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Where was the drop kick?: Five key takeaways from All Blacks' draw with Wallabies
Cameron McMillan looks at five takeaways from the All Blacks‘ 16-16 draw with the Wallabies in Wellington.
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Drop goals continue to be ignored
With the scores locked up and time expired, amazingly both teams had it there for the taking. Australia shaped up for a drop goal but didn’t take it before the All Blacks went down the other end and did the same thing.
Richie Mo’unga briefly stood in the pocket with the posts right in front of him but he didn’t receive the ball. Instead the test ended with the ball being spread out wide and knocked on metres short of the line. Sound familiar?
You only have to go back to 2018 when the All Blacks lost to the Springboks also in Wellington. Gregor Paul wrote a column at the time headlined ‘All Blacks need to change mindset when it comes to drop goals’ and the side appeared to when Beauden Barrett kicked two in consecutive tests against England and Ireland later that year.
If the All Blacks aren’t going to kick a drop goal five metres out right in front of the posts with scores tied and time expired, then I’m not sure when they ever will again.
Let’s stop with the one-hand groundings
The first try of 2020 started with George Bridge passing on his outside to Rieko Ioane on the left-hand wing and it appeared having three world-class wings on the field was a masterstroke by Ian Foster, although replays showed Ioane was lucky to get away with putting a foot in touch in the lead-up to Jordie Barrett’s five-pointer.
Ioane then produced a clanger with his botched grounding on halftime. Instead of the All Blacks going up possibly 15-3 at the break it remained 8-3 because of the pointless display of showmanship.
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He’s still got a decent strike rate after pulling it off 25 out of 26 times but it’s probably time to put away the one-hander grounding and switch to the classic breadbasket dive.
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88 minute games are better than 80
The test did have its moments but the final eight minutes from Reece Hodge hitting the post to Jordie Barrett’s final knock-on, was real heart in your mouth stuff. It was pseudo golden point and seemed never-ending.
Here’s a brief breakdown post the post being hit:
– The All Blacks recovered from defending on their own line after an Ardie Savea turnover (which arguably saved them from defeat).
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– The All Blacks botched an attacking lineout (a rare set-piece mistake in a crucial spot).
– The Wallabies got to halfway before knocking on.
– The All Black surged to five metres short of the tryline before Karl Tu’inukuafe knocked on.
– The Wallabies lost it again after a short advantage.
– The All Blacks managed to knock it on one more time to end the test.
I can’t think of a more compelling stretch to finish a test match, let alone any game of rugby where both teams had a chance to win it after the 80-minute mark.
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Sam Cane is going to lead by example
The new All Blacks skipper made 25 tackles, nine more than anyone else in the test. An impressive workload for the All Black number seven who didn’t miss any tackle attempts. He also beat more defenders (one) than second-five Jack Goodhue who had a very quiet test with four metres gained from his four carries. Aaron Smith’s performance was also noteworthy. He was outstanding during Super Rugby Aotearoa so it should be no surprise that in his ninth All Blacks’ season that the halfback remains one of the best on the field.
Day time rugby is the best
Apologies to Northern Hemisphere fans who had to get up in the early hours on a Sunday but 4pm Sunday is a great time for test rugby. A shame the test wasn’t a sell-out but maybe we could put that down to lingering Covid fears in the capital. It was also great to have the Wellington gale playing its part once again.
Comments on RugbyPass
Pick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
15 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
15 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis 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….
15 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….
84 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!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
15 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
14 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.
15 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.
15 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
15 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.
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