Lessons gained from scratchy win
Steve Hansen is a carrot and stick type guy. He’ll condemn or he’ll cuddle, depending on the circumstances and the wider needs of his All Blacks.
After a rdisjointed effort in a 31-22 victory over the Barbarians at Twickenham yesterday, Hansen was very much taking the glasshalf-full view of his mostly secondstring lineup’s challenges. They had trailed 17-10 at halftime, and only broke the game open with a three-try burst in seven minutes midway through the second spell.
Few, if any, of the backup brigade would have advanced their test claims any, though Waisake Naholo (the likely right wing starter in Paris next weekend) was one of the best on show according to assistant coach Ian Foster, and Ardie Savea made the most of his extended run as a starter at No 7.
Hansen, though, was not about to condemn a group that had no history as a team, and included a high number of players who hadn’t had a lot of recent rugby.
‘‘It was not too bad. We got some good lessons out of it,’’ said Hansen afterwards. ‘‘There will be some good comparisons between the first and second halves. We were down 10-0 and a young side had to show some composure, and the new skipper showed a lot too.’’
"It was a festival game and like the rest of us you fall into the trap of getting caught in it."
Steve Hansen
Hansen felt his side, as well as referee Nigel Owens (more on that later) probably got caught up in the festive nature of the occasion, but he was happy that the adjustments eventually came.
As for new faces Matt Duffie (13 minutes, and zero touches), Tim Perry (25 minutes) and Asafo Aumua (13 minutes), who all came off the bench, Hansen said the benefits for them, as well as returnees such as Seta Tamanivalu and Jeffery ToomagaAllen, were more about the week, rather than the match.
Foster credited Ngani Laumape and his two wings with making the most of their opportunities too.
‘‘As the game unfolded, and we started to get a little bit of goforward ball, Ngani started to show himself pretty well. He’s strong near the goal-line, and it’s good to see him doing what he’s good at.’’
Foster said Naholo was one of the best All Blacks in the match and ‘‘did a whole lot of little things well’’. He produced two nice poppasses to set up tries and denied the impressive Kwagga Smith a try with his covering speed.
His praise for Tamanivalu was amore considered. ‘‘Seta looked
good with the ball, but he’s got to learn how to get a little more engaged when they start shutting him off a bit in midfield.’’
When talk turned to some of the banter in the match, Hansen also had a slight dig at Welsh referee Owens who was not his usual
accurate self (his miss of Akker van der Merwe’s probable try when Beauden Barrett was casual covering ball in goal probably cost
the Baabaas any sniff of a comeback).
‘‘Most of the banter came from Nigel I reckon ... it would have
been good if he’d reffed this one,’’ said Hansen. ‘‘It was a festival game and like the rest of us you fall into the trap of getting caught in it. He did a good job, but there’s no doubt in my mind he wasn’t as focused as he would have been if it was a test match.’’