Honest review finds lot to work on
AUCKLAND: The comedown from retaining the Bledisloe Cup has been sharp for the All Blacks after a brutally honest review laid bare their soft defensive errors and mental lapses that could easily have handed the Wallabies victory in Melbourne.
While the All Blacks recorded their first successive wins of the year at Marvel Stadium, their patchy performance continued the frustrating theme of their inconsistent 44 season.
When Jordie Barrett claimed the matchwinning try, following French referee Mathieu Raynal’s dramatic decision to punish Wallabies playmaker Bernard Foley for timewasting at the death, the All Blacks celebrated the famous escape.
Four days on, though, and that immediate euphoria is replaced by the stark reality of blowing an 18point secondhalf lead.
Drilling down to identify the reasons why they clocked off from the 57thminute mark to almost blow victory formed the focus as the All Blacks begin preparations for the rematch against the Wallabies at a soldout Eden Park this Saturday.
All Blacks playmaker
Beauden Barrett, who could shift from the bench to start at fullback in a reshuffled backline, noted the pointed honesty of
Monday's review, particularly concerning the poor defence.
“There were some shots fired in there,” Barrett said.
“It’s a good opportunity for us to look at ourselves in the mirror and our preparation after getting too complacent after getting a lead like we had.
“There’s a few boys that are a bit scratchy at the moment which is great. That’s where you want to be on a Monday, not feeling comfortable at all with plenty of edge in camp.
‘‘There’s a lot to work on. We clearly didn’t put an 80minute performance together on Thursday night so that’s going to be the challenge this week.’’
Aaron Smith came away from the review with the overarching message that the scoreboard cannot dictate the mentality the All Blacks adopt, suggesting their skill execution and discipline invited the Wallabies back after they should have been shut out.
Aside from amending their secondhalf malaise, the chance to claim the Rugby Championship title, and play their final test at home for the year, is driving the All Blacks to deliver significant improvements.
“That review was pretty honest for some people,” Smith said.
“It made you look at your own mindset around when we did score that third try. A lot of those points we scored were when they had 14 men so we need to look at it really honestly. When it was 15 on 15 it was pretty level.’’
In the wake of the Foley decision, Barrett acknowledged all kickers push the boundaries in situations where it is advantageous to shave time and protect the lead. He also welcomed the wider debate about eradicating cynical efforts to slow the pace of the game.
“You’re always aware of the referee — they’re the ones in charge. Yes, you play the game a bit — you run down the clock to wait for the warning and then you kick the ball out or play on. If the ref asks us to get on with it, we do.
“As a fan you don’t want stoppages you want to see a freeflowing game. Fitter players should be rewarded by less stoppages and keeping the ball in play.
‘‘It’s a better product of rugby. That suits me and New Zealand rugby so hopefully we’re trending in the right direction.”
With David Havili (head knock) and Quinn Tupaea ruled out this week, the latter for the remainder of the season, the All Blacks are expected to move Jordie Barrett from fullback to second five after he filled that void in Melbourne. Roger TuivasaSheck is likely to come off the bench at Eden Park.
If that comes to pass, the elder Barrett is likely to slot in at fullback, the position he filled last week after combining nicely in a dualplaymaker role with Richie Mo’unga.
“Sometimes I do crowd him a little bit too much, naturally, so it’s giving him that first receiver priority and I’m getting better playing off him but I really enjoy it.’’ —