Hasler set to return
Coaches must correct the flaws that are hindering a brilliant squad.
The All Blacks were supposed to have thrown in a 60 second lap. They were supposed to have put in a surge to break the opposition. Instead their head is rocking from side to side and they are looking anxiously over their shoulders. No longer do New Zealand look like the completely dominant force of world rugby.
Well, it’s not a Kiwi birthright to rule planet rugby, but right now it should be. Look at how dominant their five teams are in Super Rugby. This is a wonderful generation of players. The All Blacks should be annihilating most opposition.
But towards the end of the Rugby Championship they almost went into panic. After losing at home to South Africa, the leaders decided they were playing too much rugby. The All Blacks stopped counter attacking. They became reliant on kicking and defence, like some grotesque hybrid of the 2007 World Cup winning South Africans.
It’s not good enough and it is time the coaches got a grip. The northern hemisphere tour is their chance to do that with three big games against Australia, on October 27 in Japan, England at Twickenham on November 11 and Ireland in Dublin a week later.
The first priority is to sort out the tactical leadership of the side because the contrast between the All Blacks and the Crusaders is a sharp one. The Crusaders have leadership in spades. The current All Blacks can scarcely find a court card in the whole pack.
It is no good for Steve Hansen to waffle on about learnings and how his job is to be a good teacher and how the player’s job is to be a good student. Hansen spent 2017 working on Beauden Barrett’s tactical direction of the team and it still looks as if the assignment is unfinished. The players become the teachers in well coached teams.
When you look at the Crusaders you see certain individuals laying down the law. Richie Mo’unga is prominent. He is a natural leader. So is Sam Whitelock in a different way. Whitelock spends hours talking with coach Scott Robertson so that they almost become two heads of the same beast.
The game against Australia is the perfect opportunity to look at a move that half the country wants to see. Mo’unga needs to start at 10 with Barrett moving to 15. I like the idea of SBW at 12 and Jack Goodhue at 13 with Ben Smith and Rieko Ioane one the wings. Good luck defending that lot off Mo’unga’s pitch perfect distribution on the line. Good luck defending when Damian McKenzie then comes on as an impact substitute.
Kudos to Hansen for making the Mo’unga change as early as he did in the Springboks match. It saved the game. And the All Blacks were transformed. Suddenly they had a bloke pushing them round the park, a bloke challenging the defence at the line, a bloke happy to let the forwards keep on driving. Suddenly the All Blacks had leadership.
The double benefit was the transformation of Barrett. He went from a bloke who seemed to be playing from a bit of paper that the coach had shoved in his pocket the week before, to a instinctive footballer playing the pitch in front of him. Barrett was free.
I have heard two theories about Barrett handing the kicking duties to Mo’unga. One defines it as good leadership. Barrett was giving Mo’unga confidence and recognising that he has been the better goal kicker in recent months. Barrett may also have felt that his game would be freed up.
Barrett said: ‘‘We’ve spoken about it and we’ve got a plan. I was feeling pretty good out there, but one thing I learned from the Wellington test is you can actually turn the tee over if you’re not feeling good. Richie came on tonight with fresh legs and he kicked really well so you might be seeing a bit of that going on. It shows I’ve got a lot of faith in Richie.’’
The second theory is that it shows that Barrett doesn’t have a lot of faith in Barrett. I have heard the switch described as a shocking abnegation of responsibility from someone who is supposed to be a team leader.
Let’s go with the first option because right now the All Blacks need to be positive. At times they lack that vibe and Aaron Smith is not helping. The half back is playing poorly although I suspect if you put Smith and TJ Perenara in a soundproof room, they would admit that Barrett is not the easiest 10 to locate. Mo’unga’s positioning makes life much easier for his halfback.
But the energy of the All Blacks has clearly been rising when Perenara has been on the pitch. He also gives them a much bigger running threat. Smith may well be the starting halfback at next year’s World Cup, but right now Perenara deserves a chance to give the team some bounce.
The All Blacks don’t want to get stale. Kieran Read is struggling to give them impetus, perhaps in part because he is searching for his best game. Now that Ardie Savea is going to start at 7 because of Sam Cane’s injury, why not pack him down at 8 on the scrums? Savea gives the All Blacks a real threat in that role.
The defence also needs a reboot. It was way too passive against South Africa. The All Blacks thrive on turnover ball and they are not finding ways to win enough of it. Ryan Crotty put the Boks in strife by coming up fast early on and chopping the outside man quickly to the ground, but there has not been enough of that sort of thing.
Doubtless, with one good win against Australia much of the country will move on. And it is a good chance to happen. Australia’s defence has been chaotic at times. They leak more tries than anyone in the Rugby Championship. So the All Blacks should win well enough, particularly if Brodie Retallick returns.
The last few games have emphasised just what an enormous presence Retallick is. If Mo’unga is the sort of 10 who makes players around him look good, then every forward in the New Zealand pack looks a better player when Retallick is among them.
Hansen will be desperate to get the big man back because what we have seen from the All Blacks in the last two matches has been nowhere near good enough. Hansen says that people expect the team not just to win, but to win in style.
Too right, we do. If you’ve got 15 Rolls Royces, we don’t expect the car to end up on jacks at the side of the road. These are special players. We want to see them purr.
League:
Manly are poised to head back to the future by reuniting with two-time premiership-winning coach Des Hasler. In yet another spectacular twist to the Sea Eagles coaching situation, Hasler has reportedly been sounded out to return on a long-term deal and replace Trent Barrett. Hasler is overseas and, according to a Channel Nine report, has already repaired his relationship with Manly owners the Penn family. The 57-yearold won the second of his titles with the northern beaches club in 2011, only to fall out with the owners and the board over ‘‘serious breaches of his contract’’. Sea Eagles boss Lyall Gorman told Stuff: ‘‘Des is in discussions along with several others, but there is still plenty of work to do there.’’
Kieran Read is struggling to give them impetus.