Watch: Resurfaced footage of the 2016 All Blacks shows just how powerful Steve Hansen's side used to be
The 2016 All Blacks were a remarkably underrated side that went on to produce a record amount of points in a test season, but only now looking back in the rearview mirror tells just how powerful that team was.
Fresh off the victory of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, many overseas pundits were sure that the All Blacks were going to decline with the retirements of Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Keven Mealamu, Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith.
Some of the most experienced names in test rugby had departed Steve Hansen’s squad and nerves were high about what to expect from an All Blacks side in transition.
Former England centre Will Greenwood wrote: “There is change in New Zealand ranks, legends have moved on, and it is in times of change when sides can be vulnerable.”
Although for the touring Wales side, many Welsh journalists kept their expectations for the June tour in check after an ‘average’ Six Nations showing that left a lot to be desired.
Many didn’t expect Wales to win, but they would at least be competitive with New Zealand undergoing a sea change.
In hindsight, New Zealand had one of the more formidable line-ups in the world with a plethora of talent available for the series. Julian Savea, Waisake Naholo, Ben Smith, Israel Dagg were some of the riches available to Steve Hansen out wide.
Israel Dagg, one of the heroes who emerged during the 2011 World Cup, had a season to remember after missing the campaign the year before. As a fullback and wing, Dagg made an emphatic comeback into the All Blacks fold as one of the top try scorers.
In the midfield, Ryan Crotty had patiently been waiting behind Nonu and Smith for years, and was joined by two more incredible athletes in Malakai Fekitoa and Seta Tamanivalu in the Wales series. Blues centre George Moala would also debut in the series while current midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown would debut later that year against the Wallabies.
A young core of Hurricanes players couldn’t make the starting side to begin the year, with TJ Perenara, Beauden Barrett and debutant Ardie Savea forming part of an outstanding bench behind Aaron Smith, Aaron Cruden and Sam Cane.
The back row also was not short of world-class talent, with Kieran Read and Jerome Kaino still available from the starting World Cup-winning side and current captain Cane filling in the vacant 7 jersey left by McCaw. Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick formed the second row.
Across the park, the All Blacks were able to field a side that would be the envy of most playing nations.
A competitive Welsh side led at halftime in the first test at Eden Park, before being outgunned in the final 20-minutes by the power of the All Blacks’ bench to lose 39-21.
“The final score doesn’t reflect what a phenomenal first 60 minutes Wales had – Warburton, AW Jones, Liam Williams and North were all outstanding – but New Zealand did what they always do,” wrote Dan Lucas for The Guardian in live match commentary.
After the series was wrapped up in the second test in Wellington on the back of a second half blitz powered by a supersub performance from Beauden Barrett, the All Blacks romped home to an emphatic sweep in Dunedin with a 46-6 victory.
“It was difficult for them – they have played 17 Test matches in the last year and they go home on Sunday so maybe some of them were already on the plane,” said New Zealand coach Steven Hansen.
“They will regroup because they are better than that.”
The dispatching of Wales was just the beginning of a test season that would see traditional rivals, the Wallabies and Springboks, put into a scoreboard torture chamber as Michael Cheika and Allister Coetzee could only sit back and watch their sides get creamed by otherworldly scores.
The Wallabies were pummeled 42-8 and 29-9 in the first two Rugby Championship fixtures while the Springboks were embarrassed 41-13 in Christchurch and then 57-15 at home in Durban.
It was truly an outlier of a year that showed how far the gap was between the world’s number one side and everyone else.
In a surprising turn of events, it would be Argentina who would score the most points against the All Blacks in that tournament, with scores of 17 and 22 in their two losses.
The third Bledisloe ended in another lopsided score, 37-10, as Cheika’s side were well and truly swept in the three match series despite being close rivals 12 months earlier in the 2015 Rugby World Cup final.
The toughest game of the season came on neutral soil in Chicago, as a relaxed second string side were beaten 40-29 by Ireland in a historic upset to begin the end of year tour that spoiled what was looking like a perfect season.
The Chicago test would be the only blemish of the year as the All Blacks repaid Ireland in Dublin a few weeks later with a turnaround 21-9 win. The last test of year proved to be a tight one in Paris as the All Blacks notched another win 24-19 over France.
The side ended with 562 points in the calendar year, an average of 40.12 per test, and won 13 of 14 on the year.
The 2016 All Blacks may have been one of the best of the modern era, as their dominant showings humbled even the fiercest of rivals. The depth of the squad was to be marvelled at, with a large contingent of the World Champion 2011 under-20 side filtering through to the starting side with many of the remainers from the 2015 World Cup win.
To illustrate how much talent the All Blacks had, they played the entire season without Sonny Bill Williams who was with the Sevens side, and World Cup hero Nehe Milner-Skudder who missed the season with injury.
Even the form player of Super Rugby, Chiefs dynamo Damian McKenzie, could not get a look in despite many calls for the excitement machine to be given a chance.
The style of rugby was extremely expansive, with incredible passing sequences laden with fast hands and offloading, the All Blacks seemed to never let the ball die. With attacking guru Wayne Smith as one of Hansen’s assistants, the All Blacks were firing on all cylinders.
The side played with an abundance of natural attacking instinct, and it is no surprise that the likes of Beauden Barrett, Ben Smith and Dagg were heavily involved in the scoring tallies.
Five years on, 2016 may have been the peak of the All Blacks golden era. The following season, the touring British & Irish Lions side broke New Zealand’s home undefeated streak which was followed in 2018 by a home loss to the Springboks and a semi-final exit at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
After a rather dire 2020 season with a historically low output in terms of wins and tries per game, the All Blacks will be looking to get back to the all-powerful status they once were not so long ago.
Watch every try of the dominant All Blacks side of 2016 below
Comments on RugbyPass
I’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
4 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
6 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
8 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
8 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
2 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
4 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to comments