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Jeff Wilson on the All Blacks win: 'I'm not sure they could do much more'
For the third consecutive Rugby World Cup, Namibia and New Zealand squared off in pool play and once more, New Zealand won the match while Nambia won the hearts of fans.
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The 71-3 scoreline reflects the mostly one-sided nature of the battle but neglects the multiple scoring opportunities Namibia earned, with eight entries into the New Zealand 22.
Stoic defence kept the Welwitschias at bay in difficult conditions after an early All Blacks lead forced the Namibian side to chase seven-pointers, instead of the occasional three that came on offer.
For the All Blacks, the win relieves some of the tension that has arisen after two poor results against the Springboks and France.
The match offered a chance for New Zealand to reset and according to former All Black Jeff Wilson, they did just that.
“Absolutely, they really, really did,” Wilson told Stuff’s Newsable. “In regards to their accuracy, their discipline, other than that late yellow card to Ethan de Groot.
“They conceded a couple of penalties earlier on but ultimately, they came out and made some really good decisions in trying conditions.
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“Look, Namibia probably didn’t threaten them as much as we anticipated them to do so. Their defence was probably not good enough against an All Black team which was determined to play and they showed that from the opening minute; holding onto it for multiple phases, scoring a 60-70 metre try on the back of multiple plays from quality players.
“All of a sudden you got a sense that the All Blacks were prepared, were up for the contest and then the dominance started up front.
“Overall, you’ve got to look at their performance and they’ll be really pleased in that it’s easy in those sorts of games to get loose.
“There were only probably a couple of moments, probably in the last 15 minutes where they got that way and maybe tried to do a little bit too much.
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“I’m not sure they could do much more than what they did tonight really, given the fact that it did bucket down for about 10 minutes, which just made some work in the last 20 minutes of the first half a little bit more challenging.”
New Zealand’s cohesion faltered when the back reserves took the field, Richie Mo’unga stepped into his familiar first-five role and Damian McKenzie dropped to fullback while Aaron Smith assumed the halfback assignment and Rieko Ioane joined the midfield.
The bench came on with the intent to play at speed but often looked out of sync and there were numerous knock-ons as well as penalties to finish the game.
The brightest positive from the game was Man of the Match Cam Roigard. The young halfback scored twice and was an ever-present threat around the park.
“He was amazing but interestingly enough, he’s got a really calm head on his shoulders,” Wilson remarked.
“I had a chat to him after the game, interviewed him, and it was almost as if he was matter of fact that he knows that that’s not the standard that it’s going to take to win a Rugby World Cup. He knows that.
“He literally went ‘Yeah, I had a great night, but I had the platform in front of me, there were spaces for me to run into’.
“He knows that’s different to what he’ll face in a tight game so he was matter of fact about it. I think he really enjoyed the occasion and he should celebrate because of that but also, he knows that he’s just got to keep working.
“I like the head on his shoulders.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Jason Ryan knows his craft as forwards coach and I'm sure he’ll hold sway with Scott Robertson of who he feels worthy of selection…his credentials validated when he put a 7xcaps between them front row...Ethan, Samisoni and Lomax on Ellis Park…Go the AB's…
4 Go to commentsFascinating. I’m optimistic about a team coached by Schmiddy, Cron and Parling
7 Go to commentsI think if Blackadder is fit, he has to be in the team. If he isn’t, Finau would be good, and I always thought Akira deserved more of a crack at it. I think he looked better than ppl gave him credit.
4 Go to commentsThanks again Nick and interesting comments from Parling about his lineout preferences. Bearing in mind what Schmidt has said about prioritising Oz based players initially we may not see Skeleton until the EOY trip to Ireland and the UK. To me that suggests that Cale has to be ready by then. In the meantime we get 3 jumpers by having 2 jumping locks and a Wright/Swinton/Holloway/Leota type of guy at 6. I think that he (Parling) would do well to coach Valentini and Wilson to jump more. Surely they could learn more about this?
