All Blacks Forwards Coach John Plumtree on channeling the team's hurt, and whether star halfback Aaron Smith will play against France. Video / All Blacks
OPINION:
The All Blacks, fresh from a mauling by Ireland in Dublin which came a week after a poor performance against Italy and a month after a significant defeat to South Africa, face what amounts to an unusual dichotomy in Paris on Sunday.
Unusual, because there are individuals within theAll Blacks who may add a little burnish to their reputations with good performances after last weekend's 29-20 defeat at Aviva Stadium in which few, apart from Ardie Savea and Will Jordan, emerged with any credit, but on the other hand even if New Zealand win well at the Stade de France, there may remain the feeling that the team as a collective didn't really prove anything at all.
That's because over the last couple of years in particular the All Blacks have built and maintained a reputation as rugby's flat-track bullies, a team capable of looking a million bucks against opposition which allow them time and space, and thrift shop quality against those who don't, and, with 660 days until they play France in the opening match of the 2023 World Cup, there should be alarm bells sounding about how little Ian Foster's men are offering on attack when put under said pressure.
The Springboks showed the way during two Rugby Championship tests this year, two close results shared one apiece (and the All Blacks were fortunate to escape the first with a victory): Defend from out to in with line speed, ensure the blindside is well covered and maintain possession. And that's it.
That Italy could do this so well in Rome in the first half of the All Blacks' 47-9 victory could be explained away by the visitors' relative inexperience in terms of their starting line-up and the assumption they were holding back parts of their game plan for a week later in Dublin, but their attack against the Irish was so toothless and bereft of good ideas that one suspects this is as good as it gets against competent, well-organised, and highly-motivated teams.
From an All Blacks' and New Zealand rugby perspective, it's perhaps fortunate that a test against England at Twickenham wasn't on the schedule because, given what the English did to the All Blacks in the World Cup semifinal two years ago, and to Australia last weekend, it could have been a lot worse.
New Zealand's Jordie Barrett dejected after the game against Ireland. Photo / Getty Images.
Set aside for a moment strategies and plans in Dublin, or the lack of them, and think about this: When was the last time a Northern Hemisphere pack looked more comfortable in possession than the All Blacks? Ireland's forwards have never been the most skilful but last weekend they were passing, catching and even offloading far more adroitly than their counterparts – just one area in which the All Blacks have been overtaken by the opposition.
Joe Moody and Nepo Laulala are fine props, but the need for New Zealand to combine ball-playing front-rowers with pure grunt and set piece excellence, a need which former coach Steve Hansen identified more than two years ago, has never been greater.
Halfback TJ Perenara may be one of the biggest casualties of the All Blacks' underwhelming attack against the Irish due to his decision-making and sluggishness of thought and action at the breakdown but the man outside him, Richie Mo'unga, who replaced a concussed Beauden Barrett in the first half, should be feeling the pressure too.
What a fantastic opportunity that was for Mo'unga to run on in front of a packed stadium and lead the ship, and yet he played with all the enthusiasm of an individual still wondering why he had been passed over for a deserved promotion, which in fact may have been the case – job-wise, at least.
Mo'unga, a brilliantly skilled player with a sixth sense for creating and exploiting space when running at the line, was too passive against Ireland and appeared to allow his Crusaders teammate David Havili to play a more dominant role in terms of playmaking.
Has Mo'unga, a schoolboy, Canterbury and Crusaders star who is not familiar with personal setbacks, been told to dial down on his natural game by the coaches?
Either way his was a strangely subdued performance and another indicator that there is a missing link in the All Blacks' attack.
The response in Paris may be impressive, but probably not significant in the big scheme of things. The clock is ticking.
