'We were in pretty good control': Why the All Blacks always believed they'd beat Scotland
The All Blacks’ thrilling win over Scotland reflects the resilience, passion and skill that the team has – they never panicked, the just believed in themselves.
After an up and down international season, the All Blacks appeared to turn a corner last weekend when they beat Wales at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium by an emphatic score.
But a week is a long time in international rugby, and for a team with World Cup ambitions, the thrilling 31-23 win at Murrayfield is possibly a reflection of how much this team has grown.
In Test match rugby there are at least eight teams who, in theory, can beat each other in close contests on their day. France were able to defeat reigning World Cup champions South Africa by four over the weekend, and Italy made history against the Wallabies.
For the All Blacks to dig deep and earn a hard-fought win when their backs were up against the wall – that’s a sign of a team who believes in their processes and ability.
Veteran scrum-half TJ Perenara spoke about the belief that the All Blacks have after his first Test of the year, saying he never felt like the visitors were going to lose.
“I always felt like we were in pretty good control. I didn’t feel that we were gonna lose that game, both being on the bench and when I was on the field,” Perenara told reporters.
“I don’t feel there was a big momentum shift because I thought we were always in control.”
The All Blacks were the favourites going into the Test, and they more than lived up to that label early-on after racing out to a 14-nil lead.
Tries to Samisoni Taukei’aho and debutant Mark Telea inside the first eight minutes saw the men in black take control, before Scotland struck back with two tries of their own.
Spurred on by the passionate and vocal Murrayfield crowd, Scotland were able to build on this lead on either side of the break, as they took control with a 23-14 lead.
But tries to Scott Barrett and a second to Telea helped the All Blacks fight their way back into the lead with just over 10 minutes to play, and they held on for an important win.
“Any place when you fall behind on the scoreboard against a sharp football team, it is tough,” Perenara added.
“But you have to fall back on your processes and what your identity is as a team and for us, we understand how we want to play the game and we understand the strengths that we have.
PLAYER RATINGS: The All Blacks were pushed hard by Scotland but their killer instinct in the final 20 put pay to their hosts' efforts. @TomVinicombe 👨💻 rates the ABs #SCOvNZL #AutumnNationsSeries https://t.co/1FdyjnlkLE
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 13, 2022
“When things get hard we can’t go into our shells, we have to dig deeper with what we’re good at and understand how we want to play, and put our players who are game breakers in a position to do that.
“You put your players and you put your system in positions that you trust and that you’ve done for a long time, and that allows you to give yourself the best chance of winning.”
Try scorer Taukei’aho echoed his teammates comments about the belief that the squad has in their ability.
The hooker, who ran the ball nine times and also made nine tackles, said the All Blacks trust “whoever is on the park” to “do the job.”
“We’ve talked about it as a team all week, the Scottish never go away, they’ll sneak in there, they’ll keep fighting and they did,” Taukei’aho said.
“Credit to them (for) coming back and levelling it up and coming into half-time we knew we were in for a tough Test match.
“We always have belief, we trust each other. We know what we’re capable of.
“Belief is always there, it doesn’t matter if you’re 20, 30 points down. The belief is always there (that) whoever is on the park will do the job.”
New Zealand have one more Test match to play in 2022, and it’s a blockbuster against England at Twickenham.
Comments on RugbyPass
It 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.
25 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 🤐
13 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….
25 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….
13 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 💪
13 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.
13 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.
13 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
13 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?
13 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 comments