All Blacks set to hone kick-chase game

The All Blacks so far in 2018 have been all about run and pass. In the next five weeks, they are likely to focus more on kick and catch.

There’s no dispute they are at their imperious best when they relentlessly attack with ball in hand, building momentum with their ability to offload through almost every player and stretch defences with their pace and width.

When they get that style right, they are almost unstoppable, as they showed in the second half of the third test against France and two Bledisloe Cup tests.

But what has also come to light this year — and for periods last year — is that the All Blacks can’t expect to always be able to run teams off their feet in the first 20 minutes.

Following the two tests against South Africa where the All Blacks were never quite able to get on top in either and play their preferred style of game, there has been some heavy analysis inside the camp.

The lesson from those tests and to some extent from the series against the Lions last year is that the All Blacks need to be prepared to mix up their game more and be patient in breaking a defence.

“This next five weeks is about taking the lessons from the Rugby Championship and applying them against some teams that are going to be playing slightly differently,” said All Blacks assistant coach Ian Foster.

“There are some areas of our game we are doing as well as we have ever done. We are really pleased with some aspects we’ve been trying to grow in the last few years and we’ve been playing around with this whole possession versus how much is too much and how much we are enabling opposition defences to flatten up at us versus a kicking game.

“We saw that in South Africa we were forced to play a lot more of a kicking game against them, and while we got a bit frustrated with that at times, we still got the result we wanted. We are just learning to play different ways — to win different ways.”

This desire to pursue a multifaceted tactical approach is largely why Damian McKenzie has been selected at fullback in Yokohama.

While he’s a devastating broken field runner, he’s also equipped with the sort of kicking portfolio the All Blacks need.

If McKenzie and Barrett operate in tandem — much like Barrett used to come off the bench and provide a second playmaking option with Daniel Carter or Aaron Cruden — it is hoped that will take the sting out of opponents using a rush defence.

And that’s essentially the priority for the All Blacks when they face Australia, England and Ireland — they want to show they can still ignite their attack even if blitzed by opposition defenders.

They want to show they are not vulnerable as seems to be the case to teams who shut down their space and target Barrett at No 10.

Ireland in particular are the masters of low risk rugby where they squeeze opponents with their defence, turn them with their astute kicking game and bide their time to release some excellent runners and finishers in their backs.

They are not a side that is broken easily, and as much as the All Blacks will have to be tactically smart and vary how they use the ball in Europe, they will also have to be world class at dealing with England and Ireland’s respective kicking games.

The games in London and Dublin will be as much an aerial contest as they will be a scrap for tackled ball.

With less than a year until the World Cup, the All Blacks could make a big statement about their readiness if they can prove they have the ability to build victories on their kick-chase work as well as they do their pass-run strategy.