'The All Blacks have proven nothing': The truth behind New Zealand's Bledisloe Cup II victory
The All Blacks have proven nothing and frightened no-one.
Sure, their in and out-house public relations departments have been quick to acclaim Sunday’s 27-7 win over Australia, but no markers were put down and no critics answered.
If you can tackle the All Blacks, you will beat them. End of story.
We take a rather dim view of defence, in this country. We think it’s negative and dull.
But that’s also one of the reasons why teams such as England and Ireland and South Africa have beaten us in recent times.
We look at all the individual talent sprinkled throughout our side and imagine them running over and around various defenders.
And we bemoan breakdown cheats and cowardly referees who don’t allow us to recycle the ball as quickly as we’d like to or who let opposition backlines creep up offside, without ever learning to admire or adjust to what the other side are doing.
Let’s assume Ian Foster was the architect of the All Blacks’ attack over recent years. That was certainly the man’s stated area of expertise, anyway.
Dating back to the British and Irish Lions series we have seen the All Blacks consistently fail against teams that can tackle. No matter where we try to set up forward pods or how deep our backs stand or how many crosskicks we resort to, we still have no method of combating any defensive accuracy.
Australia missed 40 tackles against New Zealand on Sunday and we still only won 27-7. Far from being encouraged by the final score, we all ought to feel a little frightened.
Let’s say the Wallabies did tackle on Sunday. Let’s say they didn’t turn the ball over 20 times as well. Without those gifts, and the dreadful option-taking of Australia first five-eighth James O’Connor, how were the All Blacks planning to score any points or exert even a modicum of pressure?
It was very sad to see All Blacks loosehead prop Joe Moody concussed during Sunday’s first half. But when he was on the park, along with Wallabies tighthead Taniela Tupou, the All Blacks’ pack was getting towelled up.
New Zealand’s forwards finished the better. No-one disputes that. But when the starting packs were on, Australia’s was better and this in a situation where the All Blacks were said to be smarting from their sluggish outing the week before.
Heaven help us when New Zealand’s forwards are guilty of resting on their laurels.
Let’s count the individuals who played well for the All Blacks. In no particular order you’d say Anton Lienert-Brown, Sam Cane, Beauden Barrett, Caleb Clarke, Ardie Savea and even sub TJ Perenara enjoyed some eye-catching moments.
Each made what you might call memorable effort plays or strong individual carries that underlined the brittle nature of Australia’s defence and erratic kick-chase. Those remain strengths of the broader New Zealand game and the All Blacks will always prosper against suspect defensive sides.
Just as, when left embarrassed, they’ll invariably rouse themselves into a more robust performance.
Australia were that suspect defensive side and the All Blacks were embarrassed, in the wake of the previous week’s 16-16 draw in Wellington, and yet the final score was just 27-7.
Does anyone think that shook the Springboks to the core or that Eddie Jones has suddenly rethought England’s tactics for the rest of this Rugby World Cup cycle?
Or will the rugby world content themselves with the knowledge that not much is going to change about the All Blacks and that you will still be able to tackle them into submission?
Again, you don’t want to decry the effort of certain individual All Blacks, but the keyword here is individual.
The Wallabies need to pull off rare back-to-back wins over the All Blacks to regain the Bledisloe Cup. #BledisloeCup #NZLvAUS https://t.co/U193ArYasu
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 19, 2020
On the right day, against the right opposition, individual brilliance will still be enough for New Zealand to win matches. The challenge for Foster and his staff is to create the gameplan and cohesion required to beat teams that don’t make the plentiful errors Australia did on Sunday.
We might have to swallow a bit of pride to achieve that and might have to resort to such foreign ideas as playing good field position and kicking our goals and backing our own defence to win us matches. Instead, we’re all in a mad rush to proclaim that Caleb Clarke is the next Jonah Lomu.
We remember the 1995 Rugby World Cup for all sorts of reasons, in these parts, but rarely for the quality of South Africa’s defence. So good was it that even Lomu, in his absolute pomp, couldn’t crack it.
Twenty-five years on, making your tackles is still the quickest route to victory over our All Blacks’ sides..
Comments on RugbyPass
Says much about the player picking this gig over the easier and bigger rewards offered to him in Japan. Also says a lot about the state sanctioned tax benefits the Irish Revenue offers pro rugby players, with their ten highest earning years subject to an additional 40% tax relief and paid as a lump sum, in cash, at retirement. Certainly helps Leinster line up the financial ducks in a row to fund marquee signings like this!!! No other union anywhere in world rugby benefits from this kind of lucrative financial sponsorship from their government…
1 Go to commentsTrue Jordie could earn a lot more in Japan. But by choosing Leinster he’ll be playing with 1 of the best clubs in the world and can win a champions cup and URC…..
6 Go to commentsThanks for that Marshy, noticed you didn't say who is gonna win it. We know who ain't gonna win it - your Crusaders outfit. They've gone from having arguably the best Super Rugby first five ever, to having a clutch of rookies. Hurricanes all the way!
1 Go to commentsGeez you really have to question the NRLs ability to produce players of quality. Its pathetic. Dont the 25mil in Aus produce enough quality womens players. Sad.
