Foster’s big calls for England
Just Eddie Jones’ enigmatic England stand now between the improving All Blacks and a northern tour sweep to cap a resurgent second half of their season.
With yesterday’s comeback 31-23 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield – a match where they coughed up 23 consecutive points to the hosts, but steadied in the nick of time – Ian Foster’s All Blacks made it three from three on tour, and extended their win streak to six, dating back to their 53-3 thumping of Argentina in Hamilton on September 3. But the toughest test comes last for the New Zealanders, with England presenting a formidable obstacle at their Twickenham fortress.
After slipping to a shock 30-29 defeat to Argentina to open their autumn series, Jones’ men smashed Japan 52-13 on Sunday to regain their equilibrium somewhat.
Afterwards a bullish Jones noted the chance for their first matchup against the All Blacks since 2019’s World Cup semifinal victory in Yokohama was a ‘‘massive opportunity’’ for his players. ‘‘If we go after them, they are there for the taking,’’ he said.
That view would not have been deterred at all by another mixed bag of a performance at Murrayfield from the All Blacks who saw an early 14-0 lead against the Scots turn into a 23-14 deficit by the three-quarter mark.
The New Zealanders finished on a two-try 17-0 scoring burst of their own, aided by a string of standout performances from their bench, but were helped considerably by a contentious 65th-minute yellow card for home loose forward Jack Dempsey that rather paved the way.
Foster lauded the ‘‘composure’’ of his side and said it was a victory they ‘‘can be proud of’’, given the hole they had dug for themselves.
He wasn’t sure it was a result they would have pulled off a year ago when they were dropping back-to-back tests to Ireland and France to wrap up their northern tour.
That said, the All Blacks were well off the level they produced to demolish Wales 55-23 in Cardiff eight days earlier, and it’s likely the Scotland outing firmed up Foster’s thinking around his top lineup.
Record-breaking halfback Aaron Smith, first five-eighth Richie Mo’unga and tighthead prop Tyrel Lomax, who all sat out the Scotland match, are likely to return as starters, and No 6 Shannon Frizell and centre Rieko Ioane, who were key members of the impactful bench unit at Murrayfield, should do likewise.
Lock Brodie Retallick will also be back from suspension, which could see the well-performed Scott Barrett drop to a bench role.
Also expect Jordie and Beauden Barrett to be restored to their previous assignments at second five and fullback, respectively, while it will be interesting to see if a strong showing from veteran No 9 TJ Perenara sees him leapfrog Fin Christie into the backup halfback’s role for Twickenham.
Foster also looks likely to have to mull tight calls on the right wing (between Edinburgh star Mark Telea who impressed with two tries on debut and Sevu Reece) and at hooker (does he start breakout sensation Samisoni Taukei’aho, or bring him off the bench?) as he settles on his No 1 lineup to close out the year.
One player who is certain to be there is Blues No 7 Dalton Papalii who continues to impress in the absence of regular skipper Sam Cane. Papalii and Ardie Savea were particularly effective over the ball against Scotland and the Aucklander’s strong all-round game was not missed by Foster.
He’s tough, and up here he’s well suited to the close-quarter type games played,’’ said the coach.
‘‘We’re delighted with his form – he’s a hungry man, he wants to play and he’s playing really well.’’
And Foster hinted that Telea may have done enough to play his way into a second straight start on the right wing after notching two tries and running for a team-high 92 metres (with 3 clean breaks and 6 defenders beaten) at Murrayfield.
‘‘He couldn’t have done any better – score an early one, settle your nerves down, then score a pretty important one near the end, and in between he caught the ball and had strong carries. We’ve been watching him the last few weeks and been pretty impressed.’’
The All Blacks will have to refocus quickly England and that strong forward pack with just a six-day turnaround before their shot at finishing the year on a positive note.
Skipper Sam Whitelock made it clear there was plenty from the two-paced effort against the Scots to improve on.
‘‘Our discipline allowed them back in,’’ said the 142-test lock.
‘‘There was a yellow card (to Anton Lienert-brown) and they punished us when we were down one. It’s something we’ll look at.
‘‘Up here these guys know how to squeeze teams, and we gave them opportunities. We’ve got to adapt quicker, and we can’t have cumulative penalties. They scored a lot of points because we gave them an easy ride downfield.’’
Crisis averted. The All Blacks stared an ugly defeat in the face at Murrayfield, and did not blink. In a year that has served up some disconcerting low points, the New Zealanders’ ability to dig their way out of a tight spot and secure a sixth test victory on the bounce has to be celebrated.
Make no mistake, yesterday’s test in Edinburgh, won 31-23 from a 23-14 second-half deficit, was far from an emphatic performance from the All Blacks who, really, still have yet to post back-to-back powerhouse showings this season. They started strongly and finished well, but spent a big chunk of an intriguing test on the back foot against a typically brave and committed Scottish side.
Ian Foster made a handful of strategic changes to his lineup, and it’s hard to say they did not have an effect on performance. This was a step backwards from Cardiff, with the forwards unable to assert the same dominance, and the backs spending long periods starved of possession. At times the Scots, who rattled off 23 unanswered points through the middle stages, made the men in black look decidedly ordinary.
In fact, there was a period in this entertaining test where the All
Blacks looked in grave danger of falling to another of those historic defeats that studded the early part of their season. That they were good enough – and lucky enough, with a marginal second-half yellow card call going their way – to dig their way out of a tight spot and run their win streak to six was far and away the most positive aspect of a middling overall performance.
The match turned either way on two yellow cards, and it was the All Blacks in the end who were good enough to make the most out of the one that went in their favour – the 65th-minute sinbinning of replacement Scotland loosie Jack Dempsey for a ‘‘deliberate’’ knockon. The Australia-born loosie looked hard done by as he flicked the ball forward while wrapping a tackle on Shannon Frizell, but the call changed the contest in its tracks.
At that stage it was all the Scots, who led 23-14 a dozen minutes into the second spell, and 23-17 when Dempsey’s stray hand earned the ire of Irish referee Frank Murphy. From there the New Zealanders conjured tries to Scott Barrett and a second to wing Mark Telea – outstanding on debut, and the big mover from the afternoon – to edge out to the eightpoint margin. Sure, they had help, but the composed finish was a step up on earlier in the year.
The All Blacks bench were pivotal in swinging this match back in their favour, with Codie Taylor, TJ Perenara, Rieko Ioane and Shannon Frizell all making big impacts. Telea (a team-high 92 metres on the carry) was outstanding and would have given Foster plenty to think about, while Ardie Savea, Dalton Papalii and Samisoni Taukei’aho, who crossed for his 10th try of the year, also made positive contributions.
It was not the best of matches for the midfield of David Havili and Anton Lienert-brown. The centre, of course, gave away the penalty try early, and soon after Havili threw an intercept that enabled Darcy
Graham to scurry away and put his team on level terms. To his credit, Lienert-brown stayed the course and played his part in the strong finish.
The Scots offered plenty. Their blockbusting back three of Hogg, Duhan van der Merwe and Graham had a wonderful match, Finn Russell pulled the strings well at No 10 and their loosies stood up well.
For long periods they made the visitors look decidedly beatable, before the correction came in the nick of time.
England will not exactly be shaking in their boots.