There was a hint of rebellion about New Zealand’s rugby philosophy, a sense that it was the last place on Earth clinging to some romantic notion that creative enterprise could and should still be the core element of test rugby.
The All Blacks, in most respects between 2020 and early 2022, were a product of their Super Rugby environment, largely locked in a rugby mode that was built on an unwavering conviction that natural athletes and ball players would succeed if they were brave enough to keep trusting their natural abilities to pass, catch and run.
In those years, players such as Akira Ioane, Alex Hodgman, George Bower, David Havili, Angus Ta’avao, Hoskins Sotutu and George Bridge were regular picks — players with wide and varied skillsets.
But when the scrum started to creak and the rolling maul tries were being conceded too easily and the collision areas were regularly lost and the defeats started to rack up, New Zealand, to some extent, accepted that it had to conform to the global trend of picking direct and confrontational athletes who were robust and durable.
Conforming wasn’t a bad idea, as the All Blacks started to win more.
And by picking the same sort of athletes as Ireland and France, and placing the same heavy emphasis on set-piece excellence and collision warfare, the All Blacks regained an element of global respect they had been in danger of losing.
By stylistically evolving to scrum for penalties, to run more forwards closer to the rucks and to use Jordie Barrett as a battering ram in the midfield, the All Blacks became a tougher team to contain.
They embraced direct rugby and relied more heavily on an ability to win collisions than they did individual skillsets and a natural propensity to see space.
In essence, the All Blacks became a bit like everyone else, and nine months on since they last played, there has been yet more evidence that coaches across New Zealand are embracing this physical revolution and seeing the game through a narrowing lens.
The Blues reinvented themselves from a catch-and-pass team to a smash-and-bash outfit who were brilliantly direct and robust, and it won them a championship.
The All Blacks picked their 32-man squad for this month’s tests a couple of days after the Blues were crowned champions, and it’s a squad with a heavier emphasis on durability ahead of natural athleticism.
Much has been made of the omission of Sotutu, but perhaps that is because of the symbolism that a player with agility, speed and a range of soft skills has been overlooked because he supposedly doesn’t bring enough defensive grunt.
Hoskins Sotutu has been overlooked by Scott Robertson. Photo / Getty Images
Perhaps this is an indictment of the international game that it has become so dominated by collisions that there is no room for a ball player such as Sotutu, or is it a signal that New Zealand has developed an unhealthy obsession with physicality and is chasing it at all costs?
With the exception of Ardie Savea, it’s hard to think of another forward in New Zealand who has X-factor and possesses a skillset outside the norm.
Even in the backs, there is an obvious physical presence, and throughout 2024, Blues wings Mark Tele’a and Caleb Clarke were used as auxiliary forwards, and it would be a surprise to find that the All Blacks coaching staff’s interest was not piqued by this and that plans are already in place to use them in a similar way against England.
The All Blacks couldn’t win enough games when they underinvested in physicality but it’s possible they won’t win enough either if they overinvest in physicality.
And this is the core of the challenge facing the All Blacks’ new coaching group: can they retain the hard edge their predecessors instilled in the team and yet not become obsessed with it and overplay it?
Can they find a sweet spot in all this? A place where the All Blacks marry raw, explosive power and a commitment to running straight and hard with a licence to use their natural skillsets and spring the odd surprise.
As magnificently as Tele’a and Clarke played for the Blues, it would be refreshing to see them let loose by the All Blacks in a bit of space on the fringes.
Just as it would be refreshing to see Jordie Barrett encouraged and empowered to use all his skills, and for a cohort of props to be told they can offload, as all six are more than just big lugs who can scrummage.
All Blacks teams have rarely lived off just one theme or style, and it certainly feels that if they are to reconquer the global game, they will need as much creativity and flair as they do an immovable scrum.
