Robertson on the All Blacks' new lineout innovations and the guru behind them

The All Blacks first three tries against France in Wellington came from the lineout, with two trick plays involved with exposing the defence.

The first was a decoy play which opened up the blindside for halfback Cam Roigard to scamper over untouched after multiple players peeled to the open side. The second was a jumper-less through to Fabian Holland which resulted in a fast maul push over try to Ardie Savea. The third was a direct rolling maul that resulted in a try to Codie Taylor.

The All Blacks lineout has been humming in both Tests with Taylor a near-perfect operator with his new target Fabian Holland to throw at.

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Head coach Scott Robertson said the innovations were part of finding the moment that you can catch the opposition out with something new.

“Something you haven’t seen is the hardest thing to defend. So what’s that little moment you can catch them?,” he told media.

“You can spend a lot of time, and sometimes you focus on that, and it doesn’t quite turn out how you want it. Sometimes it comes off. A lot has to go right for those little moments if you make it too complicated.

“We’ve got some creative juices in our group, and they’re always suggesting. We’re available for all the options out there in New Zealand.”

The brains trust behind the lineout includes recent addition to the coaching staff, former lock Bryn Evans who played abroad in France for a number of seasons before returning back to New Zealand. Evans was hired in June after an hour chat with Robertson over lineouts.

“I just said ‘what do you know about lineouts?’ We sat there and talked for an hour and I knew he was the right man,” Robertson said.

“He’s innovative, he’s been an All Black, which counts. It’s important he understands what is required and he’s come in straight away at that level.

“He’s played around the world and he knows all the French players and what club they’ve come from. He’s done his homework and he’s definitely added to our group.”

Speaking post-match about the Roigard try, Vaa’i candidly explained that the move had been borrowed from the Hurricanes who used it against the Highlanders earlier in the Super Rugby Pacific season.

He credited Evans for bringing a “different flavour” to the All Blacks lineout calls.

“Bryn is such a creative guy and we’ve been saying for years we need a lineout coach and he’s definitely bringing a different flavour to the lineouts and it’s obviously paying off,” he said.