There’s heaps of room to improve
Liam Napier looks at five areas the All Blacks will be keen to get better in the coming weeks
Naturally satisfied by beginning their World Cup campaign on a bright note, the All Blacks are also well aware improvement is needed to fulfil their quest for three straight Webb Ellis Cups in Japan.
Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus quickly noted the All Blacks will face different, potentially tougher, challenges from the northern hemisphere style of opposition later in the tournament.
Regardless of their remaining softer pool matches, this is just one reason the group phase will be used to refine and expand elements of the All Blacks game.
The areas they will be keen to improve
1 Set piece
The All Blacks pride themselves on set piece strength. Although the northern nations like to think they dominate this area, few teams regularly get the better of the All Blacks here. The Springboks, though, succeeded in exerting huge pressure on the All Blacks’ scrum and lineout. This forms a key part of the Boks game, and the All Blacks will be aware there is room for improvement. Prop Joe Moody was probably fortunate not to be penalised as his elbow hit the deck during a couple of scrums. The All Blacks also lost two of their nine lineouts for a 78 per cent success rate (the Boks had 9/9).
As the tournament progresses, particularly come the knockout stages, the All Blacks will look to employ their set piece as a strike weapon. With the lineout and scrum concentrating forward packs to one area, space is there to exploit. But for these first-phase moves to come off, the platform must first be delivered.
2 Attacking execution
The six-minute attacking blitz that blew away the Boks made the rugby world rock forward in their seats but the All Blacks could, in fact, have put many more points on the Boks. On one occasion in the second half Beauden Barrett loomed up on the outside with acres of room in-front of him, only for a poor pass to stop the sweeping movement. Had Barrett received the ball, the All Blacks seemed set to score with an unmarked man outside him. In another instance the All Blacks audaciously ran the ball from their own in-goal and Scott Barrett had his pass intercepted. If that pass sticks, the All Blacks are off to the races.
In these tight, tense games the All Blacks strive to nail every chance they create. They may have reversed the result in Dublin last year had they executed better — think the rare Kieran Read charge-down error. Against nations such as Ireland, one of the best defensive teams at this tournament, similar moments could prove defining.
“We were put under a lot of pressure at crucial times where if we nailed them we could have hurt the Boks a lot more,” Barrett acknowledged. “Basically it comes down to our skill execution under pressure which we’re going to get throughout the tournament particularly when there’s a greasy ball when you get the high line-speed teams and the pressure comes on in terms of knockout footy. There’s a lot to learn but a lot of it comes down to our skill execution under pressure.”
3 Breakdown defence
An on-going area of concern for the All Blacks. Wallabies halfback Nic White had a field day around the fringes in the record Perth defeat. The All Blacks swiftly rectified this issue the following week at Eden Park but they will be disappointed by the ease with which Pieter-Steph du Toit strolled through untouched to score in Yokohama. On this occasion the All Blacks had no pillar defender on the left hand side of the ruck. Boks halfback Faf de Klerk appeared keen to shift the ball after a strong carry from Eben Etzebeth but du Toit spotted the space, picked it from de Klerk’s hands at the base of the ruck and loped all of 10 metres to score between the sticks. Tries must be much more difficult to come by so expect the All Blacks to remind their forwards of the importance of regaining their feet quickly to plug these gaps. Moody, Scott Barrett and Sam Cane, who didn’t return after halftime, topped the All Blacks tackle count with 10 each but as du Toit proved, one missed marker will be punished.
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Starting better
It may have been a case of opening night nerves or emotions spilling over from the impassioned haka but the All Blacks will certainly target better starts. Both from the opening
kickoff, and after halftime, the Boks had long periods of dominance. Not until Kieran Read gathered his troops for a calming chat did the All Blacks stop throwing wild offloads at the start of the match and they were, perhaps, guilty of not bringing the same intensity to open the second half after breaking out to lead 17-3.
5 Dual playmaker combo
More of a positive than anything else. Five tests into their starting combination, Richie Mo’unga and Beauden Barrett’s understanding can only improve. They weren’t perfect by any stretch against the Boks but the signs are there that, gradually, their dual playmaker combination will come together. Barrett’s 17 carries against the Boks — seven more than the next most in George Bridge — is what the All Blacks are trying to achieve. The more touches from Barrett in space, the better. Getting around rush defences will not get any easier, particularly when the All Blacks confront the northern hemisphere versions of line speed.