All Blacks questions – do they have the answers?
Stuff’s rugby scribes tackle the big issues facing the All Blacks at the end of a season featuring the most defeats since 2009.
With a 12-3 record, and 10 tests in 12 weeks on the road to finish, how would you assess the All Blacks’ year?
Marc Hinton: I get this was a tough year, with extenuating circumstances but any way you slice it three defeats in a programme that, if we’re brutally honest, only featured four true barometer tests does not cut the mustard. That the All Blacks were so troubled by three teams with disparate styles should set the alarm bells ringing, as should the fact that so many of these issues are not new ones. This is a team with a lot to fix, and endemic shortcomings to iron out. It’s not beyond them, but it starts with that look in the mirror urged by Dane Coles. 4/10
Paul Cully: It’s a hard year to assess, but if you isolate the big tests on which they were always going to be judged this year, they lost three out of four. They get some leeway for the Covid-related difficulties of the long tour, but you could argue that the issues that Ireland and France exposed in November were present back in July against a fired-up Fiji in Dunedin. 6/10
Richard Knowler: Once the Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship were won (something to be grateful for), the All Blacks had to raise their victory banner in at least three of the four cities in the north. They failed. The final tests against Ireland and France were the equivalent of World Cup suddendeath games, with everything meticulously geared towards winning in front of hostile crowds. Yes, it was a long tour; and a massive squad during a pandemic must have been a logistical nightmare. But, no excuses. Two defeats was an ugly way to end the season. 5/10
Who was your ABs player of the year?
Hinton: Two-horse race for me in terms of consistency, body of work and top-end performance. Ardie Savea and Rieko Ioane both had very good years in a team not always firing. Savea’s workrate, skill, leg-drive and sheer determination make him the jewel of the pack. But is he playing in the right position? Ioane has re-established himself as the premier back, a consistent threat, line-breaker and X-factor merchant, and the only issue is whether he’s a wing or centre long-term. I’m giving the gong to Savea who remains right at the top of his game. Honourable mentions to Ethan Blackadder, Dalton Papalii and Jordie Barrett for telling contributions.
Cully: Rieko Ioane. He has been swapped between wing and centre but his storming test against France in Paris, following a more subdued outing against Ireland, suggests he really has grasped what tests are all about. That test against France gets him my vote in a close call along with Jordie Barrett and Ardie Savea.
Knowler: Ardie Savea. His ability to switch between No 8 and openside flanker, and the fact he captained the team for most matches in Australia, reflects well on him. Most importantly, Savea’s form never waned.
Pick three established All Blacks who must be under pressure based on what we saw in 2021?
Hinton: Nepo Laulala, Joe Moody and Sam Whitelock. These are three men who have served the jersey well over a long time and one of them – Whitelock – is an alltime great. But there can be no doubt our props have been left behind by their northern counterparts. The big men have to do more these days than scrummage. And the old firm of Whitelock and Brodie Retallick has looked, frankly, stale. Two more years looks too long for them to remain the premier second-row pair.
Cully: I don’t think there’s enormous pressure, but I’ll go with TJ Perenara, Anton LienertBrown and Dane Coles/Codie Taylor. The halfback and hookers due to rising challenges from younger players (especially Perenara if Folau Fakatava is deemed eligible), and LienertBrown because the All Blacks will clearly want to cement a firstchoice midfield combination in 2022, and that picture is fairly unclear at present.
Knowler: TJ Perenara couldn’t crack the match-day 23 in Paris; Dane Coles turns 35 next month; Patrick Tuipulotu’s trip to Japan may be untimely. The need to regenerate his squad ahead of the 2023 World Cup won’t have escaped Foster. There’s an abundance of talented halfbacks around, and Perenara could get
swallowed up by the incoming tide. Hooker Coles, a champion for so long, will be 37 for France
‘23. Can Foster afford to hold on to him? Lock Tuipulotu is only 28, but his decision to skip Super Rugby Pacific offers Tupou Vaa’i and Josh Lord an easier road back into the squad as backup to Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick and Scott Barrett.
What are the ABs’ biggest areas of concern as evidenced by the last five months?
Hinton: Where do we start? Dealing with defensive line-speed remains a major. Groundhog Day here, and it’s not like they didn’t know it was coming. Physicality and forward power go hand in hand, and it’s a big issue. They were out-muscled by the Boks and Irish and outplayed by the wonderful French who also exposed them on the drive. Lastly, attacking subtlety. Yes, they scored lots of tries against lightweights but in four tests against South Africa, Ireland and France they managed just nine and conceded 10.
Cully: Set-piece inconsistency, especially at the lineout (and scrum when reserve props are on), lack of ball-carrying metres from the props and locks, and the backline’s inability to find space in ways other than the crossfield kick.
Knowler: The biggest concern, as evidenced by the defeats, was mistakes under pressure. Discovering avenues through lightning-quick defensive lines, rather than trying to go around or send cross-kicks to the fringes, continues to be a problem. It was a worry to watch France score two tries off lineout drives. The Springboks forwards will have already filled their notebooks. Finally, Foster is yet to find an outstanding No 6 to complement his back row.
Did NZ Rugby drop the ball in extending Ian Foster’s contract straight after the Bledisloe was sealed?
Hinton: I said it at the time, and repeat: it was a crazy call at that juncture, when they had yet to be properly measured. Would you sack Foster now? Maybe. A bloody good alternative is at hand. But maybe not. A coach deserves the full cycle to build. He seems to be in denial, but if he shows you enough in review you probably green-light – if only because boards never admit they got it wrong. After making the initial decision to go two years, reappointing prematurely reflects an organisation not on top of its game.
Cully: No, and I don’t think they would have been particularly surprised by the losses to Ireland and France. The timing of the reappointment is something of a red herring. Ultimately, the wisdom of the decision or otherwise will not be known until the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Knowler: They will say no. Most of our rugby public would (probably) disagree. NZ Rugby should have been braver, and waited. By pausing negotiations it could have told Foster, who wanted certainty, it was best practice to be patient ahead of the World Cup. It would have made for a difficult conversation, but so be it. That’s not to say NZR wouldn’t have reappointed Foster, anyway. But we will never know. Last drinks were called in lateAugust.