This is written in hope that the All Blacks revert to a tactic that worked brilliantly last year: injecting width into the attack from the breakdown.
For some reason the All Blacks have gone away from this in 2014. We didn't see it as often in the England series and not at all in Sydney last week. In this week's Chalkboard, I'll explain 1. What the attack is, 2. The variables it offers and, 3. Why they might have gone away from the tactic.
1. In 2013, the All Blacks built a lot of great attack from the breakdown.
Rather than continually punching in close, they used Aaron Smith's pass to create immediate width.
That instantly took two to three defenders out of play. Once his target, often Brodie Retallick, had the ball, the options were many and varied. Of course, for this to work, you really need tight forwards who are skilled handlers of the ball. In Retallick and Sam Whitelock, the All Blacks are lucky to possess supremely talented individuals capable of doing things with the ball that we don't normally associate with tight forwards.