All Blacks seek more composure on attack

CAPE TOWN - The All Blacks have vowed to adopt a more patient gameplan in Saturday's Bledisloe Cup/Tri-Nations test against the Wallabies after a risky approach contributed to their downfall against the Springboks yesterday.

The All Blacks sought to imprint an adventurous attacking brand of play on their opposition, but the strategy failed to unlock a belligerent South African defence as the reigning Tri-Nations champions muscled to a 22-16 win at Newlands.

A rushing defence that borders on persistently offside succeeded in suffocating the All Blacks in a repeat of previous encounters in Christchurch and Johannesburg last year.

New Zealand managed only one try -- to standout wing Rico Gear -- while the defensive system was instrumental in Jean de Villiers grabbing an intercept to score the Springboks' only try.

All Blacks vice-captain Richie McCaw conceded the gameplan was flawed, and the players were possibly overconfident following their 3-0 thumping of the Lions last month.

"Everything has sort of went our way in the last couple of game's we've played," McCaw said.

"Perhaps we went out there thinking it was going to happen like that again from the start.

"We pushed a few passes that stuck against the Lions but they didn't (last night)," he added, saying the All Blacks should have been more careful with possession.

McCaw's assessment was shared by several of his teammates.

"We did apply the pressure, we just couldn't finish," said Piri Weepu, who made an admirable fist of his second test after replacing a concussed Byron Kelleher in the 10th minute.

"The main thing for us to work on is our composure, keep a calm head and not try and force anything. We won't be pushing any 50-50's (passes against Australia) -- we'll take it into contact.

Gear agreed the Springboks' spoiling defence ensured a frustrating afternoon for the visitors.

"We talked about taking more depth and trying to be more patient with the ball but we were offloading when it wasn't quite on," Gear said.

For the return leg at Carisbrook on August 27, Gear indicated the All Blacks would hang on to the ball for longer periods.

"We probably didn't support as well as we would have liked and if we can hang on to the ball and frustrate them maybe we can get some penalties."

Backline coach Wayne Smith admitted some of the passing was injudicious but he retained confidence in the core of the offensive blueprint.

"We have a plan and if we execute it well generally it's good rugby to watch and it's been successful.

"I was pretty happy with the decision making."

Assistant coach Steve Hansen, after reviewing a tape of the match, described the All Blacks effort as not "a true performance".

"It was pretty scratchy, there were a lot of errors. Some of the was due to the pressure we were put under by the opposition and some of it was by own execution."

Hansen noted the attack succeeded in opening up the Springboks defence, but he lamented an inability to finish off.

"Looking at the stats we made 18 line breaks and converted one. It's not a great conversion rate but we can fix that."

The other headache facing the All Blacks was Kelleher's absence from the Sydney test after being ruled out yesterday, and Tana Umaga's doubtful status due to an ankle injury.

Bay of Plenty's Kevin Senio was called in to replace Kelleher, while no replacement has been named for Umaga who was to be reassessed today.

Springboks lock Victor Matfield was cleared on charges of a dangerous tackle on Kelleher at a judicial hearing yesterday.

Coach Graham Henry said the key now was managing the squad's recovery during and after the 12-hour flight to Sydney which lands this afternoon.

"We've got to be sensible and make sure we recover as best we can," Henry said.

"We're going to think seriously how we're going to train during the week so we have that full tank (of energy on Saturday).

"It's going to be a bigger challenge now that we didn't get the points we wanted here."

- NZPA