1
The aspect of the All Blacks win that left Ian Foster 'delighted'
All Blacks head coach Ian Foster says he is “delighted” with the defensive output and composed nature of his side’s attack in their 39-0 victory over Los Pumas on the Gold Coast on Sunday.
ADVERTISEMENT
The All Blacks kept themselves at the summit of the Rugby Championship table by picking up a bonus-point win over the Argentines at Cbus Super Stadium in an impressive showing that drained their opponents throughout the course of the game.
The result didn’t come easily for the New Zealanders, who struggled to pierce Argentina’s staunch defensive line for much the first half.
With half-time approaching, it seemed Rieko Ioane would be the only try-scorer of the opening stanza after he latched onto a Beauden Barrett grubber kick inside Argentina’s in-goal area in the 10th minute.
Despite multiple waves of attack, the All Blacks failed to add to their lead until Barrett landed a penalty attempt six minutes from the break to give his side a 10-0 lead.
The floodgates opened after that, though, as both Sevu Reece and Dalton Paplii capitalised on the fatigued Los Pumas defence to cross the chalk in the dying stages of the half before Luke Jacobson grabbed a brace in the second half.
It was that patience and fortitude to stick to their game plan despite the initial resilience of the Argentine defence that was one of many things that impressed Foster when he assessed his team’s performance after the match.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Pretty clinical and patient are the words I’d use. Not adjectives that normally describe an All Black win, I guess, but I’m actually delighted with it,” he told reporters post-match.
“If you look at their track record, they’re a hard team to score tries against. They know their defensive system pretty well and they’re willing to go to whatever lengths to try and stop you getting a flow on, and I like the fact that we stuck to what we were doing.
“We made them make a lot of tackles and ultimately got some really good reward on the scoreboard, so, overall, very happy with it.”
Foster partly attributed the New Zealand’s persistence with ball in hand to the leadership of stand-in captain Brodie Retallick, who was one of the standouts for the Kiwis in his first-ever test as All Blacks captain.
ADVERTISEMENT
“If you do your research and look at how many tries they conceded in test matches, it’s not many,” Foster said.
How the All Blacks rated against the Pumas. #NZLvARG #ARGvNZL https://t.co/2LFUpR524P
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 12, 2021
“Even in the series in South Africa, the South Africans found it hard to score against them and they built their scores in threes, so I liked our patience.
“Sometimes in the past, we can get a bit distracted when we get slowed down or things don’t work and we’re trying to build a bit of resilience in that space.
“Even things like the decision by Guz [Retallick] to take the points to go from seven to 10 was a really good decision too, and it just kept building a bit of scoreboard pressure and just enabled us to keep building some blocks after that.”
With 62 percent possession, 72 percent territory, 582 more running metres, 20 more defenders and 12 more clean breaks beaten than Los Pumas, the dominance of the All Blacks was reflected in their comprehensive scoreline.
However, while their attacking superiority was evident, Foster was more pleased with his team’s defensive solidity.
Despite making almost half the number of tackles that Argentina made, the All Blacks managed to keep Los Pumas scoreless for the second successive time, and Foster said that illustrated New Zealand’s mindset towards the defensive side of their game.
“I think our defence looked really strong. I thought at set piece time we gave them a lot of poor-quality ball and our defence was strong and aggressive at times,” he said.
“It wasn’t perfect, but I think we imposed ourselves and I did feel quite safe watching them have the ball and it felt we were pretty secure, so we’re making some good steps in that space.
“I think the key is we’re actually enjoying the defence side of it at the moment.”
Comments on RugbyPass
This sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
12 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
77 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
12 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
12 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
12 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
12 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
12 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
44 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
2 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to comments