Northern hemisphere now greatest threat to All Blacks
The Kiwis have been dominant for so long, but this series has shown the gap is closing ahead of the 2019 World Cup
The All Blacks have been taken out of their comfort zone by the Lions and will now make sure that no stone is left unturned after this drawn series to make sure that they are in the right place for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
It is not that New Zealand need to find new personnel if they are to successfully defend the trophy in Japan in two years’ time, because it would be hard to find fault with the players who Steve Hansen has picked over the past three weekends. Injury, and suspension, has shaped his hand and there is an upside to the downside of not winning the series in that the likes of Jordie Barrett and Ngani Laumape have been blooded. But the All Blacks do need to look at themselves and use this setback as a springboard to deliver a higher quality game, particularly in learning how to deal with the rush umbrella defence.
One thing has become clear to me. The greatest challenge to the All Blacks as world champions is coming from the northern hemisphere. The southern hemisphere has gone backwards while the Lions have shown just what is on offer in the home unions.
This year’s Six Nations was the best there has been for a number of years and now we have seen the challenge that the Lions have laid down for the All Blacks. Over the next couple of years the signs are that the All Blacks will face more competition from the northern hemisphere countries than they will experience here in the Rugby Championship. Australia and South Africa, in particular, have tailed off and that is a bit of a negative for the All Blacks.
The Lions deserve huge credit for not allowing the All Blacks to play their game. That is what the New Zealand management will be looking at in the future, how to break down the rush defence with its line speed and the umbrella format with the man in the middle pushing up and with men on the outside trying to cut out the wide options. The All Blacks did come up with various options on Saturday – the kick-pass, for example, which worked very well when the Barrett brothers combined well, Beauden kicking high to the right where Jordie timed his jump so well to palm down infield to Laumape to score. The All Blacks also used the long pass in the middle to cut out the target man for the Lions defence. They knew what they wanted to do but because they are not familiar with what is coming at them they did not execute it well enough. They will learn from that, although they need to be exposed to it more often. The All Blacks got a bit of a shock in that the Lions brought something different and they struggled to deal with that. The Lions series will be of huge benefit to them.
It is not that the All Blacks were complacent as to what was headed their way on this trip but it is a pretty young group and, when you have won so often in recent times, it is very hard not to think that you are better than you actually are, to believe that you are a little bit infallible. The All Blacks do not get beaten often and it will be good for this group to experience at first hand the need to find solutions within games to what they have been presented with. We certainly learnt more from losses than our victories when I was All Blacks coach and, knowing Steve Hansen and his management group, they will look at every aspect as they move forward.
The All Blacks would also have realised that they need to be true to their natural game, which is to be bold and to take the game to the opposition. They did not do that in the second Test in Wellington, although conditions were filthy. However, being expressive is what they are good at, as we saw in the opening 20-25 minutes at Eden Park. They had chances, created openings, good openings, but they did not take them. Some of that was due to the pressure the Lions’ defence put them under but it was also poor execution.
You have to pay tribute to Andy Farrell’s defensive system, which has been as good as anything I have come across. The same is true of the manner in which Warren Gatland and his coaches have managed to bring this group together in such a short space of time. It is an amazing achievement, well beyond the expectations of most people here. The backbone shown by the Lions was quite remarkable.
Owen Farrell was one of those who epitomised that on the night. Owen did not have his best game in out-field but he held his nerve wonderfully to kick his goals. Warren raised the issue of goal-kicking before the tour and has been proved right in that if Farrell had been kicking for the All Blacks, the series would have been won. There is a bit of a question mark over Beauden Barrett’s goal-kicking – Jordie does the kicking for the Hurricanes – and even though the margins are small, they are significant.
As for the incident over the penalty for offside that became a scrum for accidental offside, the law is an ass. The penalty was given and that should have been it. As it was, the scores finished level and I would have liked to see extra-time being played.
A draw after such a magnificent contest was an anti-climax – unlike the tour itself which has been a joyous experience for everyone here in New Zealand. We have all loved it. The next tour in 12 years’ time cannot come quickly enough.