7 Go to commentsdo what the ABs normally do and cruise around the South Pacific to cherry-pick the contenders
4 Go to commentsGood read, GP comes across as a very knowledgeable guy and pretty decent human to boot! Genuinely leaves me wondering though, how Australia’s second city could be in with a serious possibility of being left without a pro team. Just how does that get to happen? Credit to the team though, they’re performing pretty well under some horrible circumstances and pressure on their livelihoods. Whoever made the call to boot out DR, his staff and the structure/connections/succession plans he had put in place in unbelievably short order needs strung up by their most sensitive body parts. Thought that at the time and of course, events unfolded even worse than feared!
7 Go to commentsCan’t see an appetite to pick Brad Shields for obvious reasons, but Devan Flanders has got to be in with a shout.
4 Go to commentsThe rise of Hunter Paisami! Good read Nick (as ever). Cheers.
7 Go to commentsAs a long term glos supporter saturday was the last straw. Terrible run of results in league since Jan 23. No excuses , there are 3 conclusions Players simply arent good enough. Coaching team not good enough. Or combination of the 2. Either way glos lost pride in what used to be a team others feared.
1 Go to commentsWhat an interesting article, Nick. Late here, so will comment tomorrow am. “In the UK, you might have three whole months when you train set-piece and it’s pissing down. Over here, we very rarely experience games severely affected by weather..” Did you see the Waratahs game on the weekend ? If not have a look at the weather for that struck that one. Drowning would have a been a worry for any player trapped at the bottomof a pile up. Suspect the water polo people might be looking with interest at some of those rugby players after that game😀
7 Go to commentsThis article overlooks how the 9 position has developed to be a playmaker, which these 2 are both excellent at. Defences are so good now there is not the luxury of going 9 -> 10 on every play. Playing “off 9” as they say, has become very commonplace these days, but 10+ years ago you hardly saw this. Boiling the great modern 9s down to box kicking doesn’t do justice to how good the great ones have become. Dupont would be the first choice 10 in most teams in the world, JGP pops up in places you would never expect a 9 to be.
22 Go to commentsThe banning of the croc roll will make carrying the ball into contact far more risky, leading to more kicking, and the change to the Dupont law will mean forwards have to do far more running than they do now. As a result I think there will be a rise of smaller, more mobile forwards who are strong defenders and strong over the ball like Kirifi.
3 Go to commentsWhat does the ownership of the club have to do with the poor performance of the team. It’s not as if he’s coaching them or in any way influencing the composition of the teams. I honestly don’t understand the comment.
1 Go to commentsHe knows his body is not up to the work load of international rugby. The fact that Cane only played only 27 of the 46 games the ABs played while he was officially captain is a telling statistic. And that excludes the time he had out with neck injury. He was never able to put a long enough body of work together to get back to his best without a new injury setting him back. He knows better than anyone that the problem will get worse, not better, given the same workload. Correct decision and good luck to him.
10 Go to commentsWith three clubs it's surely death by oligopoly!😂 I suspect that other french clubs like Montpellier rich enough to compete, they are just missing some vital ingredients. Do you think that keeping an eight player bench but only being allowed to use four would level the playing field a bit? The 12 changes rule sounds disastrous for running rugby.
122 Go to commentsNice article
32 Go to commentsSurely they aren’t that short of 10s in the northern hemisphere?
1 Go to commentsBest wishes to a true warrior who gave everything for his team and country. He was no McCaw but the closest we've had in recent years in terms putting his head into dark places, leading the defensive line and securing the attacking breakdown - the core roles of a modern open side. If only he could have played more tests under Foster and Plumtree with blindsides who fulfilled their core roles. 2027 was always going to be a long shot. Hopefully Papalii fulfils the promise of 2021 and late 2022 and/or Lakai turns out to be as good as he looks.
10 Go to commentsFair play to him. A lot of exciting talent coming up in the loose forward position, can’t wait to see the next generation.
10 Go to commentsSam wants to focus on his family and learning how to tackle legally…what’s Japanese for ‘bend at the waist’?
10 Go to comments