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Grant Williams was targetted in defence by the All Blacks
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Mike Blair outlines the foundations of his All Blacks attacking philosophy
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New All Blacks attack coach Mike Blair’s planning for the 2026 season is in full swing, ahead of their coaching staff’s first squad naming on June 22.
Blair’s currently preparing for a Japan Rugby League One semi-final with the Kobelco Kobe Steelers against Tokyo Sungoliath, before heading back to New Zealand to resume his role as one of Rennie’s assistant coaches.
Prior to semi-final week, Blair, alongside the other All Blacks coaching staff and management, spent time in New Zealand preparing the game model for the upcoming Nations Championship fixtures against France, Italy, and Ireland.
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Many fans around New Zealand won’t be familiar with Blair’s coaching style and philosophy, but the former Scotland assistant and Edinburgh head coach explains exactly the type of athlete the coaching staff are looking at, and how that may fit into his attacking game plan.
“So you get an identity because of the type of player you’ve got, and New Zealand have historically produced big athletes, skilful athletes, fast athletes, and that in itself creates this identity,” Blair said in an official interview on the All Blacks YouTube channel.
“It means that your game leans towards moving the ball well, trying to get one-on-ones, seeing flair in your game and I see a lot of that in the personnel that we’ve currently got at the moment, so I believe that the identity of moving the ball, playing quick rugby, challenging defences, is going to be really important for us.”
Blair acknowledges that the international game has evolved, with kicking becoming an integral part of how teams attack.
“So the game has changed, so you need to balance your game a little bit more, but if you’ve got a positive mindset as to why you kick the ball, so you’re kicking the ball to get better ball back, or you’re kicking the ball for field position to give yourself set pieces in the opposition 30 metres line,” the All Blacks attack coach said.
“If you package it up in the right way, we want to play a really positive brand of rugby. So, I believe we can maintain that identity that we’ve had historically.
“Ultimately, our job is to win, but there’s the second part of how do you win, or what gives you the best opportunity of winning, and I believe that that fast style of rugby suits our players and gives us the best opportunity to win.
“But as I said, the balance is the crucial bit, because it’s international rugby, we’ve got great defences out there, you can’t just run everything, you can’t always play wide, you need to balance your game up as well.”
The 45-year-old knows the expectations around what the public will want to see from their All Blacks side, something which Blair hopes will come across in their game plan.
“I think the first bit you want is you want them [fans] to be proud of the performance, so you’re putting it on the pitch, proud of the effort, and you want to give the crowd something to cheer about.
“That’s the first thing, I think that the style of play comes into a little bit after that. You want the supporters to be saying what a great brand of rugby you’re playing, what skills we’re showing, but we also want them to say about how physical we are.
“You’re representing the jersey, you’re representing the country, and being physical is a key element to that.”
