1
When Ireland get smacked in the mouth by this new All Blacks team, how will they react?
The only constant is change. In the realm of sport, where careers last one-tenth of a lifetime, one year can be like a decade. To stay at the top, you have to keep evolving, and this is one thing that the All Blacks have excelled at.
ADVERTISEMENT
If Ireland believes this is the same All Blacks team they beat nearly a year ago, they will lose in no uncertain terms.
To understand the mindset of what this team is about, read this quote from All Blacks’ centre Conrad Smith from the Weight of the Nation documentary after the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Continue reading below…
“We had changed a few things, prior to the World Cup. We wanted to be a team that kept evolving our game. These other teams are going to start playing better and they’ll catch us if we sit still and use the same tactics.”
Stand still and be caught or evolve and push forward. It’s a brave thing to do, abandon what is working before its expiry date in search of something that might not. But this is what the All Blacks have been doing even when the stakes are as high as a Rugby World Cup, as far back as nearly a decade as Smith’s admission tells us.
Just because it’s a World Cup year, doesn’t mean innovation stops.
What other team would drop one of the fastest, most powerful, edge-weapons in the world in Rieko Ioane at the ripe age of 22?
What other team would move the back-to-back World Player of the Year into a new position at the 11th hour?
ADVERTISEMENT
What other team would send an all-time great to the bench in Ben Smith, right on the cusp on the World Cup?
The answer is one. No top team has made more change in 2019 than New Zealand, with England perhaps a close second.
The ruthless search for success has no time for sentiment, ego, or favouritism. Sub-standard performance has consequences which can be cruel at times, but it brings forth new opportunity.
George Bridge and Sevu Reece weren’t in the picture when the All Blacks lost to Ireland, but their form for the Crusaders couldn’t be ignored any longer. Ardie Savea could not get a look-in past Sam Cane, but is now starting alongside him. Talk of Richie Mo’unga starting for the All Blacks was watered down by Hansen himself last year before he thought ‘maybe I’ll just start both’.
ADVERTISEMENT
With just a truncated Rugby Championship left before the Rugby World Cup, the All Blacks threw out the old and in with the new, debuting new patterns in Buenos Aires against Argentina to start the tournament.
A week later Beauden Barrett was shifted to fullback to accommodate Mo’unga as they doubled down on evolving with this new style of expansive fast-width play.
The stunning loss in Perth saw the pair of Ioane and Smith moved aside for Bridge and Reece so normal practice could resume at Eden Park in the return clash.
Since that historic night in Dublin, Ireland have gone the other way. The Six Nations campaign was rocked when England came in and punched the side in the mouth in the opening weekend.
From there, the side stuttered through and frustration became visible as basic execution let the side down. Without being on the inside no one knows the full story but from the exterior, it just didn’t seem right.
With Schmidt’s impending departure announced well in advance, the side has lost some of its mojo. Perhaps the fear factor of the man who demands perfection in the small details is gone when they know he won’t be there in a few months’ time. An over-reliance on set-piece plays can turn this side into zombies when they don’t work, especially without leaders like Sexton on the field.
There is still little to no emphasis on counter-attacking rugby, in contrast with Leinster who encourages it. It comprises of a third of the game, perhaps more, and stats will prove that nearly half of all tries come from these moments. Is it an under-utilised factor for Ireland? When Ireland’s carry-game is stuffed like it was against Japan and England, things seem to fall apart.
Win or lose, after this World Cup, the first question asked should be, how much have Ireland evolved from 2018? Did they hold onto players a year too late? Have they explored every option to evolve their attack?
In the same way that Hansen has explored putting Barrett and Mo’unga on the field at the same time with a complete system change, Schmidt hasn’t gone that way with Carbery and Sexton. Carbery’s form at Munster piled pressure on Sexton and sparked a similar Barrett-Mo’unga debate among fans.
When the chance presented to use a secondary playmaker at fullback in-tandem with Sexton, Schmidt used midfielder Robbie Henshaw in a move that backfired against England’s kicking game in that Six Nations opener.
George Ford was a ‘starting’ casualty from England’s doomed 2018 Six Nations campaign, but Eddie Jones has brought back the Ford-Farrell axis for this World Cup and it has worked well. Things change, and if there were doubts over Carbery at fullback a few years ago, it might not be the case now.
There is no denying that Ireland found a recipe for success against the All Blacks over this World Cup cycle with two wins and one loss being the best record against them over that time. Having lost to them the last time they played, there will be no illusions over Ireland’s ability.
Over the last 12 months, there are noticeable differences in their approaches. The All Blacks are coming with a new team, with a new system, and it will be unrecognisable to the one that failed in Dublin. Are Ireland excited or daunted by that? And then when that unfamiliarity hits them in the face on the field, where will they go?
“I’d be surprised if they were scared of us but they definitely know that we can come and play and that we can beat them,” Irish winger Andrew Conway explained after their final pool match against Samoa.
That’s exactly why everything has changed to the way the All Blacks are playing in 2019.
Analysis: The All Blacks’ 11th hour innovation to kill off Northern Hemisphere line speed
Why it doesn’t really matter if Beauden Barrett wears the 10 or 15 jersey for the All Blacks
Rugby World Cup city guide to Oita:
Comments on RugbyPass
Hope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
1 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
1 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
9 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
9 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
39 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
39 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
86 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
86 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
13 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
13 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
9 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
39 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
9 Go to comments