Impressive All Blacks show Gatland little he didn’t already know
The scoreline was impressive, some of the rugby equally so, but the All Blacks’ destruction of Samoa won’t have told British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland anything he didn’t already know.
He knew before the game that the All Blacks are the ultimate pass and catch team, blessed with crazy skills that allow them to play with incredible continuity.
The All Blacks showed they make and take space better than any other side in international rugby. But Gatland knew that already as well.
That’s what he saw at Eden Park — a rugby team that was willing to use their full repertoire of skills to open up the game and play it the way they wanted in the places they wanted.
It’s what the All Blacks do. It’s what they have done for a decade and Gatland got confirmation it’s what the All Blacks would dearly love to do on the same ground next Saturday.
That can’t be a surprise. If it i s, goodness knows what he’s been doing since the last millennium.
And nor could it have been a surprise that he would have seen, because how could he not, Brodie Retallick charging around like a giant first five- eighth with a strange desire to hurt people.
As for the actual first five- eighth, Beauden Barrett delivered his usual mix of electric running, visionary allround skills and ability to score from nothing.
Aaron Smith passed and kicked immaculately. Gatland would also have seen how TJ Perenara came on and showed he’s the best support runner in the business and a plain old open- play freak.
And the worst kept secret was out in plain view — Ardie Savea can do just about anything. Possibly new to Gatland, but not unexpected is how Sonny Bill Williams and Anton Lienert- Brown connected so well and how easily the All Blacks worked the ball out of the tackle, found support runners and finished things off.
It was a masterclass in the basics of the game — something the Lions have tragically come nowhere near emulating since they arrived.
But the reason Gatland won’t be too alarmed is that Samoa were a long way from being competitive. They gave the All Blacks space and any team that does that i s dead in the water, which is why All Blacks coach Steve Hansen wasn’t reading too much into the 78- 0 victory.
“It was a pretty good start but we have got a lot of work to do. Playing opposition, most of whom haven’t played for five weeks, we wouldn’t read too much into their performance or ours,” Hansen said.
He didn’t think Gatland would read too much into it either — he suspected it would have conformed to the Lions’ expectations — nor was Hansen sure there would be much to be surprised by when the Lions play New Zealand Maori.
“Would he be surprised?” mused Hansen. “No, I don’t think so. Like them, we have got a style we like to play and we use the ball a lot and we have got some skilful people when we do that.
“Do I expect them to do something different [ tonight]? Well, he keeps telling us he’s got something up his sleeve other than his arm so we will wait and see. But he’s starting to run out of time. I have said that if you have a style as a coach, then you usually stick to it, so it i s going to be a big move if he changes.”