1 Go to commentsBulls fan here, and agree 100% with the conclusion (and little else) of this article. SA sides should absolutely f-off from the champs cup until we get fair scheduling, equal support for travel arrangements and home semis. You know, like all the european teams get.
23 Go to commentsI’m yet to see why Grace would be an ABs contender. He’s pedestrian and lacks the dominance required of a top flight 8.
10 Go to commentsGee my Highlanders were terrible. They have gone backwards since the start of the season. The trouble began when we left Millar behind to prep as the 10 against the Brumbies and he was disconnected from the team that came back from Aussie. We rested Patchell for that game and we blew an avalanche of ball in good attacking positions in the 1st half. Against the Rebels we seem to of gone into a pod system with forwards hanging off from the breakdown leaving Fakatava to secure our ball!
78 Go to commentsPot Kettle, the English and French teams have done it for years.
23 Go to commentsHas virtually played every minute of previous games. Back row of Li Lo Willie , Grace and Blackadder would be the 1. Crusaders issue is a very average 1st 5 who cannot run. Kicking in general play is also below par They need to put Yong Kemara in. He must have so.e talent for them to bring him down from Waikato. Hoehepa would struggle to play in so.e club sided
10 Go to commentsI hope this a good thing making all these changes!
2 Go to commentsThe Hurricanes are good, especially with a decent coach now. However, let’s be real, the Crusaders and Chiefs are clearly a good degree weaker without the players they’ve lost overseas now. The Canes lost one player. It’s also why the aussie teams ‘seem’ to be stronger.
9 Go to commentsOr you could develop your own players instead of constantly taking from the SH competition and weakening it in the process? With all the player and financial resources these unions have compared to SH countries you’d think they could manage that, or is weakening the SH comps and their national sides an added bonus? Probably.
3 Go to commentsNot so fast Aaron, we might need you in black yet lol. God knows he’d be a lot less nerve-racking than hot and (very) cold players like Perofeta. It’s really a shame Reuben Love isn’t playing 10, we’ve got enough 15 options.
4 Go to commentsAnd those from the NH still seem to be puzzled (and delighted) why NZ’s depth isn’t what it once was. Over 600 NZ players overseas, that’s insane. This sort of deal is why Super Rugby coaches have admitted they struggle now to find enough quality to fill out their squads.
6 Go to commentsArticle intéressant ! La question devrait régulièrement se poser pour les jeunes français originaires de Nouvelle-Calédonie, Wallis-et-Futuna et de Polynésie entre la Nouvelle-Zélande et la Métropole… Difficile pour la fédération française de rugby de se positionner : soit le choix est fait de dénicher les jeunes talents et de les faire venir très tôt en Métropole, au risque de les déraciner, soit on prend le risque de se les faire “piller” par les All Blacks qui, telle une araignée, essaye de récupérer tous les talents des îles du Pacifique… À la France de se défendre en développant l’aura du XV de France et des clubs français dans ses collectivités d’Outre-mer !
3 Go to commentsWrong bay. He needs to come to the REAL BAY which is Bay Of Plenty and have a crack at making the Chiefs.
3 Go to commentsIs Barrett going play full back??? They already have all the centers…
16 Go to commentsForgive my ignorance, I might not fully understand so would appreciate clarification: Didn’t the Bulls have to fly with three different carriers, paid for by the South African Rugby Union, whilst Edinburgh got a chartered flight sponsored by EPCR? Also, as far as I understand it South African teams don’t yet share in the revenue from the competition and are not allowed to host Semi-finals or Finals at home. Surely if everyone wants South Africans to “take the competition seriously” then they must make South Africans feel welcome, allow them to share in the revenue, and give them the same levels of access as the teams from the other countries. Just a reminder that South Africa has a large and passionate Rugby audience. Just by virtue of our teams being a part of these competitions means that more of us are likely to watch the knockout games, even if our teams haven’t qualified. It would be silly to alienate such a large audience by making them feel unwelcome.
23 Go to commentsFirst of all. This guy is very much behind the curve. All the bleating, whingeing, whining and moaning took place days ago already. Not adding anything to the topic other than more bleating, whingeing, whining and moaning. 🍼 Second of all, not one mention of the fact that South African teams can’t get home semi finals or finals. The tournament was undermined and devalued by the administrators. 🤡 Thirdly, football teams often have to juggle selections in mid week games, premier games, champions league games etc. and will from time to time prioritize certain titles over others. 🐒 And lastly FEK Neil, and anyone else for that matter, for insisting on telling teams how to manage themselves. If they make what is largely a business decision that suits them and doesn’t suit you - tough shite. 💩 It’s not rocket science as to why the Bulls did what they did. If this guy is too slow to figure it out (and is deliberately not mentioning one of the key reasons why) then he isn’t a journalist. He should join the rest of us pundit plebs in comments section. 🥴
23 Go to commentsSo the first door to knock on Rob is Parliament followed by HMRC. The Irish Revenue deliver a 40% tax relief rebate on the HIGHEST EARNING TEN YEARS of every pro Irish rugby players contract earnings at retirement. That goes a long way to both retaining their best talent and freeing up wages for marquee players. Who knows, if that had been in place in the UK, you might not have been able to poach Hoggy and Jonny Gray from Glasgow…!!!
3 Go to comments