and lineout mauling is crucial when there’s wet weather like tonight and a greasy ball and they did well,” he continued.
“They came at us with their driving maul and they were outstanding winning back ball, which makes it easier to set up a maul platform. They were just too good for us.
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“However, I am pleased our team created opportunities even though we didn’t convert them. Hopefully that will come as we learn from these top teams that we are playing.”
Despite being regular qualifiers for the Rugby World Cup for the Africa region, Namibia hasn’t had tier one competition regularly.
In 2019 they lost to New Zealand by nearly an identical score 71-9, this time only coming up with the lone penalty goal in the 71-3 loss.
Coetzee was happy the side created scoring opportunities and put the lack of points down to final execution.
“Of course. It’s a privilege to face the Haka. For a player that’s a challenge that was thrown at them. Irrespective of the scoreline, I am proud of the way they stuck in the fight,” he said.
“Namibia last played against a top tier one side like the All Blacks (before this World Cup) probably at the last World Cup (2019) and that is the difference.
“The national side doesn’t have the privilege of playing in the Rugby Championship and other top competitions but they qualified to get to a World Cup, so hopefully in the future we get more of these games, whereby you learn about the tempo of the game, the pace of the game and the collisions.
“That is the difference with performance nations like us.”
