All Blacks: Henry's men hint at tighter vision

The All Blacks have adopted a style that wins World Cups. Photo / Getty Images

Given the sensitive nature of these things, what with all those ghosts lingering, the World Cup is a taboo subject for the All Blacks.

They love nothing more than not talking about it; pretending it's not there.

Yet for 80 minutes in Cardiff, they looked every inch a side playing the sort of rugby that has won the most recent World Cups.

For long periods in yesterday morning's match, the All Blacks didn't really look like the All Blacks. The cavalier was displaced by the roundhead. The maverick lay dormant.

The All Blacks have embarked on a new era where their foundation is defence and territory. The difference between the All Blacks in Cardiff and the All Blacks in South Africa during the Tri-Nations points to revolution rather than evolution.

Maybe in time we'll look back and dub those two weeks in the Republic "The Madness of King Henry". This idea that they could run their way out of trouble in the game was, to be kind, misguided. While the coaches and players insisted they had made the right tactical choice to play with no structure or set-piece platform, they clearly didn't believe it.

If they did, they would have to explain how they grafted a win in Cardiff by playing in a style that was the antithesis of their work in Bloemfontein and Pretoria.

Their victory on Sunday morning was achieved on the back of a defensive effort that was as good they have produced in the past decade. The hits just kept coming and Wales, who played with purpose and invention, couldn't execute the critical final pass under such relentless pressure.

Look back at the most recent World Cups and the teams that have won have all built their stall around their defensive effort. It is defence that builds pressure and frustrates opponents and it is cluster tackling that eventually forces turnovers.

The All Blacks were outstanding in their ability to force Wales into channels they didn't want to be in. With no gaps to find, the Welsh found they were attacking wider and wider with fewer bodies to support the ball carrier.

They were fortunate that the All Blacks weren't as effective as they wanted to be in making the transition from defence to attack.

They forced plenty of turnovers, but didn't make them count with potent attacks. That's the big work on for the clash with Italy - to be more clinical after they have used the aggressive defence to win the ball.

The All Blacks will also review whether they kicked too much ball away, particularly in the first half. For those first 40 minutes, the All Blacks were South Africa in disguise. Dan Carter stood deeper than he normally does and hoisted high as his default option.

There was little in the way of attacking ambition. The All Blacks don't want to play rugby in their own half anymore. They don't seem to want to conquer the world with vision and enterprise.

Their lofty ideals of expansive, beautiful football have been shelved. Maybe they have realised that it's okay to win ugly; that there is no shame in manipulating the rules with nothing fancier than a pack that handles the set-piece well and a first five with a booming left peg.

It worked for England in 2003 and it worked for South Africa in 2007 (although their No 10 had a booming right peg). Defence and territory - it's the fish and chips of rugby - a classic combination that is hard to beat.

Or maybe Cardiff was a baby step towards a bigger vision. The defensive clout will remain in this big vision. So too will the set-piece accuracy and the tidy work from the back three under the high ball.

Where the big vision will differ is in the balance of the attack. There will be a greater willingness to attack the space; to keep the ball in hand. The kicking game will still have to be employed; it will remain a big part of the overall strategy, but will be offset with some creative enterprise.

We probably would have seen more of this big vision in Cardiff had Conrad Smith been awarded a try coming into the final quarter. If the score had pushed out to 26-6 with 20 minutes remaining, the confidence would have flowed and the platform would have been there to be more expressive.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY