What TJ Perenara says the All Blacks have to improve on
Don’t put it down to the luck of the Irish, the All Blacks were well outplayed by Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday morning [NZT]. In what was a clinical and near perfect performance from the home side, Ireland controlled the game on their way to a 29-20 win.
Considering their defensive workload, the All Blacks did well to claim a surprising 5-10 lead at the break after having made a considerable amount of tackles in the first term.
By the time referee Luke Pearce signalled an end to the Test, the men in black had made 210 tackles to Ireland’s 74. Ireland also had 61% of possession and secured three more turnovers than their opponents on their way to another historic victory.
All Blacks coach Ian Foster didn’t empty his bench in this Test with scrumhalf Finlay Christie and lock Tupou Vaa’I both not looked to for impact.
Christie has been one of the standout performers from the Northern Hemisphere Tour in his two games, having impressed in matches against both the United States and Italy.
But with the Test against Ireland clearly coming down to the wire, Foster kept the experienced TJ Perenara on the park who played his 78th international in the nine-point loss.
After the Test, Perenara commented on the “tough game”, but also how as a player you want to be on the field in big games like that.
“There’s a lot of physical altercations out there, like I made a few tackles, had a few carries out there, but it’s like you want to be out there in those games,” Perenara said after the 29-20 loss.
“You want to start them, but you also want to be in those games at the clutch too.
Maori All Blacks winger Sean Wainui passed away last month… the fifth anniversary of the death of Anthony Foley was also acknowledged at the game in Dublin #Ireland #IREvNZR #AutumnNationsSeries #AllBlacks
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 13, 2021
“I was obviously disappointed that we didn’t get the opportunity to put Finlay (Christie) on, I’ve been in that situation a few times and it’s not ideal. You want to be playing footy as well.
“But for me, like I felt really good out there.
“Probably if you asked me that question tomorrow, I’d probably say I’m a little bit more sore. But at the moment I’m feeling alright.”
Including the tense loss to South Africa on the Gold Coast, the All Blacks have won three of their last five matches. After the loss to the Springboks, the All Blacks recorded three consecutive wins over the United States, Wales and Italy.
But the result against Ireland will likely present plenty of lessons for the All Blacks as they eye improvement in key areas less than two years out from the World Cup in France.
“I think straight off the bat for me, it’s (that) teams are going to try and hold the ball against us. Like when we have the ball for long periods of time, (we’re) pretty hard to stop.
“So the easiest way to stop our offence is probably hold the ball for longer so that’s in my mind, what I take from it.
“I think other teams that will come up against us will look at the way Ireland played, look at how many phases they went through and be like, ‘Man, if we can take the ball away from the All Blacks, we make it harder for them to win football games.’
“I think there will be other learnings obviously but the big one from me is teams will probably hold the ball against us a little bit longer. So we need to find ways to get the ball back and then when they do have the ball, how can we be better?”
Running out to the Aviva Stadium for the first time since November 2018, the All Blacks were met by a vocal Dublin crowd. Uncharacteristically, the usually quiet supporters broke out into a chorus during the All Blacks’ challenge of Kapa o Pango before kick-off.
What is rare is wonderful in sport but what is becoming increasingly familiar can be just as magical as was proven with Ireland beating the All Blacks for the third time in five meetings… #Ireland #IREvNZR #AutumnNationsSeries #AllBlackshttps://t.co/HZjRz6sJMY
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 13, 2021
During the match, the crowd continued to play their part by chanting and singing to a fever pitch as their countrymen performed to an almost perfect standard.
“Yeah it’s a special place to play man. There’s some unbelievable stadiums all around the world to be completely honest but being able to play at Aviva, have (had) the opportunity to play here a few times, it’s a special place.
“It’s really loud, but we prepped for that as well. We understand that it’s going to be loud, that there’s going to be momentum swings throughout the game where (the) crowd will make it harder for us to communicate to each other more than anything.
“But those are the arenas you want to be in, that’s why you play the game.
“We didn’t get it right today, yeah we didn’t get the result we wanted. But you ask every single person in our circle, we want to be back in those arenas week after week.”
The All Blacks will play their final Test of 2021 on Sunday morning [NZT] when they take on France is Paris.
With the two sides set to meet in the pool stage of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, this will no doubt be a key game for both sides.
Comments on RugbyPass
In the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getitng to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
5 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
7 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
5 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
7 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
54 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
54 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
7 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
54 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
54 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
54 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
18 Go to comments